4. Nexen N’blue 4Season

“It really pulls the car through turns instead of just spinning up”

THE 4Season is part of a total revamp of Korean brand Nexen’s winter offerings, and it works well.

It was beaten only by the summerfocused Michelin in the shallow-water tests, regardless of temperature.

Traction was at the heart of its success on the handling track, where it would pull the car through corners instead of spinning up like some rivals. It felt good with a sharp turn-in.

The problems started in the deeperwater tests. It was last, just, in a straight line, but struggled badly in the wet cornering tests. Better results here and it could have been third overall.

That traction could be felt on the snow, too, and overall it was good enough to finish third in these tests.

It was handy in the dry, finishing narrowly best of the rest behind the Michelin and close to the pace around the handling track. It was also quiet, although the fuel economy is not what we would expect from a modern tyre.