trackpig Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 Hi all I have purchased a set Nankang SV1 winter tyres and had them fitted to my spare touring style alloys. The tyres are 225/40/18 fronts and 245/40/18 rears (non oem size due to lower cost of tyres). I also took the opportunity to give the wheels a respray. I am waiting for the winter weather to kick in before taking off the Rays and fitting the touring wheels with the winter tyres. I know Nankang tyres seen as a poor brand but maybe the SV1's will do the job and get the car moving and braking in the snow! I will report back once tested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maccaman Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 Sure hope they perform better than the usual ditchfinders Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BulletMagnet Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 how much were they? Nankangs are usually ultra cheap, hope you didn't go cheap and have to pay with something else down the line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Husky Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 a cheap winter tyre will do better in the snow than an expensive summer tye. its the inbetween, the wet bit, i'd be worried about. but we will only know when you give them a whirl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BulletMagnet Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 a cheap winter tyre will do better in the snow than an expensive summer tye. its the inbetween wet bit i'd be worried about. but we will only know when you give them a whirl Your prolly right, mind you, the wet bit inbetween.......he might end up a seasoned drifter after the winter, lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Posted October 23, 2010 Share Posted October 23, 2010 Looks like proper winter grips. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trackpig Posted November 16, 2010 Author Share Posted November 16, 2010 I have been out and tested the tyres tonight- temps around 2deg down to 0 and wet. I dont drive the car much through the week (the girlfriend uses it to get to work and back) so I have not driven it on its sumer tyres in the cold conditions. I am now struggling to say if in the wet, the winter tyres grip better than the summer tyres. There cant be much in it. There does seem to be alittle more movement from the tread blocks under cornering. Grip during acceleration and braking seem good. I had been concerned the Nankangs were going to be terrible in the wet non-snow conditions but I am pleasantly surprised. They performed well and did not show any comedy traits. As they seem to be usable in the wet, I just need it to snow to get some real value from them. The slightly non oem tyre sizes have not given any TCS problems either Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trackpig Posted November 28, 2010 Author Share Posted November 28, 2010 My girlfriend has been using the 350z for work and had reported the tyres were "fine" in the snow. I have finally had a chance to really test them for myself and have to say they are spot on! I had a drive to a particular bank that never gets gritted and has seen me stuck in the past. It was easy! I even stopped so I could pull away again to see if I could do it without spinning the wheels, which I did. Traction out of rounabouts is excellent. Braking on snow and slush is also so much better than the Qashqai I drive on its new bridgestone summer tyres. The only thing I did find was that the turn in on slow tight corners (90 degree) is not up to the same high standard and still have to be taken at a more summer tyre style speed or understeer occurs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted November 28, 2010 Share Posted November 28, 2010 Do you find the car rolling on the tread blocks much when cornering? They looked huge in the original photos, hence my asking. Good write up though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trackpig Posted November 28, 2010 Author Share Posted November 28, 2010 Cheers The tread blocks are around 9-10mm, the tyres are 40 ratio and have fairly stiff side walls. When driving in the wet, I could feel a little movement as the tread moved on turn in but they werent bad, I expected this. Being the last word in cornering during spirted driving is not what they are about and I would not use them as an all year tyre. If I were to drive on warm summer day and up the pace on these tyres, I am sure the tread blocks would move a hell of alot more. They seem to be doing the job for what they are designed for though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dblock Posted November 28, 2010 Share Posted November 28, 2010 I have the Continental WinterContact TS 790. they are fitted them to the 172 and they are awesome. No aquaplaning. Have driven them in -4 so far and no problem. No onebit of wheel spin, even in snow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andlid Posted November 28, 2010 Share Posted November 28, 2010 great idea, was thinking the same today going around in the snow with the 17"'s Goodyear F1's ... would probably not get a nankan set though since my experience is very poor with them... do you find that it starts spinning as soon as you take off or does it give you better start traction? For instance I didnt want to drive the car without the TCS but couldnt get going due to the engine killing itself (power) assoon as I tried taking off... so had to spin-start the whole time... the thread and rubber looks very good but wonder how soft the compound would be. btw studs is the way to go (if legal) conclusion it must be far better with them winder tyres then any summer ones... