New Winter Tires from Nokian

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SubLGT

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https://www.nokiantyres.com/company/news...ter-tyre-range/

Quote:
...Nokian Tyres introduces four new product families: Nordic non-studded Nokian Hakkapeliitta R3 and R3 SUV winter tyres for the Nordic, Russian and North American, Nokian WR SUV 4 for the Central European and Nokian WR G4 for the North American markets. ..

...The main markets for the new-generation non-studded Nokian Hakkapeliitta R3 and the Nokian Hakkapeliitta R3 SUV winter tyres for sport utility vehicles are in the Nordic countries, Russia and North America...The new products will start shipping to retailers in the spring of 2018...


I haven't seen any photos yet of the new tires.
 
The major weakness (revealed in multiple tests) of the R2, compared to its premium competitors, is wet traction.
 
Doesn't it seem weird to ship new winter tires in the spring?
That's when I bought my R2 SUVs, but only because they were on sale at an attractive price...the temps unexpectedly shot up to near 70F the next day and that made for some horrible driving (particularly dry braking), took them off a day or two after that.
 
Originally Posted By: Snagglefoot
I take it the Nokians are known for good traction on ice?


Yes.
 
Originally Posted By: Virtus_Probi
Doesn't it seem weird to ship new winter tires in the spring?

It gives them time to build inventory, take major orders and get things ready for September. With the SKU active in the retailer systems, orders can be placed.
I had to order 600 or so Nokia tires for a commercial fleet. The PO needed to be in place in May, for a September delivery.
 
Originally Posted By: Danno
Originally Posted By: Virtus_Probi
Doesn't it seem weird to ship new winter tires in the spring?

It gives them time to build inventory, take major orders and get things ready for September. With the SKU active in the retailer systems, orders can be placed.
I had to order 600 or so Nokia tires for a commercial fleet. The PO needed to be in place in May, for a September delivery.


I see...makes sense, good info and thanks for sharing!
I guess fleet purchases are very different animals from typical consumer retail buys...

BTW, were you and your drivers happy with the 600 tires?
 
I would hope Nokian would improve their Hakkapeliittas; I ran them about ten years ago and they were great when new, but the sticky layer wore very quickly; by the third winter they were useless. I would want to see some rather large improvements before I would try them again.

Originally Posted By: Snagglefoot
I take it the Nokians are known for good traction on ice?


Great on ice, rain, and dry cold temperature pavement. Useless on any decent amount of snow, though.
 
Originally Posted By: Snagglefoot
I take it the Nokians are known for good traction on ice?

First post is about Nokian friction tyres and they - as other brands of friction tyres - tend to suffer on ice.
 
Originally Posted By: Johnny2Bad
I would hope Nokian would improve their Hakkapeliittas; I ran them about ten years ago and they were great when new, but the sticky layer wore very quickly; by the third winter they were useless. I would want to see some rather large improvements before I would try them again.

Originally Posted By: Snagglefoot
I take it the Nokians are known for good traction on ice?


Great on ice, rain, and dry cold temperature pavement. Useless on any decent amount of snow, though.


My WR2's paddled the Maxima (with HLSD, ok) through snow deep enough to fill the lower bumper intake through a mountain pass on BC's Crow's Nest Highway just fine. And they weren't their dedicated winter tires, but their all-seasons with the snowflake mark. Ditto for the year or two prior of 12"+ snow from Vancouver to Seattle.

Snow is funny though, and unlike rain, isn't the same everywhere you are.
 
Snow is tricky and ice too.
The guys is cold places (like Siberia, Scandinavia) do tests on warm ice and cold ice. That is ice at 0F (-16C) and 0C (32F).
On warm ice studded tires shine but when it is really cold the chemistry of studless still works while mechanics of studs stops.

Krzys
 
Originally Posted By: Johnny2Bad
I would hope Nokian would improve their Hakkapeliittas; I ran them about ten years ago and they were great when new, but the sticky layer wore very quickly; by the third winter they were useless. I would want to see some rather large improvements before I would try them again.

Originally Posted By: Snagglefoot
I take it the Nokians are known for good traction on ice?


Great on ice, rain, and dry cold temperature pavement. Useless on any decent amount of snow, though.

