Tuesday, February 24, 2009 - 07:05 pm, by: Mike Bradberry(Halflife)
Next time you need some tyres you could consider buying Nexen N3000's. I've had 245x45x17's on the rear for about 2000k now and couldn't be happier. I've been reading a bit about them lately and most reports are positive. Last weekend I gave them a damn good workout and they hung on really well, gave no rude surprises and were quiet in the process. So if you're looking for a tyre that matches up to some of the far more expensive, then look no further.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009 - 07:38 pm, by: David Vaughan(Davidv)
They look very much in the style of Goodyear F1. www.blackcircles.com recommends the Goodyears as an upgrade from the Nexen. I do not know what they cost but they could be good value for money, and with long tyre life.
I differ in one respect in that I could be, and am, happier because for me more grip = more happiness.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009 - 09:18 pm, by: Damian Ware(Frozenpod)
I have driven on them and IMO they certainly leave grip to be desired. They were about half worn, noisy and tramlined. I hope yours hold up better Mike.
The F1's do the same when worn but provide heaps of grip and very short life (nearly in the league of pilot sports for grip and driver feedback).
Most V grove type tread patterns suffer the same fate as they wear and they are particularly bad if the wheel alignment is off but the slightest amount.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009 - 09:27 pm, by: Aaron Casey(Blownminiturbo)
i had nexens on my 500hp vk... not good... i guess the power didnt help but found didnt like turning i was afraid to corner in the wet with them... but i will say they crap all over ling longs they are the worst tyres ive ever seen and there is so little grip in the wet it is like driving on ice.
Thursday, February 26, 2009 - 04:56 am, by: Chris Prak(Carizma)
Nexens on the front here. Completely USELESS in the wet especially around roundabouts. Counter-steering aint going to help a single bit if the tyre just slides. MANY hairy moments.
Okay in the dry though for life/grip, but hey, I aint complaining. At about $120-150 per tyre in 235's, you can't find any better.
Thursday, February 26, 2009 - 07:13 pm, by: Mike Bradberry(Halflife)
OK guys, thanks for your comments. I probably don't drive as hard as some of you or as often as some, and I definitely don't drive hard in the wet, so I'm still considering them. But of course if a couple of quality tyres come up on ebay for example, I'll grab them.
Thursday, February 26, 2009 - 07:47 pm, by: Aaron Casey(Blownminiturbo)
if i was you and were after cheaper tyres id look for some nankangs they arent the best but they over nexens and ling longs my sister doesnt even drive hard and she gets into some predicaments at low speeds in the wet... my opinion is get the very best you can afford... whats the use of having abs etc if the tyres dont grip to stop you. at the end of the day any driving skills go down the drain if tyres arent worth pissing on. dont take the chance
Thursday, February 26, 2009 - 08:35 pm, by: David Vaughan(Davidv)
If Nankangs crap over Nexen then I would worry seriously about the Nexens.
My Soarer came with new Nankangs (not the NS2). After trying them out, after about 1,000 Km I swapped them for Goodyears. When the tyre bloke told me there was a $2.50 recycling fee for the old tyres, I pointed out they were nearly new and asked him if he would like them for $2.50 each. We were both happy.
I agree entirely with Aaron's later comments. Tyres make the biggest single difference to your car's grip and braking. The most extravagant tyres I have bought, roughly $650/wheel for two when I was in no position to do better, were still less than half the cost per kilometre of petrol, and petrol will never save your life. Usually I can pay half the above for some of the best road grip on the market.
Thursday, February 26, 2009 - 09:56 pm, by: James Cahir(James987)
I've heard so many bad things about Nankang tyres in general, but from my experience and the opinions of a number of other people, the NS2's are a pretty good tyre for the price. They must have got their act together with the NS2
Friday, February 27, 2009 - 06:31 am, by: Matthew Sharpe(Madmatt)
I have Hankooks on the rear - they grip very well in the dry, and hardly at all in the wet. Yokohama's on the front which are great tyres, but just about ready to be replaced. I won't be replacing them with more Hankooks as they are just scary in the wet. Not sure what to go to, but as I'm on a budget these days it'll probably be Nankangs or similar.
