UHP focus for latest Nexen all-season range

When Nexen Tire first threw its hat into the ring of Europe’s all-season tyre market a decade ago, most motorists – and most tyre makers – considered these products best suited to smaller cars with just a handful of horses under the bonnet. Product development has brought all-season tyres a long way since then, and attitudes have changed too. So it was that when Nexen recently launched its latest tyre for this segment, there wasn’t a single dimension for runabouts or city cars to be seen.

Instead, Nexen N blue 4 Season 2 arrives in a launch range of 22 dimensions that will swell into a line-up of 105 products by the end of 2024, with all sizes sitting within the UHP segment. Fitments cover 17- to 19-inch rim diameters and come with V, W or Y speed ratings. One reason why Nexen is directing attention to more powerful vehicles is, put simply, because it can.

Ralf Flachbarth, tyre development engineer at Nexen Tire’s Europe Technical Centre, points out that the performance of all-season tyres has “drastically changed” over the past decade thanks to the use of new materials and production technologies. “The latest, state-of-the-art all-season tyres cover much more of the gap between summer and winter and they can provide good performance in all conditions, much better than ten to 15 years ago.”

Speaking at the launch of the Nexen N Blue 4 Season 2 during The Tire Cologne show, Flachbarth confirms that the range is aimed at peppy small family hatchbacks and saloons like the BMW 1 Series and VW Golf up to upper mid-range vehicles such as the Audi A6 and BMW 5 Series. He still recommends that drivers of the most powerful sports cars should fit a summer/winter tyre combination, but for anyone else it is a question of local conditions: “It depends very much on the region where you live. If you live in a region with less snow, the all-season tyre is a good recommendation.”

Ralf Flachbarth says the new tyre is positioned as Nexen’s most premium all-season product (Photo: Tyrepress / Stephen Goodchild)

20% growth since 2017

Qualitative improvements and increasing suitability for fitment on larger cars have resulted in growing uptake of all-season tyres. Peter Gulow, vice president of Nexen Tire’s Europe Central & East region, shares ETRMA data that shows Europe-wide CAGR volume growth of 20.1 per cent for all-season tyres between 2017 and 2021, with sales volumes rising from 17.26 million to 35.94 million units during this period and their share of the overall replacement passenger vehicle tyre market increasing from seven to 16 per cent. This additional market share was acquired at the expense of both summer and winter tyres.

About the tyre: Tread pattern

Made in Europe and aimed at driving conditions within the region, Nexen N blue 4 Season 2 has a v-shaped tread design. Ralf Flachbarth explains that this design provides good aquaplaning performance and traction in wintry conditions.

Tread blocks are of a chamfer-shaped block design, and Flachbarth says this configuration improves stability when covering both summer and winter performance. “The blocks aren’t 90 degrees, they are chamfered, and that makes the blocks more rigid and more stable for good handling performance.”

The development engineer adds that performance when braking on snowy roads is improved by the blocks’ zigzag design, which provide more biting edges and a longer block edge. “This improves overall snow performance, but especially snow braking performance.” Zigzag blocks are of a ‘depth hidden block’ design, which maintains snow performance as the tyre wears and increases mileage potential.

Finally, 3D sipe technology improves handling performance by causing the blocks to interlock. This reduces block deformation.

Tyre construction

Ralf Flachbarth comments that customers “want a comfortable ride.” Nexen Tire kept this in mind when developing N blue 4 Season 2 and gave it a sidewall construction that absorbs shocks and vibrations.

A jointless cap-ply minimises deformation at high speed. “A jointless construction was important as we’re concentrating on high speed indices,” notes Flachbarth.

A high strength steel belt is present to increase braking performance with an optimised belt angle, while a high strength casing increases durability and decreases tyre deformation.

The tyre has a jointless bead wire and high stiffness bead filler. “This is the contact part of the rim, and if you have stiff contact to the rim, you have good feedback to the driver. It improves stability and response by optimised bead structure.”

All-season compound

Flachbarth emphasises that one of the most important things for all-season tyres – and something that’s more complex than with a summer or a winter tyre – is the compound. “An all-season compound must be flexible at low temperatures but give stability at higher temperatures. Achieving this is a very demanding job for our compounders. But they developed a compound that gives us exactly this performance: Flexibility at low temperatures to improve snow and ice performance, but to maintain handling performance, good stability at higher temperatures.” Braking in wet and dry conditions is enhanced by use of a high resin silica compound technology.

Testing at IDIADA & Test World shows generational performance improvements in most areas (Photo: Tyrepress / Stephen Goodchild)

Prior-generation tyre for smaller sizes

Although the new tyre’s focus is squarely on the UHP segment, Nexen Tire has by no means turned its back on drivers of small cars who wish to fit all-season tyres. Ralf Flachbarth states that the Nexen N Blue 4 Season will continue to be the brand’s all-season tyre for sizes in the 16-inch and below range.