[Gottagofast]

Hello there good folks.

I put an order for an M4 comp that should come by the end of June (fingers crossed), and I was curious about some track tires I saw the other day. It's called Nankang AR-1, and they are basically street legal slicks. I got a couple of questions regarding those.

1. Are they any good? Are they reputable? I've never personally heard of them so I got curious.

2. How long do they last? Planning to track my car a couple of times a year and drive it hard.

3. The rear wheels on the M4 comp are 285/30/20. The closest AR-1 I found to that spec was 285/35/20. Will that work on my car? I'm worried about tire rub and suspension travel.

4. How bad are they in snow and rain. I live in Canada, so, you know .

[Topcarbon]

I would go with what’s tried and true
PS4’s

[BMWRacer523]

No idea about Nankang but why would you try and use slicks for snow/wet?

[Hendo741]

Originally Posted by Gottagofast

Hello there good folks.

I put an order for an M4 comp that should come by the end of June (fingers crossed), and I was curious about some track tires I saw the other day. It's called Nankang AR-1, and they are basically street legal slicks. I got a couple of questions regarding those.

1. Are they any good? Are they reputable? I've never personally heard of them so I got curious.

2. How long do they last? Planning to track my car a couple of times a year and drive it hard.

3. The rear wheels on the M4 comp are 285/30/20. The closest AR-1 I found to that spec was 285/35/20. Will that work on my car? I'm worried about tire rub and suspension travel.

4. How bad are they in snow and rain. I live in Canada, so, you know .

1. Nankang is a reputable brand in the track/comp tire world.

2. It's a 100 TW tire. I aim to get 1 season out of my race tires. Depending on how many events you do and how hard you drive this can vary, but comp tires are designed for grip, not longevity.

3. If your G8x is AWD you should get tires with the same diameter, or at least within 1% of each other. If not your xdrive system will have a fit.

4. These tires are not at all designed to be driven in below freezing conditions. These high grip compounds will freeze and likely crack. I always get a second set of wheels and have 2 sets. summer/comp set, and an all season/winter set. Even the PS4S is going to be trash in winter. If you want a year round single set, you have to go all season.

[barryc365]

Originally Posted by Topcarbon

I would go with what's tried and true
PS4's

They're not track tires??

The Nankangs are great but will not be good in snow ice at all!!

I've driven Toyo R888's in icy weather and it was a death trap

[Forzanerazzurri]

You must have missed the several hundred memos. The only acceptable tire for a BMW M4 is a Michelin ps4s. Every other tire for sale is made out of cardboard and will almost certainly explode.

[Gottagofast]

Thanks everybody. Regarding same tire size. The front's are 19 and the rears are 20 so they can't be the same if I use factory rims. And yeah, because I live in Canada, I defaulted to Xdrive.

From what you guys told me, it's best to have a separate set of wheels, one for track, one for daily. This brings me to my next question. Winters are quite cold here as you can imagine. Would it be safe to store those Nankangs in the garage in sub zero temps? Hendo mentioned they can crack in subzero temps.

on top of that, which rims would you guys suggest? I have no experience in rim selection whatsoever. Do carbon wheels have a definite advantage and worth the extra cost?

[BMWRacer523]

Originally Posted by Gottagofast

Thanks everybody. Regarding same tire size. The front's are 19 and the rears are 20 so they can't be the same if I use factory rims. And yeah, because I live in Canada, I defaulted to Xdrive.

From what you guys told me, it's best to have a separate set of wheels, one for track, one for daily. This brings me to my next question. Winters are quite cold here as you can imagine. Would it be safe to store those Nankangs in the garage in sub zero temps? Hendo mentioned they can crack in subzero temps.

on top of that, which rims would you guys suggest? I have no experience in rim selection whatsoever. Do carbon wheels have a definite advantage and worth the extra cost?

How cold does it get in your garage? Mine is attached to the house and heated so I do store my tires in there. I have 3 sets of wheels/tires for winter (Michelin PA5), summer (Michelin PS4) and track (Michelin Cup2).

Here's a good write up on storing tires: https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiret...jsp?techid=220

[HorsePower]

Originally Posted by Gottagofast

Thanks everybody. Regarding same tire size. The front's are 19 and the rears are 20 so they can't be the same if I use factory rims. And yeah, because I live in Canada, I defaulted to Xdrive.

