Nankang Tyres . . . . .

[fogey]

. . . . available in R13 to suit many retros - anyone had any experience of these?

[mrbounce]

It's probably of no relevance in today's market but I had Nankangs on my Mini 25 back in the late 90s as they were the best I could afford at the time (I was very skint!). They gripped surprisingly well and were long lasting. I certainly rated them over the Pirellis that were the same size (commonly known as Slipperellis at the time).

From what I have read they've come on in leaps and bounds since then and are consistently rated as a fairly decent mid-priced brand. I don't think you'd have too much trouble with them - by that I mean you're very unlikely to be thrown into a hedge by them unless you're driving like a complete numpty.

[daddyshortlegs]

Very popular in 14 inch on Morris Minors.

[Dez]

Which model are they? I really rate the toursports in 13” sizes, had em on loads of cars, but I though they’d been discontinued?

[ChasR]

I'll be honest. I'm now a tyre snob. I've tried all sorts, and when I was doing 5,000 miles a month, there is only so long you can put up with rubbish. Prior to this, and even after this, I would try and convince myself other brands were cheaper and worth it, driven primarily by cost. Cash is king right? Even over how a car feels and safety. But that's what Nuns and Kittens like to preach .

I've had two types of Nankang.

NS-2s. I know many love them but I found them curse word. They were better than no name budgets, but not say a Falken or a Nexen.

NS-2Rs. These are a track based tyre. I fitted these onto my RS Turbo. I debated long and hard what the other choices were. They were

• Avon ZV5 ; I had these on the Alfa. Great in the Dry, Useless in the wet ; they literally lost grip without warning
• Bridgestone T005s ; These seem to have good reviews
• Toyo CF-IIs ; I've actually found these to be a great compromise. They're not an Eagle F1 however, but certainly agreeable (my non-car focused Sister will remind me of that when I made her stick with those and Landsails over fresh Goodyears ; she could not fathom why I made her no spend £180 on two tyres up front which in her words, transformed the car)
• Michelin Pilot Sport 3s ; These were the same money as NS-2Rs

I went with the NS-2Rs. They were OK in the wet, but they were superb in the dry.

I remember fitting, and dialling in the camber right on the rear of the car. There I took out the previous owner, when it was on Toyo T1-Ss. When he strapped himself into the car, and I went for a bend at quite some speed, and drive it over with some verve, he could not believe it was the same car. It steered very well everywhere.

I've debated fitting those onto the M3 18s I have, but those Kumho V70As are better than I could have imagined.

So in short.

If you don't have the cash, probably better than the budget options. But you do get what you pay for with tyres. I've learnt that the hard way, and even sold cars after fitting cheaper tyres on, as I wanted to save a few quid.

The fact that my Mondeo has not needed tyres for almost 2 years on Michelins, yet grips well IMHO is a valid argument for splashing out on them. It's a shame I can't stop the family from borrowing it. But that's a good sign in itself right?

[bstardchild]

I have Nankang winters on the daily and very impressed with them - summers are uniroyal rainsports which are great in the wet and dry until temps go below 10 deg C then they are very sketchy - I drive on some very wibblepoo roads with a lot of farm traffic and lots of mud on the road and the Namkang winters are very sure footed

[slipngripross]

Well regarded tyres in the Motorsport world now. NS2R is a track tyre with some tread, not much good for winter but grippy in the dry. The AR1 is even more extreme which ive used on cars weighing from 900KG to 1500KG and they are a great tyre for the money. Not sure id be too keen on their road tyres. The Uniroyal rainsport 5 is a great all round tyre and well priced.

[ChasR]

Dec 14, 2020 10:23:13 GMT slipngripross said:

Well regarded tyres in the Motorsport world now. NS2R is a track tyre with some tread, not much good for winter but grippy in the dry. The AR1 is even more extreme which ive used on cars weighing from 900KG to 1500KG and they are a great tyre for the money. Not sure id be too keen on their road tyres. The Uniroyal rainsport 5 is a great all round tyre and well priced.

Are the RS5s an improvement from the 3s?

On my dad’s now sold Mondeo, they made the car feel like it had shot bushes and even dampers to some degree ; it had a walllow. We tried higher pressure to get around the problem of blunted steering but it seems their sidewalls are made of chewing gum. We didnt think the tyres were to blame for the numbness and wallowing.

When we put on Eagle F1s, it was like another car and it having a suspension refresh, despite the suspension being untouched. We left them on the rear but they wore almost inpercievably to make a racket. I bought a wheel bearing but it turned out it was the RS3s. I only know this as I sold the car to a friend and I gave him the wheel bearing, which came back my way after he switched the wheels back to front

The Clio 172 was a similar deal on RS3s bar the damper issue. They are great in the wet mind you, and well priced.

