Nokian Hakka R2 winter tires

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That is disconcerting.
Placing itself as super premium in the USA sets expectations high. I would call Nokian and ask them, politely for now, to fix it.

Krzys
 
^ I've started the process. Interestingly, earlier this year I bought a set of Michelin Primacy MXM4 and had no vibration issues after only a standard dynamic balance.
 
That sucks. It seems like you have to buy 5 or 6 to get 4 good ones. On a positive side, I got my car up to about 90 mph today and vibrations are nonexistent. Also, it has been cold and rainy here for a couple of days and I cannot recall feeling more comfortable driving in rain, yes rain than I have on the Nokian hakka R2. I have a rear wheel drive car with a V8 and the tires feel sticky in a good way. But, maybe my imagination is running wild after seeing a video on the tires that show the little suction cup sipes that are supposed to get rid of water that may be sitting on top of ice. Now that the 6 hours spread over 2 day ordeal at the tire shop is over, i am obviously impressed.
 
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SubLGT & Boardy: I recently visited two local Nokian tire dealers, one was a VW/Audi dealership and the other was a garage that specialized in Volvos. What I heard was disconcerting. The dealership had several defective manufacturer build swaps under warranty due to balancing issues on a handful of Touraregs and Q7s that were being outfitted with Hakka R2 SUVs and the owner of the Volvo garage reiterated the same thing for a customer of his who had an XC90 and was interested in the same Nokian winter tire.

I therefore decided I won't be purchasing the Hakka R2 SUV and will instead go with Yokohama's Ice Guard IG51V for my wife's 2013 Highlander Hybrid Limited in 17".
 
I guess you needed to read it when lying in the bed so you do not fall from the chair, loughing (and crying at the same time).

That is very bad news for current Nokian buyers.
Maybe there will be cheaper Nokians in the future.

Krzys
 
Originally Posted By: Boardy
………...Also, it has been cold and rainy here for a couple of days and I cannot recall feeling more comfortable driving in rain, yes rain than I have on the Nokian hakka R2. ……………..


That's good to hear. CR gave them a rating of "good" for hydroplaning resistance, relative to the UHPAS and Summer tires also tested, most of which rated "excellent" or "very good."
 
tiresbyweb.com is shipping me 2 replacement tires in a couple of weeks, after the Nokian shipment arrives in north America (still on the container ship today). I got the impression that I was the first customer to ask for warranty replacements on the R2, so maybe this only affects a small number of tires.
 
Originally Posted By: rslifkin
I still haven't had a chance to get mine mounted yet, so hopefully I don't run into any issues when I do.


Is your set manufactured in Russia or Finland?
 
Hello all,

Where does everyone buy their Nokian Hakka R2s? I'm in Delaware and there's no dealer within 200 miles. I'm trying to figure out if I should go with Nokians or the Michelin XI3.

The website I did find Nokians on for 195 65 15 are a total of $544 (free shipping) but I can get the Michelin's from Tire Rack for $342 with mail in rebate plus an additional $44 for shipping. Ice is more of a factor than snow for me... Thoughts everyone??
 
Originally Posted By: jetdzl06
Hello all,

Where does everyone buy their Nokian Hakka R2s? I'm in Delaware and there's no dealer within 200 miles. I'm trying to figure out if I should go with Nokians or the Michelin XI3.

The website I did find Nokians on for 195 65 15 are a total of $544 (free shipping) but I can get the Michelin's from Tire Rack for $342 with mail in rebate plus an additional $44 for shipping. Ice is more of a factor than snow for me... Thoughts everyone??


Mine came from tires-easy.com. $646 shipped for a set of 4 in 235/70R16.
 
Originally Posted By: jetdzl06
Hello all,

Where does everyone buy their Nokian Hakka R2s? I'm in Delaware and there's no dealer within 200 miles. I'm trying to figure out if I should go with Nokians or the Michelin XI3.

The website I did find Nokians on for 195 65 15 are a total of $544 (free shipping) but I can get the Michelin's from Tire Rack for $342 with mail in rebate plus an additional $44 for shipping. Ice is more of a factor than snow for me... Thoughts everyone??


Nokian Hakka R2 in 195/65R15 for $498 shipped-to-door from TireSavings.com: http://is.gd/rnqEaE

Michelin X-Ice 3 in 195/65R15 for $336 after two rebates, from DTD: http://is.gd/LCvs63 (You need to pay $456 up front, then get $120 in rebates)

Those are the best prices I see online. For the money, I would go with the X-Ice---especially if you drive in the Wilmington area, as opposed to driving north and/or uphill for work or fun.

Tis a shame neither Nokian nor the few places that carry them ever offer rebates. Given that, I doubt I will buy the R-line of winter tires again, purely on $$$ grounds. That's a shame; the best winter tire I ever drove on was the RSi, two generations ago.

Silly money. In any case, you can't go wrong either way. Good luck.
 
Just got myself a set of R2s in 175/65-14 for Corolla today. Manufactured in Russia, which is not exactly my cup of tea. No snow yet but will be interesting to see how they do.

Probably will get another set of non-studded winter tyres for the Lexus as well.
 
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The dealership had several defective manufacturer build swaps under warranty due to balancing issues
Vibration due to balance, or vibration due to out-of-round or road force variations? I suspect the latter, not a balance problem.
 
Do the WRG2 series also have all of these imbalance problems as well??

Are they also made in Ruskieland/Eastern Block countries, or still in the good ol' land of yumps ->(rally term)??
 
Originally Posted By: dailydriver
Do the WRG2 series also have all of these imbalance problems as well??…………


If you do a google search, you can turn up some reports of WRG2 vibration issues, but it won't be a large number from what I saw.
 
Originally Posted By: jetdzl06
………... Ice is more of a factor than snow for me... Thoughts everyone??


The WS70 and R2 are better ice tires than the Xi3, according to most test results I have seen.
 
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