Has anyone compared the Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec and the Nitto NT05? I've read reviews about the Star Specs and they seem very promising. However, being that the NT05s just came out in February of this year (2009) there aren't that my reviews that I could find or any that compared the two tires in question. Also, these two tires are the top of line in their category in their respective companies so I figured it would be a good comparison.

Any thoughts?

 

Nt05's are interesting but as of right now they dont offer anything smaller than a 17.

 

What size rim?

Maybe you meant NT-01s?

 

No, I meant NT05. I want to stick with street tires as of right now.

I'm currently running 17x8's with 235.40.17 RT615's on my Integra. I need new tires and was thinking of going with 255.40.17's. Both tires in question come in that size so it's just a matter of which one to choose. Dry and wet traction are both important in my decision.

Also, I am aware that 17x8.5 is the minimum recommended wheel size from both manufacturers for the tire size I am considering.

 

The nitto nt05 is their new sticky street tire that flew under the radar. I think its been out for about a month, im guessing we (ht) dont know much about it because there are no sizes in 15-16.

 

That explains it.

Just by looking at the tire the Z1 is going to give you better wet traction so if you must choose by a compromise between wet and dry traction I say go with the Z1.

 

No experience with the NT05's, but I have a set of Z1's and am extremely pleased.

 

From what I've found in my research, the NT05's supposedly perform well in the rain. Perhaps not as well as the Star Specs. Dry performance is the most important deciding factor for me. However, I definitely want the tire I choose to be able to perform (somewhat) in the rain. I recently attended an event at Road Atlanta with RT615's on my car and it rained all weekend. I didn't like how much the Azenis hydroplaned through the river that was in the eases and other parts of the track where there was a little standing water. Luckily my current tires are on their last leg and it's time for a change. So as long as the tires I'm considering can work well in the rain, regardless of which one has better wet traction, I will go with the one with the best dry traction.

I know that the non-Star Specs are discontinued but the Z1's you have are Star Specs correct?

 

Again though, just by looking at the NT05 my guess would be they are even worse than the Azenis in the rain, especially in standing water. There is nothing in the design to dissipate water, this tire is all about dry traction, it's almost a slick.

Here's a post I've pulled up of someone who actually reviewed the NT05s after having tried them. Notice not one single mention of wet traction. Not even an attempt.. lol

http://my350z.com/forum/6763317-post10.html

Best dry traction? NT05
Best compromise? Z1

 

Not true. The NT05 has big longitudinal tread grooves, and the Azenis doesn't. One thing tire companies have discovered in recent years is that the longitudinal tread grooves are more effective than diagonal tread grooves in evacuating standing water and reducing the risk of hydroplaning. That's why you see a lot of companies moving from directional tread patterns to non-directional, asymmetric tread patterns for their "max performance" tires (e.g. Goodyear replacing the F1 GS-D3 with the F1 Asymmetric).

My understanding is that the NT05 is supposed to be a "max performance" tire (i.e. competing with the Bridgestone Potenza RE050A Pole Position) rather than an "extreme performance" tire (i.e. competing with the Bridgestone Potenza RE-11). Compared with the extreme performance tires, the max performance tires trade off some ultimate dry grip for better wet traction and longer treadlife.

But, as noted above, the NT05 isn't available in sizes smaller than 17", so it's not even worth discussing for most of us.

 

I've got a set NT-05's going on tomorrow in 275/40/18 for my weekend at Mid-Ohio. I'll post up here when I have some feedback

p.s. they were cheaper than RT-615's in this size by quite a bit

 

^^Good to know. Exactly why I said "my guess". It'd be interesting to see how this design performs in water then. I'd probably pick the NT05 in this case.

 

Sounds good, let us know what you think!

That is one of the reasons why I was considering the NT05s. They are $1 more than the RT-615s and $30 less than the Star Specs in the size I want. If their dry traction is the same as the Star Specs and can do alright in the wet the NT05s would be worth trying because of their competitive price.

On the contrary, Nitto rates their NT05's just slightly below their INVO for wet traction.

I've been trying to get my head around this situation with how the manufactures describe their tires. Nitto says that the NT05 is their top of the line street tire, but they say it is a "maximum performance" tire. Whereas, Dunlop says the Direzza Star Spec (their top of the line street tire) is an "ultra high-performance" tire in the "performance" section of their website, and in the same site in the "sport compact" section Dunlop labels them as an "extreme sport performance" tire. If a tire manufacture designs a tire as "their top of the line" tire in a specific category, regardless if it's labeled ESP, UHP, MHP, or ASHP, shouldn't it be to compete with other manufactures' tires in that same category?

In my research I've found a lot of good information/reviews about the Star Specs. I also found a Best Motoring video where they did an "Ultimate Street Tire Showdown!!", and the Star Spec's performance was comparable to the Bridgestone Potenza RE-11s. The Star Spec's posted very consistent lap times and the fastest lap overall showing that they have a wide temperature range.

As for the NT05s, I found two pretty good write-ups one in a Miata (here) forum and one on a BMW forum (here). The write-up in the Miata forum said the NT05s required more heat than the Star Specs to get going. The write-up in the beamer forum said that the NT05s didn't "chunk" at all. And both write-ups only touched on wet traction briefly.

 

Smallest diameter size available seems to be 235/40-17.

Too bad, as some of us could run a 205/40-17 or a 225/35-17. With the current trend of larger and larger OEM wheel diameters, us older Honda owners are quickly finding ourselves without the tire selection we have been used to.

 

Really!? Those tires just don't seem to have anything in common. It's like comparing apples to oranges the way I see it. The tread design in the Pole Position and the NT05 are two completely different patterns. The Pole position has so many cuts it's almost an AST tire.



I think the NT05 will out perform the Z1 when it comes to dry grip. I'm basing my hypothesis off tire design and tread pattern only.

 

I had a friend tell me he did not like the NT05's as much as the dunlops. He ran Toyo R1R's on both cars he drove at Redline Time Attack and we switched to dunlops for the second session on his 135i. He wont shut up about the advan neova's though but unfortunately they are going to be expensive. I think he liked the initial grip of the R1R but favored the dunlop over it because of its longevity over the toyo. I think unless he can cough up the dough for the advans his tire of choice is the dunlop. Just a bit of food for thought. This info is coming from my friend who is a very experienced driver.

 

Here's one review from s2ki.com. I am not sure everyone shares the same opinion. I've seen other posts where the the Star Specs were better in the user's opinion. http://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php...ic=674662&st=0

 

Anybody know if the NT05 will be coming out with more sizes later on?