Nitto INVO Review
12-11-2008, 10:29 AM
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Nitto INVO Review
Here at Wheeldude.com we are constantly putting new wheels and tires on our cars. With the release of the new Nitto INVO I was dieing to get a set on our 350Z and really test these tires in all conditions. Some of you guys may have seen our Z with these tires a few weeks back when we posted pictures of a couple of our new wheel designs. Over the last few weeks I've been driving our Z with these tires and I've been very impressed with their performance.
When we first received our tires everyone in the shop had to check them out. They have a very unique tread design that looks amazing. We went with a 275/35/18 front and 295/35/18 rear mounted on a set of Rota SVN-R's in 18x9 +20 front and 18x10 +20. This is a killer combo and after mounting this wheel/tire setup on our car we were in awe. Over the course of the next couple days I drove the Z relatively easy so I could break the tires in a bit. My commute to work is mainly freeway driving and I was pleasantly surprised at how quite these tires are. They also ride very well and with our spring/strut suspension combo the car was a breeze to drive.
Our Z is stock in terms of power so I mainly wanted to test the cars handling with these tires. I started taking smooth on/off ramps and noticed how predictable these tires were. I was able to constantly increase my speed and when they reached their limit they would not suddenly break loose and lose control. Traction in a straight line isn't much of an issue with our car unless it's very cold out and we do a hard shift from 1st to 2nd. With little heat in these tires there was still plenty of grip and the car never lost traction when doing these hard shifts. Overall I am very impressed with their dry grip and how predictable they are.
Luckily here in the Bay Area we have pretty nice weather year round. Finally it rained last week and I was really able to get a good idea of how these tires performed in the wet. I'm usually very careful in the rain and never go all out unless I'm in an AWD car that I'm used to driving. I took the car to some side streets away from traffic and started taking some turns at a slow rate of speed, again the car was very predictable and did not break loose. For a daily driven car this is huge and you can drive with confidence without having to worry about your car sliding out in turns randomly. When I got on it in turns the back end would slide a bit but it was still very predictable and the times that I happened to get sideways it was very easy to control and straighten out again. Also when cruising on the freeway and hitting standing water the car would not hydroplane and continued to drive straight
These are definiately great tires and after driving in the rain last week I've finally found a daily driven performance tire that I'm going to stick with
Some shots of these tires on our ride, definiately an awesome looking and performing tire
-Dan
When we first received our tires everyone in the shop had to check them out. They have a very unique tread design that looks amazing. We went with a 275/35/18 front and 295/35/18 rear mounted on a set of Rota SVN-R's in 18x9 +20 front and 18x10 +20. This is a killer combo and after mounting this wheel/tire setup on our car we were in awe. Over the course of the next couple days I drove the Z relatively easy so I could break the tires in a bit. My commute to work is mainly freeway driving and I was pleasantly surprised at how quite these tires are. They also ride very well and with our spring/strut suspension combo the car was a breeze to drive.
Our Z is stock in terms of power so I mainly wanted to test the cars handling with these tires. I started taking smooth on/off ramps and noticed how predictable these tires were. I was able to constantly increase my speed and when they reached their limit they would not suddenly break loose and lose control. Traction in a straight line isn't much of an issue with our car unless it's very cold out and we do a hard shift from 1st to 2nd. With little heat in these tires there was still plenty of grip and the car never lost traction when doing these hard shifts. Overall I am very impressed with their dry grip and how predictable they are.
Luckily here in the Bay Area we have pretty nice weather year round. Finally it rained last week and I was really able to get a good idea of how these tires performed in the wet. I'm usually very careful in the rain and never go all out unless I'm in an AWD car that I'm used to driving. I took the car to some side streets away from traffic and started taking some turns at a slow rate of speed, again the car was very predictable and did not break loose. For a daily driven car this is huge and you can drive with confidence without having to worry about your car sliding out in turns randomly. When I got on it in turns the back end would slide a bit but it was still very predictable and the times that I happened to get sideways it was very easy to control and straighten out again. Also when cruising on the freeway and hitting standing water the car would not hydroplane and continued to drive straight
These are definiately great tires and after driving in the rain last week I've finally found a daily driven performance tire that I'm going to stick with
Some shots of these tires on our ride, definiately an awesome looking and performing tire
-Dan
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12-12-2008, 09:54 PM
#12
Right now i've got 245/35/19 INVO's in the front, and 275/35/19 KDW2's in the rear. Can't wait to swap out the rear for a set of INVO's so I can get a quiet ride for once! I was running Yokohama NES100's for a while and the swap was like night and day. Definitely a great all around tire!
