Nexen Roadian AT review: 4x4 Tyre Test 2019

IF ROLLING away on a new set of all-terrains for the lowest price is important, the Nexen Roadian mounts a solid argument – on paper, at least. At $209 per corner they’re by far the most affordable of our contenders, set to leave you with at least $200 extra in your bank account once you’ve fitted a set of four. That’s early points to Nexen, then.

But the data quickly showed that you get what you pay for. In our dry disciplines it was among the worst performers, taking the longest time to negotiate dry corners and taking a full 47.4m to come to a halt from 100km/h on a dry surface. That’s a Land Cruiser longer to pull up than the best-performing Dunlops.

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Our 70km/h wet braking showed it to be relatively skittish, taking 30.4m to stop. Again, it was towards the bottom of the pack and means you’ll need to account for longer stopping distances in the real world.

Wet cornering performance was also towards the bottom of the group; although, there was a consistency throughout the corners, something that Stokell said makes it easier to access the breadth of the (relatively low) grip threshold.

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Reaching the threshold sooner made it easier to judge what was going on so you could adjust your driving style accordingly. Stokell also noted road noise was nicely subdued, with the road bias of the construction also shining.

Off-road, though, the Roadian continued its mediocre performance. Walker felt they didn’t bite as hard as others up the rocks. They weren’t as bad in dirt, but the ride was jittery and less flex in the sidewall affected ride comfort. As such, the Roadian was the only one of our tyres not to be rewarded or penalised due to off-road performance. Their middle of the road behaviour meant the final on-road scores stuck, with no weighting either way for rough-road performance.