Winter tyre review: Nokian WR SUV 3 RunFlat
Posted: Sun Nov 29, 2015 6:21 pm
I bought my 40d with a 2nd set of 18” wheels with winter Michelins mounted that had obviously lived a very hard life. The tread was chunking on the outside third, so I never installed them. Because they had worked well on our Berlingo 4x4 Dangel, I decided to try some Nokians on my E70. Nokians very often place well in German press comparison tests and ratings by their omnipotent Auto Club (D.A.C.). We also run them on a Crafter mini-bus.
Does Finland deliver good winter tyres? Does a frog have a watertight arse?
In a word, yes. These WR SUV 3 tyres are quite good, wear well, and have a reasonable price point. Nokian is a company with a small marketing budget, so you don't see its name in a lot of magazine ads or certainly on TV. Their marketing approach is to have their tyres get tested and let word-of-mouth do the rest. That lets them spend more on tyre R&D. It shows.
WEAR:
Excellent. 255/55 R18 109V XL is the size I ran all last winter. When I took them off for the summer, the measured wear was less than 30%, and no feathering was visible on the tread. The X5 had chunked the former Michelins badly, but not so with the Nokians. I suspect that these tyres will give me well over 25k miles. That may sound low, but remember that the X5 is hell on tyres. With chip-tuning a 40d delivers 375hp and gruesome low-end torque. The driver may smile but the tyres are grunting in effort.
DRY TRACTION:
Good. The tyres grip surprisingly well and make little noise in normal driving or cornering. You almost forget that they are winter tyres at lower speeds. Braking is excellent, even on the autobahn at 120mph. But at speeds over 100mph there is a floaty feeling that reminds you that it's not a summer tyre. All winter tyres seem to have that in my experience. I corner more gently in winter on general safety principals.
WET TRACTION:
Good. With a winter tread profile, the Nokian seems to evacuate cold water well due to its open channels in the tread. The few times that the VSC stability control kicked in during rain, the tyres felt predicable and safe. When the tyre lets go, it's easy to gather the car back up again.
ICE AND SNOW:
I've never been stuck yet on these tyres, or had an accident. So I'm satisfied with them based on my own seat-of-the-pants evaluation. If you want hard data (and can read German) here is the ADAC test of this tyre, where it is rated above average. https://goo.gl/oXc43o
NOISE AND RIDE:
Quiet for a winter tyre but jiggly over rough surfaces. But keep in mind that this is a run-flat tyre (RFT). I run RFTs in winter to avoid freezing my fingers off in case of a roadside tyre event. RFTs that I've tried all make more noise and have a harsher ride than non-RFTs. It's a trade-off.
PRICE:
Very competitive. These tyres cost less than the major brands that you see advertised in the media. Given their resistance to wear, you can probably cut your tyre expenditures 30% by running Nokians instead of, say Michelins or another premium tyre.
BOTTOM LINE:
A great winter tyre for a very fair price. I will buy them again. The WR SUV 3 RunFlat has no weak performance traits, and it's an RFT.
WHERE TO BUY:
http://goo.gl/OcMI35 (this is the UK link, but other countries are at the bottom of the page)
No, I don't work for Nokian. I work for Automobiles Dangel, experts in 4x4 systems (www.dangel.com).
Does Finland deliver good winter tyres? Does a frog have a watertight arse?
In a word, yes. These WR SUV 3 tyres are quite good, wear well, and have a reasonable price point. Nokian is a company with a small marketing budget, so you don't see its name in a lot of magazine ads or certainly on TV. Their marketing approach is to have their tyres get tested and let word-of-mouth do the rest. That lets them spend more on tyre R&D. It shows.
WEAR:
Excellent. 255/55 R18 109V XL is the size I ran all last winter. When I took them off for the summer, the measured wear was less than 30%, and no feathering was visible on the tread. The X5 had chunked the former Michelins badly, but not so with the Nokians. I suspect that these tyres will give me well over 25k miles. That may sound low, but remember that the X5 is hell on tyres. With chip-tuning a 40d delivers 375hp and gruesome low-end torque. The driver may smile but the tyres are grunting in effort.
DRY TRACTION:
Good. The tyres grip surprisingly well and make little noise in normal driving or cornering. You almost forget that they are winter tyres at lower speeds. Braking is excellent, even on the autobahn at 120mph. But at speeds over 100mph there is a floaty feeling that reminds you that it's not a summer tyre. All winter tyres seem to have that in my experience. I corner more gently in winter on general safety principals.
WET TRACTION:
Good. With a winter tread profile, the Nokian seems to evacuate cold water well due to its open channels in the tread. The few times that the VSC stability control kicked in during rain, the tyres felt predicable and safe. When the tyre lets go, it's easy to gather the car back up again.
ICE AND SNOW:
I've never been stuck yet on these tyres, or had an accident. So I'm satisfied with them based on my own seat-of-the-pants evaluation. If you want hard data (and can read German) here is the ADAC test of this tyre, where it is rated above average. https://goo.gl/oXc43o
NOISE AND RIDE:
Quiet for a winter tyre but jiggly over rough surfaces. But keep in mind that this is a run-flat tyre (RFT). I run RFTs in winter to avoid freezing my fingers off in case of a roadside tyre event. RFTs that I've tried all make more noise and have a harsher ride than non-RFTs. It's a trade-off.
PRICE:
Very competitive. These tyres cost less than the major brands that you see advertised in the media. Given their resistance to wear, you can probably cut your tyre expenditures 30% by running Nokians instead of, say Michelins or another premium tyre.
BOTTOM LINE:
A great winter tyre for a very fair price. I will buy them again. The WR SUV 3 RunFlat has no weak performance traits, and it's an RFT.
WHERE TO BUY:
http://goo.gl/OcMI35 (this is the UK link, but other countries are at the bottom of the page)
No, I don't work for Nokian. I work for Automobiles Dangel, experts in 4x4 systems (www.dangel.com).
But I can only run one set at a time. Did you miss my Uniroyal review last year?