Nexen Knowledge?

[havanisda]

Any1 know anything about Nexen tires? I found a set of 225/40ZR18s 4
$335.24 shipped ($75/tire). http://www.tiredeals4less.com/NEXEN_N3000_225_40ZR18_92Y_XL_P3416.cfm
I don't have 18s yet, but when I do this is probably the tire I would choose. @ that price it seems hard 2 beat unless ne1's heard somethin....... like they have the "Firestone exploder" reputation. $75/tire that's the same price as a tank & a 1/2 o' fuel.

[TSi+WRX]

^ Unknown. I honestly haven't heard much about them, but I know from a past cross-link to a Tiburon Forum that the crew there don't have much to complain about this brand.

There is a singular caution that came from a guy I "know" on the .com Forums, though, in that in typical IL. winter weather, his Nexens, billed as an "all-season," was absolutely horrible in even light snow.

[Dookie]

Haven't heard to much about these tires either.

If your looking for options, the General Exclaim UHPs are awesome for the price. I've been rolling on these for the past 6 months and just love them, super sticky in the wet & dry. Plus, I've read people have used them in light snow too, and worked fine. I paid $84 per tire installed, on the stock rim.

[havanisda]

From the same website I found the Nexen I found the General Exclaim UHPs but they don't come in that 225/40ZR 18 size I want.
As far as poor winter traction 4 the Nexens I'm gonna just throw on the stockers w/an A/S tire neway when it's bad weather.

[Dookie]

If your going to do dat, check out the Goodyears All-season.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Goodyear&tireModel=Eagle+F1+All+Season

They have excellant reviews. Cost a little bit more, but it will save you from switching wheels during the winter months.

[Dookie]

225/40ZR18
Blackwall Serv. Desc (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/general/servdesc_pop.html): 92Y
Load Rating XLPrice: $142.00 (each)
Estimated Availability (http://www.tirerack.com/cart/estimated_avail.html):
In Stock

[havanisda]

I still have probably 85% left on my Toyo A/S.

[Dookie]

Alllllllllllllllllrighty then. :tup:

[TSi+WRX]

I'm itching to try the Kumho Ecsta LX Platinum - TireRack has them in-stock in the 225/40/18 sizing for $112, ea.

Although I roll on dedicated summers and winters, the wifey's driving style is almost ideally suited for winter-biased all-seasons, and I'm not sure if I want to step all the way up to the Nokian WRs, due to pricing.

The Kumhos are new for this year, and if you look at their tread pattern, the inboard half is *very* interesting - and outside of the Nokian WRs, it's the only all-season I know that features such "waffle"-type "winter" tread sips.

To the best of my knowledge, no-one has had direct experience on these on LGTs - much less so for any winter scenario, since they're so new (I only learned about them through the latest TireRack print flier that came in my mailbox, just two weeks ago) - but it seems pretty nifty.

Pricing is a little high, though, considering your benchmark....

Falken's 912s are only $88 per tire, at EdgeRacing, in that same sizing, and you may want to give these some consideration. These are a known-quantity when it comes to "all-season" performance, with known less winterability than the 512s (which should also be another consideration for you, considering that they are $85 per tire, at DiscountTireDirect).

Both of these are less winter-capable than the Exclaims - so if you're looking for passable winter capabilities, while the 512s are OK, particularly if you're a conservative driver (I drove for two winters on the 512s, without problem, and my wife did the past winter, too), but something like the Kumho ASX ($96 at DiscountTireDirect) should do much better.

But if you're looking for summer tires, you'd probably be better served paying an extra $15-20 per tire or so, and looking at, say, the Kumho SPT or even the MX (if you can find that on-sale), or even the Fuzion ZRi, which are all "known-quantity" pieces, which trade-off "stick"/performance for lower pricing.

It's just that the lack of past-data on the Nexens really makes me hesitate, that's all - and given that you're looking for higher levels of performance (since you already have a set of stocker all-seasons ready to go onto your car for the winter) and you know you have a limited budget, it doesn't really make sense to experiment too, too much, particularly as you're likely going to have a lot of trouble trying to "get rid of" the Nexens on the secondary market, if you don't find them to your liking.

This is kinda the same debate I went through with myself, when I was considering summer tires - Goodyear F1 GS-D3, Toyo T1-R, Hankook RS-2 Z212.

The Hankooks were my budget alternative, but they were a "known quantity." I knew I wanted more than the Fuzions could offer, but it was hard to justify spending any less - or going with "unknowns" - given my specific goals.

You'll also need to debate this with yourself. The Nexens are just an unknown. That in and of itself is not a right nor a wrong, it's just a fact. I really see no right or wrong here, particularly as you're concerned with the cost of the tires, so it's just a matter of working through the parameters of your decision tree, and that's that. :)

[han]

I always see these tires get mounted on our "used cars". I haven't heard or seen anything bad about these NEXEN tires, but I do know that it is the one of the cheapest tires of its kind and size. Our used car department always tries to use the cheapest tires to put on the used cars.

[TSi+WRX]

To me, "cheap" does not necessarily mean bad - especially not in today's cost-conscious market.

Look at Hankook, or Kumho, or even Falken.

These all started here in the States as low-priced alternatives, and look at how well-established each have become, both in terms of high-performance tires as well as their low priced alternatives. And in many cases, these brands still offer products in their extended lines that combine performance with cost.

Nankang, for example, is relatively new to the passenger tire scene here in the US, but in the Far-East, their name is well-known and well-respected (perhaps even more so than Hankook, especially in the Nankang's home-market of industrial-application tires).

But again, overall, they're an unknown.

Part of this is likely just that high-end auto-owners and/or performance enthusiasts aren't willing to experiment with such tires, given the obvious - and still most often correct - correlation of price-quality, but also a part of it is likely because these low-budget tires really don't offer performance that's all that mind-blowing, even given their lower price (as opposed to offerings from, say, Hankook or Kumho, which are essentially a "step up" in terms of pricing).... After all, you don't see AutoXers scrambling after these tires, and we all know how that crowd loves cheap performance. :)