Hi,
I have a mk1 turbo track car. I have been using Nankang NS2R’s for the past three track days and get on quite well with them. Once up to temperature, they have a good amount of grip and feel very predictable, but I am running out of grip when chasing some quicker cars with wider wheels.
Long story short, I am considering some wider wheels and tyres for next season. I’m currently running 195/50/15 on 7J wheels. How do the AR1’s compare to the NS2R?
Any advice or discussion welcomed 
No direct experience but I hear AR1’s are a bit stickier than NS2’s.
Not much help really sorry…
I ran NS2R’s on track in my NC1 and passed one AR1’s as an “upgrade” and went straight to MRF ZTR’s if you can get them in the size you need. They’re a fine tyre.
They were better priced than AR1 also
They’re like night and day. One is a cheap road and occasional track tyre, the other a very good track and occasional (dry) road tyre.
Not many rules exist, but one does with track tyres and it’s this: The more money you spend, the better tyre you will get.
That’s because better rubber is more expensive.
I have AR1s on one set of wheels and Yoko A052s on another. I mostly sprint and hill climb but have used both on track days. For me the main issue with AR1s is they’re not good in the wet (horrible would be my description). The A052s on other hand are fab in the wet. In the dry the AR1s feel stiffer / more-direct/precise than the A052s. I love the A052s, so they would be my suggestion. The A052s also warm up much faster than the AR1s, probably more of an issue for sprint / hill climb use. No experience of NS2Rs, sorry. Hopefully one of the racers will add their thoughts, as I know there are several on here.
Thanks for the reply mate as I hadn’t considered A052’s. It’s interesting that you would recommend them over the AR1. As mentioned by the other response in the thread, they seem to be the more expensive option and will therefore probably be the better choice.
As you said, I’ve heard the AR1’s are terrible in the wet, so they may not be the best choice given the random nature of the weather in the UK. I’ve been quite lucky that I’ve only had dry track days running NS2R’s. Ideally, I would do as you do and run two sets of wheels depending on the weather. However, I don’t have the luxury of a trailer!
How is the wear on the A052? NS2R’s seem to last forever.
As the MRF dealer for the UK, I am very cautious about what I say as I am not here to criticise other tyres.
That said, it is absolutely no secret that the NS2R, is, as has been said, a budget track tyre. In the past it was available in different compound hardness’s which offered options to intended use. It is what it is, a road legal tyre, that has, when not worn, decent water clearance and decent performance when at the right temp. It is also cheap for this type of tyre. It’s weakness is it does not heat cycle well and can be past it’s best performance even on it’s second use. This means it loses ultimate grip, which is not that high compared to actual track tyres, and can become quite snappy.
AR1 is Nankang’s track tyre, they have a new track tyre, but at far more money. A fair number of races use them in a lot of different situations. It is considered to come on very quickly, and have reasonable life. However, while road legal, you only have to look at it to realise it is going to be severely compromised in the wet. If you want a general road tyre, don’t. And that applies to all full track tyres. Road is not what they are for. Yes they have road approval, but their actual ability is compromised and since you will never get them to the proper temperature on the road, you actually get no more road performance than a decent road tyre.
If you want to look up opinion on the Internet, then AO52 is the absolute flavor of the month, to the point that it will probably also deliver a baby better than a midwife, but what people will not say is that even without track use, life is unlikely to be above 5k miles and are one of the most expensive tyres going, plus, in endurance racing, tyres being replaced after just an hour’s use is not rare.
MRF ZTR in a medium compound will not be the fastest tyre out there, but will give you very good consistency and long life.
NS-2R is not a fast tyre.
Nick, thanks for the detailed reply. Great to get the opinion of someone with industry knowledge.
I guess the deciding factor is then price.
For a set of 4 tyres (unfitted in 205/50/15):
AO52: £807
AR1: £527
NS2R: £460
ZTR: £744
For my use-case (track days) it seems like the AR1 is probably the best bet.
If it rains, I can practice some drifting 
.
You have used the 225 15 ZTR price.
195 15 would be £600
Hi – I can see NickD’s answered your wear question, so hopefully that gives you what you want! I’m sure you’ll be pleased with AR1s as a dry weather track-day tyre. As before, just be mindful they’re very compromised in the wet (D-rated vs B-rated for NS2Rs on the Euro Tyre Label).
Best - S7.
Thanks mate. Looking forward to trying them out!
Old now, but.
