Writing about the
Nexen N Blue HD Plus given
80% (185-65-15-)
Driving on
a combination of roads for 22360
spirited miles
I got these tyres as OEM on my 2020 KIA Rio Hatchback. I previously had a 2019 Rio with the same tyres. Did over 9,000 miles on the 2019, but have so far done 22,360 miles on the 2020, and they are in great condition still.
The Dry performance continues to be great for an H rated tyre, I don't drift or do burnouts (only 100 HP) so i dont't know how that would go LoL. What i can say for sure is the car tracks dead straight, and doesn't go wandering with every road imperfection (vertical cracks). The tyres will tell you exactly what kind of tarmac you are on (audible) but does not make a sound on their own (smooth tarmac is whisper quiet with windows up). My car has numb steering so the sound is helpful. When new, you can easily go twice as fast in the rain on a smooth highway compared to others (i never went above 110 km in the rain), but naturally in a thunderstorm, you better go based on visibility and common sense.
Had to pull a 4" nail once from a front left (passed an inner city furniture shop way too often, it was a shortcut), but the tyres only kept losing pressure for weeks but never flattened or blew out, till i realized it was in there (doing 75 MPH regurlarly). I only needed to get it plugged. Very safe tyres. I've even gone "off-road" in them, dirt tracks and rocky rain-damaged country roads, no cracks or nothing. Tuff tyres for the money.
The wet traction will not be as good as the tread goes down (simple physics), but the car still behaves predictably and has never snapped. I only rotated criss cross after 9,000 miles. I know, i just forgot dealerships don't rotate them for you (went to a tyre shop when i saw the front in-tread sipes disappear). Please note, they are bi-directional, but have an inside and outside wall, so pay attention. To prolong tyres, make sure to have them "oiled", and rebalanced during rotation. Don't be cheap just because the tyres are. Also, you can tell how the water drainage goes by how deep the sound of the water is. High pitch is minimal water, but deeper pitch means too much, so slow down. But if you're in a luxury vehicle, you may not hear anything so....good luck with that.
I may have to choose a different tyre when these go off, mainly because they may be hard to find, and i want better tread life expectancy, as these are UTQG 360. Still, if that's average for AA traction then i guess not bad. I will buy again if i can find them newly made AND the price is still low (for e.g. the 185\65\R15 is a US$70 tyre (don't overpay).
In case you're wondering, i'm driving these in JA, which has some of the oldest roads ever, tyres go through a lot, when not on the highways.