Nankang NS2R Reviews - Page 2

There will be better tires out there without doubt. But as a track-orientated road tire at a reasonable price these are great and I would definitely buy them again.

The dry grip and handling is good, although the difference from more traditional road-orientated tread patterned tires wasn't as much as I expected. For example, comparing them to the Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3, if I'm fairly near the limit on the F1A3 with plenty of tire squeal, on the NS2R I can match lap times with little or no squeal - it's still toward the upper end of their limits but with just a bit more margin.

The wet performance is surprisingly good in my experience (although i have read some negative comments from other people about this). I did a track day at the Nordschleife in the wet. Grip and handling was nice and predictable (although I don't think I took them near near the limits as I do in the dry, due to lack of experience in the wet and fear of putting my car in a wall or barrier!). Aquaplaning didn't seem to be an issue at all, even at 120mph in a straight line in very wet conditions!

Tire wear is very good indeed, considering the use (mostly track driving and often fairly near the limits of grip). At least, it is when run at appropriate pressures and staying off the more vicious kerbs!

In the dry the NS2R is noisy in the cabin, which doesn't matter if its primarily a track tire but might be more of a concern to some people for road use. It is also difficult to balance on the wheel, which may be due to poorer quality control than more premium tire brands, leading to uneven weight distribution? To help with that, make sure the yellow dot on the side wall is aligned with the valve.

I'm planning to try the AR1 next, for dry conditions, with the F1A3 as wet backup. But if you're in the market for a decent track-oriented all-rounder at a reasonable price, I think the NS2R is worth considering.

I've ran one set of these just on the front wheels and currently run them on all 4. Pretty solid in the dry but you won't get the most out of them unless you get them hot.... You won't be getting them hot from road driving quite frankly. In the wet these tires are quite dangerous. Very, very slippery and being semi-slick they like to hydroplane. Definitely exercise a lot of caution driving these in the wet, have to be very careful with acceleration around corners. These have nearly cost me my car after being the slightest bit too heavy on the throttle out of a very slippery corner. In short I only recommend these if you're looking for some cheaper tires that you can take to the track and drive around on through the week. They probably won't reach their ideal temperature from spirited mountain driving, so basically don't bother with these tires if you don't track your car at all. I don't think there's much to really compare these to at least around the smaller 195/55 R15 size I run, all other semi-slicks are more expensive and RE003's don't quite match the dry grip of these supposedly.

Replaced a set of Toyo TR1's with these, the 205's are actually 215 wide. They look good too. Much stiffer sidewall giving better turn in and much more direct steering. They don't roll over onto the sidewall either, so the tread stays in contact with the road with no squealing. Dry handling on road or track is excellent with solid feel, good turn in and they hold on well when loaded. Straight line and corner braking performance is very good, solid and confidence inspiring. They will progressively understeer at the limit under power, but that's 200hp in a fwd car. If they do lose traction, they recover easily. Surprisingly good on wet road and track, but they won't cope with much standing water. They're probably quite high rolling resistance, being a sport oriented tire. Low noise levels as long as you don't drive along the cats eyes. Relatively hard ride due to the firm sidewalls. They appear to be wearing ok. I don't expect too much due to the occasional track day. They are a relatively inexpensive road/track tire. Excellent for the price and I'd buy again for the Lotus, but not for my daily.

1998 Dodge Neon: Race day 2019 Road Atlanta. Temps. 328F and Snowing. Okay from the heading you should see that there is snow on the track. SNOW ON THE TRACK !!! I am writing this to some of those dim-whits that think than when some here say or that the company promotes that these are good in the wet, chances are that they MIGHT be pretty good in the wet ! Should you check your speed...YES. Its a Extreme summer performance tire ! Meaning its got compounds for the dry, with some elements and silcia mixed in to stick in the wet. How many here have performed actual racing on tires ? All just track day guys? When you're racing amongst race cars, all on different types of tires, some prepared for the wet, others not so prepared. The difference is a tire enstilling confidence for the driver that the car will stick in the corners and brake zones is what sets a tire apart from others. On these Nankang's we were running circles around the competition ! A dry track turned wet. I was in the Neon, when that wet started showing up, i turned on the heat and went for it abd pushed hard. Collected 15 positions in my drive time in a 2 day endurance race. It started snowing during my stint as well as into the other drivers on my team. Was the car slippery ? Yes..Yes it was. But what i was able to do is to predict that over steer, grab it, and get back on gas stronger than the competition. Alot of you guys here would say that this is a terrible rain tire due to your pure impression that you should be able to hold the same speeds as in the dry. Very few wet tires can actually do that. But you cant tell if youre doing any better or not than the competiton. John here in Tire Review does a great job of determining wet tire characterisitics. Some of these reviewers however just puke their guts to say that this tire or that tire is just terrible or that they wrecked their car. Its hard to read some of these inputs and then put my reviews of the tire on here to share with others and thisnk, am I wrong or are they !?!? My impression. I like these tires. Are there better ones? Sure. I really really like the Conti Extreme Contact. Raced those at Road Atlanta as well in 2018. Cooooollld, Rainy. The 1989 Ford Mustang was running circles around the competiton. No Stock Mustang is supposed to do that in the wet BTW. We came prepared with these tires. TOOOOONS of cornering grip with the Contis. Did they slip ? SUUURE! But i was also going waaaay faster than the other cars. With that said, the Nankangs are a good cheap tire to try. Good dry, good wet, Good, cheap tire to try. Will review Khumo Ecsta V730 in 1989 Mustang coming shortly. Sorry for the rant Chaps (My Brits Friends).

When you read online feedback (for anything, not just tires) people tend to do it very early on, you do wonder how the product faired long term. Tire was a 225/45/17 on a Mk3 MX5 so not a very heavy car. We never ran these in very hot conditions, both times about 15'c ambient. My experience of these is on the first time out on track they were fine, they take a couple of laps to warm up and the rear could step out until they were up to temp, but after that were ok. Second time out on track on a different date they were pretty useless. Just very little grip no matter how long we ran them. The suspension setup was the same, but we were softening the damping all day to try and find some grip. They're also very noisy on the road, not only normal tire roar from having a lot of rubber and less groove, but also they make a throbbing noise like a bearing or the diff was on the way out. They are at least half the cost of any other track tire out there and it shows, I won't be using them again.

Just a word on these on initial fitting. I had a set put on my spare set of wheels for a track day. They came with the releasing agent still on them and in the damp it was like driving on ice. Once this layer is gone (doesn't take much, a few miles maybe) then they grip really well. BUT - don't assume you can put them on a road car and drive in the wet without scuffing the releasing agent off of them first. Now to the tires - I ran these on my mini over the winter and other than being a bit lacking grip in frosty conditions early in the morning, they coped fine, even in the wet. Stiff sidewalls and a very 'square' profile, and not the lightest of tires either but semi-slicks/slicks aren't light anyway due to the stiffer construction. On the track they have been fine so far. 2 track days and 1000 miles or so on the road and I've taken 2mm off the fronts (car is 200bhp roughly). I'm sure with some more spirited track work I would expect them to last another 3-4 track days for me at least.