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dblock Posted November 28, 2010 Share Posted November 28, 2010 great idea, was thinking the same today going around in the snow with the 17"'s Goodyear F1's ... would probably not get a nankan set though since my experience is very poor with them... do you find that it starts spinning as soon as you take off or does it give you better start traction? For instance I didnt want to drive the car without the TCS but couldnt get going due to the engine killing itself (power) assoon as I tried taking off... so had to spin-start the whole time... the thread and rubber looks very good but wonder how soft the compound would be. btw studs is the way to go (if legal) conclusion it must be far better with them winder tyres then any summer ones... I havent wheel spun once personally, but my car is fwd. studs IMO is OTT plus with winter tyres you can drive at 5c at 70mph nice and peacful not much wear either. studs would out super quick and they are noisy and they would give you less grip when its not deep snow. Love to know how they are on a 350 though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andlid Posted November 28, 2010 Share Posted November 28, 2010 great idea, was thinking the same today going around in the snow with the 17"'s Goodyear F1's ... would probably not get a nankan set though since my experience is very poor with them... do you find that it starts spinning as soon as you take off or does it give you better start traction? For instance I didnt want to drive the car without the TCS but couldnt get going due to the engine killing itself (power) assoon as I tried taking off... so had to spin-start the whole time... the thread and rubber looks very good but wonder how soft the compound would be. btw studs is the way to go (if legal) conclusion it must be far better with them winder tyres then any summer ones... I havent wheel spun once personally, but my car is fwd. studs IMO is OTT plus with winter tyres you can drive at 5c at 70mph nice and peacful not much wear either. studs would out super quick and they are noisy and they would give you less grip when its not deep snow. Love to know how they are on a 350 though. studs would be far superiour no discussion there on snow and ice. Not so on normal roads I guess, they don't wear that bad if you don't go spinning the tyres and driving to fast. FWD = massive difference since you get the weight on the engine over the tyres too. The Volvo is like a tank on the snowy roads with the vredstein tyres point and shoot, not so with the Z, might be the quaife diff making it a tad harder too (more predictible but need to be aware) Trying to source some snow chains now *Just in case A Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andlid Posted November 28, 2010 Share Posted November 28, 2010 cheaper alternative? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andlid Posted November 28, 2010 Share Posted November 28, 2010 http://www.autosock.co.uk/parked.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trackpig Posted November 29, 2010 Author Share Posted November 29, 2010 Just to come back to few points raised in the last posts- I can pull away without spinning the wheels on a snow covered bank without the TCS system on. I always drive the Z without TCS as I like to be able to slide the rear when I want- thats why I bought a rear wheel drive! (TCS is for kids ). The winter tyres allow you to grip when you want but still have fun in the snow when you want. Studded tyres- great in scandinavia where they have constant snow and ice for months but not so great here where we have a mixture of snow/ slush/ wet roads. Studded tyres would be too extreme and become a problem when the snow melts. Snow socks- great idea. Pricey for what they are. £120 for front and rear set when I last looked. But the main problem is having to take them on and off according to the conditions (they wear out when driven on anything other than snow I hear). In a snow blizzard, I cant see many people wanting to get down on their hands and knees and reaching around the backs of their wheels to fit them or take them off. This will end up with people thinking "the roads dont look too bad, i'll just drive without the snow socks" or "I cant be arsed to take the snow socks off" and wearing them out on clear roads. All in my opinion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bounty78 Posted November 29, 2010 Share Posted November 29, 2010 Just to come back to few points raised in the last posts- I can pull away without spinning the wheels on a snow covered bank without the TCS system on. I always drive the Z without TCS as I like to be able to slide the rear when I want- thats why I bought a rear wheel drive! (TCS is for kids ). The winter tyres allow you to grip when you want but still have fun in the snow when you want. Studded tyres- great in scandinavia where they have constant snow and ice for months but not so great here where we have a mixture of snow/ slush/ wet roads. Studded tyres would be too extreme and become a problem when the snow melts. Snow socks- great idea. Pricey for what they are. £120 for front and rear set when I last looked. But the main