I bought this tire - knowing about the very negative reviews of its predecessor - because it was a great buy. I could purchase them very cheaply, so I thought, what the heck, it would be a great tire test...

After mounting and balancing, away I went out to the highway and the first impression was scary! The car was very loose; it had a shimmying motion diagonally which was downright frightening.
I pulled to the next gas station to check things. Everything was OK, but as I pushed the sidewall of the tire, I noticed that it was VERY soft. The pressure was set to the recommended 1.8/1.8 bar on my Camry. I thought that if the tire has so pliable sidewalls, then I have to compensate this with more pressure. So I decided to raise the inflation pressure to 2.5/2.4 front/rear. I was right!!!
The car was immediately transformed! It rode very well despite of the raised pressure, and the SV-2 was exceptionally quiet - I started to trust the tire.

Then came the true winter with deep snow. Although the SV-2 doesn't have an aggressive winter profile/sipes, the raw bite and traction is simply awesome. I towed other cars from a parking garage with the ramp completely covered in fresh 20cm thick snow without any wheelspin. It felt like a platter ski lift!
Turn in was spontaneous, understeer was minimal if any. Braking performance and overall stability was also impeccable. The winter was absolutely convincing, so I decided to leave on the SV-2s to see how they perform in the scorching heat during summer months. Here in Hungary we have a -20°C - +40°C temp range, so a tire must prove itself.
Obviously, the compound went softer, and a tad indifferent, but a /65 tire will never be so spontaneous and instant like a low profile sporty one. It kept its absolute silence, predictability and again performed very well. I must note that the wear factor was simply nonexistent. I rotated them correctly and they looked remarkably fresh. Finally, after 65.000 km, the shoulder blocks wore away on the fronts, as I usually corner with sprightly 0.6+ Gs, avoiding unnecessary braking whenever possible.

Now at the 80.000 km mark, I still have the rears on, but they are on their final kilometers now. I replaced the fronts with Nokian AllWeather Pluses, but I'm very dissatisfied with them. They offer nowhere near the performance of the Nankangs, and they have extremely low grip in damp conditions. I'm running dangerously wide in some corners...

So, to summarize, the Nankang SV-2s gave THE MOST PLEASANT tire owning experience in my life. It was an exceptional winter tire, but I can recommend this even as an all-season one. I'm an automotive journalist, so I drive lots of different tires, but after these I truly don't know what "premium" means. Quite often the premium brands simply don't have the longevity/performance compared to others, and that questions the objectivity of tire testing in me.

Definitely a Buy Again.

+ quietness, snow grip, wet traction, stability (with raised pressure!), wear/degradation, overall balance, good water management/evacuation, attractive profile, ride comfort

- errm... well, slightly longer braking distances in the summer compared with high performance/low profile tires, but this is natural, you MUST compensate the soft sidewalls with more inflation pressure (usually around/upwards of 2.5 bar), otherwise the tire will be indifferent, snappy

I drive a very light car (800kg), so this review might not apply to all cars. Bought these tires second hand very cheaply even thought I was rather sceptical about Chinese tires.
I was actually amazed about how good values these are, especially compared to the Vredestein Snowtrac 5 I used to have on another car.
Driving on snow was great, no problem at all (even with rwd), in mud an dirty roads as well.
Handling on hotter days wasn't indeed all that great, but for a winter tire, I guess it's fair to say its ok.

All in all, I would definitely recommend these, as they have great value for the price (Heard different mechanics saying these were rubbish, turned out they had never even tried these, just said that because they are Chinese)

Bought these as a budget winter tire for my Volvo XC90 2017 year. I was expecting okay snow grip looking at the reviews but I am simply amazed how these tires perform in winter conditions. Driving in our recent snow is like driving on normal roads. Fuel consumption maybe up slightly but that maybe due to the colder temperatures anyway. The Volvo is not a car you flying around corners but compared to the Pirelli scorpion fitted as standard I’ve noticed little difference. In fact I’d say the nankangs edge it slightly.

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If this review helps anyone, I bought this tires 2 years ago, brand new not used, i put all 4 tires on the car and i waited for "winter is coming", in heat condition this tire obviously is not good it looses the grip very much (because it's a winter tire and it's softer then the summer ones), on the other hand, in winter and cold conditions the tires do very well, i feel the car very smooth, i have grip, and the braking is good, the car it's a non ABS and non power steering, so for no asistences they do very good.
Anyway i recommend the tires because i am very satisfied.

