Who are Toyo?

Toyo Tyres are a Japanese company founded in 1945. Initially confined to the Japanese domestic market, they began exporting to the USA in the mid-1960s. As of 2023, Toyo tyres distributes into every major market in the world.

If you want to read more about Toyo’s products and innovation in the industry, you can read more at their website.

Our picks for the best Toyo Tyres

The exact Toyo tyre you go for obviously depends on your vehicle and your wheel size, but we’ve picked out some of the most popular and best performing Toyo tyres on the market compared to other brands.

You can purchase any of these tyres through Amazon, where you can have them fitted yourself, or for peace of mind you can purchase them through our tyre partner ProTyre. ProTyre have over 160 locations across the UK and 8 out of 10 customers would recommend them to a friend.

If Toyo tyres are not available at any of our partners, we recommend Nexen or Falken tyres as equivalents.

How do Toyo tyres perform?

Handling and safety

In the dry

We’ll look at a few specific tyres in this section, mainly the popular summer touring tyres that Toyo makes, the Proxes Comfort and the Proxes TR-1.

Toyo tyres are praised for their low rolling resistance and good dry braking. For example, the 2023 Tyre Reviews Summer Tyre test ranked the Toyo Proxes Comfort 9th of 13 tyres and commented on the safety and performance of this tyre in the dry.

This is one of the most popular Toyo tyres out there, and the dry performance is decent but obviously not as good as a premium brand such as Pirelli or Bridgestone.

In the wet

Frequent comments about Toyo tyres suggest they’re not great in the wet, with a tendency to aquaplane and a lack of steering feedback in the wet.

For example, when looking again at the Toyo Proxes Comfort series of tyres, the 2023 ADAC Summer Tyre Test ranked it 14th of 50 tyres and commented on the tyre’s weakness on wet roads, and the 2023 Tyre Reviews Summer Tyre Test made specific mention to the extended wet braking and poor wet handling of these tyres.

This seems to be a common theme across the range of Toyo Tyres, which also affects the rest of the Proxes range and the Nanoenergy range.   

In the snow

Toyo makes an all-season range called Snowprox, although they are a little bit more difficult to find in the UK.

Unfortunately these aren’t very well regarded by a number of industry publications, including Auto Bild, who in 2021 ranked the Snowprox S954 11th out of 14 tyres and remarked on the tyre’s poor snow grip, and significant understeer in the ice and the wet.

Despite this it seems the tyres do well with deep, fluffy snow - so depending on the kind of winter weather you get in your area, this may be one to look at.

Wear and longevity

This is where we seem to get mixed results depending on the kind of driving you do. Toyo make a good tyre, and in some instances you may find the tyre can last up to 25,000 - 30,000 miles. However, as we mentioned this is entirely down to the kind of driving you do and additionally what type of car you have.

Your mileage is going to vary here, so I would suggest if you do a lot of motorway driving these are probably going to last you well, but if you’re doing town driving you might not get your money’s worth out of them.

I’ve heard a few reports of cracking within a few years - even when the tread is only half worn, so be aware of this, as these might not be the best tyres for you if you leave your vehicle standing for long periods of time. If you’re only using your car to pop to the shops once per week I would avoid Toyo tyres as you may have problems with perishing or cracking.

Ride comfort

Toyo seems to do well here. This is why Toyo are a good choice for anyone doing a lot of motorway driving, or even if they are just looking for a comfortable tyre to drive around town (despite concerns about poor wear and tear in this instance.) Toyo Proxes Comfort and TR-1 tyres seem to have good reviews for ride comfort, so if this is important to you, you should consider purchasing a Toyo Tyre.

Cost

Toyo tyres are mid-range tyres. You will pay more for them than you would for cheaper brands like Landsail, but you will pay less than you would for say, the equivalent Michelin or Bridgestone.

In order to give you a rough idea of what it might cost you to fit Toyo tyres to your car, we have picked some common makes and models of car and calculated what it’ll cost you to put the most appropriate Toyo tyre onto your vehicle, as well as a full set of 4 if you need to replace them all.

We’ve used a variety of industry sources for this information, including BlackCircles, ProTyre and Asda tyres. These prices are correct at the time of writing but may have changed by the time you read this.

Road noise

Toyo seems not to excel or disappoint in this area - road noise seems to be very standard without cause for complaint, but without any real praise either. Obviously it’s not just your tyres that contribute to cabin noise - your car has a lot to do with this as well, but there’s not much to say here – Toyo tyres seem to put out a reasonable amount of noise - not too much that it’s distracting, but certainly not the quietest tyre I’ve ever used.

