Nokian Introduces New Winter Tires

[krzyss]

Which Blizzaks? There multiple flavours.

Krzys

 

[SubLGT]

Originally Posted By: 360kid
.............I think I am going to give the Ice Xi3 a shot. I can only find the Hakka R2's on 1 website and no one carries them locally. Maybe when fall hits, I will see more websites with the R2's and more comparisons and reviews. We'll see!


If you are willing to wait until October, the winter tire tests from Test World in Finland will be available online from various Scandinavian and and Russian sources, such as NAF. I don't recall reading a lot of praise for the Xi3's traction in deep snow. Ice braking seems to be it's biggest strength.

 

[Ken2]

Quote:
I just bought a new sedan and my curiosity can't keep me from looking for new snow tires... even several months early. I want the absolute best snow tire I can find for my wife and new baby.
My schedule is to buy take-off wheels in the summer (got mine for the new car already), then shop for winter tires in October when prices might be best. One thought is that October is when tire shops are selling off the summer before last's production that was returned to the warehouse last spring. Anyway...

The "best" snow tire is the one that best suits your driving conditions. We have a mix of snow, frost, and rain where I drive. Last year's Consumer Reports testing showed that the Hankook i*cept evo snow tires were probably best for my circumstances with better rain performance than the Michelin Xi3. Your needs might be different.

 

[GenSan]

I'll be outfitting the wife's 2013 Highlander Hybrid Limited w/ Hakka R2 SUV's in 245/65/17s on a set of MB Wheel 'Vipers'(closest OEM 10 spoke look) this upcoming 4th quarter for our trek up to Vancouver, BC and then to the East Coast from the upper Midwest so I'll keep you folks updated as to their performance. My standard/barometer for comparison will be Michelin's DM-V1s.

 

[Garandman]

Originally Posted By: 360kid
I just bought a new sedan and my curiosity can't keep me from looking for new snow tires... even several months early. I want the absolute best snow tire I can find for my wife and new baby. Many people tout the Nokian R2 as the best, but it is really tough to find a head to head comparison of the R2 to a X ice 3.

It seems the original Hakka R bested the Xi2, but the reviews for the Xi3 say they are night and day better than the Xi2. My question is, did Michelin improve the Xi3 enough to finally pass the Hakka R2?

From my understanding, the xi2 lost to the original Hakka R in lateral grip. This is something Michelin took to heart and focused on for the xi3, that and deep snow grip. Right now, I'm leaning towards the xi3 just because I know more about them. [url=Onehttp://dervish.smugmug.com/photos/i-6nDx4qG/0/M/i-6nDx4qG-M.jpg][url=Onehttp://dervish.smugmug.com/photos/i-6nDx4qG/0/M/i-6nDx4qG-M.jpg]Onehttp://dervish.smugmug.com/photos/i-6nDx4qG/0/M/i-6nDx4qG-M.jpg[/url][/url] review tested the tires worn to 4/32nds and only the xi3 maintained solid grip. That tells me the xi3 will still be a decent tire even at the end of its life.

I previously had Blizzaks on my other sedan and they wore out super fast, winter use only. I now have Altimax Artic and they are good on hard packed, but suck in any snow depth at all. So, the Xi3 seem to be my choice, but I can find the Hakka R2 for about the same price and want to keep an open mind to them as well.

Any advice is appreciated.

Xi2 < Hakka R < Xi3... but where does the Hakka R2 fit into this hierarchy of winter supremacy?
We put Hakka R2 SUV on our Odyssey and R2's on my Outback.

We. Have 7 cars between work and home. The xi2's we had were good winter tires, but the Nokian RSI and R's lasted one or two seasons longer. We only buy the Michelins now when we can't get Nokians for some reason.