well someone had to try them.Nankang ns-2r + 520hp car =???
Discussion
i see alot of people mentioning the nankang ns-2r semi slick ,well I've actually just fitted a set to my 520+ hp z4m.... I've tried all the top tier stuff but this year was strapped for cash and came across these, so basically I'm giving these a go, they cost quite abit less, sizing wise i went with the 235/40 and the 265/35 18s , the tyres themselves run very wide however, the rear basically 275 section width from my measurements . On handling the tyres off the rim, the tyre was heavy, the sidewall is super stiff too, i went for the 120 TWR version, these will be doing their first track day within 4 weeks hopefully, i have currently only done literally 20 miles and haven't used them in anger, so.... this will either be a great move and will change my tyre choice of the future or it will be a complete failure making my very powerful car even more of a handful, only time will tell. First impressions are Good however, they even look very cool. If anyone else has tried these please put up a review here as i really couldn't find many reviews, however the ones i did find were very positive :-)
things to note,
my car doesn't see rain so won't be able to give wet weather review.
The tyre needed much less wheel weights to get balanced.
The ride is very hard, worse than a pilot cup imo.
Tread depth is very good 7mm i think.
Great rim protection ( 8.5" FR 9.5 Rear)
They don't seem too good from cold (expected)
They are very noisy, the same noise a 888 makes :-(
Full detailed review with pics of wear after first trackday coming soon :-)
things to note,
my car doesn't see rain so won't be able to give wet weather review.
The tyre needed much less wheel weights to get balanced.
The ride is very hard, worse than a pilot cup imo.
Tread depth is very good 7mm i think.
Great rim protection ( 8.5" FR 9.5 Rear)
They don't seem too good from cold (expected)
They are very noisy, the same noise a 888 makes :-(
Full detailed review with pics of wear after first trackday coming soon :-)
Edited by Beedub on Saturday 3rd May 19:33
Edited by Beedub on Saturday 3rd May 19:57
nixon1 said:
I have these on my Audi S4 and I'm really pleased with them. I agree that they are very stiff, and mine have quite a lot of road noise over 60mph.
I went with the softest compound and so far I've had the pleasure of the NS2R hanging on for dear life, whereas previously I'd be enjoying understeer. They get warm quickly too and they are nice and sticky. Maybe they're a well kept secret....
My flamesuit is on too! But these tyres are being used in some championships (as they are on the MSA 1b list) and so far "people on the web" are posting good feedback; myself included!
With the prices of yoko and the other track suspects going up, I reckon these will be commonplace soon, despite the naysayers
great to see your feedback, and i concur. For me personally I'm simply FED UP of spending a fortune on top level rubber , i did a little research into these and the federal 595rsr and found them to be potential unsung hero's, the only thing that put me off the federal was the cracking i KEPT reading about. I had actually came across some championships using the ns-2r as the control tyre so felt their were worth the chance and so far I'm very happy, if they do what i think they will on my upcoming track day, i won't be buying premium track day rubber again. I though it would be good to make a proper thread on these and compile some data. Thanks for chiming in here nixon :-) what sizes did you purchase? I went with the softest compound and so far I've had the pleasure of the NS2R hanging on for dear life, whereas previously I'd be enjoying understeer. They get warm quickly too and they are nice and sticky. Maybe they're a well kept secret....
My flamesuit is on too! But these tyres are being used in some championships (as they are on the MSA 1b list) and so far "people on the web" are posting good feedback; myself included!
With the prices of yoko and the other track suspects going up, I reckon these will be commonplace soon, despite the naysayers
Edited by nixon1 on Saturday 3rd May 21:56
nixon1 said:
I purchased the 235/40/18s from tyreleader.
The Max 5 2014 (MX-5) championship is using it:
Class B: 195/50 x 15 Hancook K110 Ventus V12 or Federal 595 RSR or Branded Nankang NS-2R
Class A: 215/45 x 17 Federal 595 RSR or Branded Nankang NS-2R
By coincidence I was running the Ventus V12 and they were great for my normal commute but they didn't like the heavy audi and were screechy things. They also had a tendency to let go quickly and weren't very progressive. The Nankang has more grip for sure and I'm guessing they'll need replacing a lot quicker.
, I'm benching marking these against the ad08 ( which they have alot of similarities to), the big test coming soon for me, my car is relatively heavy, has huge power and has proper track setup 3 way coil overs , 6 pot brakes so they will get a serious workout, after one sprint session i'll know how i feel about these....... i have a feeling I'm going to get a very pleasant surprise!! The Max 5 2014 (MX-5) championship is using it:
Class B: 195/50 x 15 Hancook K110 Ventus V12 or Federal 595 RSR or Branded Nankang NS-2R
Class A: 215/45 x 17 Federal 595 RSR or Branded Nankang NS-2R
By coincidence I was running the Ventus V12 and they were great for my normal commute but they didn't like the heavy audi and were screechy things. They also had a tendency to let go quickly and weren't very progressive. The Nankang has more grip for sure and I'm guessing they'll need replacing a lot quicker.
