NT01 vs AR1

I have run both of these tires but seasons apart, and I can't definitely say that one is faster than the other. I'm now trying to decide what to buy for the upcoming local time trial season. I have not seen an A-B comparison between these two anywhere and was hoping someone would have some input.

I have a fairly quick Camaro that weighs about 2950 dry with a 525ish hp stroker. 315/35/17 square setup. So that limits my tire choices to R888R, NT01, AR1, or Hoosiers which are too expensive for me to justify.

Based on what I've read the R888R is on the bottom rung and Hoosiers are on the top. Making inferences from test results the AR1s are supposed to be faster than the NT01s. I ran the Nt01s for years but last year I ran AR1s. Unfortunately I changed a lot of other things in the car at the same time that should have made it faster in addition to the tires. 

Despite this I only barely set a PR by a few tenths in one track direction but could not beat my previous PR in the other track direction. My subjective impression was that the AR1 was peaky in performance and then dropped off after a couple/few laps, whereas my memory of the NT01 was they took longer to warm up and then performance plateaued for several laps. 

Is my memory deceiving me? Does this impression square with anyone else's experience? Did the other changes I made to the car make it slower and the AR1s made up for it?

My current thinking is that I could theoretically pull off a faster lap in the small performance window the AR1 provides if all the stars align but that the NT01 would give me more chances to summon my inner Ayrton Senna to actually pull it off. 

Am I just wishfully thinking that the cheaper tire will do what I want (which is to set PRs)? Anxious to hear anyone's thoughts, thanks

P

what kind of racing are you doing?  Have you looked at a decent 200tw tire?

camopaint0707 said:

what kind of racing are you doing?  Have you looked at a decent 200tw tire?

In a 315/35/17???

In reply to Olemiss540 :

apologies, i just read it as 18 in my head since that's pretty common.  17s...uh yeah lol.  that being said go for the nankangs

Just making sure you saw all of our tire test day: Grassroots Motorsports ultimate track tire guide.

If you scroll to the bottom of that page, you’ll see both of the tires you mentioned on our chart. 

Happy shopping. 

Time to get with the times and trade in those 17" wheels for 18's.  Then you can run 315/30-18, which is much more widely available. 

In particular, the Nankang CRS V2, which is much faster than the any of those tires you mention, save the Hoosier.  And will last at least as long.  All of those others are super old tech and time has left them behind.

David S. Wallens said:

Just making sure you saw all of our tire test day: Grassroots Motorsports ultimate track tire guide.

If you scroll to the bottom of that page, you’ll see how much Andy hates NT01s. 

Happy shopping. 

FIFY. 

Small reminder that the NT01 is nearly 20 years old. We attended the media launch in June of 2005.

Photo attached just because.