Semi-slicks for road use
Discussion
Has anyone here driven Nankang AR1's on the road? Wondering how they would be for dry weather weekend use? I know about the NS2R's, which are probably better-suited to road use, but I could really do with the extra grip of the AR1's. The car will only be driven in dry weather, but, due to the great British weather, it's possible I could be caught-out in a shower, so the tyres have to be usable (ie. not dangerous if driven sensibly and conservatively) in wet conditions.
Yes, they’re fine for a bit of road use in warm weather. I had them on an E46 M3 to drive to and from trackdays on.
Aquaplaning resistance is not good, but I was caught out by an unexpected torrential downpour and even on the motorway they were no problem, I just kept my speed down to HGV levels.
They do thrum though, a very noisy tyre.
Aquaplaning resistance is not good, but I was caught out by an unexpected torrential downpour and even on the motorway they were no problem, I just kept my speed down to HGV levels.
They do thrum though, a very noisy tyre.
sunnyb13 said:
awful in the wet if I'm honest, probably best to stick with a street performance tyre like pilot sport 4S
IME AD08Rs were quite good at dealing with standing water, I recall 'making progress' in the outside lane of the M4 during a deluge in my old track E36, even at 80+mph I was surprised how they were shrugging off sizeable puddles.I had the nankangs on my ordinary road car to try and reduce the understeer. They are very noisy, lasted about 6 months of normal driving and I had to replace both wishbones not long after due to absolutely destroyed bushes. May not be related but car only had about 40k miles so shouldn't have needed bushes so soon imo the two may be related as the slip from factory understeer was definitely gone with the nankangs so I think the bushes were pushed alot harder than standard. They handled the rain fine.
Should be excellent for a track car with polubushes.
Should be excellent for a track car with polubushes.
ian_uk1975 said:
Has anyone here driven Nankang AR1's on the road? Wondering how they would be for dry weather weekend use? I know about the NS2R's, which are probably better-suited to road use, but I could really do with the extra grip of the AR1's. The car will only be driven in dry weather, but, due to the great British weather, it's possible I could be caught-out in a shower, so the tyres have to be usable (ie. not dangerous if driven sensibly and conservatively) in wet conditions.
Why on earth would anybody need semi slick track day tyres on the road for "the extra grip".You do not sound like the sort of person I would like to share the road with.
Joey Deacon said:
ian_uk1975 said:
Has anyone here driven Nankang AR1's on the road? Wondering how they would be for dry weather weekend use? I know about the NS2R's, which are probably better-suited to road use, but I could really do with the extra grip of the AR1's. The car will only be driven in dry weather, but, due to the great British weather, it's possible I could be caught-out in a shower, so the tyres have to be usable (ie. not dangerous if driven sensibly and conservatively) in wet conditions.
Why on earth would anybody need semi slick track day tyres on the road for "the extra grip".You do not sound like the sort of person I would like to share the road with.
the main drawback with semi slicks on the road is that they are noisy, super stiff, and wear very quickly. and they need heat in them to work properly. the first three are not really a concern for a sportscar, but getting heat in semi slick tyres on the road will be tricky.
have you considered something like an accelera 651 sport xtra? you'd need the lowest treadwear rating possible so they heat up quickly, think of hillclimb tyres which need to work well from cold.
as for standing water, you've already said you're unlikely to be caught out in the rain - so just be aware that the slicker the tyre, the less aquaplaning resistance you'll have. so much so that you might be cruising along motorways at 50mph. but its no different that using summer tyres in snow, just drive to the conditions. but, any road legal semi slick tyre will have some grooves to disperse water, otherwise it wouldnt be road legal.
have you considered something like an accelera 651 sport xtra? you'd need the lowest treadwear rating possible so they heat up quickly, think of hillclimb tyres which need to work well from cold.
as for standing water, you've already said you're unlikely to be caught out in the rain - so just be aware that the slicker the tyre, the less aquaplaning resistance you'll have. so much so that you might be cruising along motorways at 50mph. but its no different that using summer tyres in snow, just drive to the conditions. but, any road legal semi slick tyre will have some grooves to disperse water, otherwise it wouldnt be road legal.
brillomaster said:
but getting heat in semi slick tyres on the road will be tricky.
