Dunlop have a promotion at the moment for £50 fuel vouchers for 4 winter tyres purchased .

Has anyone got any first hand experience/info they can share about Nokian's?

Lurcher wrote:

Dunlop have a promotion at the moment for £50 fuel vouchers for 4 winter tyres purchased .

knew someone would say that

Quote:

Has anyone got any first hand experience/info they can share about Nokian's?

Had a set of Nokian WR2's on a VW Golf GTI a few years back, was really impressed with them in the snow, extremely sure footed and when it was dry and temps rose a bit seemed fine as well (to me anyway). So much so that I am just about to hit buy on a set of 4 Nokian WR SUV3 for my FL2 so will see how they fare. The SUV3 is a new tyre for this year so I'm interested to see how it performs compared to the older Nokians and the Goodyear ultra grip 8's I have also used.

My second choice was the Vredstein Wintrak 4's but I wanted to try the Nokians as they are a brand new design. I figured as its from the people who have been making winter tyres for 79 years they must be okay

That's a really interesting and informative response, thanks.

I too hae been looking at both the Nokians ( hakkapeliitta and WR SUV3 ) as well as the Vredastein's. I agree with your point, they have a vast ammount of experience when it comes to making winter tyres so therefore they must be good! It's the sheer volume of good reports about the wintracs that makes them an attractive and safe bet!

Would I be right to assume that you went for the WR SUV 3's instead of the Hakkapeliitta's because of the big price difference between the two?

Well, it was really because the SUV3 is available in the size and speed rating that I wanted, I just never really considered the Hakka because from memory they are all R speed rated which is 106mph, and I wanted to stick to OE speed spec H or V. I think if I lived where there was snow and cold for most of the year the Hakkas would be a good choice as its a pure snow tyre, but in the UK I just feel that the SUV3 being an all weather (not to be confused with an all season) tyre will cope better as we do get mild days in winter as well.

The SUV3 does have the severe service symbol snowflake in a mountain thing on it as well btw, and is classed as a winter tyre but one you can use all year round if you need to. I know lots use the Vredestein Wintrak 4 all year round as well. I don't intend to do this as I'm mounting my winters on another set of rims, but Nokian say it can be done but optimally its best to get harder rubber back on when it gets warmer.

The Nokians are pretty well loved over here, I own a transport company - all the vans heading to Germany use studless hakkapeliitta, and everything else, including my LR run on the studded version.

The first time I tried them, the stability was a noticeable improvement as opposed to "yeah its an improvement, but it still feels like I am driving on snow" that I have had with other brands. I swear by them and cant see myself changing back....

Besides, Nokian hold the world record for driving on ice... (in a straight line, but not exactly smooth haha)

Have you ever used the wintracs? If so how do they compare to the Nokians?

I am really sorry to say that I havent tried the wintracs : ( they do look pretty awesome, but they just are not as available here with the locals kind of owning the market share (Nokian)

just ordered some Goodyear Ultra Grip + SUV 235/65 R17's

Went with Merit tyre so i can put the current tyres in their "Tyre Hotel". They originally quoted £190, but they price matched black circle's £160.

Figure ill sling them on in a few weeks when the temps start dropping.

N

Looks like there has been a bit of a price drop on pneus, just picked up 235/65/17 wintrac 4's for £113.50 each. They were about £120 yesterday. I'd say that's quite a bargain!

Last edited by Xtralarg on 24th Oct 2013 8:12 pm. Edited 1 time in total

Thats a cracking price

That's what I thought! It looks like they dropped the Nokians as well but not as much as the vreds.

I thought the prices would rise at this time of year?

I did 35000 miles on the original Wranglers,

Then 35000 miles on Nokian WR2s

Then 35000 miles on Dunlop Winter Sport 3D

Now driving on WREDSTEIN WINTRAC 4

I live and ski in Scottish highlands and have never been stuck. The Dunlop was better than the Nokian. I keep the winter tyres on all year round. Once the winter tyres have done 25000 miles they are poor on wet roads. Absolute myth that winter tyres wear out quickly or increase fuel performance. My other car is a Fiesta - I use Goodyear ultragrip 7 and again don't get stuck.