Nankang NS-2

T

tommyboy

Member
My wife's Z4 is a bit of a handful to drive at the moment. We live in the country where the roads are in an atrocious condition with lots of overbanding etc, she also regularly commutes on the A14 which is heavily rutted with the constant artic lorry traffic. I think some non-runflats would seriously improve the handling of the car, it certainly did on our old Z4 where it really improved the ride, were much quieter and dramatically reduced the tramlining.
i have been looking around at online tyre prices and we can get a full set of nankang NS-2's for a fraction over £300. Does anyone have any experience of these on their Z? I know some people will frown and ask why i am not looking at unicorn skin inflated with the tears of mermaids but the car is not used for track days or driven anywhere near its limits on the public road so i am not sure expensive performance tyres are required.
Thanks for reading,
Tom
 
Just because you don't want high performance tyres it's no reason to fit ditch finders. Can't see why you want your wife to drive on cheap tyres. They grip less as in can't brake so well, wear faster and make a lot more noise. Economics and safety just don't stand up.

Go for some Falkens, vredsteins or Goodyear F1's for good value well liked tyres.
Lots of reviews on here.
 
cj10jeeper said:
Just because you don't want high performance tyres it's no reason to fit ditch finders. Can't see why you want your wife to drive on cheap tyres. They grip less as in can't brake so well, wear faster and make a lot more noise. Economics and safety just don't stand up.

Go for some Falkens, vredsteins or Goodyear F1's for good value well liked tyres.
Lots of reviews on here.
Click to expand...
X2....Review for Nankang are not very positive on this side of the pond. Good grip especially when wet for stopping is something I value over just about everything else including price.
 
Michelin pilot sport 3s are excellent, as are good years Eagle f1 Assymetric 2s if you're looking for a more performance oriented everyday tyre. Failing that within reason anything from Goodyear or Michelin or Vredstein as already said will do you well - even if it's not a performance oriented tyre the construction, compound and tread pattern all play an extremely important role in displacing water and giving the driver as much grip as possible.

I have had nankang NS-2s on an old 306 back when I was a student - they were fairly good as a summer tyre actually but they were truly woeful in the wet. I'd not look at them again - there are better summer tyres for the money and the likes of the Goodyear Eagle f1 Assymetric 2s I'm running now although slightly more expensive just outperform them in all weathers.

End of the day you really do get what you pay for with tyres I'm afraid...
 
You're right to be thinking of switching from runflats, I originally fitted Falkens which I really rate for the money and completely cured tramlining but wear slightly quicker than some others. I now have Goodyear Eagle F1A2's which offer marginally better wet performance and should last slightly longer but are slightly less comfortable. I'de shop around for any of the recommendations from members so far there are deals out there.
 
TBH the OP is obviously not looking at premium tyres in this case but a balance between cost and acceptable performance

Try Rainsport 3s - you can get these at very good price and performance is very good
 
I'm with the other on this, I've run budget Autogrip tyres on my DD for a couple of years, even though I drive like Miss Daisy these days I've still had a couple of hairy moments in the wet with the Autogrips, changing to Falken's is like night & day in terms of wet grip & also road noise is reduced, I can't comment on wear rates as yet.

An old cliché I know but your tyres are the only thing connecting you to the road & whilst your wife is undoubtedly a very safe driver there are plenty of other idiots that may put her safety into jeopardy, is your wife's safety worth saving less than a couple of hundred quid on decent tyres.

Also a +1 on the Vredestein range of tyres, a forum favourite for a mid price tyre.
 
Here's an independent review showing how woeful the nankang ns2's are and echoing all the comments made above. Second worst tyre tested with vredstein and f1's coming out way better.

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/2015-Auto-Bild-Performance-Tyre-Test.htm
 
It never ceases to surprise me when people try to skimp on the very thing that makes the car work safely. They're cheap for a reason and cutting corners, perhaps quite literally, could result in damaging a very expensive car or loss of life.

What is more important?
 
Another vote here for vredesteins, I've had them on a few cars and are an unbeatable balance of performance and value.
 
i had the NS2's on the rear of my Z for 2 years and although not amazing grip in the wet i never felt unsafe and believe me i had many hours of spirited driving in the Yorkshire dales and often pushed the car to the limit. i doubt the OP's wife is going to be trying to go sideways round corners. if you want a decent tyre without spending a fortune and you dont intend on pushing the rear tyres to the absolute max then i would recommend them
 
Tom don't buy cheap tyres as Maniac says they are cheap for a reason if you shop around you will find some great deals on quality tyres online I wouldn't dream of putting cheap tyres on my Zed and when it comes to replacing mine I will go with some Michelin Pilot Sports for sure.
 
Just look at the reviews online:

typical run flat:
http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Continental/Sport-Contact-3-SSR-Run-flat.htm

Nankang NS2:
http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Nankang/NS2.htm

Michelin Pilot Sport 3 PS3:
http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Michelin/Pilot-Sport-3-PS3.htm

To me it looks like changing tires to something cheap doesn't make sense.
 
It's interesting how different rubber suits different cars. the ns2 are getting popular and good reviews in the kit car world
 
domsz4 said:
It's interesting how different rubber suits different cars. the ns2 are getting popular and good reviews in the kit car world
Click to expand...

I think with tyre suggestions you have to look beyond some opinions. Many will justify a tyre on the basis that they bought it and therefore it must be good. I have been lucky enough with my sports cars and company cars to try a large number of different makes and see how they perform. I do tend to give my cars a bit of a thrashing over short bursts and like to push them during different conditions.

I have thought that certain tyres were good until I replaced them with a different make and judged them over the full life of the tyre. I am surprised with Falkens as I ran a full set on my Supra and the rears didn't last long. Paired the semi worn fronts (5mm tread left) with a new pair of Vreds on the rear and ran those tyres all the way to bald over a couple of years. Even when the Vreds were at the end of their life, the rear grip in the wet was so good compared to the Falkens on the front, it made the car under steer with 400Hp at the back... :o

H.
 
domsz4 said:
It's interesting how different rubber suits different cars. the ns2 are getting popular and good reviews in the kit car world
Click to expand...
Exactly. Its got to have something to do with a cars weight along with a lot of other things.
I have Avon ZZ5s on the front of the Mini and although they get good reviews.... on the Mini they are awful.
They probably would suit a heavier car as they dont inspire confidence in damp weather and spin a bit too easily.
They replaced ZZ3s that were great and I still have these on the rear.
I really should swap them onto the front to see what differences there are
 
I agree with what others have said. Why go for the cheap option when there are so many tried and tested forum favourites like Vreds, Falkens, Michelins etc that are known to perform well on the Z4.
 
I guess it also depends on what your after and the compound. The comparison on a westfield is to Toyo r1r in a medium soft compound. I wouldn't expect them to last a huge amount of time on a heavy car like the z. Likewise vreds/falken are s**t on the light car. Weirdly a few like the khumo.
 
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