Nankang NS2

Not good when roads are a bit damp, not so bad when the roads are very wet, can’t even pull away with hardly any throttle without wheelspin so do not inspire confidence, they remind me of Pirelli’s that were fitted to my previous Jaguar Xj8, was like skating on ice if the roads were damp, especially if salted. They were on the car when I bought it and decided I will buy new 19” wheels and try different make of tyres, I wouldn’t buy the Nankangs

Review of these Nankang Ns2's on my buddy's E46 215/35R19 85Y XL on a 8.5J rim, nice stretch, load rating plenty for a E46. First of, I recommended these tyres for him because he wanted a cheap, aggressive threaded tyre, with a rotation thread pattern. There isn't much to choose in 215/35R19. Hankook and Kumho too expensive, dont want unknown brands, so Nankang was about the only way to go. We specifically chose the NS2'S over the NS20'S because of better looks and similar reviews. Btw, if you find the Nankang NS2 Ultra Sports, those are the same as when you order regular NS2'S. Both have NS2 Ultra Sport written on the sidewall. Speaking of the sidewall, it's a very boring one, nothing special. Now, we only have these on the car for a few weeks now, and we really needed to break-in the tyres, driving carefully for the first 50 to 100 miles. First things that stand out, the noise, of boy they are noisy! But they give a lot of feedback! They are really stiff as well, mind you the sidewall is nearly nonexistent and his cold pressure is like 2.7 Bar and warmed up 3.0 Bar. Comparing to his old tyres, Hankook Ventus Evo 3's in 225/40R19 (93Y) XL (way to big for a lowered E46, he grabbed the tyre size of a E46 M3), the Nankangs have a little less grip, and dont give you as much confidence to push harder. Haven't tested in (heavy) rain yet, but we are expecting significant reduced grip, but that's to be forgiven. I wouldn't recommend these for the average driver, but for a project car and for the driver that can handle the noise, grip and probably wear, I would recommend them!

Update: After some more daily driving (I'm the back seat driver), we've decided that these are excellent budget tires! 215/35R19 on a 8.5J Reverse Mount wheel, stretched the tire a bit, but this is awfull for every day driving! Not the tire's fault, but we wanted a little stretch. Dry: Great, just needs some heat and then they grip nicely. Wet: We thought that this would be awfull, but no. Just a little warm up and it grips like a rain tire! We were only able to slide on manholes, but back on asphalt, it just wouldn't let go! Feedback: Not so good, i think it's because of the stretched tires. Handling: Just ok. Again, stretched tires are to blame. Wear: Good, nothing extremely bad, maybe the inside over time because my friend is stubborn and didn't align the rear. Comfort: Does not apply on this setup. 215/35R19 stretched on a old, lowered E46 doesn't equal comfort. Do I recommend this tire? Not for most people, but this is exactly what WE wanted. Aggressive thread, not to expensive, a tire brand I've heard of, cheap, wonky sizes. For us, it's perfect!

Very good at how much they cost. The single problem is when you don t use your car they make a flat spot first kilometers.

I been using the nankang ns2 tire for a couple of years, the noise of the tire is terrible rating it from 1 to 10 I would say it’s 9 it’s too loud. The braking in summer time is good it also grip well in the corner. The braking in rainy and wet season is average I don’t push it too hard. The comfort is 1 out of 10 is only 1 the tire itself is harf with a 400 tread wear. If you have a budget get some nice tire, but if the noise is not your concern it is a good choice.

Used them on a trackprepared Saxo 1.1i 60 hp. Confident grip in dry and wet conditions. I think it's a good tyre. And not too expensive either. But it wears fast. I did 1 trackday on the wet, it was ok. But after a second trackday in the dry (I admit I was pushing to the limit), they wore off very fast which makes me hesitant to use them one more time or not. But the grip is convincing.

Tyres lasted only 12000 miles of normal motorways driving!!! They wear extremely fast. I would highly recommend NOT to buy them. It just doesn't make sense economically. The grip on wet is non existent, dry grip is a bit better. There are much better options for the same price or cheaper.

Fitted these as wanted a cheaper tyre that would last longer than more track inspired tyres. Give good grip in the dry, better than anything in its price range, wet grip suffers slightly. No noticible road noise, but that's mainly as they are fitted to a noisy car. The feel is much better than other tyres of similar size, and a vast improvement over the tour sports in the same size. have pushed the tyres beyond their limit, but are very predictable and give confidence with progressive grip. There are better tyres, but start at twice the price and last just as long, not as grippy as a toyo a539 but that's to be expected.

Extremely rapid wear considering I don’t drive in exuberance. Very uneven wear both across and around the circumference of the tyre. Replaced like for like on the rear of the car knowing they were not a premium brand since I was deciding whether I would keep the car long term and did not expect a huge mileage from them but 4,500 miles is a massive disappointment.

Poor grip in the dry. Dangerous in the wet. Noisy. Some years ago I wrote off my Falcon after skidding into a Toyota during a downpour.. My car slid for ~15m before impact. This was at 50km/h. Stick with Michelin - literally.

Used on a road rally car fwd. dry driving ok. If pressures are high good turn in response .

Wet weather , shocking on stopping , 888 much better. Understeers also . I put them on the rear in end as wanted to stop!

Tyre looks good on rim nice and wide but wet weather capabilities are so poor won't buy again .

Normal tyres in dry conditions, far from a top tyre but decents. With water/rain grip is not good at all.
Not recommended.

These Nankang Ns20 are ok for the price BUT for the same price,you can get better tires.they didn't last me very long! That is the reason why i didn't buy them again. I had bought a four tires for my wife's car and they were surprisingly very comfortable,quiet and looked nice(225/40/18 ) so i then bought 2 tires for my car (215/45/17 ) and i noticed the tires weren't as comfortable as it was before and it had no rim protection lip at all,which made them look kinda like a donut tire lol luckily they didnt last me a long time..but other then that,they are ok. I didn't buy them again though & i wouldn't recommend these tires to anyone.

This tyres are ok if you are on asphalt paved road very quiet but if your on cemented road your car will feel they are 10yrs old very noisy tires. But if you dont mind the noise then the grip is ok. This are cheap tyres so dont expect too much.

Good tyres and value for money. Only down side is the rear tyres feathered a bit and made a little more road noise.
Otherwise all good.