[slipngripross]

The 5's have a stronger sidewall than the 3's for sure. But even the 3's were used by guys racing in Hot Hatch due to how good they are. We have them on a BMW 120D which is about 1300kg at a guess and they are fine but i put 3's on my 1500kg M3 and they were not good enough for track use and not ideal on the road. But 3's and 5's are fantastic for sub 1100kg cars for all weathers

[Flingstam]

I have Nankang All-Season tyres on the Deliboy, and I've been very impressed with them. Their grip levels in the wet are very high, as demonstrated on the Thruxton skidpan. I had to put old tyres on the rear to get the back end out, because with the Nankangs it would just drive around as if it wasn't on a skidpan at all.

Nankang are from Taiwan (not China, unless you're a member of the Chinese Government), and they have a technical cooperation agreement with Yokohama, so their compounds are much improved from the olden days (i.e. a few years ago).

[fogey]

OK thanks guys. Lots to consider then . . . .

[bstardchild]

Dec 14, 2020 11:34:37 GMT ChasR said:

Dec 14, 2020 10:23:13 GMT slipngripross said:

Well regarded tyres in the Motorsport world now. NS2R is a track tyre with some tread, not much good for winter but grippy in the dry. The AR1 is even more extreme which ive used on cars weighing from 900KG to 1500KG and they are a great tyre for the money. Not sure id be too keen on their road tyres. The Uniroyal rainsport 5 is a great all round tyre and well priced.

Are the RS5s an improvement from the 3s?

On my dad’s now sold Mondeo, they made the car feel like it had shot bushes and even dampers to some degree ; it had a walllow. We tried higher pressure to get around the problem of blunted steering but it seems their sidewalls are made of chewing gum. We didnt think the tyres were to blame for the numbness and wallowing.

When we put on Eagle F1s, it was like another car and it having a suspension refresh, despite the suspension being untouched. We left them on the rear but they wore almost inpercievably to make a racket. I bought a wheel bearing but it turned out it was the RS3s. I only know this as I sold the car to a friend and I gave him the wheel bearing, which came back my way after he switched the wheels back to front

The Clio 172 was a similar deal on RS3s bar the damper issue. They are great in the wet mind you, and well priced.

On the hot wash coupe - I ordered RS3 with XL rating (to try and ensure the sidewalls were stiffer as car previously had run flats and MSport Suspension) tyre pressures are very similar to the OE within 1.5 psi and I would say that there is definately more sidewall flex compared to the run flats even in xl but the ride quality is like chalk and cheese and I'll take the compromise of slightly less steering feel when the benefit is a softer ride (christ I feel old!!!!)

On the SLK I ordered RS5 - they weren't replacing run flats (even if they were there wasn't xl version avaliable in that size) so I selected the normal version and was expecting more sidewall flex - I didn't get it so I think I'd agree they have definately stiffened up the side walls!!!

I've always been a bit of a uniroyal fan boy - they just suit the way I drive - I've tried loads of premium brands and I keep coming back to uniroyal

[mr2fc]

Out of interest, what is the "hot wash coupe"?

[bstardchild]

Dec 14, 2020 14:34:11 GMT mr2fc said:

Out of interest, what is the "hot wash coupe"?

Not retro enough for this place



1 series coupe (hot wash because it's shrunk)

[mr2fc]

Ironically, just read through your thread for that on PH!

[bstardchild]

Dec 14, 2020 17:00:01 GMT mr2fc said:

Ironically, just read through your thread for that on PH!

lol - PH is funny place sometimes but the reader's cars section throws up some good stuff when you trawl thro the dross like my threads

[rapidyellow]

I used them on my fiat cinq sporting when I had it a few years ago, not many tyre companies did the particular size so there wasnt much to choose from, they are really good tyres compared to the original pirelli's

I found them very grippy wet or dry

[adam73bgt]

As mentioned previously a lot will depend on the particular model of Nankang tyre you're looking at.

I've got some Nankang Greensports on my Yaris T Sport (I assume an eco biased tyre from the name). Perfectly fine grip on the dry, acceptable grip in the wet as long as you're being sensible. Quite easy to provoke 1st and 2nd gear wheelspin in wet/greasy conditions (circa 105bhp for reference) and can provoke slides on greasy roundabouts quite easily also.

Some may find this alarming, I find it entertaining 😂 and it is still possible to avoid slides by driving a bit more sensibly..