Pork_n_Beem said:
Used in Funcup endurance championship as control tyre. Sidewalls as mentioned are stiff, too early to say how "good" they are but wet grip was OK provided some temps were in the tyre. Cold grip is as expected and first few laps on brand new are a little surprising in that grip is minimal but that changes after 5 or so laps. After 4 hours, wear was low compared to our previous "road" control tyre.
have you used other semi slicks and how would you compare?? once worn in, how was dry grip levels?? DaveH23 said:
thats not the tyre we are talking about???we are talking about the ns-2R, the semi slick r-comp , you've linked their normal road range.
REALLY pleased to be reading this tbh..... Need to just find some time to run the car and scrub these tyres in.... Struggling between work and family ATM.. track day have been put back to JULY :-(
So between then and now, i really just want to get some decent seat time in :-) ill report back with some hard street use when the decent weather arrives ( hopefully).
So between then and now, i really just want to get some decent seat time in :-) ill report back with some hard street use when the decent weather arrives ( hopefully).
Pork_n_Beem said:
Only tyres used on funcup have been Uniroyal Rain road tyres and BF Goodrich fast road tyre. so no comparison to offer with this car. However I have run Corsa R, Corsa System, Yoko 08, hankook on other cars and hot grip is comparable, what we have noticed is that the tyre does not like to slide, grip drop off when the slip angle increases is more noticeable than a lot of more traditional track type tyres, I think this maybe a function of the overall stiffness of the tyre. we are still early days yet and almost certainly have not got the best out of them.
very interesting.... PLEASE keep reporting back here, from what I've seen this is the ONLY thread giving some real detail on these puppies....AdamGP said:
Would you say these are too harsh and loud for anything more than a weekend/track toy?
well, I've run over a drain cover a recently which had a certain "DIP" to it, nothing substantial and the feeling that shuddered through the whole car made me wince. Now my car does have track 3 way kw competition suspension so its always been harsh but it definitely worse with ALL of these type of semi slicks, from what I'm seeing these would definitely be streetlable, but the whirring noise that sounds EXCATLY the same as a 888 is extremely annoying, again, one of those things with these tyres, from cold they seem pretty s
t tbh... i prob won't be able to comment on wet weather performance but looking at the tread pattern i think they'd be pretty decent ( see my first pics) .These are the real deal when it comes to dry grip however... no doubt about it.
But to answer your question the ride is very harsh with these in place, which i expected tbh.
Again massive thanks for everyone adding in on this thread. Looking forward to getting these on the track where the slip angels increase, I'm interested in a comment earlier that suggest these are too happy sliding around ( Not that i do that intentionally , my car does have a good gob of power and exiting with decent throttle application has the tyres slipping easily, i look forward to putting some real stress on these, with my cars weight 1350kg+ i think any pitfalls will quickly be realised i agree with whats been posted on scrub in, they need a good few miles.
Trev450 said:
I guess that answers my question as to their suitability for sprinting.
hmmmm.. my first track outing this year is a sprint session at curborough on the new figure 8 course. i would think with a higher ambient temp they'll be better from the off, from my experience all these type of tyres aren't great from cold, and come with the territory.
Trev450 said:
I would very much like to hear your feedback on them after this sprint.
I'm currently using 888's and there are maybe 2 events left in them before I have to replace them. Although I'm happy with the performance of them, like you and many others, I'm finding the price of them hard to justify.
i feel your pain.... i actually got to to the point this year where i genuinely couldn't afford the premium price which forced this move and.... well..... I'm VERY pleased so far and I'm pretty much convinced my tyre snob days are over, all its done is cost me a fortune.I'm currently using 888's and there are maybe 2 events left in them before I have to replace them. Although I'm happy with the performance of them, like you and many others, I'm finding the price of them hard to justify.
Don't know if this makes a Diff to people but if you have a tight arch clearance be careful on ordering, my rear 265 actually measures 273 and my front 235 was 241 in total section width, they run wide with a very square shoulder like a 888.
spent ALL day on these yesterday at the track and put the hurt on them, the really took a beating....
will write a detailed review later. Managed a time of 1.29.3 which i was told in my class is only beaten by a 400+ hp evo X, so fastest on the day for class and second overall on the leaderboard, not quite fair class ratings with the 4wd benefit, usually 4wd has it own class, this was also my First time around the track on the new configuration so overall very pleased with the result...
as a summary the tyre don't give the 888 confidence for me but jesus no high end ROAD based tyre for example PSS, PS2, the new continentals, goodyears are matching these for dry grip again not really a fair comparison due to their semi slick nature but just giving some examples.