Are Toyo Tyres a premium brand?

Toyo tyres are a mid-range brand. Generally when buying tyres you have budget brands like Landsail and Hifly, mid-range brands such as Falken or Avon (or Toyo) and premium brands such as Pirelli and Michelin. Of course, in general, you can expect better performance from the premium tyre brands and poorer performance from the budget and mid-range tyre brands. However, it’s likely that despite not being a premium brand, a Toyo tyre will be perfectly suitable for your vehicle depending on the use case.

How long do Toyo Tyres last?

There have been reports of Toyo tyres lasting up to 30,000 miles in some cases, and having terminal damage at as little as 15,000 miles in other cases. It depends entirely on the car you have, your driving style, the type of driving you do and how well you maintain your tyres - for example if you consistently keep your tyres under-inflated, they won’t last as long as tyres that were kept at the right pressures. Toyo tyres don’t seem to wear any significantly worse or better than any other mid-range brand like Nexen.

What’s the best month to buy tyres?

The best time to buy tyres is when you need them. In the UK we don’t tend to switch out to winter tyres in October and switch back to summer tyres in March like they do in some countries, so there’s no real need to be concerned as to when is the best time of year to put new tyres on your car. Put new tyres on when your old ones are worn out - which is when the tread is below 3mm.

How often should I rotate my Toyo Tyres?

Toyo’s warranty suggests rotating your tyres every 7,500 miles to ensure the best performance and wear from your tyres. This involves jacking the vehicle up and swapping the front nearside with the rear nearside, and the front offside with the near offside. Never mix sides - once a tyre is on one side of your car, it needs to stay there.

Where can I buy Toyo tyres?

Toyo tyres are widely available at most garages across the UK. We would recommend you purchase them from ProTyre as they will fit, balance and dispose of your old tyres for free. There’s also a huge range of other brands available if Toyo tyres are not what you’re looking for.

Alternatively you can order them on Amazon and have them fitted by a trusted fitter or fit them yourself.

Summary

And there we have it - everything you need to know about Toyo tyres.

We've written about a number of tyre manufacturers, so if you're comparing tyres, you should check out some of the following reviews.

Quick Answer - Our Picks for the Best Peugeot 208 Tyres

My own personal experience with these tyres

I ran a Peugeot 208 for three years - it was a 2015 1.6 diesel. I did a fair few miles in the car and as such went through several sets of tyres. When I first bought it, it was fitted with some pretty basic Prestivo tyres - which weren’t particularly good, but certainly weren’t the worst tyres I’ve ever had on a car.

When it came time to replace these tyres I put a set of Pirelli P1 Cinturatos on it and from then until I sold the car it only ever had premium tyres on it. I also ran a set of Michelin Primary 4 tyres on the car just before I sold it. I’m a big believer in proper tyres - I think budget tyres are a false economy and mid-range tyres are generally priced so close to premium tyres that you might as well spend the extra £10 - £20 per tyre.

Additionally I am a mechanic and have been for over ten years - and since the Peugeot 208 is such a common car, I saw a countless number of 208s as part of my work as both a dealer technician, a mobile mechanic and now working for an independent garage - and part of working in a garage is that quite often you fit tyres. I have fitted all of the recommended tyres to a Peugeot 208 at some point. 

What’s more, I looked after a few 208s on a regular basis for repeat customers and clients. Therefore I know which of these tyres wore faster than others through chatting with customers who complained that a so-called “premium” brand didn’t last as long as cheaper brands - so I’m pretty clued up on which tyres last and which don’t based on the type of driving my customers did.

What size tyres are your Peugeot 208 fitted with?

The Peugeot 208 came with a number of different rim sizes depending on the trim. I’m not a Peugeot expert, but I can tell you that in my experience, most Active and Access trim models were fitted with 15 and 16 inch rims (185/65/R15 and 195/55/R16), the Allure with 16 inch rims (195/55/R16 - this was the one I had) and the GTi with 16, 17 or 18 inch rims (205/50/R16, 205/45/R17 or 205/40/R18 respectively).

Probably the most common size I saw on the Peugeot 208 was the 16 inch 195/55/R16. If your car is slightly different, these recommendations still apply. Just make sure that before ordering your tyres, you check the size first - don’t rely on the online tool that the retailer provides you with to check your tyre size. My Peugeot 208 always gave me problems in this regard as most tyre sites thought it had 15 inch rims when it actually had 16 inch rims - so make sure you check what’s on your car now, and buy the same size when they need replacing.

