Nitto track day update

[MarkSS]

I did my first track day of the year today, also the first on Nitto NT01s. First, a couple of street impressions. (All of this is compared to Trofeo Rs.)

The negative:The Nittos are quite a bit louder, transmitting a fair amount of tire noise to the interior. I find this easy to fix with a combination of radio volume and exhaust.

The positive: the tendency of the front to dart around with Trofeos is all but eliminated with Nittos.

On to the track. I wasn't sure what to do with tire pressures so I started with 32 cold in the front and 31 in the rears for the first session and the car felt terrible. I was concerned that I had made a bad choice. It was squirmy and had a lot of understeer, especially in the fast turn that is part of the oval track at Milwaukee. (I also learned that these tires need a few laps to build heat and it will cost me some time buffing out pylon marks from the front end due to a little "agricultural racing" that happened when the tires were still cold and I pushed a little too hard.) We put a pyrometer on the tires after the first session and it was clear that they all had too much pressure.

I dropped them by 2 psi each for the second session and it was amazing the difference. Understeer was significantly reduced, and the car felt much more planted. I was turning times on a relatively cold track that equaled my best from last season (fastest of 1:17 and consistently in the low 1:18s.)

However, there is still a difference in feel from the Pirellis. The Pirellis have a sharper feel at turn in, which I like, but less forward grip off of corners. The Nittos were great for coming off of corners and I could get on it very early without wheelspin. (I even had a corner worker come and tell me I was lifting the inside front tire on one corner.) Nittos also performed well under braking. One negative: The Nittos felt less sharp on turn in and I wonder if it isn't due to a more rounded outside shoulder. This is my biggest complaint and requires a slightly different driving style, which I was getting used to more by the third session. I am not sure I got the pressure perfect yet either, but will keep playing with that next time.

The tires still looked great after three sessions and seemed to wear evenly, which I hope means that my additional negative camber is paying off. Lap times were basically equal to the Trofeo's on a day that was less than ideal for grip so given the price difference, and as long as they last longer, I would consider another set.

[Stephen12ZL1]

nice review! I haven't tried anything other than Trofeos on track. Reviews like this are great news when tire purchase becomes necessary. I keep finding good used Trofeos for decent prices and have 6 left before considering something else.

[The_Raging_Bull]

I'm thinking of doing an auto cross with my Corvette Club between OKC and Tulsa, is the consensus that the Trofeo-R's ought to be at 30 to 31 psi after heated up; it will be a warm track as we'll see 80F tomorrow. I'm looking forward to seeing how well the Z rolls over the Vettes; as none of them to my knowledge are running a 3.90 differential; so I ought to have a advantage at acceleration out of the hole. There will be C6 and C7 Z06's

[Stephen12ZL1]

Originally Posted by The_Raging_Bull

I'm thinking of doing an auto cross with my Corvette Club between OKC and Tulsa, is the consensus that the Trofeo-R's ought to be at 30 to 31 psi after heated up; it will be a warm track as we'll see 80F tomorrow. I'm looking forward to seeing how well the Z rolls over the Vettes; as none of them to my knowledge are running a 3.90 differential; so I ought to have a advantage at acceleration out of the hole. There will be C6 and C7 Z06's

Because the tires during an autocross never get up to temp, most guys run higher pressures initially like 34-35psi. Just as everything else, you have to experiment. Good luck!