I got to test my MPSC vs Al Nortons NT-01 today in what is always the best way to test tires, on the same day. The MPSC had 12 cycles on them and the NT-01 had 18. But 12 cycles of my driving may be equivalent to his 18. The tires have about the same wear on them, but Al has more street miles. So here are my impressions of the two.

My pads were Pagid Black front pads and orange in the rear. GT2 6 piston calipers, 3580-3610 weight with driver.

Braking- MPSC - have done very well under braking since I've had them, however they do not like "brake standing" and any Porsche 4 or 6 piston kit will lock them up causing the ABS to kick in too much, effectively lengthening the braking zone, but a smooth application that gradually gets to full application will make your eyes pop out. You just have to be careful with the quick jabs of the brake before turn in, that you are not in too hot and have to brake too obruptly. They will start to wiggle on you if you over brake them or have any steering input, so your initial application has to be VERY straight. And they dont always recover well from this in my experience.

- NT-01 - I really did like the NT-01, they were a little more forgiving under adverse braking conditions however a little more violent wiggle if you got them too (braking in marbles). They also have a little more resistance to "jab" braking. Really didnt feel much difference in the two in terms of overall braking G's though I'll have to consult my traqmate to see for sure.

ADV - NT-01 - being that they had 18 cycles on them already, I think they did awesomez same braking force and much more controllable if you go in too deep.

Rear End Grip- MPSC- Very good if you have high cornering speeds, but can be overpowered easily with higher hp cars. They take LOTS of work to get cold, but they have also been better for me with time, and heated track, they are not great for cold/cloudy days until after a session on them, I tend to be gentle on tires, which really is mystifying to me, I get many more cycles than most people, and my MPSC's look great still and performed as well this weekend as they ever have. Launching is a pain, so if you were to race in them, it would be tough to get out of the hole, they are easily out torqued IMO.

- NT-01- If you have R-comps and want to drag race, these are the ones, I did a 5 mph roll while they were cold and couldnt spin the tires, I have also driven Al Norton's 700 hp TT on them and his will spin first if the tires are cold, but that's about it, these things are planted, feel much like the Hoosier R3's I had on in the spring, the rear end grip is phenomenal, very confidence inspiring, and in places where the MPSC would lose rear end grip, the threshold is quite a bit farther.

ADV - NT-01 - rear end grip is great!

Turning- MPSC- Easily better and much more precise in turning, less push. More road feel, may be due to the smaller sizes. But when they are on, they are on, as long as they are warm, even if yo ucan get them to push you can feel them trying.

- NT-01 - This is the part I liked the least about the NT-01, the steering felt soft, almost like skid plates on the front of the car comparatively. Dont get me wrong, you can get the job done, but it will take much more work on your part instead of the tires working with you

ADV- MPSC- by a good margin


Handling- MPSC- gives a very light on your toes feeling. Very disconcerting initially, but after you get used to it, it feels like rails, very controllable at the limit. Not as good rear grip as a hoosier, or even the NT-01, but very accurate if you're smooth with your turning inputs. Standing on the brakes will unsettle them a lot (as with most tires, but moreso for the MPSC). Very high rewards for smooth driving. Overall times are about .5-1 second faster than the NT-01.



- NT-01- High rear end grip, but not as precise on the steering end. Overall lap times are very close to the MPSC, for DE only I dont see any reason why not to get these, expecially if you dont push the limits. The cost is about $200 less than MPSC (~$1100 to your door). They heat up faster, but the MPSC can be about as fast as the NT-01 while not being fully warm, but you have to be on guard as they can bite you in a heartbeat


Winner IMO Dont have one, I like the MPSC and think the lap time capabilities are higher, but if you track regularly and are HPDE, then I'd get the NT-01 shaved 3 to 1 meaning I'd buy NT-01's 3 times and then the Sport Cups once. The price of the NT-01 makes them hard to beat, but after spending some time on the MPSC, it would be hard to change. But I like both for sure. For street driving, the MPSC feel harder than the NT-01, they both kick up lots of stuff and the NT-01's have louder road noise I think (may have been rubbing).


