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[racermp]

don't flame this NANKANGER!!! lol


just wanted to post a review since i had almost no luck finding one for this tire


so i had to get new tires and looking at reviews of more entry level tires (dunlop dz101, kumho ecsta, sumitomo hrz, pirelli etc) they all had similar reviews. great for freeway, not realy preformance tires.

my car
2006 e90 330i 6psd ZSP, ZPP, winter. stock 18's style 162 staggered. 65k miles.
225/40-18F ~ 255/35-18R

my drive
13 miles each way daily, freeway mostly. 2 miles each way city. occasional bumpy city road 1 mile at lunch.

Previous tire setups
stock sizes for all.

bridgestone rfts - yea rocks..... thought my car was crap and considered trading it for a 5 as all my previous 3/5 bmw's have been e39 5's. PSI - 38R, 35F. freeway expansion joint nightmare!

PZEROS - $200 replaced rears worn rft with used 7/32 pirelli pzeros. made a big difference in ride. felt planted and good. wet traction 4/5. PSI - 37R, 35F. ride quality improvement and quietness.

kumho ecsta spt- $110 replaced fronts with used also for testing purposes. OMG, after replacing all RFT's (6/32 remaining) to the used Kumho (8/32)front and pirelli rear (3/32) combo, the car drove closely to my e39. PSI - 36R, 34F. kumho did understeer quite a bit but was smooth. tires were slightly cupped from previous owner. slight rumble at low speeds but quiet and smooth on freeway. but soft tire. good for bumpy roads. all expansion joint sounds and harshness was gone from the car with this combo. but lack of road feel.

NANKANG AS-20 - all 4 new for 413 shipped w/tax for discount tire direct. 132 discount tire install with tire warantee.

first impressions - VERY quiet. not as soft as the kumhos. road feel is back slightly and it is exactly where i want it. tires seem to have better response but not rft response. i'm ok with that becuase i dont' want to drive an over excited puppy everyday. lol good over bumpy roads. excellent on freeway. discount set PSI - 45R, 36F. first 10 miles had a slightly jitter/not as planted as pirelli due to 45 psi. reduced to 38 psi and feels almost as good as pirelli. waiting to overcome breakin period to get better preformance.
spirited driving - aa i'll come back after a few thousand miles for that, still not past break in. but daily drivibility, excellent.

i'd still say pirelli for best tire so far, but will post back after a while to see how things are holding up with these

I have put on about 100 miles so far. so i will keep yall updated. pics soon after a wash.

[racermp]

Hello All,

600 miles so far and looks like they are now almost broken in.

forst 500 miles had a squirmy feel over hard cornering on the rear, it has now gone away.

the grip is actually pretty good. they are better than the kumho spt. those used to understeer too much. these hold well. but not for track.

braking traction is great. almost equizilant to the oe bridgestone rft. however i feel these are better for braking on rough roads. the bridgstones used to jump over bumps alot and were hard to make quick stops on bumpy roads.

the road noise is very very good. these tires are very smooth on the road.

i haven't driven them in very heavy rain, but they have good grip in medium rain.

seems like they have more acceleration traction than the pirellis in both wet and dry. and they brake loose more linear than the pirellis which used to snap loose.

the side walls are soft, so it does seem to roll on teh side walls when pushing them. but they are way better than the kumhos which rolled like there was no tomoorow.

the kumho was softer on bumps, the nankangs are a bit stiffer but very slightly. there reponse is alot better.

i'm hoping by 1k miles, they will be fully broken in and the handling will improve as it has been gradually.

for $400 for a set, well worth it. i thought they'd be worse than the kumhos, but they turn out to be better. they are not michelins, but nor is the price at 1/3.

i'm very happy with the braking traction. that was my biggest concern, and even though i don't have actual numbers to prove, they seem to grip very well.

[orangedawg]

Thanks for the update. Please keep us posted on your driving experience. I'm curious how these do in wet weather. Thanks!

[racermp]

hey, FINALLY RAIN!!!! in months.

so overall, dry traction is pretty good. it dramatically increased after 1k mile, i believe the brake in. the sqimishness faded away by this time.

they are still pretty quiet and smooth. dry and wet grip seems good, better front and back, not excellent handling, but pretty good grip. response is a bit low, probably due to softer tires.


Wet traction is pretty good. i didn't get to drive high peed much but seemed pretty well in rain, it grips well. one thing i like about these over the prielli, when i power slide, it breaks evenly and it is very controllable. it recovers well too. so they are a good thrashing tire too. the pirelli were too slippery once they broke traction, it was like ice. the nankang are better for powersliding that the bridgestone runflats.

wet braking and acceleration is pretty good.

we will see how they last over time. i'm at 2k miles now.

i did acidentally curb it once and hit a few bumps, no bubbles or anything. seem to be holding up well

i might increase pressure to get better response, i'm at 36F/40R right now.

[racermp]

Happy to report at almost 3k miles, tires are really good. Ive been pushing them in curves, they are gripping pretty well. No squeeling while pushing in turns just a tendancy to slide a bit at the limits very cotrolable tho. They grip very well for acceleration and braking.
i really like that they are so smooth and quiet on the road. . Response has gotten better but you have to set them into a turn to get the most grip out of them.
Overall very satisfied with these every time i drive the car now

If you are in the houston area and would like to try, please message me.

[feenin4rich]

nice thanks for the updates OP!

[mythek]

Thanks for your time to write a review on these tires!

[racermp]

Hey all. Glad someone is watching this thread lol

Rain traction is pretty good so far..better than the pirellis.

Response has been getting better the more the tire wears out. Quick changes are better. And grip has also been improving. So it just takes a while to break them in. I'm over 3k now. Very happy

I ran over a 2x4 on the freeway a few days ago. And ive aIso hit some big bumps. don't see any bubbling or anything. I'll see if there is any rim damage, but no signs of anything. Drives just fine.

[orangedawg]

I am watching this thread too, so please keep us updated on your results!

[racermp]

Hey all, so close to 5k miles, i just sold the vehicle. very sad

Tires were great, they kept increasing in grip and best pressures were 40 rear and 36 front. 37 will give you more feedback, 38 gets harsh. 35 and below gets softer. they are very sensitive to pressure change. so good nitrogen maybe good to control the feel from hot to cold.

wet traction was very good, wet/dry acceleration was very good. handling, again gotta ease them into a curve to get the most grip out of them. they did very well, but not track tires. they will respond better than any normal daily driver with expensive tires.

Grip level was very impressive. they were pretty reliable for that short term. no bubbles or anything. and the new owner drove a long way back and didn't hear any complaints. he was impressed by the quiet and smooth ride.

so ++ for daily driving!