Given
94%
while driving a
Honda Prelude 2.2vtec
(205/60 R15 H) on
a combination of roads
for 6,000
average miles
Winter 2017/2018 was my first experience with Nexen and in any case with Korean tires, so despite relatively good reviews there was certain skepticism about performance, especially in view of mixed test results (target was to find tires which are good on snow and ice like Scandinavian type tires, but also good on dry and wet like tires of continental Europe type, and not expensive). Returning home after tires were mounted I was chocked how they were silent - the best ever I have tried. Noise drop was as I would installed a noise insulation. Confort was also on the top, but partly it could be ensured by a little oversizing: 205/60 instead of 205/55.
Winter performance was fully satisfactory. In snow and on ice they were subjectively similar to Bridgestone Blizzak Revo GZ and Michelin X-Ice (I): good grip and braking in snow, but on pure ice they were all relatively weak, especially at temperatures slightly below 0C. All provide better handling than braking, so it's necessary to be careful though as with any tires. On dry and wet pavements Nexen looked far better than both with braking - at emergency braking they didn't slide first meters that was always slightly frightening me. Course-keeping ability on dry pavement may be a little bit worse than that with Michelin (quite similar to Bridgestone), but I could feel it just at speed over 120-130 km/h. Wear after 10K km looks typical. Thus, in overall they are really decent winter tires. Nexen, bravo !
And how to trust all these tire tests ?! Today, in view of my own experience, I may say that there was only one test with Nexen Winguard Sport that looks objective and it was performed in Korea.