Tires OEM Mazda or Nexen

We use Nexen Winguard Sport 2 on our Focus RS AWD... they work very well... they are good tires and punch well above their price level in terms of performance and longevity.

I whole-heartedly recommend the Nexen N5000 Platinums... They are not the best tires out there by any means, but punch way above their price category in quality.

I have these, from Sams Club - using on a 07' Saab 9-3. No complaints.

Their tires do tend to ride a little soft, like you say... but that doesn't seem to affect handling at all. They are not the best tire, they are a good tire, but they are a better tire than the price you pay for them.

Compared to all previous sets they a very quiet and drive very smooth, they feel kind of spongy if that makes any sense.

But my go to tire in this space is Nexen... Nexen N5000 Platinum should be under $600 out the door with mount, balance, and taxes, a solid 70k mile all-season tire.

I had a set of Nexen Aria A7's on my GMC Terrain, I got 52,000 miles out of them and they gripped just fine and were quiet. For the money they are a good tire. They are a Korean brand, not some fly-by-night Chinese garbage brand.

I have cheap Chinese I think, Nexan tires on my GTI because thats what the dealer put on the car. The ride real smooth, very quite and after 2 years and 20k miles they just wont' wear out. Probably have another 20k miles left to them. The wet grip is awful though. Dry grip is good.

Had one of mine pop on the way to my new job on the other side of the country- only 5k on some N’priz AH8s (70k warranty) replaced back in October.

I have nexen tires on my ram truck I have had two almost brand new tires bulge apart on that truck. They are in fact junk tires.