Snow/Ice winter tires

chilly_outside

I was looking to buy a set of snow tires with wheels and came across a new product called snoclaws alternative snow traction device. Costco sells it for $114.99 for two wheels.

It's like a snow chain but made of polyurethane. I like the idea that it can be put on or taken off easily. But I am more interested in its overall performance, such as snow/ice traction, handling, noise, ride comfort, and wear and tear. This seems to be a pretty new product (at least to me) and I don't know if anybody has used this before. But, please do share your experience if you have.

Thanks.

sequoiasoon

I went skiing this weekend with the Sequoia with 4 Nokian SUV's (non studded). We had a 50 degree Saturday with pouring rain that dropped overnight all the way to 18 degrees and about 7 inches of snow. The roads were total crap, traffic doing about 30 mph in the left lane as there was 2 partially clear tracks. I'm in the snow covered right driving passing those that are sliding around making me real nervous staying behind them. I see a car spin out up ahead off the road and flip into a tree. The volunteer fireman in me has to stop and help. People are banged up but nothing serious. I let them sit in my car until troopers and ambulance show up because it's 20 degrees now with some SERIOUS winds and they are definitely not dressed to go skiing as I was. I pull further off the road while waiting to leave plenty of room for others not too hit me. Trooper in a Tahoe with Goodyear Fortera's pulls behind me 15-20 minutes later and states how tough a time he had on the roads. Once all is said and done, I go to leave and I see the trooper spinning his wheels trying to get out of the same icy, snowy plowed over to where we are sitting crap that's at least 10 inches deep and not going anywhere. I put it in drive and spin a little until traction control kicks in but pretty much pull right out no issue. I back up back into the crud and offer too pull him out with a tow strap which he gladly accepts. Once I pull him back to the plowed road he thanks me and gives me one of those "get out of a minor infraction (slight speeding) cards" that can sometimes help when displayed with your license if needed. He also commented that he will have his shop replace his tires with some Nokians for the rest of the winter. A bit delayed but still got in 4 hours of skiing with my family. A little common sense and Nokian made for an uneventful drive for me as compared to many others.

Nokian's ruled the day!

stever

Nice going sequoiasoon. I helped push a Nissan Sentra out of a snowy pull-out this afternoon but all I got was wet sneakers. :-)

Steve, Host

bj02176

I always wanted the Nokians, no one ever had them in stock. So I have the Forteras, the ones with the snow flake on the side, I have no trouble with them in the snow, ice, or rain in my Escape. But the next car or suv I get I will give them a try since everyone raves about them

stever

Snow traction test (Straightline)

Steve, Host

93illini

Looking for an all season tire for my wife's Honda Pilot. We live in Northern NJ, and want to run one tire all year that will give decent snow traction.

Some research and retailers have led me to the WR and TripleTred. Any thoughts on the pros/cons of each?

shipo

I'm currently running Goodyear Assurance TripleTred tires on two of our cars and have dedicated winter tires on two others. The short answer is that while the TripleTreds are easily the most capable All-Season tire I've ever experienced, they simply don't have the snow/ice grip of the dedicated (Michelin in both cases) winter tires.

There are many folks out there that feel that All-Season tires offer the best compromise shy of changing your tires daily to meet current weather conditions. I used to be one of them, before I bought my first set of winter tires. The fact is that there are many things about rubber compounds and tread designs that are mutually exclusive when it comes to winter vs. summer driving environments.

Will I continue to buy All-Season tires like the TripleTreds? Probably, but only as long as I have at least one car with a set of dedicated winter tires to fall back on.

Best Regards,
Shipo

pathstar1

I have nothing but good things to say about the Nokian WR. They are quiet and don't wear rapidly in summer. They provide very good traction in ice and snow (and rain).

I have them on a Nissan Pathfinder (2001), probably equivalent to the Pilot in size and weight. You would get Nokian WR SUV tires if you went this way. The larger sizes add the "SUV" letters to indicate heavier construction.

cptplt

Have them on a Windstar and a Tribeca, they are great.

stevem5

Put 4 new Michelin X-Ice on Volvo S90 wagon for the winter, so of course it hardly snowed. How bad for them is it to run them in hot Washington DC summer? Thanks - Steve

krzyss

They will wear quite fast and may not provide good traction (safety) as the rubber compound was not designed to be used above 45F. 45F (7C) is usually threshold temperature.

