Nangkang tyres

Miscreant

The time has come to get some new boots for the S60 but I am getting confused about the choices of tyre. I need 18in tyres (235-40-18 to be exact) and I have come across Nangkangs that seem to be reasonably priced.
Does anyone have any opinions on them? Last thing I want is to buy some comedy ditch finder tyres as I am thinking of selling the car once the NCT is done. Any advice on these would be appreciated. Thanks

mondeo

I wouldnt put those Nangkang yokes on my S60 in a million years. Then again if your selling the car anyways then stick whatever you want on it for the sake of flogging it.

bazz26

Better known to me as ditch finders.

Miscreant

mondeo wrote: »

I wouldnt put those Nangkang yokes on my S60 in a million years. Then again if your selling the car anyways then stick whatever you want on it for the sake of flogging it.

I wouldn't buy a car with crappy tyres on in any case so I would not dream of putting them on my car even if I was selling it. Considering that the car is putting 200 horses through the front wheels too I would definitely want decent tyres. Any recommendations?

bazz26

Falken FK452 - decent mid range tyre:
http://www.camskill.co.uk/m61b0s322p6216/FALKEN_TYRES_CAR_FALKEN_FK452_FALKEN_FK_452_-_235_40R18_95Y_XL_TL_

Vredestein Ultrac Sessanta - very good high end mid range tyre, Have them fitted on my 3 Series diesel with 180bhp:
http://www.camskill.co.uk/m61b0s322p12428/VREDESTEIN_TYRES_CAR_VREDESTEIN_ULTRAC_SESSANTA_-_235_40R18_95Y_XL_TL_

mondeo

Miscreant wrote: »

I wouldn't buy a car with crappy tyres on in any case so I would not dream of putting them on my car even if I was selling it. Considering that the car is putting 200 horses through the front wheels too I would definitely want decent tyres. Any recommendations?

I have Dunlop SP sport on my car all round. They were brand new tyres the dealer put on for me when I bought the car late last year. Their great with little road noise and dont slip and slide on round abouts in the wet.

Del2005

mondeo wrote: »

I wouldnt put those Nangkang yokes on my S60 in a million years. Then again if your selling the car anyways then stick whatever you want on it for the sake of flogging it.

If I was buying a car with them on it, if it wasn't rare I'd go elsewhere, if it was rare I'd be looking for the price of proper tyres off . You have to question what else has been skimped on with a mid class car if they put them on. If your planning on selling maybe look for into part worns. While you may not get the money back when you go to sell. 4 quality new tyres will make it easier in a slow market.

I was looking at cars recently and one car I was looking at had 1 bald and the rest POS. The seller said they were legal, I walked.

mondeo

Del2005 wrote: »

If I was buying a car with them on it, if it wasn't rare I'd go elsewhere, if it was rare I'd be looking for the price of proper tyres off . You have to question what else has been skimped on with a mid class car if they put them on. If your planning on selling maybe look for into part worns. While you may not get the money back when you go to sell. 4 quality new tyres will make it easier in a slow market.

I was looking at cars recently and one car I was looking at had 1 bald and the rest POS. The seller said they were legal, I walked.

Ye you can tell alot about how well a car was minded by seeing if the owner put quality parts on it or not. More often though if someone is planning on selling on a car they will not spend big money on it unnecessarily but on the basic requirments to get it through the sale.

langdang

They're probably better than Triangles, which are on every cheapo's passat or Audi. (have seen them on some rwd cars too, brave men)
I have had nankangs in the past - sounded like a car chase every time I went through the city, tyre squeal at every sharp corner. I called them the nankang Teflons, but ditchfinders and widowmakers were also popular models. That was 10 years ago tho, I've heard they improved since then.

SV

Nankang tires have always served me well. Worst tires I ever had were Toyo proxes, brutal!
Would guess most people that condemn nankang have never tried them .

furtzy

Have Nankang NS-2's on my 520 and they are fine. Driven them in torrential rain and they had no problems. The "ditch finder" thing is thrown about a lot in here and probably came about from the non "E" certified Chinese rubbish that was about a little while ago. Unless you drive like a wannabe Aryton Senna they are fine.

pred racer

I have nankangs on the front of my 159. (on it when i bought it) i find the cornering grip is excellent, but the straight line braking is not so good!
Changing soon.

gk5000

SV wrote: »

Nankang tires have always served me well. Worst tires I ever had were Toyo proxes, brutal!
Would guess most people that condemn nankang have never tried them .

