Just bought Nokian Hakka R2's!!

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Just ordered some hakka R 2's from dtd.com for 91$ a piece in size 195 65 15. 364$ for 4 shipped. Think I got a great price. Anyone been running these and have any advice? Psi for best winter traction/life of tires etc?
 
My Hakka R's (not R2's) have worn well and worked well at 33-35 PSI. I ran them higher, but snow traction suffered. The centers were also wearing faster than the edges. Dropping them down for the past few winters has equalized the wear, and snow traction improved.
 
I had the studded Hakkapeliittas on a 2005 Corolla. I ran them at the PSI on the door jamb, and found that to be the best.

Nokians are an under appreciated winter tire. Enjoy.
 
My brother-in-law is working in the Northwest Territories in Canada and swears by his R2's. He claims to have tried every snow tire on the market and these are the best. I emailed him tonight and he said he runs them at 32 psi on his Subaru Forester. On really hot days when it gets up to freezing he bumps them up to 35 psi but only on long trips. He checks the tire temps with an IR gun and says running lower pressures does not help traction on snow and the tire temps just begin to start going up. He said it not the absolute temp that bothers him but the trend toward raising temperature that concerns him. He tells me it's details that can up there, make life a lot safer.
 
Good price, indeed. Mine were close to $900 OTD, alas, different size.

Haven't had a chance to play around in them too much yet, but so far so good. They are somewhat noisier than a/s tires, but it's to be expected. I run the OEM pressure in them, which is 32 PSI.
 
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
My brother-in-law is working in the Northwest Territories in Canada and swears by his R2's. He claims to have tried every snow tire on the market and these are the best. I emailed him tonight and he said he runs them at 32 psi on his Subaru Forester. On really hot days when it gets up to freezing he bumps them up to 35 psi but only on long trips. He checks the tire temps with an IR gun and says running lower pressures does not help traction on snow and the tire temps just begin to start going up. He said it not the absolute temp that bothers him but the trend toward raising temperature that concerns him. He tells me it's details that can up there, make life a lot safer.


I'm curious what those tire temps are.

You'll never see a Temperature A Winter tire (unless someone comes up with some new technology), because Winter tires are made to hoard heat, not shed it. Heat helps Winter tires with traction, just like track racers warm up their tires for a few laps before going full speed.

Fortunately there's a self-leveling mechanism in Winter-time. As the outside temps go down, so does your tire pressure. Running at real cold temps brings tire temperature up which brings air pressure up. Once you make the initial Summer to Winter tire pressure adjustment, you really don't need to tweak them for every 20 or 30 degree F temp swing. He's got this all figured out and is fine-tuning that whole dynamic, to which I give him the BITOG OCD nod of approval!

Your BIL is also dead right on the details. The more extreme the weather, the more often we should check the basics: fluid levels, tread wear, tire pressure, battery condition. In rural areas without cell coverage, it can mean life or death. Even in developed areas, it can save you a whole lot of hassle!
 
Discount Tire Direct website still showing R2's 195/65 15 at $91. If you check ant the website shows taht price I think you could probably hold them to it!
 
Tires still appear to be 91$ each in 195 65 15... no stock anywhere remaining.. but I am sure you can still order them..
 
Originally Posted By: Rolla07
Tires still appear to be 91$ each in 195 65 15... no stock anywhere remaining.. but I am sure you can still order them..

Are they made in N. America? If not, how did they not nail you for duty? Or are you picking them up in the US?
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
They're made in Russia, but the duty would have already been paid by DTD when they imported them into the US, no?

That would make sense, but every time I've priced tires online from the US, they add a duty charge unless they are made in N.A. I think its a tax grab more than anything... If I go to the website and put in my postal code I get $40/tire added to the price. Hopefully the OP won't get a unpleasant surprise when they arrive.
Last year I called up Tire Rack and got them to search for winter tires in my size made in N.A. to avoid duty, but they still were a lot more than PMC tire out of Quebec, so I went with them.
 
Originally Posted By: IndyIan
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
They're made in Russia, but the duty would have already been paid by DTD when they imported them into the US, no?

That would make sense, but every time I've priced tires online from the US, they add a duty charge unless they are made in N.A. I think its a tax grab more than anything... If I go to the website and put in my postal code I get $40/tire added to the price. Hopefully the OP won't get a unpleasant surprise when they arrive.
Last year I called up Tire Rack and got them to search for winter tires in my size made in N.A. to avoid duty, but they still were a lot more than PMC tire out of Quebec, so I went with them.


I am having them shipped to a US location for pickup there. If made outside NA you would pay duty and taxes on them. If I had DTD ship them to Montreal, they added 160$ to the whole order.. making them 524$ to my door. That works out to about 593$ Canadian.. which to be honest is still an excellent deal as it would cost me 70$ to install, balance and mount at a Toyota dealership, making the total to be 665$ approx. The quote I got on this exact set here including balance and install was 790$, so still cheaper than buying them locally. I am only a 1hr drive from the border and will spend 2 nights there (travel agent hotel deals!!) and will also pick up some booze, gas and pick up a suit, pants and some other clothes I ordered for cheap from destinationxl.com. Got a suit for 70$!! and im 6ft 6.. so this trip will cost me literally 150$ including gas and hotels.. so im definitely making it worth my while.. my allowance is 800$ in purchases after 48 hrs in the USA.
 
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