Krzys

stevem5

Thanks a million. That's what I was afraid of. Steve

jpf

I am in the process of purchasing a 2005 Grand Caravan with tire size 215/70R15. I have a set of 4 winter tires of size 205/75R15. Can I put these tires on the Grand Caravan for winter use?

robr2

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

will tell you how close the size is.

shipo

Yes, 215/70 R15s are one of the recommended tire sizes for winter tires. That having been said, we have two DGCs with 215/65 R16 tires on them and if anything, the vans are a little under-tired, as such I'd be very hesitant about putting 205/75 R15 on them. Think about it this way, these vehicles are within a couple of hundred pounds (either way depending upon year and options) of two tons and a 205 series tire is going to be hard pressed to offer much support should an emergency situation arise.

Best Regards,
Shipo

cptplt

in terms of "bearing weight" as long as the load rating is comparable, it doesn't matter what size it is. most minivan tires of either of those sizes are 97 load rated.

shipo

I think you missed my point. The fact is that a 205 series tire will not have as much grip (lateral or linear) as will a similar 215 series tire for emergency maneuvers such as avoidance or braking or both. I was simply using the relative weights of the vans to help underscore the fact that minivans in general (including DC vans) are under-tired.

Best Regards,
Shipo

dilberito1

I just bought a used 2002 Jaguar X-type 2.5 automatic, and so far love the car! I have a question on appropriate snow tires to put on it. The car came with 225/45/R17 continental all weather tires; I live near Lake Tahoe, where we get a lot of snow, and I am leaning towards either the Nokian Hakkapeliitta 4 studded snow tires (205/55/R16XL), or the Green Diamond Icelander (205/55/R16) non-studded tires. Any suggestions? I have some friends say it would be better to garage the Jag through winter (the snow and salt would be too harsh on the Jag) and drive a "beater" that I can get for a cheap price; Just wondering if this would be a better option. Any advice would be helpful!

shipo

Note: The following response is to a post over in the Audi A3 discussion.

Do you live in an area prone to snow and odd, patternless weather?

Well, let's see:
- 20 winters in the Detroit metro area (only drove for 5 of those winters)
- 13 winters in the Chicago metro area
- 10 winters in the NYC metro area
- 04 winters in southern New Hampshire

Does that qualify?

I have an Audi, and basically, I'm obsessed with the idea that you need quattro (or some type of AWD) to get through this place.

Think about it this way, AWD can help you accelerate when it's slippery and it can help in some cornering/curving scenarios, however, AWD (specifically its extra weight) can hurt the handling of the car in other cornering/curving situations and it will hurt a cars' ability to stop in all scenarios.

Me personally, I would much rather have a car that uses the front wheels to turn (remember, tires only have so much traction, and every bit of power applied to the front wheels reduces the cars turning abilities by an equal amount), the rear wheels to put power to the ground, and all four wheels to haul the car down from speed.

For your Jaguar, yes, I would definitely put Winter tires on all four corners.

As a parting note, I read a study from a couple of years back that compared two E320s and two A6s, one of each was 2WD and one of each was AWD. Each car was initially tested on the OEM All-Season tires and then again on a good set of Winter tires. One of the very telling conclusions was that a RWD car shod with Winter tires would significantly out perform the All-Season shod AWD cars in all phases of winter driving except raw acceleration.

As the vast majority of folks who drive AWD cars couldn’t be bothered to mount Winter tires, the above comparison/conclusion is a valid.

Best Regards,
Shipo

esf

Thank you so much- that addresses all of my concerns, and I finally feel safe buying a RWD car for my old lady. She was staring into the brochure today, and said "I have to get this..."

Ah, the glint in her eyes. A Jaguar XJ8!

mnjasper

Help! I have a 2005 Caddy STS4 (all wheel drive) with the luxury performance package. Here's my problem: I can't find any snow tires to fit because the car has different tire sizes front and back. Front is 255/45ZR18; back is 235/50ZR18. what can I do? The stock tires turn on a dime on dry pavement but are utterly useless in Minnesota snow.

robr2

Go to tirerack.com and put in your vehicle information - ignore the AWD. I did and it came back with 3 options including the different size front and rear.

kyfdx

Two ways to go...

