Nexen N Fera AU5

Just following up on another review I wrote about these tyres many years ago with my BMW - the tyres have finally reached end of life, but I'm not complaining as I've had literally 4.5-5 years on this set of tyres, with a mix of spirited and regular commuting type driving, as well as a few road trips. For the price point I still think they're a phenomenal mid-range tyre (start of the mid-range perhaps?) for everyday use, but if it's a weekend car where wear is less significant then perhaps something with more grip may be a better suit. Also worth noting I haven't got a particularly powerful car so they don't have to handle a lot of power going down, just grip in corners. I've just had a look and I've done 60,000kms on each pair of tyres I put on (one about 1 month before the other) so I'm pretty happy with the longevity. Towards the end though I did feel myself wanting more grip, especially as finances were less of a consideration and so I was happy to spend more on a higher performing tyre. For their grip level they're well balanced I feel, but at the end of the day they still have less grip than some of the higher performing equivalents out there.

Would I buy again? Depends on the application - my car probably not as I want more grip going forward (and the Continental MC6 seem to be a good balance of price/performance so they'll take up the mantle the AU5 had for the minimum level of tyre for my car, as the Conti's weren't as competitive when I bought the AU5's), but for any of my family's cars it's an immediate buy for the AU5 if they're available in the size, as long term the pricing and grip/safety element works out brilliantly in regular commuter cars. Especially in NZ, where I can get them fitted for something like $160 NZD ($97 USD at the time of writing) a tyre, and the low quality kill you stuff is priced at $130-140 these days, so it's a no brainer.

I had two of these things fail and leave me by the side of the road. I can forgive one, but not two failures, I immediately went to les schwab and replaced all 4 tires, good riddance to bad rubbish. in the wet they slipped like it was ice, unforgiveable, and the light weight sidewalls were not the best.

Great mid tear tyre. Road noise is good and wet and dry performance is good as well. Confident under breaking and turning in the wet. Slightly narrow tyre than competitors, so you may want to bump up the width if the look is something youre after as well.

I've had these on my car for approximately 2 years now, having come down from the SU1's (mainly a daily driver and the SU1's wear a fair bit quicker). You definitely notice that they have less grip than the SU1's, but equally I don't find myself wanting for grip either since I've had my Bilstein shocks installed (coming from Koni's). My car isn't particularly powerful, so it's more about agility and carrying the speed you have, which these do nicely. Done about 40,000km on them, and they're about half worn. Handling at the limit is rather progressive, they don't snap on you which is nice and you can feel them unloading. They're generally quiet, and in the wet don't have as much grip as in the dry, but if you're looking for something for a daily to take up a hill, and you're not in a super powerful car, for the money I'd certainly say these are at least worth a try - I think much better value for money than a lot of the cheaper stuff out there.

Update to my last review. These tyres have still been going well. Defiantly an excellent highway tyre. Softer sidewall which makes them pretty comfortable even at 40psi. They are still fairly quiet too no complaints there. The only downsides I have found are wet weather take off can be a pain (in their defence 270kw rear drive turbo car) but only mostly at slower speeds around town/city. Wet weather handling defiantly isn't as good as dry. Overall they have been great as a highway tyre and can take a bit of punishment when you push it, but don't be mistaken if you like to drive in a 'spirited' manner most of the time or you have a fairly high powered car you will be disappointed and I wouldn't recommend them. If you want a quiet and comfortable tyre that you can be confident in on the highway in all conditions, consider these.

Ended up with these by accident (wanted SU1) thought I would give them a shot. On my G6E Turbo (270kw). Very quiet compared to std Dunlop SportMaxx, softer sidewall too do very comfortable but the downside is you notice it in corners. Handle the wet weather very well, feel very confident in the wet. Do a fairly good job putting power to the ground. Actual tread is narrower than std Dunlops but do have a big rim protector. Cannot rate wear only 5k on them. I would reccomend for daily driver if you dont like to push it through the corners. Most of my driving in on a freeway to work which they are great for but I dont mind the odd squirt and i find them a bit soft in corners. $150 each from Jax