lkoszela

hey Y'all !
I need to find myself some winter tires. I have been looking around the forum for lil while now and cannot find anyone running Nokian Tyres.

Can someone point me to anyone who would have them in North Jersey

Thanks
Luke

PS, Checked their website, it pointed me to STS Tire shop, but no matches for 2008 RL

Carbon Legend

Winterforce and blizzacks should be the only tire you should run in the winter. 2 of the best proven winter tires.

lkoszela

Ill take a look at them , thanks !
still leaning toward
Nokian Hakkapeliitta R

M T L T L

+1 on Hakkas
I ran toyo observe garit last winter. They were really good for Montreal so u should have no worries for jersey weather.

Edit: Or maybe it was the fact that I upgraded from 2G TL to SHAWD

oo7spy

You aren't from North Jersey; are you?

BDoggPrelude

The Michelin X-Ice Xi2 outperformed the Blizzak WS-70 and Michelin Pilot Alpin PA3 outperformed the Blizzak LM-60 in every comparison test I've ever seen. Michelin's winter tires are also the only winter tires in the business that come with a mileage warranty as far as I know. They've just released the Xi3 and PA4 this year that should perform equally or better.

The Firestone Winterforce is a dinosaur. If you want a studded tire the Hankook W409 Winter i-Pike and/or General Altimax Arctic are far superior to the Winterforce. The Nokian Hakkapeliitta 7 is probably the best studdable winter tire in the world but costs a significant amount more than the Hankook or General.


OP: Nokian makes a fantastic winter tire but Michelin and Bridgestone both make winter tires that are just as good for less money.

Here are the latest rankings from Consumer Reports. I always say take everything CR has to say with a grain of salt. I've found plenty of their recommendations and test results to be pretty questionable. I'm posting these because you can see a variety of winter tires side by side. When looking for winter tires for your RL you'll probably have a lot better luck going with a 225 or 235/55R17 since there isn't really anything made in the stock 245/50R17 size.

Standard winter tires:


Performance winter tires:

damaged442

+1 for Hankook iPike. I'm ran them all last winter on the TSX. Best bang for the buck that I have seen.

terdonal

I was going to go with Continental Extreme Winter Contact for my ILX but my buying decision has changed. The tire dealer I go to has a bulk buy on Hankook W409 Winter ipike tires and I can get them installed for $269.00 less than the Continentals. Gotta go with that deal for me as the user reviews seem quite positive and the tread design is quite similar to the Nokia Hakkepelita 5.

lkoszela

Jersey for sure, 973 area code

Jefftech

Hello MTL, I'm in Canada too right next door. Did you get the Toyos with winter rims? Can I downsize to 16" with a higher aspect tire for Winter on the RL?

M T L T L

No I have them on the stock 17" rims. General feeling is that 16s wont clear the brake calipers, never tried it personally. U better stay in 17 n go for 225/55 width/ratio for more tire choice n the narrower tires cut more easily into the snow.

NJ06RL

Just a note on the Hankook Winter icept w310s that seem to be quite well rated in the consumer reviews above. I ran these on OEM rims last winter. 225/55/17. Had lots of trouble balancing them - needed road force balance before the vibrations would stop. But they did a great job in a snow storm up in VT when we did a ski trip. They go back on the RL in a month.