Winter tires Selection

[Dan]

Having bought my Protege5 in May, I was faced with a difficult question in November: Of all the winter tires available, which one should I choose?

Well, the answer is: NOKIAN HAKKAPELLITTA 1. I compared over 10 models (price, quality, performance) such as the following:

TOYO Garret, Michelin Artic Alpin, Goodyear UltraGrip, Pirelli Winter Sport, BF Goodrich Winter Slalom...

So far, I drove in two snow storms...THEY ARE SIMPLY AMAZING. On previous cars I had Toyo's, Michelin's and Goodyear's...The NOKIAN simply outperfomed all of them (with the help of the Protege5 good winter driving abilities of course...
;)

To validate my toughts on these tires, I drove, on the same day, on the same snowy road, my friend's Subaru Impreza RS mounted on regular snow tires (BF Goodrich)...I could barely see a difference, except that the Subaru tail was spinning all over and not the Protege...

Hope this can help some of you in your tire selection and LET IT SNOW!!!

[PA_MP3_Man]

ok so, does yours have studs in them or is is just have recepticals for studs?

I've got bridgestone Blizzaks and they did really well for the bad storm we had here.

[Todd]

Originally posted by Dan
Having bought my Protege5 in May, I was faced with a difficult question in November: Of all the winter tires available, which one should I choose?

Well, the answer is: NOKIAN HAKKAPELLITTA 1. I compared over 10 models (price, quality, performance) such as the following:

TOYO Garret, Michelin Artic Alpin, Goodyear UltraGrip, Pirelli Winter Sport, BF Goodrich Winter Slalom...

So far, I drove in two snow storms...THEY ARE SIMPLY AMAZING. On previous cars I had Toyo's, Michelin's and Goodyear's...The NOKIAN simply outperfomed all of them (with the help of the Protege5 good winter driving abilities of course...
;)

To validate my toughts on these tires, I drove, on the same day, on the same snowy road, my friend's Subaru Impreza RS mounted on regular snow tires (BF Goodrich)...I could barely see a difference, except that the Subaru tail was spinning all over and not the Protege...

Hope this can help some of you in your tire selection and LET IT SNOW!!!


I have the same tires. I never got around to doing comparisons so Im happy you posted that. The dealer who suggested them said they where really good, but sometimes dealers just say stuff. Again, thanks for the post:D

[Dan]

I did not put studs on them, not wanting the negative effect of a stud on dry pavement...

Even without studs, the handling is great and can also be compared to a Blizzak...The thing I have againts Blizzak's is that tend to wear faster than average which makes them a Great tire for a few months but after they become very regular...That's my opinion of course but I did in fact have Blizzaks on my very first car.

On your next purchase, I strongly suggest you try these out (and I am not paid to say this!).

note: my driving habits are the same in the summer and winter, i.e agressive (in snowy conditions, I like to see SUV's get in the center lane to let me pass on the left lane:D !

[AlaskaP5]

How much did they cost, and did you get new rims as well?? (size)

[Dan]

In CDN funds, I paid $125 each tire plus $45 for each rim. Total with tax: approx $775 CDN.

With the exchange rate, it's probably around $500 US tires and rims.


Size: 195/55/15
Two dealers suggested I put 14inch weels...DONT DO THAT!!! You will loose the performance on dry pavement and you will not see a difference in snowy conditions (the dealers backed their suggestion by the fact that the 14inch wheels would be better in snow...ya right!) Go for the 15inch...you will have more than enough control.

I'm sure these tires will do a great job in Alaska.

[AlaskaP5]

Thanks for the info!

[Todd]

Mine with rims was $699 canadian for 4. I like them alot, but I want to add that they are not our Dunlops when it comes to the dry road. I cant really corner too fast with these tires on. But for snow driving, so far they have been great!!!

[P5w3kids]

I'm liking Michelin PA2s on my P5. Rear end slides a bit sometimes, but I blame the lack of weight back there. About equal to an decent all-season in the dry, so the right compromise for me. It's looking like a warm winter lately...

[Dan]

Hi,

Forgot about this discussion thread a few years back but it's still a good topic of discussion. I sold my P5 in June but after 3 winters, the Nokian tires were still great and the thread wear would have given me at least two more winters, total of 5 years! I never seen this with any other tires and I drive +- 30,000KM/year (I leave it to you to estimate this in miles, sorry).

My main comment is that any Nokian tire will do great on dry pavement because they are designed to be all season tires in Finland. Yes they have more snow than in north america, but then again they also have get 75-85 temperature in the summer...and the thread survives it.

As for the rear end tailling, sorry to say but it must be the tires. I did a few street style winter rallye races and was always up front, leaving shorter more compact cars such as VWGolf, Civics and Matrix in the back.

Hope this helps. But as you say, it's a wet winter!

Cheers