Opinions on new tires. Nokian tires anyone?

[alex108]

I know, there's been too many discussions on that. I read great reviews on Michellins, BFG ATs, Revos but the problem is most people compare it to stock tires. So which one is the best?

Yes it's that time to get new tires. My stock BFGs worn at 15000
I live in Alaska so winter performance is very important to me. On the other hand I don't want to have dedicated winter tires. I drive offroad too and I drive on the street a lot. For exmaple I go 150 - 400 miles to my destination and then I go up the montains or mud so comfort and speed (average 85-90) on the road is important and riding on trails is important. I was thinking of Revos until I found Nokian tires are great on the winter roads.

Does anybody have Nokian tires? What's your opinion?
http://www.nokiantires.com/newsite
They supposed to be very good in the winter although they are allseason tires. My friend swithced from Blizzaks to Hakkapeliitta (studless) and 15000 down the road there's very little wear and he claims they have same traction in the winter as Blizzaks (worn at 30000). Well he drives Neon so I don't know how they'll handle on Tundra.

Help me out on this one please.
And one more thing 70 or 75?

Thanks
Alex

[KLS]

Hmmm...
Vatiiva P245/75-16
WR A.W.P. 2 SUV P265/70-16
Hakkapeliitta SUV P265/75-16
Hakkapeliitta LT245/75-16 Load Range E
(in increasing order of likely winter traction)

I think I'd look first at the WR or the Hakka SUV.

Either 245/75-16 or 265/70-16 with have stock tire diameter. 265/75-16 increases the outside diameter. 245 probably has narrower tread than 265 (good in snow & ice), but that is a factor of the total tire design...my Bridgestone 245s have wider tread than my Bridgestone 265s


Ken

[xedge]

I ran Nokian Hakkapeliitta's on my Toyota 4WD pickup for about 3 seasons. I was satisfied with them except in heavy snow. Despite what their website claims, I found the tires greased up real easy in the wet stuff and I certainly put them through their paces. On the dry pavement, they were pretty noisy too. Again, these were purchased about 4 yrs ago so maybe the company's manufacturing has improved the design. A friend has the newer all season Hakka's on his Tundra and seems real happy with its winter performance. He always complained about the oem tires & his challenging driveway (it is pretty long and steep). Didn't hear a peep this past season & the tires are still on the truck!

[alex108]

Thanks for sharing your experience. It would be great if anybody compared those tires to Revos or Michellins and not to stock tires.

I've just looked it up on Tirerack and they have only Q (99mph) rated BFG ATs so I guess that narrows down my choice to Nokian, Michellin and Revo. I do drive over 100mph or close to it.

There is not too much wet snow around where I live maybe exept a little bit during break up or fall and perhaps the design of Nokian was improved. I wonder how they handle off road.

Thanks
Alex

[DevinSixtySeven]

my dad and i drove a tundra equipped with a set of 265/75/16 nokians, dont remember the exact model, but they were studded and i'm pretty sure they were LT (i could ask, or if you search you might find them on an old thread), from salt lake city to anchorage over last thanksgiving weekend...3000 miles, theyre very nice tires...snow, ice, dry pavement, you name it, we drove it, the tires performed excellent and with very little road noise. compared to an open lugged x/t they are extremely quiet, almost as quiet as a normal summer road tire. dunno for sure but thats probably because of the siping pattern. compared to an x/t with studs, they grip better on dry pavement and nearly dry but slightly iced pavement, again, siping. in very deep snow, the x/t tire performed better.

-sean

[sequoiasoon]

Nokian SUV on my Sequoia non studded for winter are noiser than the stock Dueler HT as well as noiser than Michelin LTX M/S but MUCH better grip in the snow. Check my pics and you can see how the SUV looks on the Sequoia check the "front strip" photo for how open it is, these are 265-70-16. On my Corolla I have the WR as my 3 season tire and Hakk Q for winter (because I already had them prior to WR's). I used the WR for a couple months this wionter and was thoroughly impressed with the winter traction. Many friends and family have the WR for year round on multiple vehicles and won't buy anything different after their experiences over "stock".

Here's the "problem" I see (IMO) You want the perfect tire but that doesn't exist. Travelling frequently over 100 mph I'd want at least an H or V rated tire for the stiffer sidewalls and softer stickier compounds for dry and wet performance grip. If your hitting mud on the trails a good A/T or M/T tire is the best choice.

