![]() Hankook was also the first manufacturer to introduce the 225/45R15 size. Their Ventus RS line has traditionally delivered consistent grip, good heat tolerance and long life. Hankook has long been a favorite in the track day and budget enduro world. The timer agreed with our impressions, ranking the Nexen second for both drivers- but only just barely. He also observed that it’s a likable, drivable tire. His take-home feelings: “Really awesome, very fast, easy to feel, progressive loading.” Andy kept finding more and more speed as he searched for the tire’s limit. The Nexen was also quick on the practice course, especially for David, who likes to hang out the tail a bit. In short, this one cares more about temperature than pressure. We found only minor changes in overall lap time as pressures were reduced, but spraying the tires made a significant improvement. This also made it feel a little vague, especially since it does not talk much. The tire exhibited a wide plateau of grip, with the ability to run large slip angles before finally letting go. ![]() We put the Nexen around the circle first, and it did not disappoint, generating lap times that were among the fastest of the day. A few other factors have helped the manufacturer quickly establish a toehold: a very generous contingency program, and backorder status for key Bridgestone and BFG tires. So, basically, they covered two extremes.Įarly indications are that their work was successful, as Heitkotter has won numerous national autocross events this year on the Nexens. Jason Isley and Bryan Heitkotter spent multiple days working through its tire variants on test vehicles ranging from a camber-challenged Street-category car on narrow wheels to a Street Touring car set up with wide wheels and an optimal alignment. Nexen responded to the lackluster sales by hiring on a pair of champion autocrossers to further development. Early adopters reported solid performance, but the Nexens were not as quick as the top-of-the-pile Rival S and the Bridgestone RE-71 R tires. It was originally introduced in 2016 to a mild market response. This cryptically named tire comes from a total newcomer to the UHP market. The whole affair was bracketed with BFG’s Rival S 1.5 as the control tire, since that is what David typically runs in competition. Tires were sprayed after each pair of laps. Subjective impressions were collected, while objective lap times were developed using two sets of two-lap runs for each driver. Once we had our basics handled, we then proceeded to the test course to dodge some cones. These sessions also determined whether or not water was needed to cool the tires. We began with sets of three- lap passes around our skidpad in order to identify basic tire characteristics and explore heat tolerance and optimal warm tire pressures. Our test day dawned with partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the low-80s, rising to the mid-80s by the end of testing. Our prices for all of the tires tested came courtesy of Tire Rack’s website note that these prices can fluctuate over time. Tire sizes were 225/45R15, all mounted on Street Touring-legal 15×7.5-inch wheels sourced from 949 Racing. We used our permanent test course and skidpad marked on the expansive, medium-grip asphalt of the airport in Mineral Wells, Texas. Fellow multi-time champ Andy Hollis ran as a guest to add veracity to the data. Since this is his car and it’s set up the way that he likes it, David served as the primary test driver. It’s now being campaigned by multi-time champ David Whitener. Our test vehicle would be the ex- GRM Street Touring Miata, which won a pair of SCCA ProSolo championships back in 2006. That means, of course, that it’s time for some more testing. Three new contenders have recently entered this world: the Nexen N FERA SUR4G, Hankook Ventus R-S4, and BFGoodrich g-Force Rival S 1.5. ![]() Participants now need to have a Plan B that includes both an alternate tire and correlating setup specs. This has brought increased sales and led to some supply chain shortages. It’s an outright tire war-and we all win.Īs grip has increased, though, tire life has dropped. And that attention keeps delivering new products: The old four-to-six-year refresh cycle has been shortened to just a year or two as the performance bar is constantly pushed ever higher. The popularity of these 200tw tires has driven manufacturers to focus tremendous attention on this category. This is all courtesy of the universal adoption of 200-treadwear street tires across multiple, popular competition venues. These are heady times for enthusiasts: We get to enjoy a huge selection of fast, truly street-legal tires from a wide range of manufacturers. ![]()
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