Nankang tires anyone?

Davie Boy · Davie Boy's Garage

Having trouble locating 14" tires for my early "comfort group" Fuchs. Found some Nankangs at a really good price from America's Tire Co. They usually don't carry crappy tires... but I've never heard of these and the low price kinda scares me. Anyone out there have them?

Willem Fick · 03-18-2016, 12:15 AM

Actually a surprisingly nice tyre once you get past the relatively unknown brand. They have been on the market here in South Africa for a long time, and as far as I remember are related to Kumho.

faverymi · 03-18-2016, 02:33 AM

My indy around the corner installs them regularly on every daily driver around here.

Granted that they are only all seasons in every toyota, nissan, gm....... you get the point.

I guess not a performance tire but a reliable one.

wayne robson · wayne robson's Garage

They are a ok tire for the price,i had a set on my 356 speedster Intermeccanica
ex California, but of coarse only a 95 mph max car,but tires were fine.
I think that they now make better performance h and v rated for wet conditions called
sportnex ,a taiwan company for about 50 years.

Quicksilver · 03-18-2016, 05:28 AM

Have you searched Tire Rack using the basic Wheel Size search?
You are shooting for a tire in the 25" range. (The stock 15" for your car is 25.4" in diameter.)
Once you get the list you can check any of the available sizes and under each tire go to the "Specs" section. That will show you all the specs for all the tires of that model. You can go through the various sizes to find something that is the correct diameter and will work with your rim width.

I suspect the 14" would be 4.5" wide. A quick check located a number of 185/75-14 and 195/75-14 tires that would fit. If you have a 5" or wider rim the Radial TA in a 205/70-14 would give you a tire actually intended for performance which would be nice...

Dr. Dynamics · Dr. Dynamics's Garage

To be honest...if you don't like changing tires often, or want low buck tire you'r better off with a recycled used Michelin. (Not that I would put a used tire on my 911 but to give you a reference)

I owned a 2006 tacoma and had a high milaege route everyday. I put a new set of Nankang because they told me they were made by Yokohama. Long story short, they seem fine at first, but once you put some miles in they get all humpy and defformed. I imagine their inner reinforcement is not that good and when you take a couple of bad roads (not off-road) they start getting bumps and deform.
I had to throw them away after changing them through warranty once. Since I was on a tight budget I put some used Michelins (they import them from people who switch season tires)just to burn them off on the highway and those were awesome. After high mileage they even had better grip almost slick compared to new bridgestones.

Just my two cents....STAY AWAY!

Davie Boy · Davie Boy's Garage

Thanks for the input, all. I've been searching for 205/60/14 or 205/65/14 sizes. I appreciate the wider look but, as I've mentioned, I'm having trouble finding them in 14". There was only 1 option on Tire Rack and they were race tires at $206 each. The Nankangs I found are "H" rated and only $61 a tire. Based on what I'm hearing here, how little I actually drive, and how inexpensive they are, I think I'll give them a shot. I'll let you know how they work out.

Otter74 · 03-18-2016, 11:12 AM

I'm interested to know what you think of them. I have a friend with an RX-7 GSL-SE with the same size tires that he is having a hard time finding tires for.

grizzfan · grizzfan's Garage

William Fick says:

Quote:

and as far as I remember are related to Kumho.

If that's true, I'm very happy with my Kumho tires, but don't know if they are available in 14".

Tom

Davie Boy · Davie Boy's Garage

Finally got them installed - 205/60/14, H rated, Nankangs. I probably won't drive much on them until next month's Targa California. I'll let you know how they do.