Writing about the
Nexen N Blue HD Plus given
68% (225-55-16-V)
Driving on
a combination of roads for 1000
average miles
"First I was afraid, I was petrified
Kept thinking I could never live without Michelin's by my side
And I spent so many nights thinking how you did me wrong
And I grew strong and I learned how to get along."
Seriously, previously I would not even think about lifting my leg to release myself on tires like Nexen.
I used these Nexen tires for a few months as a backup reserve while I was waiting for my new Michelin Primacy 4 to be delivered/released, just so that the car would have some emergency "crutches" to stand on for a while.
And seriously, the first time I hit the road with these used but still fully threaded Nexen tires, I was indeed afraid, I was indeed petrified.
And now, after slowly starting from ca 5 km/h speed and eventually trying these tires up to ca 160 km/h speed......with egg all over my face, I admit, it is good tires, there is nothing wrong with them, at least nothing wrong using them, I do not know about quality and construction, they are however approved for V speed (240 km/h) so they can probably not be too bad.
Stable in straights and normal curvy roads, good braking in dry, relatively comfortable and very quiet.
They are not the most grippy tires in curves but it is acceptable and controllable, for normal driving you wont notice.
Not perfect in wet but also acceptable, in my estimate they do have a noticeable longer braking distance than premium tires in wet, this might be their biggest drawback, but still it is not disastrous.
And now that I have received my Michelin's P4 I kind of miss the Nexen tires, with Nexen comfort was better, noise were lower and surprisingly the direction stability was perfect with Nexen, with Michelin a weird little unstable experience.
It is the same standard size I always used.
I find myself being a little bit let down by Michelin these days and "crutches" like Nexen and some other budget brands are on their way up, sometimes equal and sometimes even beyond their "forefathers"....
But be careful, the absolute majority of budget tires are still bad and dangerous, the Nexen is one of the very few that seems to have made it, at least with this model.
I am honestly not sure which tires I would choose between Nexen and P4, I can confirm that I would definitely prefer the Nexen over the Michelin Primacy 3 which I really did not like.
Soon I will probably buy a Kia and get rid of my little collection of western decadence......and live in the rain-forest.....