I have R2's for over a month on Tiguan. We have very dry and warm winter here in Colorado, so no experience with them on ice and snow. But in dry they do not come close to Bridgestone, Continental and Michelin. So far definiately the worst snow tire I had in dry (I do not expect from snow tire to be good in dry, but these push limits).
Hopefully it will prove itself once Spring snow hits Southern Colorado.
 
Originally Posted By: edyvw
I have R2's for over a month on Tiguan. We have very dry and warm winter here in Colorado, so no experience with them on ice and snow. But in dry they do not come close to Bridgestone, Continental and Michelin. So far definiately the worst snow tire I had in dry (I do not expect from snow tire to be good in dry, but these push limits).
Hopefully it will prove itself once Spring snow hits Southern Colorado.


The Tiguan is your wife's vehicle if memory serves correctly. So have you actually driven the Tiguan on dry streets or just relying on her reports? I also remember the thread you started about the older date codes on the new Nokian tires and because of that you will never buy them again. So you're probably negatively biased against them and hard to take your posts seriously.
 
I have the R2's and have been happy with them. Not great on ice but very good on the rest. Never had any issues on dry or wet with them. They feel safe in dry and wet if you drive a reasonable speed. They handle deep snow with ease.
 
I wonder if the passenger car WR G4 will be a dedicated tire like the WR and WR G2? Or will it be like the G3 and be both the WR A4 and WR D4 sold under the G4 label?

Can't wait for the G4 SUV. It will replace the Nitto SN2 I currently have. I don't like the lateral grip feel of the tires in snow. Behaves exactly as described in the video below

https://youtu.be/LbkNDrWhbOs
 
Originally Posted By: SatinSilver
Originally Posted By: edyvw
I have R2's for over a month on Tiguan. We have very dry and warm winter here in Colorado, so no experience with them on ice and snow. But in dry they do not come close to Bridgestone, Continental and Michelin. So far definiately the worst snow tire I had in dry (I do not expect from snow tire to be good in dry, but these push limits).
Hopefully it will prove itself once Spring snow hits Southern Colorado.


The Tiguan is your wife's vehicle if memory serves correctly. So have you actually driven the Tiguan on dry streets or just relying on her reports? I also remember the thread you started about the older date codes on the new Nokian tires and because of that you will never buy them again. So you're probably negatively biased against them and hard to take your posts seriously.

I actually drive both cars. 100% BMW, 90% of time Tiguan. Yes Tiguan is my wife's car. She hates to drive.
I had 40 sets, take or add a few, since driving. Can make my judgment how tire behaves. I did not expect Nokian to behave in dry like Michelin or Continental, they are simply not that class. They do however remind me of Slovenian tire Sava Eskimo S3 I had before while living in Europe. Great tire in deep snow and ice, not so in dry and wet. Tires like that is really not that hard to make.
You can take my post seriously or not, your choice.
 
Last edited:
From CR's (Nov 2017 issue) testing of wet/dry handling, they give these ratings:

Nokian R2: fair
Nokian R2 SUV: good
Continental WinterContact SI: poor
Michelin Xi3: fair
Michelin Latitude Xi2: good
Blizzak DM-V2: fair
Michelin Alpin PA4: good

("good" is a one step higher rating than "fair')
 
I haven't seen an announcement yet from MIchelin about a new Xice Xi4 studless tire, but they do have a new studded tire, the X-Ice North 4.

Quote:
...The official premiere of the new Scandinavian-type tires Michelin X-Ice North 4 is scheduled for March 2018, says technical specialist Shina.Guide , but now it is already known that the main difference between XIN4 - a record (at least 200 pieces) number of anti-skid studs for tires designed for operation on public roads in winter weather conditions...
 
Originally Posted By: SubLGT
I haven't seen an announcement yet from MIchelin about a new Xice Xi4 studless tire, but they do have a new studded tire, the X-Ice North 4.

Quote:
...The official premiere of the new Scandinavian-type tires Michelin X-Ice North 4 is scheduled for March 2018, says technical specialist Shina.Guide , but now it is already known that the main difference between XIN4 - a record (at least 200 pieces) number of anti-skid studs for tires designed for operation on public roads in winter weather conditions...

Give it year or two. They are due for change.
Considering how freakishly dry this winter is in CO, I am appreciating dry performance of Michelin Latitude Xi2. Hands down the best dry performance of any winter tire I had. If it turns out to be really good in snow, it would be perfect tire, but I am still skeptical considering design. Will see....
 
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