If you are purchasing a wheel/tire package, you can go with 17" tires/wheels (which I would recommend).

If you only want to buy tires, you can probably put the narrower 18" size all the way around.. They will look a little different in the back, but shouldn't cause any problems...

Alternatively, you can buy an 18" wheel/tire package that are all the same size (narrower) front and back.

regards,
kyfdx

david112

I live in the Chicago area and will be driving the car through the winter. I am prepared to give a lot on performance for safety. I'd appreciate advice. Thanks in advance.

David

krzyss

a lot of people will tell you to get winter beater. It might be cheaper than new set of wheels and winter tires for your car.
Go to www.tirerack.com and see what they recommend.

Krzys

cthuskie

I own a 2004 Chevrolet Silverado K1500 4x4 Reg Cab Z71.
The tire size it came standard with was : P265/75R16
When I go to Tire Rack and let them choose my tires
based on my vehicle model ; they choose smaller size :
245/75-16 . Can some explain the theory behind this ?
Is their computer making a mistake , or is down sizing
when making a Winter Snow/Ice tire purchase the correct thing to do.
I live in central Connecticut. Snowfall generally moderate
but we generally get 1 or 2 big Nor'Easters that crush the
state each year.

kiawah

I haven't done any legwork and looked anything up, but I would suspect that 245's might be the originals for all of the other regular Sub's. Your Z71 package would upgrade the tires and suspension, and I'd suspect the tirerack application didn't take into consideration that option.

shipo

Sizing down IS the proper thing to do with winter tires. The deal is that the narrower they are, the easier it is for them to cut through the snow.

Best Regards,
Shipo

tiff_c

The tire size it came standard with was : P265/75R16
When I go to Tire Rack and let them choose my tires
based on my vehicle model ; they choose smaller size :
245/75-16 . Can some explain the theory behind this ?
Is their computer making a mistake , or is down sizing
when making a Winter Snow/Ice tire purchase the correct thing to do.

The 265 is the width of the tire the 75 is the aspect ratio
So that means that your sidewall is 75% of the overall width. it tall and narrow. The 245 is a narrower tire which will dig into snow better than the wider tire which will float up onto the snow. Most snow tires are only H rated for speed so if you routinely go faster than that in the winter you will need a different tire.
CT doesn't get half the snow we get in upper Mass so you might want to tell tire rack that you go ?? miles per hour in general when it's dry on the highway. I have to have speed rated snows, but as the weather is bad I still run H-rated as I prefer Nokians which unfortunately are not sold by Tire Rack.

cthuskie

I was at the Nokian web-site and I am very intrigued.
My closest dealer is 20 miles away. Generally I have
Tire Rack drop Michelins at my door via UPS.
I would very much like to hear a more detailed opinion
of Nokian from you. Will they be worth the extra effort
to purchase ? Much more expensive than a Michelin ?
I usually drive slower than posted speed limits with my
truck. Since I don't need that speed rating in a tire ,
will a Nokian purchase be over-kill or is it's good
work in snow worth it under my circumstances ?
Thanks in advance

kyfdx

The 245s will not only be narrower, they will be shorter...

If 265/75-16 is indeed the correct size, you don't want to switch to 245/75-16... Speedometer/odometer will be off, and you'll have less sidewall, which may or may not be a problem..

regards,
kyfdx

tiff_c

I was at the Nokian web-site and I am very intrigued.
My closest dealer is 20 miles away. Generally I have
Tire Rack drop Michelins at my door via UPS.
I would very much like to hear a more detailed opinion
of Nokian from you. Will they be worth the extra effort
to purchase ? Much more expensive than a Michelin ?
I usually drive slower than posted speed limits with my
truck. Since I don't need that speed rating in a tire ,
will a Nokian purchase be over-kill or is it's good
work in snow worth it under my circumstances ?
Thanks in advance

