Nankang Snow SV-2 - First Impressions

[andrewparker]

Now the weather has improved I thought I'd give a further appraisal of the Nankang Snow SV-2 tyres.

In snow, ice and slush these tyres never ceased to amaze me, so driving them in drier conditions has given me a chance to rate them from a totally different perspective. The temperature has been approximately 6 - 7°C recently, and the roads have varied from wet/greasy to fully dry. I've found that the tyres struggle for grip under hard acceleration in first and second gear. It's all too easy to trigger the ESP light, something I found very hard to do even in snow! My car has the standard power output, so this would be magnified on a remapped car.

Secondly, they have absolutely no rim protection edge. They actually appear to sit inside the rim edge slightly. This isn't of much a concern for me because I have them on my winter wheels, which I've long since given up being careful with, but it might be worth considering if you're putting them on wheels you value.

....On the point of lacking rim protection I think that most of us who value our rims aren't going to place our wheels anywhere near situations where a tyre's rim protector would get used. So, a very good thing to know but not a deal-breaker.

Hearing that these tyres "struggle for grip under hard acceleration in first and second gear" is a deal-breaker for me though. But one does have to remember that these Nankangs are "Snow" tyres and so that's what they're primarily designed for. Personally, I simply don't go anywhere in my car if there's snow and ice.

I don't think I'd buy a tyre without rim protection for my summer wheels, simply because accidents do happen. I'd never intentionally put my wheels in a situation where the tyre protector is needed, but I'd prefer to play safe.

As for the lack of grip, it horses for courses. If I was running a summer tyre I'd be slipping around in the snow, putting myself and others in danger. I'd be disappointed if they had been billed as an all-seasons tyre, but they're not. These are a good compromise, short of changing my wheels each day to suit the road conditions.

[bodger00]

I long time ago I bought a Celica GT4 import that was a great car. The only problem/shock I had when I bought the car is that the tyres were Nankang snow tyres! I bought the car in March and frankly the car was unuseable at 10-12 degrees! It was a complete handful. To cut a long story short they were left on from when it was imported from Japan (I got the dealer to change them in the end).

The point I learnt from all this, is that winter tyres are designed for those tricky cold icy circumstances but not for much else.

[RedRobin]

^^^^
But do we need to consider any differences between what the tyre manufacturers call "winter tyres" and what they call "snow tyres"?

It seems that these Nankangs are excellent in the snow and ice but very poor in just wet and greasy conditions.

[bodger00]

I can only comment on my experiences but they were very unstable, even in the dry at the above temperatures!

Note they were the same as Andrew's "Nankang Snow SV-2 tyres"

[andrewparker]

I can only comment on my experiences but they were very unstable, even in the dry at the above temperatures!

I wouldn't go that far, in fact cornering is actually very good. I guess a Celica GT4 is a very different beast to the Golf though. You do have to really boot it to lose any traction, and the ESP is quite sensitive on a Golf.

[gazbutS3]

I've been using some Acellera Apollo winter tyres for the last week on the other halfs 1 series, and they are better than summer tyres in the wet greasy conditions, of course the weather has been at its warmest since we fitted them , may get a chance to test them this weekend 

[bodger00]

I can only comment on my experiences but they were very unstable, even in the dry at the above temperatures!

I wouldn't go that far, in fact cornering is actually very good. I guess a Celica GT4 is a very different beast to the Golf though. You do have to really boot it to lose any traction, and the ESP is quite sensitive on a Golf.

It was in the spring when I had them and it was at least 12 degrees I am sure they are more than capable in the temperatures we have now.

[andrewparker]

Ah, missed that. Well I doubt we'll see those tropical temperatures for a while

[Janner_Sy]

^^^^
But do we need to consider any differences between what the tyre manufacturers call "winter tyres" and what they call "snow tyres"?

It seems that these Nankangs are excellent in the snow and ice but very poor in just wet and greasy conditions.

The difference is merely in they tread pattern. they are winter tyres plain and simple.  Absolutely no issues with mine at all in the wet, dry, greasy, slush or the snow.  Obviously when it comes to dry or wet, they will never compare to the grip of the summer tyres.

I can only comment on my experiences but they were very unstable, even in the dry at the above temperatures!

I wouldn't go that far, in fact cornering is actually very good. I guess a Celica GT4 is a very different beast to the Golf though. You do have to really boot it to lose any traction, and the ESP is quite sensitive on a Golf.

This is the first time ive used winter tyres other than Vredestein wintrac/snowtrac (widely regarded as the #1), and even then i used to change them over for my summers as soon as it warmed up as they dont have the ultimate grip in the wet/dry for when your booting it in a powerful car.

winter tyres are designed for working when its cold and or snowing etc.  If your driving fast your obviously being stupid imo

[andrewparker]

If your driving fast your obviously being stupid imo

Don't get me wrong here, I'm not talking about driving fast, or dangerously. I merely talking about 75 - 90% throttle in conditions I would otherwise find perfectly fine with summer tyres.

Driving stupidly is not something I do. Full stop.

[Andy]

I've been using some Acellera Apollo winter tyres for the last week on the other halfs 1 series, and they are better than summer tyres in the wet greasy conditions, of course the weather has been at its warmest since we fitted them , may get a chance to test them this weekend 

i got told at work the apollo tyres are made by vredestein but i can't be sure but all the reports i get of the ones i have fitted say they are excellent

[gazbutS3]

I've been using some Acellera Apollo winter tyres for the last week on the other halfs 1 series, and they are better than summer tyres in the wet greasy conditions, of course the weather has been at its warmest since we fitted them , may get a chance to test them this weekend 

i got told at work the apollo tyres are made by vredestein but i can't be sure but all the reports i get of the ones i have fitted say they are excellent

did a bit of reasearch myself pal and they are indeed part of the Vred group

[Andy]

thats good then..when the snow comes again tomorrow i have some in stock

[Janner_Sy]

Been cutting about in pretty deep 6+ inches fresh snow through all th wback streets today trying to bypass the traffic on the main routes, and they havent had one issue whatso ever.

Even over took a 4wd Merc SUV up a hill after he had held the traffic up for about 3 hours

[vRSAlex]

These are down to £68.60 on mytyres now.  Better than the £130 they were last week!