Nokian Hakkapeliitta RSi snow tires -- worth it?

[sciphi]

Blizzaks can be nice tires, and they can be horrible. It's about the model you get, and the car they are on.

With snow tires, it's matching the car, the tire, and the conditions expected. Somebody commuting on a well-plowed freeway in a powerful car needs a different snow tire than somebody commuting over poorly-plowed back roads in a small car.

Picking the right tire is more important in winter because conditions vary so much. That high-speed cruising snow tire won't fare as well hacking through 4" of wet, dense snow as a snow tire designed for that. Likewise, the snow tire that'll make 6" of fresh snow into a road won't do well blasting down a clear, cold interstate at 75 mph.

With that said, just about any snow tire will kick an all-season's you know what very hard in the winter.

 

[Smokescreen]

On the other hand I have yet to see a poorly designed dedicated Nokian snow tire (WRs excluded)

 

[Craig in Canada]

I bought RSis for my BMW E39 last year. Uncharacteristically, we had almost no snow last year (I'm sure it's because I bought new snow tires).

RSis have a lot of tread squirm and flex. For instance on a slightly flubbed upshift what would normally be light driveline shock is completely absorbed by the tread of the tires being released as noise (rrr.rr.rr.rrr.rrr) instead of any kind of shudder in acceleration. Any kind of control input (steering, brakes, accelerator) on dry pavement results in that velcro rrrrrr noise.

If winter is moderate in your area, this will be your life. I found that as temperatures got down around -10C and colder they tightened up significantly and actually became a little sporty and I could "drive" again.

Despite the mush and noise they barely wore at all which is good news. Also the tire carcass seems pretty stiff with a high XL load rating for its size. When I used to run Q rated snows in the past you could feel the ballooning at anything over 115-120kph. This was why I first went to H-rated snows. After a couple of years of unacceptable snow/ice performance from my Dunlop M3s I decided to go "full snows" with the Hakka RSis because my wife and kids are usually the ones using the car on a daily basis. The Hakka RSis exhibited no "ballooning" at speed which pleased me.

One thing RSis are exceptional at is fuel economy. My dead of winter fuel economy (winter gas, dense air, full snows) rivals my summer fuel economy (summer gas, summer tires) for the first time ever. This was a dramatic improvement from any snow tire I've ever run before. Low rolling resistance is touted as a feature of the R and RSi.

If I had an S4, I'd be looking at the WRG2 if your winters aren't severe. The Hakka Rs are said to "hook up" and have better braking etc... than the RSis, but I don't know just how much better.

 

[sko]

I have just put 4 seasons on Nokian Hakkapeliitta 2s, and knowing that I was going to get new winters this season and had PLENTY tread on the Hakkas, I drove with the Hakkas on all summer. NO problems whatsoever (outside of a bit mushy walls - typically I use low-profile in the summer).

I have used winter tires since I was 16. I started driving in Europe and also drove rallye. Of all the winters that I have owned, Nokians are by far the best. I've done the up-market Pirelli route and the middle-of-the-road Blizzak route, but Nokians are the way to go for me.

My current ride (the one that has had the Hakkapeliittas on for 4 seasons) is an Audi A4. I spend EVERY weekend in ski country as a ski coach, so I'm frequently on unplowed roads getting to races.

I went to my tire guy 2 weeks ago to arrange for new winters and being that the Hakka 2s have served me well, he is putting me on Hakka RSis.

Being that you're in an S4, I would suggest that you go NEW with the RSis. You'll get better wear out of them (who knows how the owner of the used RSis treated his) and you'll get usage of the ice-gripping compound that is in the outer-most layers of the tire.

Hakkas over Blizzaks any day!

 

[Craig in Canada]

Originally Posted By: sko
I have just put 4 seasons on Nokian Hakkapeliitta 2s, and knowing that I was going to get new winters this season and had PLENTY tread on the Hakkas, I drove with the Hakkas on all summer. NO problems whatsoever (outside of a bit mushy walls - typically I use low-profile in the summer).


Honestly, you couldn't pay me money to keep snows on all summer. No matter how 'sporty' they are marketed I can hardly wait to get my summer rubber on.

Quote:

I went to my tire guy 2 weeks ago to arrange for new winters and being that the Hakka 2s have served me well, he is putting me on Hakka RSis.