I've run Nokians on a Miata and a Civic and my WRX and they are awesome! I ran a different designation a while back. The Hakka Q's. The new equivilant is the Hakka RSi's
I have to be able to drive in any conditions and my 2002 WRX is mostly stock so I run the Q's which are still pretty good but this upcoming year I will probably replace the Q's which are old now with the RSi's. I ran the Q's on a Miata which went through snow storms like a 4x4 Jeep!
They cost more but so what, my life is worth more than $50 that I'd save by buying lower quality tires.
I ran Blizzaks and they are ok but the Q's (now RSi's) grip like nothing else. They are studless but overkill for CT unless you get a bad storm. I spoke on the phone direct to Nokian and they think I'd be ok using the WR's in the snow where I drive since I have AWD on the Scooby. But drive a car with Nokians in the snow and they are awe inspiring, sadly they aren't very good in the warmer weather so once it starts warming up forget it, they feel greasy when it's warm and a big squiggly when it's dry, but I can live with that to blow past all the cars struggling around me. The Civic was unreal with them as well. That car was totalled by an SUV whose driver apparently didn't see the need for snows in the winter.
:sick: I forget what these cost me since it was 2 years ago. I have 3 sets of rims 1 set for daily driving, 1 set for autocross and 1 set for winter use. The speed rating is ok for about 80mph which in the winter is ok with me. In the spring the summer rubber comes out. I might just cook off the rest of the Q's since they won't be any good for winter but the cold weather will be ok.
H rated is pretty low anyway and most snows that actually work in snow and ice are H-rated. The high performance all seasons don't seem to do very well when it gets nasty out.
I buy my tires at a small place up in New Hampshire (no sales tax) and I never had a problem wit them. You can probably use the Nokian WR's if your winters are pretty mellow, it depends what part of CT you live in. Hell even in Boston the WR's would be fine, maybe out in the Berkshires you'd need RSi's. I have to go into Maine and NH enough to easily justify RSi's. They claim 50,000 miles out of the WR's and it's snow rated, probably less squirmy than the RSi's. WR's will not be overkill, I have co-workers who run them year round on their SUV's and cars. One drive in my Miata with the Nokians made a lot of customers for Nokian at my former workplace.
I'd drive 20 miles for a better lunch as miles mean nothing to me so if they give you a good deal go for it but wait until it's November to put them on unless you get WR's.
Details are like this, bad snow, and ice, from Mass, NH, Maine and even treks up into Canada in the winter in all of the cars I had them on Miata, Civic Hatch, and WRX all no problems, very stable with the Q's (now RSi). I drive about 35K miles a year on average. No mater the season the tires you run are critical. I've had blowouts in a few brands that as a result I no longer buy like Firestone and some others. But I'm always trying new brands so for summers next year if I still have the Rex we will see. I'm nearing 190K miles and I think it might be time for a change of car.
Ask around, Google Nokian and see how many complaints Nokian has. The biggest complaint you will see is "Why didn't I buy these tires sooner!"
Ask Nokian what type would be best and the factory will tell you based on typical conditions for your area.
Long winded I guess, I hope this helps.

krzyss

The only problem with Nokians is price.
If you price them in Europe they are cheaper than comparable Michelins, Goodyears or Dunlops.
Here they command premium compared to others.

Krzys

tiff_c

The only problem with Nokians is price.
If you price them in Europe they are cheaper than comparable Michelins, Goodyears or Dunlops.
Here they command premium compared to others.

Yes, they do cost more, but I figure my life and my car are worth a few bucks for a tire that is far ahead of all the other brands. Show me a better tire than Nokian for real snow and ice that works in the real world not just on paper. So far Nokian is the only one. I've tried so many others, no more in the winter it's Nokian, unless i want high performance/ high speed winter tires. As far as I know Nokian doesn't make those.

krzyss

Interesting, considering that Nokian is subsidiary of Bridgestone.

Krzys

kyfdx

Really? I know that Bridgestone Europe bought 20% of Nokian a few years back.. But, I've never heard that Nokian is a subsidiary..

tiff_c

Interesting, considering that Nokian is subsidiary of Bridgestone.

I really don't know who owns Nokian but a subsidiary means little when it comes to product.
If we take identical cars, you put Bridgestones on them and I'll run Nokians and we drive up in say Canadian winters where it's nasty weather The Nokians will perform better. Now that doesn't mean there aren't better tires out there, companies make changes all the time to their product lines. But my personal experience is that nothing so far is better than Nokian winter tires. I would like to find a set of like Z rated snow tires or something close but they'd have to do well in snow and ice as well as dry but cold winter pavement and be good on hills. I think my Nokians are H-rated. They are in storage until November. I'm going to try and squeeze another year out of them. I'll probably trade or sell the car after the holidays.

krzyss

might have been wrong word.

