Nokian R2 vs Nordman 4

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supton

supton

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Nokian R2 vs Nordman 4: I'm guessing the $30 extra for R2 means they are better, but are they $30 better? I have not gotten a quote just yet for the Artimax Artics which seem to be a favorite here. This would be on the wife's car, which is gently driven; but will likely get 12kmiles or more of usage this winter, so if the R2 lasts $30 longer...

Wife needs some sort of snow tire, but I don't think they have to be crazy good, just not all season. We do deal more with deep snow than ice up here, but slush is common also.
 
Well the Nordman is a studded tire. Are you allowed to run that where you live?

The R2 also has a newer compound that allows it to bite into ice.
 
No, I would buy minus the studs. At least I thought they came without studs; told the guy I was not after studs.

But I can run studs where I live. People are already running studded tires around me, actually.
 
Oops, thanks for pointing that out, yes it's $30/tire difference.

Working on quotes for the truck too. Those cost much more!
 
The gas savings over the other snow tires will make up for the extra $120 now. I have found my Nokian Hakka R snow tires to be quite fuel-efficient on snow-free pavement. They are decidedly more fuel-efficient than the Altimax Arctics while giving up no snow performance.

Given the amount of driving your wife is likely to do over the life of the snow tires, the fuel savings and better road manners of the Nokians will be money well spent.
 
The nordman 4 is an avg winter tire and competes with midrange tires like blizzaks and altimax arctics. Doesnt compare to higher end x ice II or III or the hakka r or r2. Personally im pricing out R2's. On a canadian site kal tire, they are listed at 152$ each (185-65-15) minus a 70$ mail in rebate..so say 530$ for 4 hakka r2's. Nordman 4's are 118$ each no rebate. So 472$ for the nordman 4's. For 58$ the set...yup R2's get my vote!

The R2 is said to get even better gas mileage than the old R model. I wish i needed tires this year because i would of loved to have a reason to buy a set! Are there any major (online) tire places in the USA that sell Nokians? Tirerack and discount tire direct dont seem to carry Nokians..
 
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Nokian's business model in North America involves exclusive relationships with local dealers, making online sales very difficult. SubLGT mentioned tiresbyweb.com awhile ago as an online source and said he was pretty pleased with their service.

There are indications that Nokian may be inching away from this model, but that's about all I can say on the matter right now. It's been hinted to me that Tire Rack would actually kill or maim to be able to sell Nokian.
 
Originally Posted By: AboutTires
It's been hinted to me that Tire Rack would actually kill or maim to be able to sell Nokian.


This is good to know, since I always thought that it was actually their (and Discount's) fault for not offering them due to them not being a popular, 'household' name brand in this country.
 
Originally Posted By: AboutTires
It's been hinted to me that Tire Rack would actually kill or maim to be able to sell Nokian.
No doubt.

When they were winter only their distribution model made sense. With their summer and all weather offerings, not so much.
 
Originally Posted By: dailydriver
Originally Posted By: AboutTires
It's been hinted to me that Tire Rack would actually kill or maim to be able to sell Nokian.


This is good to know, since I always thought that it was actually their (and Discount's) fault for not offering them due to them not being a popular, 'household' name brand in this country.


It was my understanding also, that Tire Rack made the decision to drop the Nokian brand.. Tire Rack felt that there was nothing that Nokian offered any longer, that could not be met with other products that they offered. That, combined with the very small market share that Nokian was able to capture in the USA, is what led Tire Rack to drop Nokian.
 
Nordman is actually Nokia's low-cost brand. Nordman tires are made with technology and ring molds from Nokia's older brands.

In the case of the Nordman 4, it is about 6-8 year old Nokian technology. Isn't the R2 Nokia's latest and greatest?
 
Originally Posted By: BHopkins
Originally Posted By: dailydriver
Originally Posted By: AboutTires
It's been hinted to me that Tire Rack would actually kill or maim to be able to sell Nokian.


This is good to know, since I always thought that it was actually their (and Discount's) fault for not offering them due to them not being a popular, 'household' name brand in this country.


It was my understanding also, that Tire Rack made the decision to drop the Nokian brand.. Tire Rack felt that there was nothing that Nokian offered any longer, that could not be met with other products that they offered. That, combined with the very small market share that Nokian was able to capture in the USA, is what led Tire Rack to drop Nokian.


Are you positive that TR EVER sold Nokians??
confused2.gif


I have never seen them for sale on their site, nor in their printed ads/catalogs>
21.gif
 
I've been using Nokians 20+ yrs. nr/ the Eastern edge of the lake effect snowbelt in Central NY. Each new version has been noticeable improvement over it's predecessor. I've used Hakka 2's & 5's, WR, WRg2, Rsi R & now the R2. The additional stopping power afforded by the magic crystals embedded through the tread is truly amazing! I'm running 205/55 x 16 on my '95 AUDI S6 Avant. I moved the 205/60 x 16 Hakka R's to my wife's '99 AUDI A6 Avant as we use my car in serious snow. I drove both cars on the same icy roads last week for a comparision. It's truly amazing how much better the R2's grip on ice! I can hardly get the ABS to activate w/R2's! I think the R2 may be slightly more squirmy in dry handling but that is the only possible downside I believe.
 
Originally Posted By: BHopkins
Originally Posted By: dailydriver
Originally Posted By: AboutTires
It's been hinted to me that Tire Rack would actually kill or maim to be able to sell Nokian.


This is good to know, since I always thought that it was actually their (and Discount's) fault for not offering them due to them not being a popular, 'household' name brand in this country.


It was my understanding also, that Tire Rack made the decision to drop the Nokian brand.. Tire Rack felt that there was nothing that Nokian offered any longer, that could not be met with other products that they offered. That, combined with the very small market share that Nokian was able to capture in the USA, is what led Tire Rack to drop Nokian.
When did they ever carry Nokian? Nokian never tolerated mail order discount sales.
 
Originally Posted By: Garandman


When did they ever carry Nokian? Nokian never tolerated mail order discount sales.

[/quote]

Tirerack never carried them, however
DTD carries nokian winter tires

and other sites sell nokians on the web

such as www.tiresbyweb.com
 
Originally Posted By: Rand
however DTD carries nokian winter tires


Has this changed in the last couple of years, because the last I spoke to them about Nokian products, they had VERY few in stock, in VERY limited sizes, and sounded like they were going to drop them soon (this was ~2-3 years ago)??
 
I have R2s under Corolla and I must say that they feel very nice. Winter is not here yet so cannot vouch for how they perform but they won the latest test.

As always these will be horrible when there is water on ice but otherwise OK.

With so called friction winter tyres you need to plan ahead a bit as there are no studs to assist.

Nordman 4 should be OK, too. Don't know how they perform without the studs though as the tyre has been designed to have studs.
 
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