How we measure the “best” tyre

I’m primarily using my own experience to rank this list. The top two tyres here I ran myself on my own Peugeot 208, and that’s because out of all the tyres I’ve fitted to 208s over the years, these were the ones where my customers seemed happiest.

However, I’ve also done a bit of research in terms of what the industry thinks of these tyres, and how well they suit a small car like the Peugeot 208. There aren’t many people doing thousands and thousands of motorway miles in a Peugeot 208 - it’s a city car, and it’s mainly used for city driving. These tyres have been selected with this in mind, but be aware that none of these tyres are bad tyres, and all will be suitable if you are doing mega motorway miles - it’s just that in my opinion, they (like the car itself) are better suited for use around town.

Bear in mind that in our selections, we’ve linked to one of the most common Peugeot 208 tyre sizes - the 195/55/R16 H. You might find that you have slightly smaller or larger rims than this - and if you do you should make sure that you buy the correct tyre for your vehicle. 

The 3 Best Tyres for the Peugeot 208 (chosen by an expert mechanic)

As I mentioned, I briefly ran these tyres on my Peugeot 208 before I sold it. For most of the time I owned my 208 I ran Pirelli P1 Cinturato Verdes, which I’ve put in second place. The Michelin was better - not by much, but it was better. Additionally whenever I had a 208 in the garage that had these on, it was rare that we would have one back complaining of high wear or poor grip.

While the difference between the Michelins and the Pirellis is not huge, it was noticeable. I felt that grip in the wet and the dry was excellent - at all times when using these tyres I had absolute confidence in the car, even in very poor conditions. This is backed up by some of the reviews online, which mention excellent braking distances, good rolling resistance and good aquaplaning qualities. These tyres were a little sportier than the Pirellis, and provided a good driving experience.

I would also say (although I didn’t own the car for very long after fitting Michelin Primary 4+ tyres to it) that wear was good on these tyres. I did for a brief period use my 208 instead of my van when it was off the road when I used to be a mobile mechanic, and of course being mobile meant lots of driving. They were excellent on the motorway, wore evenly and can’t say I noticed any excessive wear. There are reports of these running up to 45,000 miles which is incredible for a set of tyres - and I honestly can say I did not notice any reduction in performance when these tyres were slightly worn versus when they were new.

I can’t speak for ice and snow with these tyres as I don’t recall having icy or snowy conditions when I ran these tyres - I sold my 208 in September while the Michelins were fitted the previous March, so I mainly ran these tyres in the dry with the odd rainy day. Reports online suggest these tyres perform averagely on snow and ice, but they aren’t winter tyres or all-season tyres and you shouldn’t expect too much in this regard.

Cabin noise was good with these tyres - again, the 208 is not a particularly quiet car at speed, but I can’t say I was disappointed. They were slightly noisier than I would expect, but definitely on the quieter side, and certainly compared to some of the other tyres in this list. If you’re after the quietest set of tyres you can possibly buy, however, these might not be for you.

My only real complaint about Primacy 4+ tyres is that they are noticeably more expensive than others on this list. I ran 195/55/R16s and they were at least 30% more expensive than what I paid for Pirelli tyres. Of course, you are getting a better tyre, but all of the other tyres in this list are around the same price point and these are certainly quite a bit more expensive. Something you may want to think about, as I honestly think most road users are unlikely to notice the difference between these and the Pirellis in second place - they’re both excellent tyres.

I ran these tyres on my Peugeot 208 for several years so I’m pretty confident when I recommend these as the second best tyre for the Peugeot 208. They aren’t cheap, but they’re cheaper than the Michelins and they do almost as good a job in my opinion.

There was a very noticeable difference when I took my old Prestivos off and replaced them with these Pirelli P1s - and the main difference was that of the ride; these are very comfortable tyres. They absorb the bumps and undulations in the road very easily. The Peugeot 208 is a well-riding comfortable car anyway, but these tyres definitely go some way to improving on the ride, and if you are looking for more of a comfortable rather than a sporty feel, these are a good set of tyres to go for.

Another thing to note is that they’re excellent in the rain - when they were new, I remember driving to Scotland from my then girlfriend’s house in Bristol for a few days away, and we had a horrendous downpour on the way there. I can honestly say I hardly noticed the car’s performance had changed - the tyres were grippy and inspired a lot of confidence at 70mph. Granted, I wasn’t throwing the car into corners, but as long as you aren’t doing track work, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how well these grip and perform in wet weather. 

