We’re deep into the throes of March Madness, which means college basketball lovers all over the country are filling out their bracket predictions in anticipation of a new national champion. Now, high-performance and off-road tire manufacturer Nitto is offering car enthusiasts the same opportunity with its “Battle of the Streets” drag racing competition. Get it right, and Nitto might send you to Vegas for an Exotics Racing driving experience, which sure beats the hell out of office bragging rights.
Here’s how it works: from now until March 25th, you can go to battleofthestreets.com to submit your bracket, selecting winners and losers from a pool of sweet sixteen speed machines, narrowing it down to a single, ultimate winner. There are four rounds of competition, with the final shootout taking place April 6th.
The venue of choice is the infamous 6th Street Bridge in downtown Los Angeles, and this competition will be the final production filmed there before the bridge is torn down and replaced. The cars are an assortment of domestic muscle, high-tech imports, and European exotics, some modified, others stock.
“Nitto Tire has always had a deep connection with enthusiasts” said Stephen Leu, Nitto Tire U.S.A.’s Assistant Brand Publishing Manager. “That is why it means so much to us to be able to bring together so many amazing cars to create a bracket tournament-style event just for our gearhead fans. We have gone out of our way to locate some of the rarest and coolest cars for this video 
and can’t wait to see who comes out on top.”
So then – which car will take the win?
Continue reading to learn more about the Battle of the Streets.
Why it matters
I can only assume each car will be running either NT05 or NT555 tires, depending on their respective bracket. While both compounds are quite gummy, the less-than-ideal street surface will still offer poor grip levels for all that horsepower. That means, with drivers being equal (which they almost certainly won’t be), I can’t help but favor the AWD competitors, including the modified, 700-horsepower GTR. Of course, the 650-horsepower tube-chassis Toyota Dragquoia looks pretty mean too, especially running the higher-traction NT05s.
But who do I think will win it? My vote is for the bone stock Lamborghini Aventador. There’s something to be said about factory reliability, and with NT05 tires and all-wheel grip, traction should be less of an issue.
Press Release
For fans of college basketball, March is a magical time of year where the nation’s best teams fight it out until only one remains and is crowned national champion. This tournament packs some of the most exciting games of the season into a few frenzied weeks. Now, Nitto Tire U.S.A. Inc., a leading manufacturer of off-road and street performance tires, is bringing this excitement to the automotive world with its “Battle of the Streets” tournament.
Just like with its basketball counterpart, “Battle of the Streets” kicked off with the announcement of the bracket where each of the 16 competing cars was revealed and their positions on the brackets set. Fans now have the chance to fill out and submit their own bracket forms at www.battleofthestreets.com until March 25th for a chance to win trip to Las Vegas to drive supercars with Exotics Racing should they pick the perfect bracket.
The tournament consists of three elimination rounds taking place on March 26th-27th, March 30th-31st, and April 2nd during which time the two brackets, named after Nitto’s highly popular NT05 and NT555 performance street tires, will be whittled down to the top two cars before culminating with the Finals on Monday, April 6th. During these two and a half weeks of competition, enthusiasts will be treated to some truly unique matchups between some of the most impressive cars on the street. This year’s field includes such heavyweights as the McLaren 650S, the Porsche GT3, the Ford GT, the Saleen GTX, and the Lamborghini Aventador. But you can’t count out the domestic muscle and other possible underdogs waiting to disrupt the field and upset the highly favored supercars.
“Nitto Tire has always had a deep connection with enthusiasts” said Stephen Leu, Nitto Tire U.S.A.’s Assistant Brand Publishing Manager. “That is why it means so much to us to be able to bring together so many amazing cars to create a bracket tournament-style event just for our gearhead fans. We have gone out of our way to locate some of the rarest and coolest cars for this video and can’t wait to see who comes out on top.”
All of this excitement deserves a suitably dramatic venue in which to race and Nitto selected the perfect spot, Downtown Los Angeles’ famous 6th Street Bridge. This will, in fact, be the last production to be filmed on the bridge before it is torn down and replaced, making this event truly one for the history books.
Log on to www.battleofthestreets.com to check out the cars, fill out your bracket, and watch the videos. Bracket submission is now open and ends on March 25th. To learn more about Nitto Tire, please visit www.nittotire.com. Join Nitto Tire on Facebook and on Twitter at @NittoTire.