2003 Nokia's ownership in Nokian Tyres ended; Bridgestone Europe NV/SA became the largest shareholder.

Sorry for confusion.

Krzys

pathstar1

I just purchased four Nokian WR tires for my Prius. The tires on the car were the original Goodyear Integrities (size of both is 185/65R15). The original tires only had 10,000 km on them - still pretty much new. They were adequate this summer. But I live in Edmonton Alberta Canada, and need tires that are good in winter! So I basically threw out the Goodyears and got the Nokians. Total cost was under $600 mounted, balanced, including recycling charges and tax. They will work well all year round. They cost less in the US. I paid $120 per tire, but you can get them online for around $100 (for this size).

Now, usually when people replace tires the replacements are orders of magnitude better than the old tires. But this is unfair, as the old tires are usually worn out! In my case, they were still new, and the Nokians are still much better! The car feels much more "planted". I took a freeway exit too fast (sign was missing and I forgot how slow it was designed for). The Integrities would have drifted off the road. The Nokians just guided me around the corner, no complaints.

This is the third vehicle I've put Nokian WRs on with very good results. Best part is you don't need "winter wheels".

tiff_c

This is the third vehicle I've put Nokian WRs on with very good results. Best part is you don't need "winter wheels".

I have been using Hakka Q's and that would be the same as the new RSi's. I would love to get a better tire for the dry times when the snow isn't on the road, but still have the grip during the storms. More life out of the tires would be welcome as they tend to really want snow and ice. How would you rate the WR's compared to the RSi's?
I just can't see owning a different winter tire than Nokian. I guess you have to own them to really appreciate them. But within the Nokian lineup they go from mild winter to extreme winter. I think i'm as high as you can get with studless tires. The WR's look really good. I'm in Mass about 4.5 hours south of Montreal or an hour out of Boston, we get a lot more snow than Boston does. More ice storms too and we have a lot of hills in the city. I watch the cop cars slide down the street, no control at all until they plow, sand and salt the roads.

shipo

"Now, usually when people replace tires the replacements are orders of magnitude better than the old tires. But this is unfair, as the old tires are usually worn out! In my case, they were still new, and the Nokians are still much better! The car feels much more "planted". I took a freeway exit too fast (sign was missing and I forgot how slow it was designed for). The Integrities would have drifted off the road. The Nokians just guided me around the corner, no complaints."

Between my wife and I we've bought a total of 18 new cars over the years, and with the exception of the two that were ordered with a fairly expensive "Sport Suspension" that came with summer performance tires, every single set of OEM rubber was junk. That by the way is a very common characteristic for virtually every car sold these days, your Prius included. For you to claim that your new Nokians are superior to your relatively low mileage (and ultra cheap) Goodyear Integrity tires is a tad disingenuous don't you think? I mean, after all, the Nokians cost nearly twice the price of the crummy Goodyears.

The fact is that pretty much any good high quality aftermarket All-Season tire will easily out perform the low quality OEM rubber that manufacturers routinely mount on new cars. Further, even the most capable of All-Season tires are a compromise at best (often called "No-Season" tires), and when they excel in one area, they usually fall down in others. In the case of the Nokian WRs, their heavy winter tire like siping will reduce their road holding abilities, making them squirmy and unstable as they approach their limit. True, they may be better able to deal with winter weather than say the Michelin HydroEdge, however, for the rest of the year, the HydroEdge will dramatically out perform the WRs and most likely last twice as long at the same time.

Best Regards,
Shipo

tiff_c

Further, even the most capable of All-Season tires are a compromise at best (often called "No-Season" tires), and when they excel in one area, they usually fall down in others. In the case of the Nokian WRs, their heavy winter tire like siping will reduce their road holding abilities, making them squirmy and unstable as they approach their limit. True, they may be better able to deal with winter weather than say the Michelin HydroEdge, however, for the rest of the year, the HydroEdge will dramatically out perform the WRs and most likely last twice as long at the same time.

