The Nankang AR 1 is a trackday semi-slick with strong dry grip and generally positive steering feedback. Wet braking, handling and aquaplaning are substantial compromises in its single test, while owner reports on heat resistance and wear vary.
The quick answer
Owners say75%from 38 owner reviews88% would buy againRead the reviews
Strengths & weaknessesDry, ValueWetRelative to its rivals across every test we hold
Built from every independent test result and vetted owner review we hold for this tire - the evidence is all further down the page. Data updated September 2025.
Across the 1 wet-braking test it has featured in, the Nankang AR 1 stops 23.9% longer than premium rivals and 35.6% longer than mid-range rivals. It has a Tire Reviews wet score of 3/100, and owners rate it 4.5/10 in the wet from 38 reviews.
How good is the Nankang AR 1 in the dry?
Across the 1 dry-braking test it has featured in, the Nankang AR 1 stops 4.3% shorter than premium rivals and 3.7% shorter than mid-range rivals. It has a Tire Reviews dry score of 85/100, and owners rate it 9.1/10 in the dry from 38 reviews.
How fuel efficient is the Nankang AR 1?
Across the 1 test measuring rolling resistance, the Nankang AR 1's rolling resistance is 6% higher than premium rivals and 2% higher than mid-range rivals.
What do owners say about the Nankang AR 1?
Across 38 owner ratings the Nankang AR 1 averages 75%. Owners rate Dry Grip highest at 9.1 out of 10 and Wet Grip lowest at 4.5. 2 of those reviews come from owners past 10,000 miles. 73% of owners score it 70% or better.
How comfortable and quiet are the Nankang AR 1?
Owners rate the Nankang AR 1 6.5 out of 10 for comfort and noise across 32 reviews.
More questions about the Nankang AR 1(5)
How well do the Nankang AR 1 wear, according to owners?
Owners rate the Nankang AR 1 7 out of 10 for wear across 32 reviews. 2 of those reviews come from owners past 10,000 miles, and the typical review covers 500 miles.
Would owners buy the Nankang AR 1 again?
88% of owners say they would buy the Nankang AR 1 again, based on the 34 owner reviews that answered the question. 56% of them gave it the highest possible answer.
What do owners say about the Nankang AR 1's dry grip?
Of the 31 owner reviews analyzed for the Nankang AR 1, 24 mention dry grip: 22 praise it (strong dry grip) and 2 criticise it (limited dry grip). One owner wrote: "Grips better than 100utqg nt01". Read those reviews
What do owners say about the Nankang AR 1's tread life?
Of the 31 owner reviews analyzed for the Nankang AR 1, 11 mention tread life: 7 praise it (long-lasting) and 4 criticise it (wears quickly). One owner wrote: "These refused to fail after an intense day on a very warm tarmac". Read those reviews
What do owners say about the Nankang AR 1's steering feel?
Of the 31 owner reviews analyzed for the Nankang AR 1, 10 mention steering feel: 8 praise it (precise steering) and 2 criticise it (vague steering). One owner wrote: "Great feedback, turn in sharp". Read those reviews
It would be great to have a big review on track tires with this tire + all other semi slicks/track tires like the Michelin PS Cup 2, Toyo R888, Federals and so on!
Dry grip is the clear owner strength of the Nankang AR 1, praised by 22 of 31 owners, with steering feel and dry handling also more often positive. Twenty of 32 reviews are positive overall, averaging 69.8%. Wet grip attracts complaints from about one in six owners, though three praise it, so experiences are not unanimous. Heat resistance is evenly split, while tread life draws more praise than criticism but varies substantially with use. One owner remained positive in a mid-life update, but that single experience cannot establish a shared ageing pattern; the broader feedback favors dry track use more clearly than consistent wet or sustained hot-lap performance.
What owners mention most counted across 31 reviews
Tap one to read only the reviews that mention it.