I never drove my 208 in the snow when it was fitted with Pirelli P1 Cinturato tyres, but did drive it in icy conditions a few times and while occasionally I would struggle to get traction and the wheels would spin, generally the car performed well - certainly well enough that I was confident to drive as I normally would without being worried I would lose the back end or not be able to stop (I know that feeling when test driving a customer’s car who insisted on having Chinese ditchfinders fitted - and it’s not fun).

One thing I would comment on is that the P1s seem to wear very quickly. On average I was replacing my tyres every 20,000 miles - which I think is pretty poor. If I was doing mainly motorway miles I might understand it but that’s not how I was using my car. Something to think about - and it’s maybe because these tyres are soft and comfortable that they wear quicker.

Additionally these tyres aren’t noisy, but there’s definitely more tyre noise than the Michelins, and if this is something you’re thinking about (particularly again if you do motorway mileage, as the 208 cabin isn’t especially quiet at high speed) I would recommend you go for Michelin instead. Another thing to note is that they seemed to want topping up with air quite often, especially in the cold weather; and this gets annoying after a while (particularly if you’re up early and you need to disturb your neighbours by getting the compressor out.)

All in all, an excellent tyre, with a few minor drawbacks.

I’ve always been a big fan of Dunlop tyres, and I particularly like the Sport BluResponse tyre. Although I never ran this tyre on my own 208, this is the tyre that I would recommend for anyone looking for a premium tyre but where budget is a consideration. There is one drawback which I’ll go into later on, but fundamentally this is a solid tyre and one you should consider if the Michelin and the Pirelli are too expensive.

One of the great things about these tyres is how they perform in the dry - as long as you aren’t aggressive. I’ve heard reports of people who drive sportier cars (and probably drive them harder than they should) that they’re a little bit twitchy and because the sidewalls are soft (they are a comfortable tyre) handling isn’t great. For normal everyday driving, however, they will be absolutely fine.

Mentioning the sidewalls, I have seen at least two of these come in for replacement on various cars with bulges in the sidewalls, and it’s always been that the customer has had a low speed impact with a kerb. Now of course, I don’t know whether the customer was telling the truth about how “low speed” it was, but for two cars to come in with this complaint with these tyres, suggests that there are issues with the integrity of the sidewalls compared to other premium tyres and they will possibly bulge on you more easily.

That being said, they are very grippy tyres, aquaplane well and perform excellently in the dry and the wet as long as they are not worn out. I’ve heard reports that these don’t perform especially well in the ice and snow, but again these are not an all-season or winter tyre so you shouldn’t expect fantastic winter weather performance from them.

I do remember one situation where we had a Peugeot 208 diesel in for a gearbox replacement that was fitted with these tyres. They were almost bald - they can’t have had more than 2mm of tread left on the front. Anyway, I remember taking this car out for a test drive after the box had been fitted to check that everything worked, and it was pouring with rain that day. I remember distinctly the feeling of the car trying to grip the road but because the tyres were worn, there wasn’t any - and when I came onto a roundabout (on reflection, probably a bit faster than I should have been going) I nearly lost the back end. Thankfully no harm was done - but from experience, these tyres don’t perform well in the wet when they are nearly worn out, and you’d be advised to replace them when they’re at minimum 3mm of tread. 

There are definitely other dependable, excellent tyres on the market for the Peugeot 208, such as the Bridgestone Turanza T005 or the Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance 2 - these are just my picks based on experience. What's your experience of tyres for the Peugeot 208? Let me know down in the comments section below.

We've written loads of articles on the Peugeot 208, so if you're looking for more information or if you have problems, check out some of our articles below. 

Who are Landsail?

Landsail is a Chinese manufacturer and a fairly new entrant to the UK market, coming onto the scene in 2011. In that time they have established themselves as one of the main players in the budget tyre space, selling approximately one million tyres every year.

Landsail is well established in over 90 countries around the world. The parent company of Landsail, Sentury Tyre Co, was established in 1992 and also sells tyres under the Delinte brand. Sentury Tyre Co also makes aviation tyres, and one of its products is the main landing gear tyre for the Boeing 737. 

The Landsail tyre range is huge, and given the breadth of its’ size and pattern options, you’re almost guaranteed to find a Landsail option for your car.

If you want to learn more about Landsail, you can read more about them on their website.