I had Toyo proxes on the front of Mondeo MK3 and though they were fine, with no big difference in grip from the Bridgestone Turanza's nor Goodyear contact 2's. Maybe a shade less sharp/precise but very little difference to me, though have went back to the Turanza's.

However imo avoid Federal like the plague for wet roads.

Nissan doctor

SV wrote: »

Would guess most people that condemn nankang have never tried them .

Funny, I suggest the people who think that tyres like Nankang are fine have either been lucky enough never to have to do emergency maneuvers with them or have never tried premium tyres.

furtzy

Nissan doctor wrote: »

Funny, I suggest the people who think that tyres like Nankang are fine have either been lucky enough never to have to do emergency maneuvers with them or have never tried premium tyres.

I've had Vredestein, Bridgestone, Continentals, Dunlops and probably a few more that I can't remember over the past 20 years. The best were the Vredesteins but as I said I've no complaints about the Nankangs at all.

SV

Nissan doctor wrote: »

SV wrote: »

Would guess most people that condemn nankang have never tried them .

Funny, I suggest the people who think that tyres like Nankang are fine have either been lucky enough never to have to do emergency maneuvers with them or have never tried premium tyres.

I've used them on the track and for over a year on the road in all conditions.
Now have continental on. From michelin, from toyo.

Nankang are fine. People love to dog them though.

Nissan doctor

SV wrote: »

I've used them on the track and for over a year on the road in all conditions.
Now have continental on. From michelin, from toyo.

Nankang are fine. People love to dog them though.

You used Nankangs on track and found them OK? :eek::eek:

Something tells me you got overtaken a lot!

SV

Nissan doctor wrote: »

SV wrote: »

I've used them on the track and for over a year on the road in all conditions.
Now have continental on. From michelin, from toyo.

Nankang are fine. People love to dog them though.

You used Nankangs on track and found them OK? :eek::eek:

Something tells me you got overtaken a lot!

106 gti and only got overtaken by better drivers or more powerful cars.

What's with the disbelief in them eh? What's your experience with then so?

Nissan doctor

SV wrote: »

106 gti and only got overtaken by better drivers or more powerful cars.

What's with the disbelief in them eh? What's your experience with then so?

They were fitted on 2 cars I had, NS1's and NS2's, One set fitted when I bought the car and the other cam with alloys I bought.

On the first car, RWD but with just 130hp, the rears would spin when pulling away and turning at normal road junctions and I had one very big under steer moment on a wet roundabout.

The second, also RWD but this time with 220hp, spun the wheels in 4th gear when over taking on a straifght road in the wet one night and frightened the sh1te out of me. Also did my first track day around the same time and it was actually ruined by having them. Couldn't carry any speed into the corners and couldn't acclererate out of them in a straight line...and that was in the dry.

Both sets were replaced with continentals and bridgestones and had no problems, In fact I did several more track days on the bridgestones and it wasn't untill the car had gone well beyond standard that they started to give up their grip.

mickdw

220 bhp spinning wheels in 4th gear?

Are you sure you didnt induce an amount of wheel slip with an overly aggressive movement to overtake while nailing the throttle? or perhaps there was something on the road surface? Im aware of the performance of Nankangs and they are not as bad as this would make them sound.

pcardin

SV wrote: »

106 gti and only got overtaken by better drivers or more powerful cars.

What's with the disbelief in them eh? What's your experience with then so?

Probably the same as for Alfa Romeo cars. Loads of pub knowledge zero experience.

Never bought Nankang in my life but had them on two of my cars in the past (were on when I bought them). they are ok tyres,not great but nowehere as bad as people here claim they are. I didn't notice any problems myself. Deffo worth the price they cost I think.

ianobrien

I had Nangkang tyres under a Citroen AX GT before and by Christ were they brutal!!!

There was bugger all grip in the wet (wheelspin in third, understeer and oversteer all the way....). Dry roads were "acceptable" in that they managed to have some grip, but not a whole lot. Also, they had a tough enough construction in that I used them for some "spirited" driving on private Forest Tracks and they didn't puncture or tear.......

