We love testing old cars, especially when they belong to somebody else. Of course, when that somebody else is a senior vice president and your direct boss, you tend to worry a lot more about the result! That's the position we were in a few days ago when we fitted this gorgeous '57 Bel Air with Nitto's new NT05 tires for a story slated for our November 2009 issue.
The car had a full Total Cost Involved suspension fitted and we had previously tested it with Nitto's 555 tire on the west coast. The 300 treadwear 555s (size 245/45ZR17) performed beautifully on the street and at our test facility, but the NT05 is a brand new design and with a more aggressive tread pattern and 200 treadwear rating promised so much more performance. What were the results? You'll have to wait for the November issue to find out, but let's just say we were not disappointed at all.