Our picks for the best Landsail Tyres

Of course, the exact Landsail tyre you go for will be dependent on the vehicle you have and your tyre size, but we’ve picked out some of the best performing Landsail tyres on the market relative to other brands.

You can purchase these tyres on Amazon or through our tyre partner, ProTyre. ProTyre have over 160 locations across the UK and 8 out of 10 of their customers would recommend them to a friend. 

If Landsail tyres are not available at any of our partners, we recommend Runway or Autogrip tyres as equivalents.

How do Landsail tyres perform?

Handling and safety

In the dry

Let’s firstly take a look at the easiest test to pass for a tyre - the dry handling test. We’ve taken a look at a variety of Landsail tyres available on the market, and have formulated some conclusions based on some of the most common comments we see across a number of different reviews and ratings.

Generally Landsail tyres receive comments about poor handling. In fact, in the 2021 Auto Bild UUHP Summer Tyre Test, it was remarked that while the Landsail LS588 UHP had low rolling resistance, it had very poor handling and was ranked 8th out of 9 tyres. Of course, this isn’t the only tyre Landsail make, but it’s a very common tyre offered by garages in the UK and so this is something you ought to be aware of.

Additionally the same tyre was remarked to have very long dry braking distances. These findings were supported by the 2015 Test World Summer Tyre Test, which remarked that the LS588 had very slow response to steering, the tyres coped poorly in emergency manoevre situations and lateral grip and stability was weak.

It must be said that Landsail tyres are soft across their range - whether this is by design to optimize for road comfort or whether it’s just due to the makeup of the rubber compound that Landsail uses is not known. However, don’t expect a tyre that handles as well as a Michelin or Goodyear.

In the wet

This is unfortunately where we see a real pattern in the comments made about Landsail tyres. This is specifically looking at some of the most common tyres likely to be fitted to your car in the UK - the LS388 and the LS588. Similar comments, however, were observed about Landsail’s higher-end and performance tyres.

Generally these tyres perform quite poorly in the wet - leading to understeer if there is moisture on the road, and very poor aquaplaning performance. Both the LS388 and LS588 have been commented to aquaplane very easily in the smallest amount of standing water, and the reason is obvious - they seem to be very thin compared to most tyres on the road.

This was again remarked in the 2015 Test World Summer Tyre Test, that the LS588 was very susceptible to aquaplaning, as well as unstable handling in the wet (although it was remarked that wet weather braking was excellent.) There have also been reports of large stopping distances that contradict industry tests, however, so this is something you’ll need to judge for yourself as and when you fit Landsails to your car.

A worrying comment that was seen quite often was that in a straight line in the wet the car can almost feel as though it is floating - as if it was on the verge of aquaplaning and as such is very unstable to drive. All in all, a poor show in the wet, and this is something you will really need to consider when buying tyres in the UK because it rains often and you need a set of tyres that perform well in the wet.

In the snow

Of course, in the snow, the LS388 and LS588 aren’t going to be much good to you as they’re summer tyres, so we’ve looked specifically at the Landsail Winter Star for the snow and ice test.

By all accounts there are a few grips regarding this tyre - specifically that winter weather stopping distances are quite large, and the tyre tends to understeer in ice and snow conditions. It’s been remarked that it has little grip on ice and can feel almost like the car is floating - a similar complaint that we observed in the wet weather test.

However, it’s also worth mentioning that there are a lot of commendations about the way this tyre performs in the snow, specifically deep, fluffy snow. It has excellent grip, and generally if you’re driving a car with AWD or 4WD it won’t kick in unless you’re really pushing it around bends.

If you need to drive in the ice and snow regularly, however, we wouldn’t recommend this tyre or this brand, and would suggest a mid-range or premium tyre.

Wear and longevity

There have been a few complaints observed regarding Landsail tyres’ build quality and longevity, and this is an area that really does need some attention, as the longevity of your tyres should determine what you pay for them. It’s pointless paying half price for a budget brand versus a premium brand, if you’re going to need to replace the budget brand twice as often - you might as well have just bought the premium brand.

One of the more concerning complaints observed across a number of comments and reviews online was the fact that sometimes Landsail LS388s and LS588s have split and delaminated at very low mileage points - some as low as 15,000 miles. Of course, a delaminating tyre could cause a blowout, and if this happens at high speed it can be very dangerous.

You will also need to pay particular attention to your MOT advisories as there have been numerous complaints about exposed cords on the inner sidewalls at low mileages - and this again is a problem as it can cause blowouts and tyre failure at higher speed.

