I can finally fully update this post and provide a comprehenisve review of the Nitto INVO tire.



From Nitto's website;

"Leading a new wave of innovation, the INVO is Nitto's new flagship ultra-high performance tire. Developed using the latest technology, the INVO's revolutionary tread design offers the perfect balance between art and engineering. The INVO provides a quiet and comfortable ride while maintaining the ability to provide tremendous traction in both dry and wet conditions. The asymmetrical, non-directional, tread design with twin water-dispersion grooves and lateral slits effectively provide wet traction while the silica-reinforced tread blocks deliver superior lateral and longitudinal grip in dry conditions. The asymmetrical tread pattern also gives the owner the ability to rotate tires on staggered fitments. "

Here is a link to Nitto's website;
Nitto INVO

From March 14th;
I did go ahead and purchase the Nitto INVO tire for my rears. I weighed heavily the differences between the Nitto INVO and the Nitto NT05 which is an excellent dry, high performance summer tire. The tread-wear rating on the stock CR Bridgestone Potenza RE070 is 140, the NT05 has a "stickiness" of around 200 and the INVO is at 260.



Goal:
Stay within the same ball park grip as with the RE070 but with a Nitto tire. When I looked at the dry performance of the INVO and the NT05, the NT05 won, but barely. The dry performance is one of the most important things to me, but living in the NW, I can't disregard performance and over all stability in wet conditions. The INVO won in that category by a land slide on paper.

A few of the additional selling points on the INVO was that it is an extremely quiet and extremely comfortable ultra high performance tire. Opposing ideas right??

Result:
After I had the tires put on, they felt very unstable and I did not feel as comfortable as what I was hoping they would. The car felt like I was driving on marbles in a sense, and on top of that, the VSA was coming on ALL the time with slippage in the rear. Fearing I had made a mistake, I decided to check the tire pressure and found out the tires were over inflated quite a bit. After I brought them down to factory specs and evened out the front PSI I took the car out.

Man, what a difference! Night and day, black and white. Complete opposite. I purposely tried to break the tires loose and nothing. Not even a blip on the VSA came on at any one point.

So the true initial dry experience of the tire is phenomenal. Very happy. Not as good as the R compoud re070's but still very good

The sound noise was considerably deleted as well. When driving home through the vista ridge tunnel on hwy 26 the road noise was loud enough to drown out my music unless I increased the volume. Not any more. Even with having the INVO on the rear of the car it cut down the road noise considerably.

The wet driving I will review later with the correct tire pressure.

Update September 19th;

I received the front Nitto Invo tires (225/45-17)about a week ago after I added coilovers to my car.

With having roughly 4500 miles on the rear tires, and a variety of driving conditions, I love the tires. I'll be the first to admit they aren't track tires, but with that said, they are a great ultra performance tire that gives you all the benefits of a commuter tire.



Dry Performance
The tires grab the road and hold on, most of us "double" the recommended speed when its posted going around corners and on back roads. With the RE070's I could easily obtain that speed safely. I can still do that now and feel the same comfort level.

Wet Performance
The tread pattern on the tire really does allow for a great handling tire in wet conditions. The grooves on the tire allow the water to channel away effectively. Last Friday it was pouring, there was standing water on the freeway. It created a very likely hydroplaning scenario.

The car did well, as I'd go through patches of standing water, it channeled it away very well.



Driving Observations
The tire really does create a much comfortable and quiet ride without sacrificing performance. I am very happy with tires as I am preparing to head to Los Angeles for Homecoming II.

Final Remarks
The Invo is a great tire if you want some creature comforts but still be able to hold your own on the back roads and s2ki drives. I think that they are a better performance tire than the RE050 on OEM s2000's. I'm hoping to track them next year. With a tread rating of 260 they should last quite a bit longer than the stock CR tires.

With only 2 authorized Nitto Tire dealers in the area, they aren't easy to find, however one of our local shops is one of the dealers I got my rears from Forged Performance in Troutdale and they have great prices!

Forged Performance

 

i do know that Nitto's are expensive but according to tirerack the best seller tires for your CR are in this link with a rating of 82 compared to OEM ones of 72...you might need to check them out and for the price you can't beat it. hope this help ...good luck

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireSearchRe...Type=bestseller

 

Thanks Marc!!

 

I had them on my 18s. Loved em. they were quite and had good grip. Good choice.

 

Go with the new RE-11's!!!

 

Too Much Money Roger! Haha. I'm deciding between the NT05 and the INVO.

Aharon, what size were the tires you had on your 18's?

 

The tread patter looks interesting. Get them try them out and let us know how they are

 

 

They only come in a 255/50 17. I talked to John, he said it was too tall. They do come in a 245/40 17. For you tire people (paul) Will I be downgrading performance to go to a smaller taller THAT much?

 

I wouldn't think you would be downgrading any sort of huge amount.

Stock AP2's are 215 245.

Only way to find out is to try it out. If you do like the tire just keep in mind you will never be able to go wider than 245. So IF you do get a larger wheel at some point in the future you will have to switch up tires again.