Owner ratings averaged from 38 ratings
Owner score75%
Dry Grip91%
Handling87%
Road Feedback85%
Wear70%
Comfort65%
Wet Grip45%
Featured reviews
Most helpful 52%
“Used as a track-only tire (forced by the regs of the time attack series in which I participate) on clubsport-spec MX-5 NC (200hp/1150kg with driver and fuel). Soft-ish compound - below 15 degrees Celsius requires very...”
“I initially opted to fit the AR1 semi-slicks at the rear of my vehicle while waiting for the a050 to become available again. To my surprise, the AR1s provided a lifespan of over 7000 km on the rear, which is impressive...”
“I have these on my 650-700kw rwd skyline. Grips better than 100utqg nt01. Not better than Mickey street R. Mickey's don't fishtail but these do SLIGHTLY on full power 2nd gear which is impressive. Obviously no slip in...”
I have these on my 650-700kw rwd skyline. Grips better than 100utqg nt01. Not better than Mickey street R. Mickey's don't fishtail but these do SLIGHTLY on full power 2nd gear which is impressive. Obviously no slip in the wet compared to Mickey's when cruising 100kmh on the highway rain. Perfect for a high performance daily just don't be a hoon in the wet. Wear is much better than nt01 and Mickey's which only last 1 year. These ar1 are at over a year still plenty to go. Never aligned since installedd lol still chunky. 100% buy again for purely the dry grip on full power. Wet grip on daily and long life compared to other semi slicks. Best I had. I've tried nt01 nt05 rsrr r1r mtComp. etStreetR. best overall balance for a high performance rwd daily.
Used as a track-only tire (forced by the regs of the time attack series in which I participate) on clubsport-spec MX-5 NC (200hp/1150kg with driver and fuel). Soft-ish compound - below 15 degrees Celsius requires very little warm-up, above - none needed. Good performance to price ratio, although it's noticeably slower on hot days. Subjective handling is ok - it isn't super edgy at the limit (for a track tire), but also isn't dull and understeery. Very stiff sidewall. On my car it survives ca. 600 track miles, with small but noticeable performance drop-off at ca. 400 miles. The tread might not hint at it, but it's quite ok in wet (for a semislick, of course) - I guess the relative softness of the compound helps. Can be run with absurdly low tire pressures, even below Nankang's recommendations (the lowest I've ran was 1,4 bar cold - first hot lap was sketchy but the following ones were good). The road manners are obviously terrible, but this isn't unexpected with this type of tire.
Check out how the BEST all seasons tires perform against premium summer and winter tires!
Running these tires in autocross events in Swift Sport, they need an effort to be driven to the limit, glues to the track, runs happy with modified suspension and negative camber, tire presssure plays vital role on how they perform, day and night difference in performance at different psi’s
Which tires do you drive?
Researching the Nankang AR 1? Rate the tires you actually drive - and help the next buyer choose.
Tires which replaced the excellent Yoko A052. I was disappointed because they were worn out in less than 1500km of dynamic roads and passes. They are worse in all areas than the Yokohama. They are certainly cheaper but last 3x less long. They are also unstable at temperature and are not suitable for even very dynamic road use. The positive point is the feeling and feedback which is very good, very progressive, which allows you to slide easily and without being surprised. I will have tried..
R34 RWD G35 turbo 700WHP rolls/straights.
Slight spin on boost 1st gear compared to Mickey ET Street(no spin, rolls- not launches). Better than R888R(spins 1st + 2nd + slight 3rd since day1. Won't get r888r ever again. AR1 definitely grips very well. finally back in control after 2 years of horrid r888r. Just bought last week. Turning feels great but I'm no circuit expert. Used to have slight oversteer before now it's perfect.
I initially opted to fit the AR1 semi-slicks at the rear of my vehicle while waiting for the a050 to become available again. To my surprise, the AR1s provided a lifespan of over 7000 km on the rear, which is impressive for a front-wheel drive car. Upon first use, the tires performed as expected for semi-slicks, offering a satisfactory driving experience. However, towards the end of their lifespan, I experienced an unpleasant increase in tire noise, drone and vibration, which was unusual compared to my experiences with other brands of semi-slicks.