problem is having to take them on and off according to the conditions (they wear out when driven on anything other than snow I hear). In a snow blizzard, I cant see many people wanting to get down on their hands and knees and reaching around the backs of their wheels to fit them or take them off. This will end up with people thinking "the roads dont look too bad, i'll just drive without the snow socks" or "I cant be arsed to take the snow socks off" and wearing them out on clear roads. All in my opinion Well said..agree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BulletMagnet Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 Just to bring this back from the archives... I have purchased some Nankangs too, and it's only because of trackpigs positive experience. Nankang have updated the SV-1 to the SV-2. Only received the fronts with the rears on the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbitstew Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 Just looking at the original photos and my god the snow was so deep it looked like the car side skirts were sitting on the snow and the car still drove through it in those tyres?! Mad! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BulletMagnet Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 Just looking at the original photos and my god the snow was so deep it looked like the car side skirts were sitting on the snow and the car still drove through it in those tyres?! Mad! That was the convincer for me and kept it in mind for this year. Don't fancy running (and ruining) my Volks this winter like I did last winter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marzman Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 Just looking at the original photos and my god the snow was so deep it looked like the car side skirts were sitting on the snow and the car still drove through it in those tyres?! Mad! That was the convincer for me and kept it in mind for this year. Don't fancy running (and ruining) my Volks this winter like I did last winter. I've been keeping my eye out for a cheap-ass set of wheels as im nervous about my Volks too. Did you really wreck them with the salt? I saw your pictures pre-refurn and they looked pretty bad...! Did you put any wax or sealant on them before last winter? This weekend just gone i put some spray on wheel wax on mine (supposed to do 2 or 3 sprays... i did about 100 per wheel!!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BulletMagnet Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 Just looking at the original photos and my god the snow was so deep it looked like the car side skirts were sitting on the snow and the car still drove through it in those tyres?! Mad! That was the convincer for me and kept it in mind for this year. Don't fancy running (and ruining) my Volks this winter like I did last winter. I've been keeping my eye out for a cheap-ass set of wheels as im nervous about my Volks too. Did you really wreck them with the salt? I saw your pictures pre-refurn and they looked pretty bad...! Did you put any wax or sealant on them before last winter? This weekend just gone i put some spray on wheel wax on mine (supposed to do 2 or 3 sprays... i did about 100 per wheel!!) Yeah, I did try my best to protect them, but salt is a bit of a bugger and I'll be honest, I didn't fancy doing that every single day. It just got under the micron thin anodisation layer that the Volks are finished with to give them that mirror finish. Once it got under I got the telltale snailtrails of corrosion and the like. Took the refurbisher a while to get all of that anodisation off tbh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marzman Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 Just looking at the original photos and my god the snow was so deep it looked like the car side skirts were sitting on the snow and the car still drove through it in those tyres?! Mad! That was the convincer for me and kept it in mind for this year. Don't fancy running (and ruining) my Volks this winter like I did last winter. I've been keeping my eye out for a cheap-ass set of wheels as im nervous about my Volks too. Did you really wreck them with the salt? I saw your pictures pre-refurn and they looked pretty bad...! Did you put any wax or sealant on them before last winter? This weekend just gone i put some spray on wheel wax on mine (supposed to do 2 or 3 sprays... i did about 100 per wheel!!) Yeah, I did try my best to protect them, but salt is a bit of a bugger and I'll be honest, I didn't fancy doing that every single day. It just got under the micron thin anodisation layer that the Volks are finished with to give them that mirror finish. Once it got under I got the telltale snailtrails of corrosion and the like. Took the refurbisher a while to get all of that anodisation off tbh. Thanks Mark...thats worrying then...! I think im going to sorn the zed from Dec-March this winter... hopwfully the wheels will be okay without the car being driven. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BulletMagnet Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 Get some cheap wheels, like the... Standard ones http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/350Z-WHEELS-1 ... 3a6b6d76f4 G35 ones http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/nissan-350z-w ... 19c9cf63ae Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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