12-12-2008, 10:16 PM
#14
Excuse me? I had the REO1A Pole Positions and took them F'ers back after 2 weeks cause of the MUSH sidewalls. All other aspects of the tire were great but i had no feel of the car cause the sidewall was CRAP.
Also anyone who thinks the KDW2 is a "Performance" tire are full of crap and don't know what a real performance tire should act like. I used to have 245/275 Kuhmo MX, now I have 255/295 KDW2's and the MX performed a million times better then the WIDER KDW2's.
The KDW's have GREAT tread wear and a cool design, that's IT.
If you want a sticky tire go with the 275/295 MX's. Nitto has a great looking tire that's coming out here in 09, but they aren't going to make very many sizes. I called and asked. I don't have experience with the INVOS, but I do not see them being near as sticky as some other tires out. All around, they seem really nice though, but personally I will take the loudness if I can trust a tire to stick around a corner.
Also anyone who thinks the KDW2 is a "Performance" tire are full of crap and don't know what a real performance tire should act like. I used to have 245/275 Kuhmo MX, now I have 255/295 KDW2's and the MX performed a million times better then the WIDER KDW2's.
The KDW's have GREAT tread wear and a cool design, that's IT.
If you want a sticky tire go with the 275/295 MX's. Nitto has a great looking tire that's coming out here in 09, but they aren't going to make very many sizes. I called and asked. I don't have experience with the INVOS, but I do not see them being near as sticky as some other tires out. All around, they seem really nice though, but personally I will take the loudness if I can trust a tire to stick around a corner.
Last edited by MyV6IsFast3r; 12-12-2008 at 10:22 PM.
12-12-2008, 10:53 PM
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Let me quantify that statement: I have driven these bridgestones: RE040 (OEM 2006), RE050a (OEM 2007) and RE050a Pole positions on Z's and in the M3, I drove on S-02.
All of which had VERY stiff sidewalls. I have not driven on the RE01A though.
But, My wife's RE050A pole positions in 255/40/18 and 275/40/18 are WORLDS stiffer than my Eagle F1 GS-D3's in 255/35/19 and 275/35/19.
I hate the eagles for that reason... MUSH sidewalls. Although they do stick very well as far as ultimate grip goes, but my car feels like it needs sway bars now versus the OEM RE050a's (non pole positions).
I am leaning back towards PS2's, but it'd be nice to have a cheaper alternative. But I am 95% certain about PS2's next.
By MX, I take it you mean Kumho Ecsta MX. I ran a couple sets of those on my 97 M3 and they were just not up to the task of handling aggressive driving in that car. Once I put PS2's on it, I never looked back to the MX or any other tire for that matter. The MX is also a MUSH tire. And it's greasy as he11 in the wet.
Here's what My M3 did to the rear Kumhos MX (two sets!). I switched back to PS2's and they wore perfectly even for the life of the tires. I hate Kumho MX: At least it was still holding air at that point, but my God! WTF?
Bad Kumhos.... bad, bad, bad...
Sorry for hijacking! Now back to your regularly scheduled thread:
Last edited by hiz-n-herz; 12-12-2008 at 11:12 PM.
12-13-2008, 09:51 AM
#17
Dan,
Pretty cool to see a review on these tires. I've been curious about them since you first posted the new wheel pics. You wouldn't happen to have any of the SVN-R's with a 265/285 combo would you? I'm a huge fan of meaty tires, just want to see the contrast between the two setups.
Pretty cool to see a review on these tires. I've been curious about them since you first posted the new wheel pics. You wouldn't happen to have any of the SVN-R's with a 265/285 combo would you? I'm a huge fan of meaty tires, just want to see the contrast between the two setups.
12-13-2008, 10:10 AM
#18
You're excused!
Let me quantify that statement: I have driven these bridgestones: RE040 (OEM 2006), RE050a (OEM 2007) and RE050a Pole positions on Z's and in the M3, I drove on S-02.
All of which had VERY stiff sidewalls. I have not driven on the RE01A though.
But, My wife's RE050A pole positions in 255/40/18 and 275/40/18 are WORLDS stiffer than my Eagle F1 GS-D3's in 255/35/19 and 275/35/19.