I wanted a pair of M+S tires and these seemed to fit my budget, I had a set of sv2s fitted on the front of my vauxhall combo van and although they are a good tire in the wet, dry condtions they don't wear to well I went though my first set of sv2s in about 15k, the problem I found with them is they seem to wear quite heavy on the inner and out edges initially I thought the correct tire pressure for my van wasn't enough 36psi as side wear is usually under inflation, so I bought a new pair and had a 4 wheel alignment done and took the psi up a bit more and checked the pressure every week and still they wore on the sides the trouble with these tires are the side tread is very shallow compared to the centre of the tire so it doesnt take look before the sides are on the wear limits and if you go below the wear markers by only a tiny bit it wont belong before cords are showing through as I found out on the first pair, the centre of the tires still has plenty left but the outter edges are on the limit so the tire is not legal then, normally a set of tires on my van will last 40k to 50k and will wear even as I don't drive like I'm having trouble taking off, this is not the first time I've had problems with side wear with nankangs, I guess tire flexing and rolling during cornering is a major problem with the sv2 to wear the sides like it does, I have since changed to a different make and I'm back to wearing evenly again.

They don't do well in 'proper' tire reviews, but I have nothing but praise for these black circles of amazement. More comfort than my summer tires and they have always found some grip in the worst of winter. Had them for 5 winters, note that my car is actually a van, I fitted 99XL rated SV2's. Favorite day was when at a party in a country pub and the snow came down, all taxis phoned to cancel due to the weather but my van took all 13 guests home on freshly laid snow with no problem, maybe a lucky number after all?

For the price they are easy to reccomend.

Would not recommend unless you live in a warm location where winter is very mild and only ever drive on slush. On snow they don't grip at all and let me down a lot, though i went for a very small tread intentionally so as to have more traction in snow. Would not recommend for snowy weather or sporty driving

Hard wearing with 40000 miles on a 260bhp E350 mercedes. Slippy in the wet. Made the E350 feel like an AMG63!

Quick review

Bought for my fiesta st180 front wheel drive 200bhp.

Wanted some cheap winter tires as i live in rural south west england. There is not much choice in the larger / low profile tires unless you want to pay a fortune.

Due to the size of the standard st alloys 205/40/17 i had to buy some winters to match which i know is not ideal on a wide / low profile tire. But i have to say i am impressed! Had these fitted for around 800miles now and wear is good they still look like new. Excellent through rain with a decent enough stopping distance. Handling is not as good as my Bridgestone summer tires but this is due to the tread pattern of the winter tire, which i wouldn't expect them to be. Do get me wrong they are not bad but who is going to be throwing a car into a corner in bad conditions. NOT ME! After having some snow this morning it performed great had no problem travelling 18miles through it.

Looking back they recommend buying a wheel diameter down from what is fitted with a slightly more narrow profile. This would then perform slightly better in wintery conditions. But have no complaints with mine at all.

Overview:
Better than a summer tire in under 7oc conditions
Cheap with decent performance
I would recommend them for winter against a summer tire all day long.

Firstly I'd suggest everyone should use winter tires in winter in Europe where temperature in winter falls below 7C.

My prime purpose buying Nankang was to test a cheap brand to see if that makes much difference from Goodyear or Continental & I must say I am not diappointed. Driving in dry conditions with as high speed as 130 mph in Germany and as snow with a food of snow in alps they performed very well.

Pros:
- I found then stable with speed upto 130 miles per hour in (winter) dry conditions (in Germany).
- Dry grip is pretty decent.
- Snow grip is pretty decent.
- Tread is stable. I have already driven for more than 8000 miles & I guess it will still go at least 8000 more.
- Cheap, almost half the price of any primium brand.

Cons:
- High fuel consumption (I compared it with my summer tires only).
- Wet grip is manageable.
- Breaking distance is longer than premium tires (due to less wet grip), but still 4 times better than summer tires.

I think being budget tires they are excellent choice. Those who want to stay secure in snow & icy conditions and dont want to spend a lot of money, its best choice.

This tires are good at winter. Snow and ice grip is well. I went on the worst foggy and icy road it was still gripping well. There is not abrasion because tire is little harder. If you drive in rainy weather, grip is not so well but enough . But it increased my fuel consumption %20 at least,this one is the worst. But if you need cheap and saver winter tire you can choose.

its a low buget tire that can have good grip on snow but offers no confort , its feel like a runflut tire

Grip was in dry takelt decent. In the wet goedver, they were just about average. The deal drawback was that the tires werd comfortable on bumps. They also made the car feel like a shoppingcart on the motorqay. The back end felt very loopse and sloppy. I should recommend A-grade tyrres, it's the only point of contact between the road and your car.

65K Km in twoo winters and a summer.
Very good on dry, fails on wet road and on snow.
Very quiet for all the time and very good mailage.
A little hard on bumps.
Exellent for the price, but next tire train i'll try nokian A3

I put these on 17 inch alloys to replace the summer 19 inch tires/alloys. The car is transformed - better and quieter ride. Uses less fuel too. On snow and ice the traction is awesome. The wear is minimal after 8000 miles when the 19 inch tires were shot after 16000 miles. The only downside isi slightly wooly handing - but this is an Audi so it was not great anyway!