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Maintenance & Repair Snow/Ice winter tires
708 messages, Last post on Nov 10, 2009 at 12:57 PM
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Replying to: shipo (Oct 01, 2007 1:39 pm) 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.
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Replying to: tiff_c (Oct 02, 2007 2:41 am)  Best Regards, Shipo
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Replying to: shipo (Oct 02, 2007 2:55 am) 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
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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. |
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Replying to: kyfdx (Oct 02, 2007 7:27 am) 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
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Replying to: pathstar1 (Oct 02, 2007 7:50 am) 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 |
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Replying to: shipo (Oct 02, 2007 8:00 am) 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 |
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Replying to: pathstar1 (Oct 02, 2007 7:50 am) 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.
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Replying to: tiff_c (Oct 02, 2007 10:47 am) 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.
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Replying to: pathstar1 (Oct 02, 2007 11:31 am) Yeah I have a LOT of experience with the Hakkas and soon it will be RSi's and they are awesome in the snow but useless in warm weather. I was considering the WR's but my Rex has done such a great job but really I'm holding on in case I get a Christmas bonus but I will have buy something soon. I'll be over 200K miles before long and I've had to stop using the WRX for work to keep the miles down on it. I hate to mount and dismount tires but usually the snows go on in November at some point and come off 1st week of april or a bit sooner if it's warm enough. The WR's would be great on a Prius but might eat into your economy a bit. but since it's a city car you probably wouldn't lose much. I suspect there would be a difference in deep snow between the Hakkas and the WR's, with the Hakkas outperforming the WR's, 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. Oh be certain the Hakkas will seriously outperform most other snow tire in the snow and ice, but as an all around tire, not a chance. That's why I was considering the WR's but gotta figure what if I get a Speed3 then what? Do I run RSi's for more grip or risk it with the WR's. Keep in mind we get lots of wet heavy snow to powder to wintry mix, a few ice storms and lots of hills and compared to Canada the worst plowing you can imagine! Snow can be deep here no matter what the radio says. They measure it in some huge field where no one ever goes or drives except to check the snow or maybe at the airport and locally we can easily get twice as much. i went outside my house with a yardstick30 inches but only 19" according to the news. I could get 30 anywhere in the area! The ice storms are what kill you on hills . Performance cars need really good grip but I think for most cars the WR's would be fine. It depends on how fast you drive. The bonus is keeping the tires year round on the same wheels. Nokians are expensive tires for an all season tire. We can have snow that lasts until may at least in the woods, So I know where you're coming from.
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