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Ringing endorsement for these!!!! My first set...

W

wontgrowup

CEG'er
Joined
Nov 17, 2002
Messages
140
Location
Western Massachusetts
Well, I never thought I would be enthusiastic about a set of tires....but GOD these tires are AWESOME!! If I was driving on the all seasons that were on my 3.0L, I doubt I would've been able to get around as well as I did the last few days!! At one point on Friday, I actually drove by a Subaru driver that evidently had their hands full with the crappy road conditions in Palmer. It was awesome....I really only drive the car as I normally would if it was say, raining/wet out, and the car had ZERO issues getting anyhwhere I needed to g. That includes up a fairly steep,1/2 mile long unplowed hill!! Here's the tire(s) in question:

http://www.nokiantires.com/tyre?id=11880&group=1.01&name=Nokian+Hakkapeliitta+RSi

The best part about all this?? There was a retired Major here at Westover who advertised these a few months ago on our "Intranet". He evidently had them on his wifes Jag X type sport, and had traded in the car. When I spoke to him, he said he had forgotten he had them in his basement and just told me "Tell you what, Airman, give me a 100$ for the pair and just get them out of my basement, please." I've always wondered what the big deal was about "dedicated" winter tires, and now I know! Anyone who has been on the fence about buying a set of any winter tire (these Nokians are PRICEY!) shouldn't be....they are worth EVERY penny!
 
completely agree. dedicated snow tires are the only way to go in the winter imho. not only are they designed to grip in the snow they also are designed for the colder weather. an all season is a compromise all the way around. Even since I put on almost used snowtires that performed better then less then half worn hig performance all season tires I have been sold on them. Again in the storms this past weekend on a snow overed highway I was driving along just like normal, just going the speed limit or just below while everyone else was going ~50 mph. not a problem at all and the set I have now are getting on the old side also. I also highly recommend having 4 snow tires so you have equal grip on all corners.
 
Yeah...

Yeah...

Hear you there Brian...I did have a "dukes of Hazzard" moment on Saturday night where the car went into snap oversteer after hitting a patch of ice covered by snow right down by Hallmark off Rt.190 in Enfield. I would have LOVED to have a whole set, but, I'll take what I could get, especially at THAT price!
 
very good tires!!!!! i just got some brand spanking new winter tires and i wasnt going to put them on but omg im soo glad i did the car goes anywhere now..
 
The S60R folks rave about these tires. Theres even an S60 in the link.

Some badass pics.
3107568699_366f0b3efd_o.jpg


08FEB08_After_Midnight.jpg
 
Yep. Really like the Nokian WRs I have. I wouldn't want to go back to an all season after running real snow tires.
 
Yeah, well....

Yeah, well....

Like an IDIOT I never checked the tire pressure when I had them installed...they were inflated to the max (44 psi) evidently by the meatheads who mounted them for me. The reason I checked is a noticed a gash running down part of the tread going towards the sidewall (thankfully, it's not ON the sidewall)- I'm guessing that it's a combination of overinflation coupled with some gigantic potholes I've "managed" to find around the area already. It doesn't appear as though the belt or anything other than the tread itself is affected- damn tough tires in any case!
 
At least you didn't personally overinflate them. ;)
I discovered recently that my dad's tire gauge reads 10psi under actual. Probably explains why my Nissan always got tire bubbles. I compared it against three more gauges I bought to determine.
 
well...

well...

I'm basically going to drive them until the end of the winter... whether the damaged tire decides to cooperate I have zero control over, but I am certainly keeping an eye on it now...
 
MAZDASPEED said:
08FEB08_After_Midnight.jpg
Click to expand...

Yeah, that won't be fun when all that packed snow freezes and throws their wheels off balance at 65 mph. ;)

I thought about doing dedicated snow tires this year. Maybe next year when I have a set of custom summer wheels for the tibby.
 
A ton of the S60 people are talking about wheel balance...the big opennings make it easy to collect snow. Some have had problems with the wheels freezing to the brembos...

ElKy said:
that lit up window in the background looks really strange, almost too bright.
Click to expand...

I didn't even notice that! Maybe they are growing pot..
 
Not to knock the tires that we are raving about, but I am honestly in love with the Bridgestone Winterforces I picked up :shrug:. Half the price of Blizzaks, and I went plowing through ~8 inches of unplowed snow going through the AutoZone parking lot no problem.

Dedicated snow tires FTMFW.
 
zorrex said:
Not to knock the tires that we are raving about, but I am honestly in love with the Bridgestone Winterforces I picked up :shrug:. Half the price of Blizzaks, and I went plowing through ~8 inches of unplowed snow going through the AutoZone parking lot no problem.

Dedicated snow tires FTMFW.
Click to expand...

It really is worth the price of admission. I've run a few models within the Bridgestone Blizzak line and a set of Michelin Arctic Alpins...it's amazing how much easier winter driving is with a proper set of snow/ice tires. I've taken people out in our cars and they are always stunned how much traction can be had....night and day. I'd rather invest $500-$600 in tires than pay a deductible.
 
Well then you'd probably crap yourself when I say that I got 4 Winterforces mounted/balanced/4 wheel alignment PLUS dismounting of 3 other tires for $400. And now that the winter tires are on steelies and I'll get summer tires for the E0's, I won't need new tires for at least 3 years, and all I have to do is swap the wheels when the time comes. I don't know why so many people in NE don't do this :shrug:
 
Not everybody has the space to store things as large as wheels/tires.

I can't wait till my Subaru's OEM tires are worn down enough to justify some decent all-seasons. 28k on the car now and there is a very stark difference between its performance last year during snowstorms and this year.
 
zorrex said:
Well then you'd probably crap yourself when I say that I got 4 Winterforces mounted/balanced/4 wheel alignment PLUS dismounting of 3 other tires for $400. And now that the winter tires are on steelies and I'll get summer tires for the E0's, I won't need new tires for at least 3 years, and all I have to do is swap the wheels when the time comes. I don't know why so many people in NE don't do this :shrug:
Click to expand...


because people don't think about it? they think it to expensive? but I agree with you. any winter tire is going to be better then an all-season. and ryan is right, might as well spend the money on tires instead of a deductable .... more so since the winter tires will last a number of years and will make your summer tires last longer also ...

it could be about the noise for some. I know the all-seasons/summer tires I have, minus the KDWs, are very quiet but the snow tires hum more. but then again its partly the design.
 
My Michelin Arctic Alpins sounded like a turbo spooling when accelerating on wet pavement.
 
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