These are very soft tyres, and soft tyres can wear more quickly than harder tyres - so just be aware that you won’t get as long out of a set of Landsail tyres as you will out of other brands.

Ride comfort

As we’ve mentioned, this is one area where Landsail does well. The rubber compound that makes up Landsail tyres seems to be softer than other tyres and as such this makes for a comfortable ride. This was actually commended in the 2015 Test World Summer Tyre Test, where it was remarked that due to the softness of the compound, the Landsail LS588 was a comfortable tyre, despite its other shortcomings.

Cost

Landsail tyres are budget tyres. Therefore you should not expect to pay as much for Landsail tyres as you would for mid-range tyres like Nexen and Falken, or premium tyres like Goodyear.

In order to give you a rough idea of how much you might expect to pay to fit your car with a set of Landsail tyres, we’ve done some research by picking common cars on the road and we’ve found out what it might cost to fit your car with four Landsail tyres, as well as on a per-tyre basis.

This information came from a variety of sources, including BlackCircles, Halfords and ProTyre, and is correct at the time of writing (but may have changed by the time you read this.)

I will say that in many cases, mid-range tyres actually turned out to be cheaper than Landsail tyres - make of that what you will. I'd much rather have a set of Falkens on my car than a set of Landsails.

Road noise

This is an area where we get conflicting reports. Landsail tyres seem to be made of a softer compound than other budget tyres, and this makes for not only increased ride comfort, but reduced noise. 

The majority of tyres we looked at in this review, including the LS388 and LS588, score between 69db and 72db - which is probably not as quiet as some premium tyres but for a budget tyre is more than acceptable.

Do budget tyres wear faster?

The old adage “you get what you pay for” applies not just to Landsail tyres, but budget tyres as a whole. You may think that just looking at the tyre online or on a shelf, it looks similar to the premium tyre next to it, but there is a difference in construction quality and performance.

As such, yes, budget tyres will likely wear faster than premium tyres. This can represent real false economy if you only buy budget tyres, as it’s likely they will wear out quicker, and you will need to replace them sooner - meaning if you had gone for a set of premium tyres in the first place you likely would have got more mileage out of them and wouldn’t need to replace them so often, saving money.

However, as we’ve mentioned, it’s almost entirely down to the kind of driving you do - you would likely be wasting money if you opted for a top-end set of Michelin Primary 4s for a Peugeot 107 that you drove to the shops and back once per week. However, if you’re doing 20,000 motorway miles a year, a budget tyre isn’t right for you and I would recommend you go for at least a mid-range tyre like Nexen, or a premium tyre like Dunlop or Pirelli.

Are budget tyres dangerous?

Tyres in the UK are made to a specific standard - in that they can’t be sold unless they meet minimum standards for quality and safety. With this in mind, budget tyres aren’t dangerous, but won’t perform anywhere near as well as premium tyres. This can lead to experienced drivers who are used to good tyres opting for a cheaper brand like Landsail and getting the impression that the tyres are “dangerous” because they perform worse than they are used to. 

So we wouldn’t say budget tyres are dangerous as such, but are certainly not going to perform as well as a tyre at the higher end of the market, and if this is what you’re used to, you may be in for a bit of a shock driving a car with budget tyres on because it won’t perform as well or as safely.

Where can I buy Landsail tyres?

Landsail tyres are widely available at most garages across the UK. We would recommend you purchase them from ProTyre as they will fit, balance and dispose of your old tyres for free. There’s also a huge range of other brands available if Landsail tyres are not what you’re looking for.

Alternatively you can order them on Amazon and have them fitted by a trusted fitter or fit them yourself.

Summary

And there we have it - everything you need to know about Landsail tyres.

We've written about a number of tyre manufacturers, so if you're comparing tyres, you should check out some of the following reviews.

Who are Nexen?

Many motorists steer clear of any tyres they’ve not heard of, but given how expensive tyres can be for your car, it’s often necessary to move away from some of the more premium brands given the cost, and therefore you need to research the tyres you plan to put on your vehicle.

You don’t, for example, want to cheap out on some of the most budget “ditch-finders” and put yourself in danger when it’s very wet or icy.

Nexen is a Korean company who, despite most people not having heard of them, have been around longer than most other tyre manufacturers. They have been making tyres, originally for bicycles, since 1942. Originally named Heung-a-tyre, they started tyre production for cars and commercial vehicles in the mid-1950s.

