Nokian Hakkapeliitta R5 SUV 116T snow tires installed - first impressions and range result

[Fastmikerx7]

Well, I live in the PNW(East of Seattle) and drive in the snow/ice/cold enough to need something WAY more capable than the General "Grabber" HTS 60's.
I am not sure why they named those tires "Grabber" since they don't really grab the road imo.
OK in dry. Sketchy in wet and cold.
Once in light snow was enough. YIKES.

Last winter was not really a winter here but this year is supposed to be "better imo" since I like the snow/cold.
https://www.noaa.gov/media-release/us-winter-outlook-cooler-north-warmer-south-with-ongoing-la-nina

I have used dedicated winter tires on separate rims for all my daily drivers since the first Blizzak came out which was MANY years ago. Dedicated snows made my rigs pretty much unstoppable in snow/ice of the types we get here and where I travel to.

I got a set of very low mile takeoff OEM wheels/OEM Goodyears/TPMS sensors from another owner for $850(he did the new rim/tire/leveling "off road" thing) so I am saving those for spring and trashing the 22K mile Generals for the Nokians.

These Nokians will be my winter tires for a few years at least since I take them on and off based off weather.
I am a few weeks early on this install but the General's are sucking in the cold/rain and it is raining plenty and getting cold but not to 32F yet in the AM.

Hopefully the Goodyears will be an improvement over the Generals. I seriously doubt they are going to be worse..

Anyhow, back to the Nokians..
Interesting sticker on the tires. Says they don't use much "fuel" so that is good.
Also say not at the top of list for "wet" so that is not great but as I said before, I don't know how they could be worse than 22k Generals that are WAY over half worn...

It will be interesting to see what they do for, or against, efficiency.

I am currently at 2.4 mi/kwh over 22K miles but that is mostly city or driving in traffic with some longer trips.
Daily commute is 26 miles round trip.
Dealer reset my lifetiime odo doing software updates grrr.... but it has stayed right at or very near 2.4 for the truck's life.
23 Lariat SR non sunroof. I have towed a couple of times but not too much.

I preheat in the AM/keep tires pumped up etc and maybe my toneau helps or maybe it doesn't with the type of driving I do.

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[Fastmikerx7]

So, I drove 170 miles yesterday. Cold and mostly raining, sometimes heavily.

Almost 80% highway miles which is odd for me. Stayed above 60mph for most of those miles.

2.2 mile/kwh so I think that is pretty darn good for dedicated snows for that many hwy miles with the heat on.

They are head and shoulders above the "grabbers" in the wet and are basically as quiet as the grabbers just a bit different on sharp bumps(they do kind of a snare drum thump) and ride nicely.

I do have them pumped up to 50psi so maybe that explains the quiet thump?

So far, so good.

 

[Bandit216]

Mine were installed Friday. The roads are very icy here in Alaska right now, but based on some very limited driving, they appear to be head and shoulders better than the factory installed all terrain tires I've skated around on for the last two years.

 

[Fastmikerx7]

Yup. There is nothing like dedicated snow tires, especially when it gets icy and the ice gets a water layer on top of it. These things shine in those conditions and rock it in the snow too.

 

[21st Century Truck]

Yup. There is nothing like dedicated snow tires, especially when it gets icy and the ice gets a water layer on top of it. These things shine in those conditions and rock it in the snow too.

Agreed from personal experience on several sedans, in the US and in Europe.

I think the common "snow tires" name for these Winter tires is an unfortunate misnomer. Although there is some benefit in snow, their true benefit is in their much softer cold weather rubber compounds, which in turn makes them reliably stick to the road below about 36 -40 degrees F and on down into the single digits, even if there is zero snow present. All-season tire rubber compounds begin to lose traction (grip) far faster in lower temps, while Summer tires might as well be carved out of hard plastic under low temps.

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