Originally Posted By: stuffinder
Going slightly off-track here but the Hakkapelitta R2 would be better than either Hakka 7 or WS80 for your conditions in Western PA. I've been running Nokian for 25 yrs in the snowbelt of Central NY. I was considering Hakka 7 w/o studs when R2's came out. I talked to a very experienced Nokian dealer & Nokian tech in VT and they both told me the same thing.Unstudded 7's would be superiorto R2 only in deep snow conditions. R@ much better in dry/wet/ice/hardpack. I believe the WS80 would be comparable to R2 until tread wears down at which WS80 loses some of its ice capability. I've found RS2 to be superior handling tire to WS70 haven't used WS80. YMMV
From what I observed with Bridgestone DM-V2 (same technology as WS80) and with skiiers who have WS80, they are bit problematic in curves. They tend to lose grip out of nowhere. You think how this tire is amazing and keeps you planted in the curve, and booooom, car is going sideway or in my case with BMW, rear end wants to overtake front end. I never had winter tire (except Hankook W300) that loses grip in such manner without any progressive loss of grip.
As for Nokian, they are good, but that is about it. They are good in deeps snow, ice. But you do not drive 100% of time in deep snow and ice. You drive on dry, wet etc. and Michelin and Continental are much better choices if one needs overall very good tire.
Plus Nokian is expensive, and performance does not justify price difference.