This!I have used both semi-slicks (R888Rs and AR1s) and full slicks (showers during races) on a damp track and they are absolutely fine... if they are warm/hot. The issue on the road is that you will struggle to get them hot even in the dry. In the cold/damp, it will be next to impossible and they will be horrible to drive on (in my experience, they will be very snappy).
As others have said, a decent high performance road tyre (PS4S etc) will be a safer bet.
LennyM1984 said:
brillomaster said:
but getting heat in semi slick tyres on the road will be tricky.
This!I have used both semi-slicks (R888Rs and AR1s) and full slicks (showers during races) on a damp track and they are absolutely fine... if they are warm/hot. The issue on the road is that you will struggle to get them hot even in the dry. In the cold/damp, it will be next to impossible and they will be horrible to drive on (in my experience, they will be very snappy).
As others have said, a decent high performance road tyre (PS4S etc) will be a safer bet.
Pilot Sport 4s (or similar) will provide more grip in almost all conditions on road. Getting semi-slicks hot enough and maintaining temperature is next to impossible. But they look racy if that matters.
Couldn't agree more with most of the advice here.
I swapped between R888Rs and PS4s on my old track car (wet/dry), and once drove an hour home from the track on my R888Rs because I was too tired to change them.
Two things immediately became apparent:
1. The noise. If you'd told me I had 4 wheel bearings out, I would have easily believed you.
2. The grip. As others have pointed out, without heat and/or on damp roads they behaved like Linglongs.
I immediately swapped them back, and I can't imagine any world where I'd want to run that kind of tyre regularly on the road. The modern generation of high performance road tyre is an astonishing thing. I run Eagle F1 6s on my current track car, and they manage to take a pasting on track and deal with standing water without causing puckering.
I swapped between R888Rs and PS4s on my old track car (wet/dry), and once drove an hour home from the track on my R888Rs because I was too tired to change them.
Two things immediately became apparent:
1. The noise. If you'd told me I had 4 wheel bearings out, I would have easily believed you.
2. The grip. As others have pointed out, without heat and/or on damp roads they behaved like Linglongs.
I immediately swapped them back, and I can't imagine any world where I'd want to run that kind of tyre regularly on the road. The modern generation of high performance road tyre is an astonishing thing. I run Eagle F1 6s on my current track car, and they manage to take a pasting on track and deal with standing water without causing puckering.
Thanks for all the feedback guys. Putting the power down in a RWD car with 800bhp is quite a challenge, hence why I began thinking about semi-slicks.
I've actually just had delivered a pair of 305/35 R19 PZero PZ4s with a 160 treadwear rating, so hoping they do a decent job. The deal on them was too good to pass up.
I've actually just had delivered a pair of 305/35 R19 PZero PZ4s with a 160 treadwear rating, so hoping they do a decent job. The deal on them was too good to pass up.
C70R said:
and once drove an hour home from the track on my R888Rs because I was too tired to change them.
Two things immediately became apparent:
1. The noise. If you'd told me I had 4 wheel bearings out, I would have easily believed you.
2. The grip. As others have pointed out, without heat and/or on damp roads they behaved like Linglongs.
......and I can't imagine any world where I'd want to run that kind of tyre regularly on the road..
in the world of kit cars which are used on warm and dry days such tyres are the normTwo things immediately became apparent:
1. The noise. If you'd told me I had 4 wheel bearings out, I would have easily believed you.
2. The grip. As others have pointed out, without heat and/or on damp roads they behaved like Linglongs.
......and I can't imagine any world where I'd want to run that kind of tyre regularly on the road..
Tye Green said:
C70R said:
and once drove an hour home from the track on my R888Rs because I was too tired to change them.
Two things immediately became apparent:
1. The noise. If you'd told me I had 4 wheel bearings out, I would have easily believed you.
2. The grip. As others have pointed out, without heat and/or on damp roads they behaved like Linglongs.
......and I can't imagine any world where I'd want to run that kind of tyre regularly on the road..
in the world of kit cars which are used on warm and dry days such tyres are the normTwo things immediately became apparent:
1. The noise. If you'd told me I had 4 wheel bearings out, I would have easily believed you.
2. The grip. As others have pointed out, without heat and/or on damp roads they behaved like Linglongs.
......and I can't imagine any world where I'd want to run that kind of tyre regularly on the road..
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