This is just my opinion on some fast laps in both on the same day at Road Atlanta (MPSC 1:34.6, NT-01 1:35.7) both with passenger as I didnt get a clean run solo on the NT-01 to compare to the MPSC (1:33.6) but I new I'd have a very tough time to match the MPSC.

 

Nice write up. Thanks for posting.

Any experience with the R888? I'm hoping for something that'll be a little better when cold than PSCs. Some auto-x and some DE.

 

Not yet, but I want to try those too.

 

No personal experience with the tripple 8's but from talking with tech, definitely better than RA-1 but should be considered a track-only tire. Extremely noisy on the street.

 

R888 has great cold grip, e.g. if you go for fast laps with a similar fast MPSC buddy, you will be in the lead because you'll get a lot of faster first lap

And yes, they're noisy...so a bit stupid choice for daily highway driving.

Predictable tires...Perhaps Pilot Cups have a bit higher grip limit but I like the Toyos a lot, they're cheap too here.

 

Excellent! Thanks for the feedback, fellas.

These will be "play only" tires. I'll have a bling-bling set of wheels/tires for normal street driving but I need to be able to drive to events on my R comps.

If the R888s work as well as the RA1s for multipurpose fun and are streetable enough to get to events we may have a winner.

Thanks, all.

 

Excellent review.

 

It's my understanding that they are superior to the RA-1's at the track. Maybe very streetable with noise-cancelling earphones. Just have a lot of window tint---but that's a "catch 22", isn't it?

 

Great review, Heavy!!! I've heard good things about the NTs but only from shaved experiences. I wonder how the shaved NTs would fare in 'Handling' compared to the MPSCs.
Be good,
TomK

 

Nice review, Dez.

I've had both tires on my car as well, and hated the MPSCs (sold them 2 weeks after installing them). But I absolutely love the NT-01's for my type of driving.

 

I can see how you would hate them, they could not handle a RWD TT with power like yours unless you did several hot lap sessions before making a 60-130 run. For your type of driving the NT-01 are tons better.

If this R888 is all that it's cracked up to be, I might ditch the sport cups too, they are very good, but I'm not completely sold.

 

I guess I should have mentioned as well that the NT-01's were 245's and 315's while the MPSC were 225's and 295's (stock sizes) so that may have had something to do with the rear end feeling. I honestly think the TT works best at turning with the smaller front tires, because I got that same feeling of skid plates with Yokohama scrubs (though they were tons faster than NT-01 or MPSC) but you could still feel that.


I will try and keep my front and rear sizes down as the big rubber gives you less road feel as well, I like to feel the road.

 

18" Dez ??

As always great write-up.
I am looking for a tire to DRIVE TO the TX2K8 (mpls to Houston) and drive
in the Road Racing competition and 60-130 as well as drag racing. (the Drags
are my least priority).

MK

 

D,

Actually the NT-01's were 235 fronts.

Marty,

I put a couple thousand miles on those tires that Dez used for the A/B. They also had 18 heat cycles which is probably equivalent to about 10 cycles had Dez done them all. A friend of mine with same tires on a BMW got caught in a downpour going to Barber and he slowed down and did fine. The tires still have lateral tread showing, so I'm not even down to the shave depth which leaves 2 grooves only.

I tried my new NT-01's at the drag strip a couple of weeks ago and they performed poorly but I think it was really the track that performed poorly. On the street, rolling on in low gear from about 10 mph, there is very little wheel spin. I don't know my torque figures but I know the curve is far above stock. NT-01 might be a good tire for you to consider.

 

Oh, my bad Al, 235's then.

Marty, I would get the NT-01's for the TX2K8 Event if I were you, at least over the sport cups, I think RA-1's are out of production so your only other choice would be R888 which I dont know anything about or Yoko Advans which are rediculously priced.

Maybe there are some I cam forgetting, but I would still go NT-01