hi guys just wondering if anyone could rate these Nankang Snow Viva tyres in the snow/ice conditions working in the french alps for winter and looking at winter tyres also got any websites with good prices.

 

hello m8, I have got the Nankang Snow SV-2. I bought them for germany and they seem ok. I still felt safe doing 80mph down a snow covered road, and had no problems with all the slush on the motorway. Hope this helps.

chappy

 

Stick to Jap or European manufacturers; you get what you pay for. A set of Nokian wrg2 has lasted me 3 winters, from Nov to March. I am about to buy Nokian wra3`s which are more performance based. They do all seem to have less rigid sidewalls, so dont expect them to hoon round corners like summer tyres. Chinese budget tyres will disappoint compared with quality tyres, but any winter tyre is better than summer tyres in winter.

 

Umm...

OK I'll add to this... I live in Finland and we get -20 every winter and last winter we had over 1m of snow in the garden... this is a regular thing not a once off.

The thought of putting some cheap winter tyres on a car over here is laughed at..
when I purchased some tyres for my Impreza after I imported it
(I got studded tyres so I cant suggest to get the same as I know they are not allowed in S-Europe)
I was talking to the manager in the tyre shop and he says that he will sell cheap tyres but recommends against it to all his customers even tho the profit in € is about the same for him. (think about that!!, how much they cost to make then?? if they sell for XX less)

Every winter a local technical magazine (Techinical World translated) does a comparison of the latest tyres on sale in Finland.. Studded vs non.studded, Nokian vs Contineltal vs Toyo vs the cheapo's...
The handling difference it commented on, lack of change of direction in a hurry (avoiding Moose)
But it the braking difference on ice that is always pointed out.. it is HUGE.. like 20%

Last years roundup I have as a PDF, but its in Finnish
summary, the top 10 was all.
Michilin X Ice2
Nokian Hakkapeliitta R
Goodyear Ultra Ice grip+
Continental ContiViking contact 5
BridgeStone Blizzak WS10
Kumho IZen KW31
Pirelli Ice Control
Dunlop SP Ice Sport
YokoHama Ice gaurd Ig30

I just asked some of the locals if they have every heard of Nangkang.. and none of them ever had.. a quick search of local web sites say they might not even be sold here.. that tells a story. (why bother trying to sell them when you know the locals wont buy them)

in short.. get some branded rubber on there, tyres are the most important bit on your car.

Vik

 

PS.. Iv been here 13 years, so iv seen some winters

 

I ended up with some Pirelli Sottozero's last year, not the cheapest (about 150 quid a corner) but very good
Its things like straight line braking you notice the difference between cheap and good snow tyres, my spec c stopped in a very short distance on snow and in a straight line, no swerving or snaking under hard braking, which is what you want but dont think a snow tyre will let you go hooning around, you still have to be cautious with these fitted, I had other road users fly past me in the snow (and then crash ) last winter.

Tony