MetzgerMeister

In my opinion, if I was selling a car and it needed new tyres I would shell out for proper ones. I wouldn't be buying Potenzas or the likes but I wouldn't put crap on the car. If a potential buyer took it for a test drive and you had sh!te tyres on it, what is the most probable outcome with regard to them buying it compared to if you put good tyres on it?

Stay away from Kormorans. I got Kumho tyres fitted a few months ago and I find them brilliant. Excellent grip in the wet and dry, a LOT less road noise compared to the Kormorans that were on it when I bought it.

The Kumhos were €145 each for 215/45/18s which I think is great!

hi_im_fil

mickdw wrote: »

220 bhp spinning wheels in 4th gear?

Are you sure you didnt induce an amount of wheel slip with an overly aggressive movement to overtake while nailing the throttle? or perhaps there was something on the road surface? Im aware of the performance of Nankangs and they are not as bad as this would make them sound.

I've had wanli's (similar to nankangs but a bit worse) spin in 4th in the wet before so I'd believe it

mickdw

Significantly worse. Was it front drive?

hi_im_fil

No rear wheel drive with 270bhp

furtzy

Ive had Vredesteins Ultracs spin at a normal road junction on a 150bhp FWD....that was off course my fault and not the tyres. I'm sure I could spin the Nankangs in my 170bhp RWD if I tried as well

challengemaster

Lads, when the guys in drifting sponsored by Nankang won't run them up front, it speaks volumes.

mcwhirter

Retreads are better than Nankangs, don't buy them

MetzgerMeister

mcwhirter wrote: »

Retreads are better than Nankangs, don't buy them

I read this as "retards"

challengemaster

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

I read this as "retards"

Them too! :pac:

Nissan doctor

mickdw wrote: »

220 bhp spinning wheels in 4th gear?

Are you sure you didnt induce an amount of wheel slip with an overly aggressive movement to overtake while nailing the throttle? or perhaps there was something on the road surface? Im aware of the performance of Nankangs and they are not as bad as this would make them sound.

Far from it, dead straight road, car in front doing maybe 70-80kmh, I hadn't gone into 5th yet after the previous roundabout so with a clear road ahead just accelerated past the car and when the turbo came on boost the wheels spun.

As someone mentioned, drifters won't even run nankangs on the rear as they are too uncontrollable for drifting!!

mickdw

Fair enough. Ive driven on them before. I found alot of sidewall movement in them that made them useless on the back on turn in (for my driving style at least) but on the front and for basic grip level, they were reasonable and I do lean on them into bends when the situation allows.

mathepac

Nankangs, never again, ever on anything. I stuck a brand new set on a set of 16s for my car in order to save the Toyo Proxes (the best road tyres in the world IME) on the 17s for a road trip through France, Germany, Switzerland.

The Nankangs oversteered and they understeered, they spun out on the dry and in the wet and gave the worst braking performance I have ever experienced. A pal of mine drove the car in the wet and told me it felt as if the ABS was banjaxed - it wasn't it was the crappy Nankangs, E-marked and apparently legal.

TestTransmission

mathepac wrote: »

Nankangs, never again, ever on anything. I stuck a brand new set on a set of 16s for my car in order to save the Toyo Proxes (the best road tyres in the world IME) on the 17s for a road trip through France, Germany, Switzerland.

Are they that good?I've heard mixed reviews about them.What's the car out of interest?

mathepac

Skoda Fabia vRS, remapped to 180bhp and 7.2zillion torquey things on tap (Audi TT 17s).

Lady Kia

An independent test in Feb 2012 in the German magazine Autobild tested 50 of the major tyre brands on the world market. The size used in the test was 225/45R17 W/Y rated. They tested wet & dry braking distances. Nankang came 21st out of 50. Nankang was better than major brands like Semperit, Kleber, Falken, Yokohama, Vredestein, Maxxis, Cooper and Avon to name a few.

Nankang seems to be getting an awful bashing on this site. Nankang have been sold in Ireland for over 30 years. Why is it when someone does a general search on the internet for Nankang they get much better reviews than on this site? Is it possible the posters here know something that Autobild doesn't?

By November 2012, all relevant new tyres sold in Europe must carry the new tyre label. It will show fuel efficiency/rolling resistance, braking performance and road noise. This standardised information will make it very easy to read what the differences are in all brands.

Tyre kicking will be obsolete.