Nexen has manufacturing facilities in Korea, China and in Europe and has worldwide sales over $2bn, so they are a major player in the market. Nexen invests huge sums into research and development and has innovation centres in the US and Europe.

Nexen is not some cheap off-brand without any kind of heritage in the industry - they have been around a long time and this shows in the quality of their product, with around a 26% market share in their native Korea. 

If you want to read more about Nexen’s products and innovations in the industry, you can read more at their website.

Our picks for the best Nexen Tyres

Of course, the exact Nexen tyre you go for will be dependent on the vehicle you have and your tyre size, but we’ve picked out some of the best performing Nexen tyres on the market relative to other brands.

You can purchase any of these tyres from Amazon where you can either fit them yourself, or for peace of mind, you can purchase them through our tyre partner, ProTyre. ProTyre have over 160 locations across the UK and 8 out of 10 of their customers would recommend them to a friend. 

How do Nexen tyres perform?

Handling and safety

In the dry

Like all other tyres, Nexen tyres perform best in the dry. Across the range of CP and N series tyres, Nexen tyres show strong dry braking performance, excellent ride comfort, good handling and low road noise. In fact, they're some of the quietest tyres out there, with some tyres only outputting around 68 decibels of noise.

Our recommendation for a summer tyre that performs well in dry conditions is the N'Blue HD Plus. In the 2021 Auto Bild 53 summer tyre test, the N'Blue scored a grade of "satisfactory" with praise given to the safe driving characteristics and low price of the tyre, as well as the short braking distances on wet roads.

In the wet

This in my experience is where Nexen tyres start to fall apart. Across hundreds of different tests and comparisons to other tyres, Nexen tyres are consistently criticised for their poor performance in the wet. In fact, in the 2020 Teknikens 17 inch Summer Tyre Test, the N'Fera SU1 was criticised harshly for its performance on wet surfaces for both poor braking and handling performance.

As mentioned, this seems to be a common complaint across Nexen's range of tyres, including the more premium-grade N'Blue and N'Fera ranges as well as the cheaper ranges such as the CP series.

However, what's important to remember is that this is a mid-range tyre - it isn't a Pirelli or a Continental, and so you can't expect premium performance out of it. A Nexen will be significantly better in the wet than a cheap, budget tyre, even if the Nexen's dry and snow performance is noticeably better.

In the snow

Nexen's WinGuard range of snow and ice capable tyres are the choice if you live in a snowy or icy climate. Of course, we don't get much of this in the UK, but if you're in a position where you need a performant winter tyre, this is the one. The Winguard series is made of softer rubber compounds than Nexen's other tyres, meaning they excel in deep snow, ice or slushy conditions. 

We recommend the Nexen
WinGuard Sport 2 for performance in snow and ice. In the 2021 Auto Bild Winter Tyre Test it scored 10th out of 14 tyres, with positive comments made about stability in the dry and the low road noise. However, concerns were raised about long braking distances in the wet (as we've discussed.) 

In the 2021 ADAC Winter Tyre Test it performed much better, with a position of 5th out of 18 tyres, with positive comments made about good rolling resistance and dry braking but concerns raised about wear. Overall the WinGuard Snow is a great tyre for SUVs and larger vehicles that need to drive in snowy and icy conditions, but be aware it's not a premium tyre and shouldn't be judged as such.

Wear and longevity

One of the common complaints about Nexen tyres is that the tread wears quite poorly. Exactly why this is is not clear - whether it is due to softer rubber compounds or simply due to the design of the tyre, it does seem that across the range of Nexen tyres, the most common negative comment aside from poor wet braking performance, is high wear.

For example, if we take the Nexen N'Fera SU4, based on reviews and data online, these are only likely to last 20,000 miles. Of course, it's very dependent on the type of driving you do, but given the price of these tyres you would likely expect around 30,000 miles out of them before they needed changing.

If we look at the Nexen N8000 tyre, it was remarked by both Auto Bild and the European Summer Sports Tyre Test that this tyre wore very poorly compared to competitors. The 2019 ADAC C Tyre Test remarked that the Nexen Roadian CT8 wore relatively highly compared to other tyres in the test. This seems to be a very common thing across the entire range of Nexen tyres and isn't localised to one particular series or model of tyre. Similar comments have been made about N'Blue, N'Fera (particularly the N'Fera RU1) and Roadian ranges.

When you look up reviews for the individual tyre you would like to purchase, you will likely find that high wear is one of the most common issues. Of course, your mileage will vary, and you may find that if you do mostly motorway mileage that your tyres will wear less than if your driving was more aggressive. 

