Toyo or Nangkang.... that is the question

[mrmorrisminor]

Hi all, I'm in the market for some tyres for my standard minor rims. I'm currently running old style Nangkangs on the rear, which have lovely rigid walls so no rear end wobbling and the softer Bridgstones the on the front for better grip on my 2 door and she handles lovely....... but they are in need of replacement.

I've experienced Bridgstones on the rear of my 4 door and they are, quite frankly, frightening at speed due to their very flexible walls which allow the rear to wander all over the place, even when inflated to 34 psi. When you pushed the rear of the car you could see it 'wobble' on the tyres.

I've recently gone for newstyle Nangkangs on the rear of the traveller and notice that the walls are not as rigid as the old style, which allows a little rear end wander, reducing the handling a little but they seem to have good grip.....

I long for the firestones I ran for many years but alas no.....

So..... my question is...... are the walls of the Toyos any less flexible than the Nangkangs? I'm looking for the tyre with the most rigid walls that'll give me the best handling on the rear.....

any thoughts or comments gratefully received

[carlosramalho]

Camac, is also Nice, and are Portuguese
Cheers

[charlie_morris_minor]

i like you, miss the firestone tyres. There was a long gap between driving on firestones and changing to toyo tyres but I can not see any difference but and this is a big BUT.. I have not driven the car in any real amount of rain to tell you what the wet handling is like.

[C6Dave]

Haven't got Toyo on the MM but had them on a C4 in the past and they were good value and handling was fine, but they were a rather different profile to what your after

I have Nankang on the MM ATM and have never had a tyre with so flexible walls on any car I have owned

[Alan Pearse]

I have a full set of Toyo's on my Series II not had any problems yet. Have had them on my modern before found to be a good tyre. My son runs his Fiat Stilo 2 Ltr Sport on 205/45/17 Toyo's never any problems. Toyo Tyres where originaly made by Toyota cars in house for there range of cars, until it was sold off years ago. Toyo is now just a brand name but the name is under leicence from Toyota. Nangkang are cheap and cheerful re profiled tyres (remoulds) I've known them to de laminate going down the road side wall cracking after a few months and as has been said soft. so i'd go for the Toyo's Bull Motif were doing a deal last time i looked.

[chrisd87]

Glad I'm not the only one that's noticed the rather baloony nature of the Bridgestone tyres! The sidewall of the old Firestones and Uniroyals had a thick band of rubber extending about half way up, whereas the Bridgestones seem to be unsupported, which might be what's leading to the flexibility. Not sure if this has anything to do with them being designed as a low rolling resistance tyre. As far as I'm aware the Bridgestones are the only 14" 145 tyre now available in the UK - Camacs were available but seem to have dissapeared.

This sort of thing is why I'm quite interested in the idea of some relatively inexpensive standard-looking wheels that can accept a wider tyre. At 175 width there's a good choice of tyres from major manufacturers, readily available from any tyre shop, for less money than the Bridgestones these days.

[mike.perry]

I used to run m Series MM on 155/14 Goodyears when they were available and they stuck to the road. When Goodyears stopped I ran on Firestones which were also good and when I fitted wide wheels on the Traveller I used the Firestones off it on the MM.
I eventually fitted Nankangs on the front of the MM and the car was all over the road. When I had to replace the rear Firestones I moved the Nankangs to the rear and fitted Toyos to the front. Running the tyres at 28-30 psi all round they were an improvement but still felt skittish. I dropped the pressures down to 26 psi and the road holding and handling felt excellent on the twisty country roads at between 50 and 60 mph.

[dalebrignall]

i had bridgestones on the rear of mine and i was not that impressed ive got nacking on the back they dont look like remolds at all ive not driven it in the wet yet will do tomorrow ,the tyres are all rated and i dont drive over 60 so im sure they are ok .

[linearaudio]

I have found Toyo to be fine on the front of my Traveller, but awful on the back due to flexing.
Making comparisons with Toyos on modern cars is a bit misleading, as they will all have a lower aspect ratio than ours, so flexure in the side walls becomes less, and possibly even advantageous on ultra low profiles (to a point).

[mrmorrisminor]

thanks for the feedback.... so the jury is still out!

this is all a little worrying that the only tyres we can get all seem a bit on the wobbly side....... Good handling is dependent on good tyres.

I'm not a fan of alloys generally (they look great on modified minors though) but it makes me wonder whether that is the way to go to get better tyres......

[irmscher]

Definately not Toyo camac are a good option like Carlos said

[carlosramalho]

Definately not Toyo camac are a good option like Carlos said

Thanks Irmscher!

[twincamman]

Found some
http://www.vintagetyres.com/display.asp ... 4&m=2&dc=3

They're a tenner cheaper than Bridgestones as well!

[mike.perry]

What ever tyres you have, try different pressures from 24 - 32 psi until you find the pressures that suit you. I run mine on 26 psi.
If you choose the wrong tyres then you can change them in 25,000 miles

[irmscher]

[minor_hickup]

If you think Nankang tyres have a soft sidewall then you should try the Toyo! These are incredibly soft. The Nankang tyres are a lot better with the new tread pattern and I would use them every time where there are only budget tyres available. I even use the same Nankang tyre (albeiit a different size) on my Volvo.

[Chipper]

I previously ran a set of Toyo 155x14 on standard Minor wheels on the Traveller, and handling wasn't bad, despite the soft sidewalls.

Then I part-exed them for a set of LP917 4.5J van rims shod with a mixture of 165x14 tyres - handling is about the same.