NTO-1 maintenance

[6PAK72]

Liz and I ran last week nearly 400 miles on NTO-1's at NH. They show clearly how they will wear, and the outside will wear far sooner than the inside edge.

Once the camber is adjusted we'll mitigate that, but it poses a question:

The tire is marked very clearly "OUTSIDE". and the tread differs greatly on the "outside" edge. I'm used to swappiing RA-1's edge to edge.

Does anyone have experience in taking care of the NTO's?

Thanks,

[Mick]

I flipped my NT01s on the rim once the tread was mostly gone. I had no problem with them.

[blindsidefive0]

We are about to flip the NT01's on the 964. The tread is mostly gone on them at this point (10 days, including 4 days of dual driving) so we only expect to get another 1 or 2 events at most.

[TroyV]

I have also flipped them with no issues.

[WillM]

Interesting.

I do not have much experience with NT-01 tires. That said, I have found that race tires, in general, like to always rotate in the same direction. I found this especially true on Hankook Z214 tires and Hoosiers. When I scrub in a set of tires, I mark them with an arrow showing their direction of forward rotation. If I move tires on the car or flip them on the rim, I make sure the arrows all point forward.

Basically, I always treat my tires as if they are directional. Race tires develop a grain, and as they say, 'go with the grain'.

The asymmetric design of the NT-01s doesn't allow for it, if you flip the tire on the rim.

[CP]

I just picked up a set of the Nittos due to the shortage of RA1s and will report my findings as they wear. I'll be using them for non-SM races that don't require a spec tire. First impression is that they are HEAVY compared to a shaved Toyo.

[Mick]

Interesting.

I do not have much experience with NT-01 tires. That said, I have found that race tires, in general, like to always rotate in the same direction. I found this especially true on Hankook Z214 tires and Hoosiers. When I scrub in a set of tires, I mark them with an arrow showing their direction of forward rotation. If I move tires on the car or flip them on the rim, I make sure the arrows all point forward.

Basically, I always treat my tires as if they are directional. Race tires develop a grain, and as they say, 'go with the grain'.

The asymmetric design of the NT-01s doesn't allow for it, if you flip the tire on the rim.

What is this F1? Were talking about flipping NT01s when the tread is gone, not qualifying at Monaco.

[962porsche]

you should always run a belted tire (steel , polly, or glass ) in the same direction as it was when it was 1st installed on a car . if the rotation is changed then you do run into a chance if throwing a belt in the core of the tire . this will or could delaminate the tire tread . this happend to me some years back with my vw . it ripped out the brake line and bent the fender .

[paultg]

Jeff, how did the event go with the replacement car?

[6PAK72]

@Paul, Extremely well. 1:25.33 fastest on the NTO-1's on the coil-overs with stock ECU. The car is 100 pounds lighter than my blue one. The car was a slut - at least 5 drivers. They all said really positive things about it, and all turned in decent lap times, from Liz's 1:33.69 to Noah doing a 1:28.15.

No spins

Car used 1.5 quarts of oil over the 2 days, there's a leaky PS line I have to fix yet, the rear lower heater hose isn't seating quite right on the block outlet tube - probably some corrosion I failed to clean - the trans seems in great shape. Motor mounts are trashed and will be replaced this weekend with the SpecMiata mounts.

@Cy, yes, the NTO's are heavier. Takes more turn-in force. I think the slip angle is less forgiving than RA's, but there is something about the tire that feels really, really planted, especially around my favorite turn 10.

@ everyone else, thanks for the input, tell me how the rotating goes. These have a good few days yet before I need to think about it.

[blindsidefive0]

Jeff, glad to hear your new ride is running well.

I should clarify - I'm not simply moving the wheels from one side to another. We're actually going to re-mount and flip the tires so the insides become the outsides, but all 4 tires will still run in the same direction.

[paultg]

Nice times Jeff! Glad the car is working out! It always ran great when I owned it. I ran a 1:32.? in it on the old track configuration and 195/50/14 azenis street tires back in 2008, my first time there in a miata.

I was happy to dip into the 1:29s on street tires with my current car over memorial weekend. I won't be driving at the July event but plan to stop in. Hope to see the car and say hello. Maybe we can share the track in October!

Paul G.