The WR comes in H rated (130 mph), the SUV is a T (118) mph and the Vatiiva is S (112 mph). From experience the WR will definitely give you the best dry and wet performance (mine have seen MANY extended 85-90 mph runs in the rain) and are excellent in the snow without being noisey but will cake up in the mud faster. The "arrow" pattern clears snow and mud nicely but real thick goop will cake up 95% of the tires out there anyway. The SUV's are great snow and wet and better than my stock duelers in dry and probably better off road do to being more open on the tread pattern (but of course noisier also due to this). Haven't tried the Vatiiva sorry but if my experience with the rest of the Nokian line (I've used hakk 10, WR, NRH, Q, and SUV) is any indication they are probably an excellent all around tire also.

[alex108]

This is very nice to hear from you guys. Thanks. I called a dealler in Anchorage (I live in Fairbanks but doesn't look like anybody sell it here) and they said that WR is the best. When I told him that I do drive offroad too he recomended Vatiiva $603 intalled/balanced/insured. I asked him to compare it to Michelline LTX and he said that Nokian has much better grip. When I asked him to compare it to Revo he said that it's a good all-around tire but Nokian handles better in the extreme cold we got here. Well he is a dealler, but they sell other brands too so I hope there's a little bit of truth in his words. I havn't decided yet but it looks like I'll get WRs. It couldn't be any worse than stock BFGs anyway and I got stuck in the mud only once so far - the good thing I could back up - I was out in couple of minutes, thanks to LSD. I don't think I would get trough there without a lift or ATV anyway.

Alex

[Snodog]

Just thought I'd pitch in my $0.02 on the Nokians

Disclaimer: These were all on a 2wd T100
I've used up a set of the (pre-KO)BFG A/Ts (60k miles) Revos (45k trread still there, but cupped badly), and the last ones were Nokian Vativa's (sold truck with ~10k on tires).

I was highly impressed with the Vativa's. I need year-round traction as to not spin the tires in my yard when moving a camper around. These were bought right before winter, so they had full tread depth. These worked as well as the dedicated snow tires I had run previously. Very predictable in "rally-style" driving (aka looking out the side window to see where you're going). It had not only very good foreword traction but also very good lateral traction (didn't lose all foreword push when you'd get a bit sideways). They have much more siping than the normal A/T tire (better for wet and snow grip).

Although I didn't have the Vativa's long enought to tell about treadwear, I was very impressed with all aspects - quiet, great traction on pavement grass and dirt, never squealed, never hydroplaned, good wet traction, and very good snow traction.

For referance, the old BFG A/T's did very well the first 2 winters, but around 1/2 dread depth the snow was no longer a friend. Same for hydroplane performance. The off-road charactoristics were great down to the end. They wore perfectly straight across with rotation about every 3-5k.

I was a bit disappointed with the Revo's from the start (after having the BFGs). The truck seemed to get "squirmy" immediately after installation. I know - full tread depth and all, but it wasn't a good feeling working much harder than normal to keep the truck between the lines on back roads. Wasn't as stable when towing our heavy pop-up either. I couldn't stop the outer edge cupping on these either, so they got very noisy long before I gave up on them...

The Vativa's were rock-solid for stability and no issues when towing either...

I'm not in any way associated with Nokian or any dealers, just a long-time fan and customer of many sets of their winter tires on various cars/trucks: Hakka 09, 10, Q, 1, 2, Vativa

Just got a Tundra DC - Vativa's will be on it before winter!

Cheers!
Jim
'05 DC: Leer cap, Bilsteins, Hawk LTS pads, Gibson exhaust

[audilover]

Hi
We live in MN where we deal with lots of snow and ice. We have a very long steep driveway and hate to plow it.We have put Hakkepeliittas on our 3 audi's and have driven everywhere. We have had various models of the Hakkas and each one has been superb. They last a long time and take you anywhere,

[geojim]

I am trying out the WR SUV. Just had them mounted today. They have very good reviews on this forum, as well as a few others.

They are supposed to to be an excellent all around/ all season tire, particularly in snow/ice. Time will tell. I am having a hard time getting over the looks compared to my Mich LTX's, but these things are supposed to run circles around the LTX in wet/ice/snow conditions.

A couple of plusses over the LTX: besides the above, better load rating in this size (P265-70-16) 2600+lbs, vs 2100+lbs. Better tread depth (14/32), better temp rating (A), lots more siping.