I hate the eagles for that reason... MUSH sidewalls. Although they do stick very well as far as ultimate grip goes, but my car feels like it needs sway bars now versus the OEM RE050a's (non pole positions).
I am leaning back towards PS2's, but it'd be nice to have a cheaper alternative. But I am 95% certain about PS2's next.
By MX, I take it you mean Kumho Ecsta MX. I ran a couple sets of those on my 97 M3 and they were just not up to the task of handling aggressive driving in that car. Once I put PS2's on it, I never looked back to the MX or any other tire for that matter. The MX is also a MUSH tire. And it's greasy as he11 in the wet.
Here's what My M3 did to the rear Kumhos MX (two sets!). I switched back to PS2's and they wore perfectly even for the life of the tires. I hate Kumho MX: At least it was still holding air at that point, but my God! WTF?
Bad Kumhos.... bad, bad, bad...
Sorry for hijacking! Now back to your regularly scheduled thread:
Let me quantify that statement: I have driven these bridgestones: RE040 (OEM 2006), RE050a (OEM 2007) and RE050a Pole positions on Z's and in the M3, I drove on S-02.
All of which had VERY stiff sidewalls. I have not driven on the RE01A though.
But, My wife's RE050A pole positions in 255/40/18 and 275/40/18 are WORLDS stiffer than my Eagle F1 GS-D3's in 255/35/19 and 275/35/19.
I hate the eagles for that reason... MUSH sidewalls. Although they do stick very well as far as ultimate grip goes, but my car feels like it needs sway bars now versus the OEM RE050a's (non pole positions).
I am leaning back towards PS2's, but it'd be nice to have a cheaper alternative. But I am 95% certain about PS2's next.
By MX, I take it you mean Kumho Ecsta MX. I ran a couple sets of those on my 97 M3 and they were just not up to the task of handling aggressive driving in that car. Once I put PS2's on it, I never looked back to the MX or any other tire for that matter. The MX is also a MUSH tire. And it's greasy as he11 in the wet.
Here's what My M3 did to the rear Kumhos MX (two sets!). I switched back to PS2's and they wore perfectly even for the life of the tires. I hate Kumho MX: At least it was still holding air at that point, but my God! WTF?
Bad Kumhos.... bad, bad, bad...
Sorry for hijacking! Now back to your regularly scheduled thread:
Based on your photos, you had a serious camber issue - in addition to the tires not being wide enough for the rims. It looks as if you had to stretch the sidewall. But, WTFDIK.
I'm just saying...
12-13-2008, 10:25 AM
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You must not have read my post. Or I did not write it well.
Those are the tires off of my 97 M3, shown as an example only. Rims are only 17x8.5 in the rear of that car so no strech. I always got a 4-wheel alignment after putting new tires on that car and two sets of MX tires did that. After the first set, I figured I just got a bad alignment. After the second set of tires and alignment yielded the same result, I decided the tires were crap. They were sticky in the dry, but the sidewalls are soft and weak and can't take the g-forces around the corners. They were just not up to the M3's level of performance.
I have heard a lot of good things about the Invo though. I just want to know how stiff the sidewalls are. On another note, the Invos do not appear to have much of a rim protector on the tire sidewall.
12-13-2008, 01:31 PM
#20
I would love to get more experience with more tires, for now I can only comment on what I have had. The Kuhmo MX had a MUCH stiffer sidewall than the Bridgstones I ran for 2 weeks. The KDW2's I have now have great feel, stiffer sidewall, but they are no where near sticky. The MX are sticky, great crisp feel and I never had a problem with them holding the road like the KDW2's. Now the Bridgestones were comparable sticky wise and GREAT in the rain. The MX's are CRAP in the rain, but I rarely drive in the rain. I hated the way the bridgestones acted. Very unstable at high speeds. As for the PS2 i have hear nothing but great things about them, but for the size I want the grand total is almost $1,800 where I can get the same size MX's for $900. This is why I will be going back to the MX this summer. They may wear out a little fast and be junk in the rain, but they have an amazing feel and have been great in the dry. Very worthy street and autox tire at an amazing price.
As for the Invos I would really love to try these out, or even Nittos new tire they are coming out with, but if Nitto doesn't start have more of a size option, im sorry I have to go with the Kuhmos.
As for the Invos I would really love to try these out, or even Nittos new tire they are coming out with, but if Nitto doesn't start have more of a size option, im sorry I have to go with the Kuhmos.