When it comes to wet performance, the AR1s were the worst semi-slicks I have used. They lacked progression when breaking traction, and I consider myself lucky to have avoided any incidents on wet roads. I ultimately decided to swap back to the a050 tires once they became available again, as they provide a better driving experience in both wet and dry conditions.
Has anyone else experienced explosive detonation like some one hit you and popped the car into the air with these AR1tires from Nankang? I experienced this just after turning in at a high speed corner of the nordschliefe at Nürburg. Needless to say at 100 mph entering this turn in a 992 GT3 it was quite frightening. Luckily escaped without damage to car or injury but a 100 mph off in this corner can be deadly so watch out if using these for multiple hot laps. No mechanical damage or failure was found and the car is brand new practically.
These replaced outgoing R888R’s. Initially feel is they warm up very quickly which is great, very responsive on the turn in but felt a bit more understeer than I got with the Toyo’s.
Feedback through steering wheel is great and can feel where the car is at all time.
Outright grip I’d say initially Toyo seems better BUT I’ve only put about 500 miles on them and a travkday at abingdon which is very poor tarmac/concrete surface so not a fair test.
Would I buy again? I’ll have to do another 2 or 3 trackdays on them as the Toyo’s gave me around 5000 road miles and 3 trackdays (averaging around 200 miles driving each trackday). But initially I’d say yes.
these are trackday tires and i use them only on track or transfers from home to track.
the grip is great, even better than Toyo R888R i have used before, consistent performance lap after lap. cornering speed is great!
on wet surface it is better to stay at home or cruise at low speed.
street usability is fine as long as you use them for short distances, you can feel every pothole, even the smallest
my car is a 2016 Mazda MX-5 with no mods other than Tein dampers
Would be really nice to get a comparison of Semi Slicks. Drove the AR1 two times now on the GR Yaris and the Cup2 previously on the M2. Was not so impressed with the Cup2s overall. Going from stock PS4S 225/40 18 to AR1 in 255/35 18 (-3 camber in the front) is a different world. But wear is pretty high. Would be nice to see how they stack up versus other Semi slicks, like 888R, Federals or Yokohams or even slicks. There really is no up to date semi slicks track test.
Tire sizes could differ from the spec sheet... what matters more is the real width in MM... i.e. Cup2s 255s are much wider then AR-1 255s etc. What matters more for track is what's available and what fits.
Thanks for all the great work. Enjoying the channel :)
Member
Renault
225/45 R17
Track
Spirited
We run a proffesional motorsport team in terms of how it operated and amatuer in terms of the FIA motorsport coffee drinking, price increasing stamp duty dudes.
Our car is Renault Twingo R2 EVO homalated fromt RS133 Apart from the shell of cup there is not much cariierd over from the cup rs133. The dry weight is 650 kg but ballasted to 1250 for FIA event @ 205 HP @ 2WD Front.
We have spent alot of time on tires and suspension and we very inpressed with these tires and that of the Toyo R888R. The Nankings A1 do have the edge on the track where as Toyo R888R have the edge on the country roads We run a full coil over Ohlins kit weighted and balanced.
The A1 are perfect for track days and offer a super glue grip but they need a bit of suspension set up and fixed suspension systems will not release the full potential of the the tire. A perfect track for testing a car setup is Cadwell Park.
In regards to price they are well priced for what they offer
We do pre heat them to what we feel is best on the day and tire pressure is critical for these tires.
In regards to comment of they cheap tires, well when your using 2 or 3 sets a weekend it can be costly tire.
If your really chasing points and seconds then these would be ok but you would be better of with the Perrelli RK5 tire compound.
As I tell my kids who drive the R2- As driver we can set it up the best we can but you have to learn to drive it into its limits. Feed back from the tires are good unlike the scary R888R that seem to stick like glue but then let go in rapido mode.
