Nokian Vatiiva - any opinions?

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methusaleh

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Just based on reading, I have so far narrowed my choice down to these for my family's two SUVs (03 Explorer and 98 Bravada). What we are looking for is something we can run all year (due to space limitations as we are living in an apartment while building a house...absolutely no room to store a second set of tires) but that is competant enough to withstand Vermont winters and frequent moderate off-road use year-round. Cost is somewhat of a factor as well, trying to keep on the low to mid range, since we plan on replacing both vehicles within the next two years and would rather not spend an arm and a leg on tires that we may only run for a little over a year. Every penny counts, I am learning the hard way as we encounter all kinds of little bumps on the road to building a house in the middle of nowhere!!!

Any input is appreciated, thanks!
 
I'm familiar with Nokian's, overall, but not with the Vatiiva. My brother runs Nokians on his '97 Maxima year-round (WRs) in central Illinois and they cope with the snow just fine. They're not as bad on the highway during dry conditions as I thought they'd be.

Considering your space limitations and your location, it sounds like the type of tire you need for your seasonal conditions. I've never known Nokians to be "low to mid-priced," though.

If you can find them at a price that's acceptable to you (and considering you're looking at buying two sets), I'd install them. Let us know how they work out if you do buy them.
 
No experience with the Vatiiva either. It looks to be a brand new offering. Available sizes aren't even up on the Nokian's page yet. Just from the looks of it and the description, I'd say the Vatiiva may be slightly better for off-road use, whereas the WR will be better in winter/snow.

And I agree with dkryan, Nokian tires are generally quite pricy.
 
Thanks for the input folks. Yes we looked at the WR and I liked the Vatiiva better for some reason, I don't recall why.

A family friend owns a private tire place and he could swing the Vatiivas at roughly $115 each for the Explorer, and about $100 for the Bravada, as I recall...not sure how competitive that is since I tend to give him all my business. He usually gives me a decent, if not generous, deal.
 
UPDATE...

I was actually over-estimating, we would be paying about $90 each for the Bravada's tires, and about $100 for the Explorer...still have to research the prices & reviews online...but thanks to anyone who can provide any more input!!
 
Sounds like a very good price for Nokians.

In Europe, they used to be very attractively priced at one point, on the same level as Kumho, Semperit, and other lower-end products. But then when people realized just how good these tires are, Nokian figured it too and they jacked up the prices significantly.
 
They are run on a lot of Trucks and SUVs in Michigan with a local Tire Factory dealer. I would love a set on my truck based on the reviews people I know that have them. Everyone says they have very impressive snow & wet traction. I talked to the dealer and he personally prefers them on a truck to the Nokian All Weather Truck & SUV tire. No personal experience just second hand reports.
 
I put a set of Nokian Vatiiva LT265/75-R16 on my '97 F-250. I used them for about 19K miles before I sold that truck.

I had an old set of tires I put on the '97 F-250 before I sold it, so I saved the Nokians.

I bought a 2001 F-250 SuperDuty which had Les Schwab Wild Country tires (MultiMile). Those tires had a very poor ride with so I took them off (they had less than 9K miles on them) and put the Nokians on. The ride was much better with the Nokians. I have run the Nokians about 5K miles on my 2001 F-250.

Nokian Vatiiva tires ride and handle much like the Michelin LTX tire – very smooth and controlled. They work very nice even in a 4 wheel drift on gravel roads.

The Nokian Vatiiva gets very good traction on dry and wet roads and decent traction on snow. I still run Cooper Discoverer M&S studded tires in the winter.

The Nokian Vatiiva tires tends to wear fast in the middle tread if you run them at higher pressure with light loads. To get a good wear pattern running my empty F-250, I run 44 psi front and 32 psi rear. Much higher than that and the center tread wears way faster than the outside tread. On the rear tires the outside edges of the outside tread does not even touch the road surface at 38 psi. With my careful pressure setting, I expect to get about 40 to 45K total miles out of this set of tires.

When I load the truck up I increase the inflation pressure accordingly…

http://www.goodyear.com/truck/pdf/databook/loadInflation.pdf
 
UPDATE!!!

Had the Bravada shod in Vatiivas yesterday. Only put 12 miles on it but dry road handling seems pretty normal for an average road tire. The real test was coming home...our driveway is 1/3 of a mile, all downhill, all rutted, washed-out dirt covered in slick wet leaves, with two dramatic curves to boot. I purposefully took it fast to see how the tires held. The previous tires on the vehicle (Uniroyal Laredos, IIRC) made me very nervous on the wet leaves and in the ruts, always feeling on the verge of losing control and slipping off the road (came close a few times).

The Vatiivas however had a grip like I could not fathom, it was like driving a tracked vehicle, I deliberately gave it as little too much gas on the curves but those tires never slipped a fraction of an inch. I can't wait to see how they are on ice and packed snow, should be darn good!
 
Contrary to their name and brand, the Vativas are made in the USA- Hakkas in Finland. I have never liked that idea...
 
Hey Methusaleh, Which Vatiiva's did you install? There are 3 different Vatiivas - A/T, H/T and M/T? I am looking at the H/Ts for my 2005 Pilot. Thanks...Jack
 
Quote:

My WRs are made in Finland, just had them installed last week.

Click to expand...


Did you ask when you bought them, or check yourself? I find myself looking when I see a set on another vehicle to see if they are made in USA or Finland.
 
I ran a set of 315/75-16 Vativas on my truck for a month, they were stamped Finland.

I like the Vativas, not the longest lasting tread but it does hold up well to gravel roads and is good in the winter.

Definitely interested in the MT, looks pretty mean!
 
I'll be buying four tires within the next two weeks for an '06 4Runner (265/65/17). I think I have them narrowed down to the Nokian Vatiivas or WRs, and Cooper Discoverer ATRs. I drive in NE PA winters, which can be unpredictable as far as snow/ice from year to year. I don't tow much (occassionally a few hundred pound aluminum boat), and I don't do any hard-core offroading.

The Vatiivas are almost $50 per tire cheaper than the WRs. I am also considering Cooper Discoverer ATRs. I read somewhere that Cooper is now making the Vatiivas for Nokian in North America, and the ATRs look like a decent tire for the price.

Here are the "out-the-door" prices per tire:

Vatiiva A/T - $152
Discoverer ATR - $169
WR - $201

Any suggestions?
 
The Vatiivas are made in the US by either General or Cooper. Their new I3 tires are made in China.

It looks like they just came out with the WRg2 this fall.

wrg2.jpg
 
Originally Posted By: Thorn
I'll be buying four tires within the next two weeks for an '06 4Runner (265/65/17). I think I have them narrowed down to the Nokian Vatiivas or WRs, and Cooper Discoverer ATRs. I drive in NE PA winters, which can be unpredictable as far as snow/ice from year to year. I don't tow much (occassionally a few hundred pound aluminum boat), and I don't do any hard-core offroading.

The Vatiivas are almost $50 per tire cheaper than the WRs. I am also considering Cooper Discoverer ATRs. I read somewhere that Cooper is now making the Vatiivas for Nokian in North America, and the ATRs look like a decent tire for the price.

Here are the "out-the-door" prices per tire:

Vatiiva A/T - $152
Discoverer ATR - $169
WR - $201

Any suggestions?



THORN--What tires did you end up with and how do you like them?
 
As a Cooper dealer, I've got to say the ATR is one of the finest all season tires on the market. Quiet,smooth,stable, low rotation rquirements. Excellent wet road performance, also great in snowy,icy conditions.

If Nokians are being built by Cooper you can be assured that Cooper is fully capable of building to any quality standard Noikna might set.

Bob
 
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