Friday, February 27, 2009 - 12:21 pm, by: Aaron Casey(Blownminiturbo)
ive found bridgestone potenza's are pretty good but not the cheapest, if you have the money pirelli's or yokohama are awesome, i havent had many troubles with kuhmo's other than one had a bulge in the sidewall. i have found them to be alot better than nankangs and they have a fair bit of grip in the dry and the wet. it all depends on what type of tyre you get too even the same brands offer different level of tyres. but look around you might find a tyre place that has a good set of tyres they want to get rid of cheaply because they are the last of the stock etc the worst thing ive ever driven was my vk with 165x14's on the back that were 20yrs old... i couldnt get any traction whatsoever i had to drive it to a tyre place to get some new ones for my good wheels which i had puncture from running over a few nails somewhere. 320rwhp 750nm of torque a 4g stally and 165's dont match..
Saturday, February 28, 2009 - 10:46 am, by: Maurice Diggler(Mau_rice)
I've got them on my Soarer now in 18" Mike, James Johnson has them too, they're ok, although I'm not the type to sit here and babble bullsh1t about steering feedback or pretend like I'm some kind of racing driver tyre expert who does nothing but collates results from my constant tyre testing, give them a go, I'm pretty confident you will like them as I had pretty good grip in dry and wet, pretty good remembering I had a big single, I would buy them again.
Damian Ware wrote on Friday, February 27, 2009 - 10:28 am:
PS stay away from Khumo
Any reason why? I was looking to replace my tyres with Kumhos when the time comes, seems to be fairly grippy and the sidewalls can be slightly stretched, which I'm looking for.
At the moment I'm on Yokohamas and the tread life is fantastic, along with dry grip but wet weather grip isn't the best, which is when the Soarer really needs a good set of tyres... along with a regulated right foot
Tuesday, March 03, 2009 - 03:19 pm, by: Daniel Clarke(Dieseltrain)
Im also curious about the Staying away from Khumo's. Im running the Ku31's front and Back and am very happy with them. Cost me under $800 all round, and must say are much better than the NS2 Nangkangs.
Tuesday, March 03, 2009 - 05:32 pm, by: Damian Ware(Frozenpod)
I have had bad experiences with them. Not only was the performance poor relative to similar alternative branded tyres but I suffered multiple failures.
The tyres delaminated 711's which were replaced free of charge no questions asked with 712's. I had two tyres fail the exact same way within the same week.
Before they failed they provided terrible driving experience, tramlined noisy and very very poor wet grip. I had multiple wheel alignments done all of which came back with the alignment at factory specs.
The 712's were better grip wise when knew but quickly wore and became the worst tyres I have ever owned at 10,000km. I got rid of them at that point even though they still had well over 50% tread left.
Daniel, the KU31's are an autocross tyre, a hybrid street-semi slick tyre which is not intended for street use. That being said quite a few people use them for street use as they are basically a slightly harder longer lasting semi slick with more tread cut out of them so they deal with wet conditions somewhat better. They also are intedned to work from cold.
They are perfect for hill climbs and other events with zero warm up time.
The KU31's are the older model and I believe recently replaced with the KU36's. There was a group by of them on supra forums to suit stock supra rims at a very cheap price I think $600 for a full set.
Given the price I was so temped to by a set but I decided not to given my passed experiences with Khumo tyres.
My Dad tryed Khumo's cant recall which model but there UHP tyre as they were recommended highly to him by our local tyre fitters. He was very unhappy with them.
For what it is worth time and time again I have to suggest you just cant go passed Michelin.
I fitted a set of XM1's to the Pulsar the lowest grade tyre they offer to replace Dunlop SP sports and the difference was amazing. The XM1's provided so much more grip and stability in both wet and dry conditions whist being super smooth and quite.
Before you jump on the they are soo expensive band wagon they were $8 to $12 per tyre more than the basic Dunlop Goodyear ect.
When I replace the 712's I fitted the Michelin's again not Pilots or a super expensive version and they were infact cheaper by a few $ per tyre.
Even though they were not the UHP grade they were fair superior in performance.
From what I have read the KU31's were more streetable than the KU36's with more tread cut out of them like a street tyre but without the little fine cuts that make a regular street tyre nice and quite but in turn allow the rubber to squirm and heat up under high load.