This is one you are going to have to try for yourself - but be aware, I would not expect a set of Nexens to last as long as a set of Pirellis, Continentals or even Yokohamas. 

Ride comfort

This is an area where Nexen seems to excel, particularly above some of the other brands in it's price range. This is probably due to the softness of the rubber compounds used to manufacture the tyre, particularly due to Nexen's patent of silicone rubber nanocomposites in 2005.

There have been comments around Nexen's CP series and N series tyres, particularly from the likes of Auto Bild and Teknikens around the exceptional ride quality that Nexen tyres provide - and this is by far one of their strongest features.

This is why we think Nexen tyres are a good choice for anyone who does a lot of motorway driving. At motorway speeds wear will be a minimal consideration, but comfort will be very important - and as we've mentioned, this is where Nexen excels.

Cost

Nexen tyres are mid-range tyres. As such they are expected to be more expensive than cheaper, budget brands such as Runway or Landsail, but cheaper than premium brands such as Dunlop and Pirelli.

In order to give you a rough idea of what it might cost to fit Nexen tyres to your vehicle we've picked some common makes and model of car and calculated what it costs for a full set of tyres, as well as on a per-tyre basis.

This data has come from a number of different tyre providers across the internet, including BlackCircles, mytyres.co.uk and Asda Tyres. and is correct at the time of writing, but this may have changed by the time you read this.

Road noise

This is another area where Nexen does very well. The vast majority of tyres that we looked at to put this review together scored between 68 - 69 decibels for general road noise. To put this in perspective, the minimum road noise you are realistically going to get from a tyre is 67 decibels - so Nexen tyres perform excellently in this respect.

I would even go as far as to say Nexen tyres perform better than some premium brands in this respect - we have tested Pirellis, Goodyears, Michelins and Continentals that were noisier than Nexen tyres. If road noise is a concern of yours, Nexen should definitely be a brand on your shopping list.

How are Nexen tyres compared to other manufacturers?

As many will know, there are three main groups of manufacturers when looking at tyres.

Budget

Budget tyres are at the absolute cheapest end of the market - when you just need a tyre. They often suffer from poor wet weather performance, poor braking performance and limited grip - but you do pay much less for them, in some instances around half or less for what you'd pay per tyre for a premium model.

Brands - HiFly, Landsail, Prestivo, Runway (and others)

Nexen tyres will offer better performance and value compared to budget tyres, but you will pay more for them.

Mid-Range

Mid-range tyres, as the name suggests, sit in the middle of the market. They offer better performance and longevity compared to budget tyres. You will find that they perform far better than budget tyres, but often fall short of performance figures given by some of the premium brands.

Brands - Toyo, Yokohama, Hankook, Falken, Nexen (and others)

Nexen tyres sit squarely in the mid-range category. In our view they are some of the better mid-range tyres you can get (although in our view a better choice would be Avon or Falken)

Premium

Premium tyres are made by the brands everyone has heard of. While they are the most expensive tyres you can buy, they often provide significantly better wet weather performance, grip and longevity. 

Brands - Michelin, Pirelli, Dunlop, Goodyear, Continental, Bridgestone (and others)

Nexen tyres are not as good as any of the manufacturers named above - although in some instances Nexen make tyres that are nearly as good. You will pay much more for premium tyres than you will for Nexen tyres, however.

Will Nexen tyres fit my vehicle?

Nexen tyres are made in a huge variety of shapes and sizes to fit almost any vehicle on UK roads. If you have a particularly large or small set of wheels, you may struggle to find a tyre that fits, but this is likely to not be the case for at least 95% of road users in the UK.

If you are struggling to find a Nexen tyre that fits, I would recommend looking at similar brands such as Yokohama, Sumitomo and Toyo - across these three comparable manufacturers, you are likely to find a tyre that fits your car.

Where can I buy Nexen tyres?

Nexen are a huge tyre brand, and will available nearly everywhere in the country that fits tyres. That being said, general availability of Nexen tyres in the UK seems to be less than that of similar brands such as Toyo. 

We would highly recommend ProTyre, as they stock a large range of Nexen tyres. However, any fast fit garage or tyre fitter will be able to get hold of Nexen tyres for you.

Alternatively you can order them on Amazon and have them fitted by a trusted fitter or fit them yourself.

Summary

And there we have it - everything you need to know about Nexen tyres.

We've written about a number of tyre manufacturers, so if you're comparing tyres, you should check out some of the following reviews.