From what you guys told me, it's best to have a separate set of wheels, one for track, one for daily. This brings me to my next question. Winters are quite cold here as you can imagine. Would it be safe to store those Nankangs in the garage in sub zero temps? Hendo mentioned they can crack in subzero temps.

on top of that, which rims would you guys suggest? I have no experience in rim selection whatsoever. Do carbon wheels have a definite advantage and worth the extra cost?

Oem 19 front are a 35 aspect ratio, rear 20 are a 30. That’s how even the x drive comes on the different front/rear wheel diameters but the drivetrain doesn’t blow up leaving the lot.

[Gottagofast]

Well unfortunately, Nankang doesn't have an AR-1 that fits a 285/20/30, and since I'm gonna get new rims specifically for these semi-slicks, I want to optimize the Rim/Tire size. Is it a good idea to get the exact same size for all 4 corners, or should I stick to stock RIM size?

[barryc365]

Originally Posted by Gottagofast

Well unfortunately, Nankang doesn't have an AR-1 that fits a 285/20/30, and since I'm gonna get new rims specifically for these semi-slicks, I want to optimize the Rim/Tire size. Is it a good idea to get the exact same size for all 4 corners, or should I stick to stock RIM size?

Why don't you get the factory recommended track tires? Cut out the guess work. Michelin Cup 2

Have you experience driving on track? If not, I wouldn't necessarily jump straight in to track tires. They have a lot more grip but they can also be unforgiving and a lot snappier and can break away fast at the limits. The street tires will be a bit more progressive so you can feel it when you're about to lose it. Build up the experience on them and graduate to proper track tires once you have a good feel for things. Feel free to ignore me if you have track experience!

[Gottagofast]

Originally Posted by barryc365

Why don't you get the factory recommended track tires? Cut out the guess work. Michelin Cup 2

Have you experience driving on track? If not, I wouldn't necessarily jump straight in to track tires. They have a lot more grip but they can also be unforgiving and a lot snappier and can break away fast at the limits. The street tires will be a bit more progressive so you can feel it when you're about to lose it. Build up the experience on them and graduate to proper track tires once you have a good feel for things. Feel free to ignore me if you have track experience!

I've been on a track a dozen time or so already.

[barryc365]

Originally Posted by Gottagofast

I've been on a track a dozen time or so already.

Why not go with Cup's? Are these way cheaper?

[OJ MINI]

Originally Posted by Gottagofast

Hello there good folks.

I put an order for an M4 comp that should come by the end of June (fingers crossed), and I was curious about some track tires I saw the other day. It's called Nankang AR-1, and they are basically street legal slicks. I got a couple of questions regarding those.

1. Are they any good? Are they reputable? I've never personally heard of them so I got curious.

2. How long do they last? Planning to track my car a couple of times a year and drive it hard.

3. The rear wheels on the M4 comp are 285/30/20. The closest AR-1 I found to that spec was 285/35/20. Will that work on my car? I'm worried about tire rub and suspension travel.

4. How bad are they in snow and rain. I live in Canada, so, you know .

So just to sum things up, you live in Canada where is cold most of the year. You bought new BMW for 100k$ and you want the cheapest Chinese tires and also you are asking if the track tires are any good in wet and cold. JESUS FU***** CRIST

[Gottagofast]

Originally Posted by barryc365

Why not go with Cup's? Are these way cheaper?

No, it's just that they are semi slicks and should provide more grip under track conditions.

I'm open to suggestions if there are similar tires with better performance.

[barryc365]

Originally Posted by Gottagofast

No, it's just that they are semi slicks and should provide more grip under track conditions.

I'm open to suggestions if there are similar tires with better performance.

The Cup 2 is a proper track tire too but may have less road noise if that's a concern at all. I drove from Ireland to the Nurburgring on Semi Slicks and the drone in the cabin from the wheels was crazy. They are very loud.

If you can get Nankangs in the right size they would be great. You could call BMW and ask them about the Cup 2 track tires for the G80. They can give you a quote: probably $500 a corner so not cheap!

[Limegrntaln]

As stated, previously, in this thread, venturing outside of the standard F/R ratios is not only not recommended, if you get your ratios off, too much, the car will throw an xDrive code. And if you have to visit the dealer, to have it checked out, the first thing they are going to tell you, is to kick rocks, for not running their "BMW STAR" marked tires.

