Nokian Hakkapel 7 or Bridgestone Blizzak WS80

[Milkman]

Hello All,

I was thinking of buying a set of snow tires for my Camry for next season as DTD has some pretty good promotions going on just now.

Either of these tires will cost about the same.

Which do you think is better ?

Thanks.

 

[Rand]

Do you want studded or studless?

The hakka 7 is a very good tire but we are about to get hakka 9's this fall.

 

[Milkman]

Studless...

 

[oilmutt]

I put a set of Michelins on my 2016 Camy last year and they work great! Paid $92 apeace plus tax at Town Fair Tire,Costco has a $75 rebate on them through Feb.

 

[UG_Passat]

Originally Posted By: Milkman
Studless...


What's the price on the Hakka R2? or Michelin Xice Xi3?

 

[Astro14]

Hakkas are awesome snow tires, particularly in "wintry mix" and slushy conditions...like you experience in PA...if you've ever been to Finland in the winter, you would know why those tires are so good...

 

[JimPghPA]

Saved for future reference.

 

[Danno]

Whichever one costs the least - either would be an awesome choice.

 

[Mr_Joe]

You can split hairs but you'll never be wrong with a set of Blizzacks. They are night & day better than any all season tire, in the snow and ice.

Either would be great though.

 

[SubLGT]

Originally Posted By: Milkman
Hello All,

I was thinking of buying a set of snow tires for my Camry for next season as DTD has some pretty good promotions going on just now...


If you are primarily interested in just snow traction, the General Altimax Arctic will get the job done, at a price likely to be much less than the WS80 or H7. If you buy the H7s, they are likely to be over 4 years old.

 

[Milkman]

The prices are almost identical.

 

[Bandito440]

The Hakkas will be better in snow and mixed conditions.

The Blizzaks will be better on ice.

They're both great snow tires, but I prefer Nokian.

 

[panther427]

The one issue I have is a lot of blizzack tires special multi cell compound only goes half way through the tread. Though of course once the tire is half worn you are losing deep snow and slush traction. But ice traction is not so dependant on tread depth. Its the only issue I have with blizzaks. Not really a bad choice either way

 

[LotI]

WS80's are on close out at Tire Rack. Expect something new in the fall.

Or...take advantage of closeout pricing on a good tire.

 

[HerrStig]

We have a set of General Altimax on the front of one Camry and a pair of Finnish tires on the back. They seem evenly matched.

 

[SubLGT]

Originally Posted By: LotI
WS80's are on close out at Tire Rack. Expect something new in the fall….


I doubt it. Too early in the product cycle. The WS80 has only been on the market since autumn of 2014.

But the Michelin XIce is due for an update, to the Xi4 presumably. The Xi3 became available in 2012, the Xi2 in 2008.

 

[anl0109]

Originally Posted By: SubLGT
If you buy the H7s, they are likely to be over 4 years old.


Actually, this won't be the case, thankfully. DT announced in Oct 2016 that it got a deal with Nokian to offer Hakka 7 tires. They are marketing it as a DT exclusive offering... but only because it's available non-studded from all I can tell. (Normally, Nokian factories ship those studded.) The set I got from DT was made in mid-2016. The Hakka 7 tire was introduced in Europe in 2010. Given than Nokian announced H9, H7 might be sold new only via DT channels.

 

[Rand]

Although DT/DTD has up to $160 rebates on tires currently not just their winter specials.

hakka 7 is an older design and was designed to be studded.

I'd wait until a fall deal no point in buying for next fall now there is no closeout price

just deals you can also get in the fall.

 

[stuffinder]

Going slightly off-track here but the Hakkapelitta R2 would be better than either Hakka 7 or WS80 for your conditions in Western PA. I've been running Nokian for 25 yrs in the snowbelt of Central NY. I was considering Hakka 7 w/o studs when R2's came out. I talked to a very experienced Nokian dealer & Nokian tech in VT and they both told me the same thing.Unstudded 7's would be superiorto R2 only in deep snow conditions. R@ much better in dry/wet/ice/hardpack. I believe the WS80 would be comparable to R2 until tread wears down at which WS80 loses some of its ice capability. I've found RS2 to be superior handling tire to WS70 haven't used WS80. YMMV

 

[edyvw]

Originally Posted By: stuffinder
Going slightly off-track here but the Hakkapelitta R2 would be better than either Hakka 7 or WS80 for your conditions in Western PA. I've been running Nokian for 25 yrs in the snowbelt of Central NY. I was considering Hakka 7 w/o studs when R2's came out. I talked to a very experienced Nokian dealer & Nokian tech in VT and they both told me the same thing.Unstudded 7's would be superiorto R2 only in deep snow conditions. R@ much better in dry/wet/ice/hardpack. I believe the WS80 would be comparable to R2 until tread wears down at which WS80 loses some of its ice capability. I've found RS2 to be superior handling tire to WS70 haven't used WS80. YMMV

From what I observed with Bridgestone DM-V2 (same technology as WS80) and with skiiers who have WS80, they are bit problematic in curves. They tend to lose grip out of nowhere. You think how this tire is amazing and keeps you planted in the curve, and booooom, car is going sideway or in my case with BMW, rear end wants to overtake front end. I never had winter tire (except Hankook W300) that loses grip in such manner without any progressive loss of grip.
As for Nokian, they are good, but that is about it. They are good in deeps snow, ice. But you do not drive 100% of time in deep snow and ice. You drive on dry, wet etc. and Michelin and Continental are much better choices if one needs overall very good tire.
Plus Nokian is expensive, and performance does not justify price difference.