Too soon too form any opinion. Need a few more miles. We will see.

[T23]

I am looking at installing the Hakkapeliitta S.U.V on my wife's 06 FWD Pilot. We too now live in AK and with this being our first winter I want all the traction I can get. My Dad has always said that you can tell good tires by what the police cars run. I asked an officer I know and he went on and on about the Hakkapeliitta tires. I plan to have them installed within the next week or so. $599 is the installed price. Not to bad considering how expensive stuff is up here.

I run 285/75/R16 BFG ATs on my 01 Tundra. They have been excellent tires and I have driven from Memphis to Seattle (taking the I-90 route) with them during the winter. No problems in all kinds of conditions. Like we all know they do a pretty darn good job off road getting me to hunting spots in Eastern Washington State.

My concern is how good are they BFG ATs in the snow & ice on Alaska? I wish I could find 33" tires that were not quite as wide as the ATs are. I grew up near Spokane, WA so I have driven in this kind of stuff before. I just think the difference in AK is that it stays around much longer and it the cold is something else. Will my ATs get me through the winter?

[EcHo]

lol no offense but spokane is a joke compared to alaska as far as winter weather goes but as far as the tires go nokian is the way to go in my opinion for winter driving. I dont remember the exact model (LT i think..) i have becuase i havent been in ak for a year now but theyve held up very well w/ 3 years of winter driving on em. They have a lot more stopping power than other studed tires that some of my friends w/ tundras have and arent any louder than other studed tires. I go snowmachining a lot and i've liked them for the long haul trips and ive been able to stop in certain situations where others havent.... my opinion you wont regret it if you get nokian

[T23]

Originally Posted by EcHo

lol no offense but spokane is a joke compared to alaska as far as winter weather goes .... my opinion you wont regret it if you get nokian

After several trips to Johnson's Tires in AK (where they changed the price on me several times) I gave up on the idea of Nokians for the Pilot. I went to Contiental Honda and got a set of Hankook studded tires for my wife's Pilot. We have had some snow recently to try them out on. I am very impressed as these were studded tires, installed and out the door for $707 (this included a set of Honda wheels). They stop, go, and hold traction pretty good. We have a FWD Pilot (not the AWD). I took them through a pretty good test the other day and am quite confident letting my wife and infant son drive on them.

I am now looking for some studded tires for my Tundra. I see lots of post on all kinds of AT & MT tires.... What I want is tire only to be used in the winter. I want a studded winter tire. I am thinking of using size LT235/85R16 since I currently run BFG AT 285/75R16s (over 40K miles and still looking like they have another 10K+ on them). I think the 235s will be narrower and bit shorter, but with studs should do me well.

I have two options on the table right now, Hankooks don't come the size I want. These options are a studded BFG Commercial TA ($680 installed), or a Cooper M+S ($642 installed at TDS West). I am leaning toward the Cooper since it is more of a snow specific tire. There are not a lot of options up here in Alaska and shipping bites! Any thoughts, suggestions?

[DevinSixtySeven]

you live in anchorage? *sipe* and stud a 255/85/16 M/T, you'll be good no matter the weather. a studded 285/75/16 will be fine as well. yes, best you can get would be the nokians, but they dont make them in a 33. if youre particularly concerned, you can always run them winter-only. the narrow m/t will get you through anything anchorage weather will throw at you, and keep you safe if youre going somewhere like hatcher pass or girdwierd. girdwood. whatever .

-sean

[T23]

Originally Posted by DevinSixtySeven

you live in anchorage? *sipe* and stud a 255/85/16 M/T, you'll be good no matter the weather. a studded 285/75/16 will be fine as well. yes, best you can get would be the nokians, but they dont make them in a 33. if youre particularly concerned, you can always run them winter-only. the narrow m/t will get you through anything anchorage weather will throw at you, and keep you safe if youre going somewhere like hatcher pass or girdwierd. girdwood. whatever .

-sean

Yes, Anchorage. By M/T I am guessing you are meaning something like the BFG M/T? What about those Cooper tires? Studded and siped, almost 32" and about 2" narrower than my 32.9" BFG ATs. ??? For the dollars they seem better than the BFG M/Ts... However, I have nothing but positive things to say about my BFG ATs..... Wish I had kept my factory alloys....