i would say these are 70% of the 888 tyre for huge cost less which for me cant be ignored, i WILL buy again but in the meanwhile need to change some settings on the car itself, with a brave pill taken i reckon a 1.27 is possible, I'm braking early and taking corners with a too much caution, however cur borough has no runs offs so I'm always alittle wary,
will write a detailed review later. Managed a time of 1.29.3 which i was told in my class is only beaten by a 400+ hp evo X, so fastest on the day for class and second overall on the leaderboard, not quite fair class ratings with the 4wd benefit, usually 4wd has it own class, this was also my First time around the track on the new configuration so overall very pleased with the result...
as a summary the tyre don't give the 888 confidence for me but jesus no high end ROAD based tyre for example PSS, PS2, the new continentals, goodyears are matching these for dry grip again not really a fair comparison due to their semi slick nature but just giving some examples.
i would say these are 70% of the 888 tyre for huge cost less which for me cant be ignored, i WILL buy again but in the meanwhile need to change some settings on the car itself, with a brave pill taken i reckon a 1.27 is possible, I'm braking early and taking corners with a too much caution, however cur borough has no runs offs so I'm always alittle wary,
QBee said:
You must have gone out with Jony (Rib) then in his somewhat incomplete Chimaera 430 - his 1.25.5 was the fastest of the TVR group despite having the second least power at around 275 bhp. Just goes to show that on a sprint course handling, driver skill and so on matter more than outright power. He is both smooth and aggressive, something I struggle to be (both at the same time, I mean)
I was there too in the slightly battered navy Chimaera (I came and had a look at your car during the day - superb piece of engineering) and I managed a 1.28.0 in the morning session on 300 bhp.
I noticed that all the TVRs ( except the Tuscan that broke its steering rack) were quicker than your BMW. You have a lovely car, but on that tight twisty track you seemed to have trouble getting the power down usefully. I know I had trouble both getting the power down AND keeping the bd on the track!!
I watched a few of your laps and I could see you were struggling with getting the power down usefully. I was faster last time out than a 500 bhp 6.3 litre LS engined TVR for the same reason.
And the Caterhams had us all thrashed - 1.21 was the fastest, but he is an ex-karting champion.
yeah i agree I'm pleased i hit under the 1.30 barrier BUT being my first time on the new configuration I'm actually pleased, with a little more work, i fully intend to slash that time further, watch this space :-)I was there too in the slightly battered navy Chimaera (I came and had a look at your car during the day - superb piece of engineering) and I managed a 1.28.0 in the morning session on 300 bhp.
I noticed that all the TVRs ( except the Tuscan that broke its steering rack) were quicker than your BMW. You have a lovely car, but on that tight twisty track you seemed to have trouble getting the power down usefully. I know I had trouble both getting the power down AND keeping the b
d on the track!! I watched a few of your laps and I could see you were struggling with getting the power down usefully. I was faster last time out than a 500 bhp 6.3 litre LS engined TVR for the same reason.
And the Caterhams had us all thrashed - 1.21 was the fastest, but he is an ex-karting champion.
i remember talking to you, very nice guy, and nice people out in general, traction was a REAL issue, I'm going to back off the aggression alittle on put some trust in and for it on the cross over section.... I'm braking way way to early on big braking zone too.... lots of time to be had!! I'm pretty certain ill be back next week for another go :-)
weight is also a large problem for me, but the car feels good...... But... on a close inspection of the tyre.. what did i find???? pic coming shortly..... Put it this way, explains EVERYthing i was saying to everyone that asked about the tyres on the day.
EDIT..
so on discovery it seems i have been shipped the "road" version of the tyre... you have the track TWR 120 and the road version TWR180 i never checked tbh but its clearly marked on the sidewall, so to get that time on those compound of tyre.... I'm actually quite pleased , however, let me get these swapped over and .... let me have another ago.... i think that time is about to tumble :-) i actually said to jonny , you car is has different level of grip as he took me for a passenger lap, I'm sure he can confirm that comment, even still the road version impresses me even more now, they took a bashing.... but they struggled to deal with my power output and got hot quite quick....
i'll get them swapped to the track version and lets talk again in a week :-) it will be nice to have a direct comparison with the road/track version.
on your 595rsr, i don't think that is a mould fail, as I've read year old threads saying the same thing... I'm pretty certain its a flaw with the design of the tyre, and I'm certain it will happen again.
Edited by Beedub on Friday 20th June 16:37
here is the link for the TWR designation for the street and track version ( which i had ordered )
http://www.nankang-tyre.com/home.php?fn=eng/produc...
http://www.nankang-tyre.com/home.php?fn=eng/produc...
These are absolutely imo the best budget option semi slicks thats offer premium level performance, I'm still on the road compound units, and for their dual use abilities, they are incredible, as i wasn't able to run them off as quickly as i hoped i cut a deal with my supplier who wrongly sent me the 180 TWR version or road version and now have a full set of the track compound units sat in my garage ready to go on, even with the road versions i have been top of my class in our local sprint track day scene pretty much all summer until recently, with the track versions on, i REALL expected to get that time down significantly. These tyres are absolutely incredible for the price point and with what I've experienced with the road version, i can't wait to try out the track versions.
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