Yes Nokian tires excel at winter driving and as winter driving tires and i would not consider them for summer use at all. They are squirmy when it gets above freezing and are not much fun to drive on except in the snow and ice, which IS their strong point. For some people we really need a true winter tire, most people can get by with all-seasons. fact is that Nokian tires in general are better winter tires than most others. I can't as I said speak about high performance winter tires as I haven't bought any. But I've owned more than a few new cars myself and I run summer tires i the summer and winter tires in the winter.
The siping is no fun on dry roads in the winter and even less fun as it warms up and you get a lot of water on the road. my Hakka Q's are awful on wet roads. You can use a calender to measure the time it takes to stop. Leave twice as much distance as with any $20 crap all season tire. but in the snow and Ice the Nokians shine and for where I live it's a must. I see a lot of cars sliding down the hills or stuck at the bottom with no way to get up. It happens every single storm. cars go off the road all the time. I think the previous poster was correct about the Nokians in the snow, great tire, I'd love to see them do a fair comparison with Nokians included (For Once). They generally don't include Nokian tires in the big winter tire shootout's.
Cheap steel rims in the winter with Nokian snows, no big deal to put away the summer tires until the warmer weather comes back in April.

shipo

Oddly enough though, the WRs are marketed by Nokian as an "All Weather" tire meant to be left on the car year round. :P

Best Regards,
Shipo

kyfdx

It depends on the vehicle..

I replaced the all-season tires on my '02 CR-V with Nokian WRs. The size is 205/70-15. The standard tires that come on CR-Vs are S-rated, and most replacement tires in that size are S- or T-rated.

The Nokians are H-rated, and even with the squishier tread compound (which works great in snow, BTW), they have stiffer sidewalls and actually handle better than any previous tires that I've had in that size.

I think they are the only all-season tire that has the severe weather/snowflake symbol.

Price? About the same as Goodyear TripleTreds, which was my other possible choice (both are pretty pricy).

On a sport sedan, they might make for a not-so-great year round tire (just guessing), but on a grocery-getter, they are fantastic!

regards,
kyfdx

pathstar1

Sorry, you are incorrect (not you, kfdx). The WRs work VERY well on summer roads. I love to take narrow winding mountain roads in British Columbia, and I'm no slouch in the corners. The WRs do "hiss" in hard cornering, but they are not "squirmy". They are rated as an all season performance tire. They work very well all season long, and wear like a "summer" tire (100,000 km treadwear warrantee - that's just over 60,000 mi.). Further bonus, in heavy rain the aggressive siping helps a lot - on several occasions I have found myself on the highway in heavy thunderstorms with 1-2" of water on the road. I had to slow down, but only because the wipers couldn't keep up.

When I purchased this set, I was looking at other tires in the showroom. The guys there tell me the WRs are rated by Nokian to have equivalent traction to the ice tires they also had on display. I've never purchased ice tires as they are too limited in use, so I can't compare them to these tires, but I can say, on ice, the Nokian WR will stop a vehicle hard enough to cause objects to fly off the front seat! That was on a Nissan Pathfinder which I equipped with Nokian WR SUV tires (heavy duty WR design).

I would suggest you not follow the lemmings and dis these tires until you actually test them yourself. They ARE true "all season" tires. I can't say they are better than all others because I haven't tested all others. I CAN say they are very good.

Finally, I did say the Goodyear Integrities were "adequate" summer tires. I also said the Nokian WRs were much better. Both are true unbiased statements. Interpret as you please. When new, I wouldn't expect there to be such a large difference. Once half worn, I would expect the differences to emerge.

My opinion now is that the Goodyear Integrity is a good "rim protector", and an adequate tire for summer use.

shipo

"The Nokians are H-rated, and even with the squishier tread compound (which works great in snow, BTW), they have stiffer sidewalls and actually handle better than any previous tires that I've had in that size."

The "H" rating in and of itself doesn't necessarily buy you much. While I'm absolutely positive they were a huge improvement over the Bridgestone Dueler H/T D684s that came from the factory on your CR-V, that really isn't saying all that much as the Duelers are possibly one of the worst tires made by Bridgestone.