Michelin, Pirelli, Yokohama, and Continental, are the only "approved" tire for the G8X. If you're going to run these tires at the track, I would put them on a second set of wheels. Because, from what I've heard about these tires, in the 40-70 MPH range, they are unbearable on a daily driver. The road noise in this range, makes the car sound like you're riding on 44" off road tires. If you plan on tracking the car in AWD, these tires are likely just going to be overkill, and the difference in sidewall ratios, unless you stay in that 1% range, will likely throw an xDrive fault.

If you get lucky enough to get the car delivered with the PS4S tires, from the factory, those tires are the best of boh worlds, and are not your standard off the shelf, PS4S. The BMW specific PS4S are a completely different animal. I know this video has been posted 100 times, but I believe its still relevant here.

[Ximian]

Originally Posted by barryc365

The Cup 2 is a proper track tire too

No, they're not. That's marketing. The Cup 2R, sure, but not the standard Cup 2s which is still a street tire.

I have two sets of Cup 2s I'm going through this year on my track car and they're not as much fun to drive as the Nitto NT01 tires.

Originally Posted by OJ MINI

You bought new BMW for 100k$ and you want the cheapest Chinese tires and also you are asking if the track tires are any good in wet and cold. JESUS FU***** CRIST

Nankang is a Taiwanese company with two factories there and one in China (like many tire companies do). They don't make the cheapest Chinese tires in this case and their prices are similar to what their competitors charge. Some of us appreciate cheaper options for track tires while getting the same or better performance. Also, some track tires don't mind cold temperatures and perform pretty well in the wet so it's good to ask. Since tires can perform better or worse on some platforms, this forum is a great place to ask about them.

The AR-1 is a fantastic tire, but I haven't heard of anyone running them on the G8x Ms. It's also a 100 TW tire, so designed to be much faster than the Cup 2.

Originally Posted by Gottagofast

4. How bad are they in snow and rain. I live in Canada, so, you know .

All I've read while I was searching for tire alternatives is that the AR-1 prefers hotter temperatures and higher pressures. Kind of terrible in the wet. So not exactly ideal if you want to get in some early spring track days.

With the lack of tread, all of these track oriented tires are going to be unusable in the snow so prepare alternatives in case you encounter an unexpected snow storm.

[beachBmmr]

All tires in the same size are not equal. Ar-1 is load index 89, which is going to be a super soft tire for a heavy g80/82.

Cup2* have a load index of 100 which is appropriate for the weight of a g80/82 and are very stiff sidewalls.

This gives great steering feel and sharp turn in. They are MUCH stiffer than ps4s. I have run both on track, and use cup2* exclusively.

Cup2* are also 6lbs lighter per tire than AR-1 in the 285/35/19 (closest to 26.6" oem diameter)

I would not try a load index 89 tire on these cars.

[barryc365]

Originally Posted by Ximian

No, they're not. That's marketing. The Cup 2R, sure, but not the standard Cup 2s which is still a street tire.

I have two sets of Cup 2s I'm going through this year on my track car and they're not as much fun to drive as the Nitto NT01 tires.

Nankang is a Taiwanese company with two factories there and one in China (like many tire companies do). They don't make the cheapest Chinese tires in this case and their prices are similar to what their competitors charge. Some of us appreciate cheaper options for track tires while getting the same or better performance. Also, some track tires don't mind cold temperatures and perform pretty well in the wet so it's good to ask. Since tires can perform better or worse on some platforms, this forum is a great place to ask about them.

The AR-1 is a fantastic tire, but I haven't heard of anyone running them on the G8x Ms. It's also a 100 TW tire, so designed to be much faster than the Cup 2.

All I've read while I was searching for tire alternatives is that the AR-1 prefers hotter temperatures and higher pressures. Kind of terrible in the wet. So not exactly ideal if you want to get in some early spring track days.

With the lack of tread, all of these track oriented tires are going to be unusable in the snow so prepare alternatives in case you encounter an unexpected snow storm.

They're definitely not a street tire when it's wet or cold!

While I haven't used them on this car, They are the recommended track tire for this car. Of course there will be more aggressive racing tires but for your casual track day user, I would imagine they are pretty awesome. They were amazing on the E46 CSL anyway!

Nice video here on the connect system. Pretty cool

[jmg]

Originally Posted by OJ MINI

So just to sum things up, you live in Canada where is cold most of the year. You bought new BMW for 100k$ and you want the cheapest Chinese tires and also you are asking if the track tires are any good in wet and cold. JESUS FU***** CRIST

The nankangs are actually a pretty good track tire. They are sticky and not that expensive to replace, so the economics work out considering they will probably only last a certain number of heat cycles.