You should question your tire guy a little harder. RSis were already new-old-stock LAST fall having been replaced by the Rs for the 2009/2010 winter season. As it was, the ones I got from the Nokian warehouse were something like 3 years old already (for which I negotiated an additional non-trivial discount from the retailer because Hakka did not send any Rs to Eastern Canada in my size last year).

The Rs are supposed to be better in every way, and you'll be assured that you won't be getting anything more than one year old.

 

[UG_Passat]

I have to wonder with the Pump Sipe, at what tread depth would the pump sipe will no longer act as intended???

 

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted By: Craig in Canada

Honestly, you couldn't pay me money to keep snows on all summer. No matter how 'sporty' they are marketed I can hardly wait to get my summer rubber on.


AGREED!!

I tried to 'burn up/use up' my PA2s last spring/early summer, since I did not feel they had enough tread left to make it through this coming supposedly "bad" projected winter.

I made it to early May before I could stand it no longer!

 

[chefwong]

The Hak's are money well worth spent. FWIW, we are 2 generations behind on Nokian's tire tech. The Hak 7, which is over abroad is leaps and bounds over their Hak. 5 tire series, which ain't too shappy itself..

 

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted By: chefwong
The Hak's are money well worth spent. FWIW, we are 2 generations behind on Nokian's tire tech. The Hak 7, which is over abroad is leaps and bounds over their Hak. 5 tire series, which ain't too shappy itself..


Any idea of when the Hakka 7s will be available stateside??

 

[UG_Passat]

Originally Posted By: dailydriver
Originally Posted By: chefwong
The Hak's are money well worth spent. FWIW, we are 2 generations behind on Nokian's tire tech. The Hak 7, which is over abroad is leaps and bounds over their Hak. 5 tire series, which ain't too shappy itself..


Any idea of when the Hakka 7s will be available stateside??


the US is usually behind the curve on studded tires from nokian. Technically there wasn't a Hakka 6, just went from 5 (which we have) to 7. They do keep us up to date on friction tires

 

[pacem]

I want to get a 28" tire for 17" rims and in 255 width, turns out that there are very few choices in that 255/55/17 configuration but Hak are one of them.

Reading reviews, it's supposedly one of the best winter tires you can get.

 

[Ursae_Majoris]

Originally Posted By: UG_Passat


Comparing Blizzak Lm-series or H/V rated snow tires to Nokian Hakkapeliitta lineup is comparing apples to oranges. imo the only appropiate Nokian competitor is the WR G2.

Except Nokian WR are all-season tires, and Blizzaks are dedicated winter tires. So your comparison is not valid. Hakkas are dedicated winter tires, just like Blizzaks, so it is apples to apples.

I know, I have been running Nokian WR on my Isuzu year-round for the past 5 years (40K miles) and I absolutely love them.

 

[Ursae_Majoris]

Originally Posted By: pacem
I want to get a 28" tire for 17" rims and in 255 width, turns out that there are very few choices in that 255/55/17 configuration but Hak are one of them.

Reading reviews, it's supposedly one of the best winter tires you can get.




They are. Looking at the cars at my job's parking lot and on the streets, half of the trucks/SUVs in Alaska have Hakkas.

 

[Bror Jace]

"The Hakka 7, which is available abroad, is leaps and bounds over their Hakka 5 tire series ... which ain't too shappy itself."

Heck, I had Hakka NR-10s on my 1995 Civic and LOVED them. I drove the thing like it was a snow mobile ... never got stuck and despite my overly enthusiastic technique, never got too out of shape in a handful of upstate NY winters.

 

[UG_Passat]

Originally Posted By: Ursae_Majoris
Originally Posted By: UG_Passat


Comparing Blizzak Lm-series or H/V rated snow tires to Nokian Hakkapeliitta lineup is comparing apples to oranges. imo the only appropiate Nokian competitor is the WR G2.

Except Nokian WR are all-season tires, and Blizzaks are dedicated winter tires. So your comparison is not valid. Hakkas are dedicated winter tires, just like Blizzaks, so it is apples to apples.

I know, I have been running Nokian WR on my Isuzu year-round for the past 5 years (40K miles) and I absolutely love them.



Blizzaks come in 2 primary families: WS & LM.


The Blizzak WS competes more with Nokian Hakka

the Blizzak LM, which is a performance snow, which trades deep snow/ice traction for more tread stability under drier conditions, the closest competitor is the from Nokian is the WR-G2.