With the above in mind, simply by looking at the tread pattern of the WRs, my bet would be that the TripleTreds from Goodyear or the AVID TRZs from Yokohama (both available in 205/70 R15) would provide you with better overall performance in all but the deepest snow (where all that siping comes in handy). Of course your CR-V isn't supposed to be the hot handling car like your BMW so you've very likely made the correct choice of tires for that car. ;-)

That of course begs the question, when your BMW needs a new set of skins, would you put Nokian WRs on it? ;-)

Best Regards,
Shipo

shipo

"Finally, I did say the Goodyear Integrities were "adequate" summer tires. I also said the Nokian WRs were much better. Both are true unbiased statements. Interpret as you please. When new, I wouldn't expect there to be such a large difference. Once half worn, I would expect the differences to emerge."

The problem here is that the Goodyear Integrities that you are comparing are the cheapest of the cheap (in cost, construction and quality) and will not perform well in any head-to-head comparison with ANY decent all season tire. If you want a valid comparison, compare the Nokian WRs to a better tire, one on roughly the same cost scale as the Nokians such as the Goodyear Assurance TripleTred (using the Goodyear offering as one example of many). Until you've done that, your comparisons and testimonials really don't carry much weight.

Best Regards,
Shipo

kyfdx

With two CR-Vs, I've had 4 different brand/models of tires.. I'm pretty confident that the Nokians are on a par with the Goodyears in dry road handling.

I don't think that the Goodyears could match the winter capability of the Nokians.. At least when they were new, the Nokians were as good as any winter tire that I've had..

As far as the BMW? We lease the current one, so I don't have to make those kinds of decisions.. already have a set of winter tires for it. Plus, no sport package.

The thing is: I've never had winter tires on the CR-V, and if the Nokians hadn't provided any better winter capability, I really wasn't out anything. But, with using winter tires on the BMW, if the Nokians didn't have the same capability, I'd have to go out and buy another set. I just don't have the experience with them in V-rated, low-profile sizes to make that assessment.

But, considering the fairly crappy all-season Continentals that came stock, and the way my wife drives, if I was sure that the snow capability of the Nokian WRs in 205/50-17 was as good as our current winter tires, then I'm certain that the dry-road capability would suffice. Have you driven an E46 convertible with no sport and all-seasons? Not that inspiring..

On an Audi A4, those WRs might be fantastic..

regards,
kyfdx

tiff_c

Sorry, you are incorrect (not you, kfdx). The WR's work VERY well on summer roads. I love to take narrow winding mountain roads in British Columbia, and I'm no slouch in the corners. The WR's do "hiss" in hard cornering, but they are not "squirmy". They are rated as an all season performance tire. They work very well all season long, and wear like a "summer" tire (100,000 km treadwear warrantee - that's just over 60,000 mi.). Further bonus, in heavy rain the aggressive siping helps a lot

I'm not sure if you meant me in your post or not but I use Hakka Q's which are comparable to the RSi's and are a much more winter tire than the WR and are snow and Ice rated and have no treadwear rating unlike the WR's.
I haven't tried out the WR's but have thought about it. But if you doubt that the Q's are squirmy in the wet and warm days you have not driven them. The WR's are all season the Q's and RSi's are a studless pure winter tire. I would never run them in the late spring even. They are for winter use only. Many people use WR's on their SUV's and love them so they are supposedly a very good tire and being Nokian they probably are but the RSi's (since the Q's have been discontinued) are NOT for summer use, and are awful in those conditions. Think the reverse of a high performance summer tire being used in the snow and ice.

pathstar1

Didn't mean you either. I was going to say the Hakkas would be squirmy, but I didn't because I have no experience with them. I just suspected they might be. I did consider them as well but went with the WRs as I like a tire I don't have to mount/dismount due to weather. Due to its' over protective traction control, the Prius needs all the traction it can get!

I suspect there would be a difference in deep snow between the Hakkas and the WRs, with the Hakkas outperforming the WRs, but only there and on dry roads, where the WR outperforms the Hakka. Compromise compromise. But we don't get deep snow here, usually only small amounts at a time, and usually dry snow. It then turns to ice with traffic driving on it. Six months of that. No exaggeration. The snow that falls in late October (in three weeks), will still be on the ground in early April next year.

Great White North, no foolin.