2002 Ford Mustang GT Nitto NT05R Drag Radial Tires

From a street perspective, the new DRs definitely are as good at holding the road as their street siblings. We put extensive mileage on the tires in normal street-driving, freeway, and desolate-area/full-blast conditions. They performed well-the only thing we'd be a little reserved about is driving on the NT05R drag radials beyond 5,000 miles (the new tires have a 0 treadware rating) and in extremely wet conditions.

The NT05R's soft compound really is not conducive to the same type of regular operation as the street version, so the tires may be more "limited-use" for budget-conscious enthusiasts than those with deeper pockets. Pricing for the NT05Rs is said to be comparable to the cost of Triple 5s.

Comparative photos of the NT555R, NT05, and new NT05R Nitto tires are next, along with our critical 60-foot and 330-foot dragstrip data for the company's original drag radial and its long-anticipated NT05R DRs.

"How does it hook?" is a drag racer's biggest question whenever a new racing tire is introduced. To find out just how well the Nittos hook, we called on Jerome Citrolo of Simi Valley, California, and his '03 Mach 1. Jerome's daily driven Mach is impressively modded with a stout DOHC bullet that features Ford Racing Performance Parts' aluminum big-bore block, a Mach 1 crank, Manley rods, Diamond pistons (10.2:1), '03 heads worked by Boss330 Racing, custom cams designed by Modular Performance, and a trick Nazty Performance short-runner intake manifold.

The combination is good for putting 475 hp to the feet, and Jerome is borderline obsessive about taking his Pony to the dragstrip whenever possible, attempting to achieve new personal-best e.t. and mph results at every outing. One of the good things about using Jerome for this particular exercise is his consistency as a driver. He knows his car and has extensive experience driving it on drag radials.

The interesting results of our test are included in the table. We definitely intend to do more track testing with the NT05Rs, because the impressive results of our session prove that Nitto is onto something with the new drag radials. It will be interesting to see how they perform when more horsepower is applied.