Kevvv

Lady Kia wrote: »

They tested wet & dry braking distances.

As important as that is I would want my tyres to be able to do a lot more than just stop.

langdang

Nankang NS20, 55 profile and smaller only, mainly in 17inch or larger sizes. I'd like to see a test of the bargain basement offerings being sold to joe 15" public!

In fairness, it does look like a better offering than the VAG drivers favourite - Triangle. Probably at least a tenner more tho, so it'll never sell here...


Surprised at how bad the Cooper and Avon tyres faired, vredestein too!

omb0wyn5ehpij9

TestTransmission wrote: »

Are they that good?I've heard mixed reviews about them.What's the car out of interest?

I had them on my DC2 and was very happy with them. I have Potenzas on my Civic, and they are fantatic, even better than the Proxies, however they are about €100 a corner more expensive than the Potenzas so will probably get Proxies when I need to change tyres!

bbam

It depends on your car and behaviour.
We've had several sets of Nankang tyres and find them perfectly fine.
They don't seem to satisfy the requirements for high performance cars or drivers who push a car to it's limits.
For your average driver they are a good cost/performance option. Have had them on four different cars, winters and all seasons.

listermint

Had them on my previous rear wheel drive 318 E46, never a days issue. no crazy slides. no ditches, no skidding all over the camp in rain AND NO issues in snow. Despite having to exit my apartment block at a 3/1 incline every morning for work. (i did have weight in the boot for added weightyness) but they never gave me issues and they wore fantastically.


I would not have issues buying them again for a similar car.

dgt

I think I said it before but I'll say it again: they're useless in the wet. My van tyres give supreme performance over them just as an example. Commercail van tyres at that

Talking as someone who has had and still have sets of them on various cars over the years

vectra

Nice to see my current choie of tyre came in 3rd . Hankook
Have them on both my vRS Octy and on the Toledo
I have had no issues or heart stoppers yet.

Big Nasty

Just getting back to the OP's question for a sec:

Opinions on the NK's are mixed for sure but either way they're certainly not great. If you're planning on selling the car, or even if you're planning on keeping it you should consider part-worns. You'll pick up premium tyres in 18's fitted and balanced with 20% wear for €70 a corner or less.

creedp

MCMLXXV wrote: »

Just getting back to the OP's question for a sec:

Opinions on the NK's are mixed for sure but either way they're certainly not great. If you're planning on selling the car, or even if you're planning on keeping it you should consider part-worns. You'll pick up premium tyres in 18's fitted and balanced with 20% wear for €70 a corner or less.

As a matter of interest why is is possible to source so many part worn premium tyres? Who takes them off with so little wear on them?

Big Nasty

creedp wrote: »

As a matter of interest why is is possible to source so many part worn premium tyres? Who takes them off with so little wear on them?

People in Northern Europe / Scandinavian countries that have to legally change to winter tyres every October.

creedp

MCMLXXV wrote: »

People in Northern Europe / Scandinavian countries that have to legally change to winter tyres every October.

Thanks for that and thanks to them too! I got a replacement part worn Bridgestone Potenza for the first time recently following a unrepairable puncture .. great as it meant I didn't have uneven tyres on same axle.

Vicxas

With 20% wear, how much thread degredation is that? Sorry if its a stupid question.

Lady Kia

Part worn tyres are not a good option in any circumstance. If a person has spent a lot of money on a car, why on earth would put someone else's cast offs on it? Forget about all the bling on the car - the tyres are the only part of it that connects with the road.

Lady Kia

creedp wrote: »

As a matter of interest why is is possible to source so many part worn premium tyres? Who takes them off with so little wear on them?

Germany's legal minimum tread depth is 3mm. In Ireland it is 1.6mm.
A new tyre has 8/9mm of tread on it. When the tyre wears to 5mm, it is 47% worn. At 3mm, a tyre is 78% worn, its past its best, the level of performance in the wet, in particular, starts to deteriorate, as does its dry handling characteristics. At 2mm - it is 94% worn, At 1.6mm - it is 100% knackered.

The reality is that since tyres are now a global commodity it would almost require a global adoption of 3mm as a minimum. It doesn't take an Einstein to counter the arguments against 3mm, but until the legislation is in place you can make up your own mind, scrape by on 1.6mm, or be safe on 3mm.