Nokian Hakkapeliitta R3 SUV Input on Dry/Wet

[djn876]

So I read a lot of reviews and things and in the snow/ice there doesn't seem to be anything more highly rated. My question is who here is running the R3 (or even input on the R2) in the wet or dry since in PA we see a fair amount of snow every year, but more likely cold and wet, so wanted opinions from those that have run them. I ran a set of Hankooks for two years that were great the first year, good the second, but by the end of that year they are getting worn out. They did well in dry and wet though the whole time so looking for input. Thanks for any help.

[Salty Mope]

I can't give you any feedback yet since my set of R2's are still waiting for me to find winter wheels to be mounted on... but I would recommend seeing if you can find any R2's before you pay for R3's. After talking to a rep from Nokian I wasn't convinced that the small iterative changes in siping were enough to justify the price difference between last year's R2 and this year's R3. I paid about $550 for the R2's in 275/40/20 and the same size R3 would have been about $1200

[mkasperzak]

I've had R2's now going into my third full winter. I'm in Denver so have plenty of experience driving the R2's in all conditions, it was 75 and sunny on Saturday and it snowed yesterday and got down into the teens. I'm a huge fan, they hook up so well in snow its insane.... even with all the torque with the DP setup they grip up and go. As with any true snow/winter tire, there is some added road noise but its not terrible if your PSI's are in the sweet spot. At the beginning of one season I threw them on without airing up and it was extremely noticeable. When PSI is on point its only noticeable coming to a stop, nothing crazy. Normal cruising speed they are quiet. They obviously feel soft compared to any ultra performance summer (i run the PS4S) but not soft enough to change the way you drive. I ran into a new RS3 (dealer plates) yesterday who was on summers, roads were dry, and I kept up just fine. we did some straight pulls and then drove spiritedly on a windy highway at 80-100mph. I had full confidence in traction.

I'd highly recommend. any downside I could think of is inherent of a snow/winter wheel and the R2 is one of the best ones out there. If you really hardly ever see snow, you might consider something a little less "hardcore" if you will. The DWS06 is an ultra-high performance AS that gets good snow reviews. I've driven a set of DWS06 295/35/21 in snow and while they didn't bring anywhere near the level of traction they did just fine, better than most cars on the road. And they are killer in cold/wet. They R2's really at home on snow and ice, but they hold their own in all conditions. I've had mine for 3 winters (apprx 14k miles total and the original owner had them on for 2k or so) and the tread looks amazing, should be good for several more seasons. And they do see warm pavement sporadically throughout the winter thanks to that mile high sunshine.

[djn876]

Thanks that is all great input, Im going to give them a try I think. we see enough snow that I was glad to have the winter set, as I need to be able to get to work in any conditions so an all season really won't provide me what I need (and want confidence I'll make it there).

I'm sticking with the stock size at 255/45 R20. There aren't a whole lot of options at that size and these are actually on the less expensive end compared to Michelin and pirelli. The hankooks I was running are the cheapest I was able to find. They were nice, but after two seasons have noticably dropped off which is to be expected, and figured I might try a different option.

Still like to hear feedback from others. Sounds like not a ton of experience on the R3 yet, so I'll try and share after I get some run time out of them.

[mkasperzak]

Thanks that is all great input, Im going to give them a try I think. we see enough snow that I was glad to have the winter set, as I need to be able to get to work in any conditions so an all season really won't provide me what I need (and want confidence I'll make it there).

I'm sticking with the stock size at 255/45 R20. There aren't a whole lot of options at that size and these are actually on the less expensive end compared to Michelin and pirelli. The hankooks I was running are the cheapest I was able to find. They were nice, but after two seasons have noticably dropped off which is to be expected, and figured I might try a different option.

Still like to hear feedback from others. Sounds like not a ton of experience on the R3 yet, so I'll try and share after I get some run time out of them.

Ya let us know, I'm sure they are just a slightly improved version. And I agree, so nice having dedicated winters and summers vs meeting in the middle year around. I have two other close buddies who run Hakka's out here, a b7 RS4 and a K04'd AR and they would fully recommend as well.

[Der Konig]

I run R2's on my Q up here in NE ohio and they are really a superior tire. I have x-ice on my a4 and while they are good tires, the R2's blow them out of the water (snow?). They dont feel all that squishy in the dry even though its a larger sidewall than my x-ices. In the rain they evacuate water just fine and have a bit of road noise when dry, but nothing that I would say is intrusive. I think this is our 3rd winter? on them and they have very little wear on them.

[BuffaloJames]

I was running R2’s in 19” the last 2 winters and they were great especially in snow.

This year I upgraded to a 20” wheel and decided to try Hakkapeliitta 9 suv (weren’t that much more in cost). They have a much more aggressive tread design and so far in the snow they’ve been insane.IMG_0937.JPGIMG_0875.jpg


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[Habs]

I had a set of Nokian R's on my 07 A4, they lasted 7 seasons (Quebec winter seasons, beginning of Nov. to late April). In fact, even after 7 years the tread was still decent but the rubber had started to crack on the inner sidewall of 2 of the tires so I had to get a new set. The first set of winters I put on my A4 were Blizzak WS50's and I burned right through them in 2 seasons. From my experience, the Nokian R's performed great in the snow, decent on dry pavement and last a really long time.

I just recently pick up a pre-owned 2016 SQ5 and purchased set of 245/55/19 Nokian R3 SUVs to go on my 19x8.5 ET38 Hartmann HRS6's which were the summer wheels on my A4, and when they tried to install them they did not fit on my SQ5. They were too tall and hit the control arms which sit right above the tires. The shop ordered a set of 235/55/19 instead and will swap them this week.

Once I get them on and have a chance to drive them in snowy/icy/dry conditions I'll post my impressions.

[djn876]

I know it's been several months but wanted to give an update here. Just took the R3 SUVs off this week, unfortunately we got pretty much zero snow this winter where I am at in PA so never got much of a chance to test what they were really meant for.

After spending a few months on them, I probably would not purchase these again. I tried really hard to like these tires, but I think for my driving conditions, I don't really meet the intended audience. I need to be able to get to work in anything, but I would probably be better suited to a performance winter tire vs. a Nordic winter tire like the Nokian.

I'm certainly not saying they are a bad tire, it is just obvious that we don't, with enough consistency, experience the conditions these were meant for. Example is when temps were around 20 or below, these felt great, too much above freezing and they felt super soft and handled poorly. Wet traction was OK, but probably not even where my all seasons were, even in colder temps.

If I were in a climate that saw consistent snow and had temps that stayed below freezing, these would be right at home. They just weren't for me as the handling varied way too much with temperature and our winter ended up being much warmer than normal. I'll have them for a couple more years until they wear down, so maybe in different conditions they will change my mind a little, but I am happy to have them off for now.

[Tinpusher]

I had Pirelli Scorpion winters on for their fourth winter and got a puncture in one in an unrepairable spot and, since they were almost done, ended up replacing all four. These were a good performance tire and over their life they were really good in the dry and wet but their snow performance was lacking.
We'd had less snowy winters over the last few years and so thought they were decent.

I went with the R3 SUV tires this time and they are far superior in the snow. They're very soft and do feel a bit squirrely in the dry. This week we've had 15cm of snow almost every day (damn you lake effect!) and I found them to be far superior to the Pirellis in those conditions.

If you're in an area that doesn't experience a lot of snow, I would agree that a more performance oriented tire would be better, but if you get snow like we do, I would sacrifice some dry pavement solidity for snow performance.

[gk1]

This is my second winter on the R3 SUV on a 2014 SQ5. I'd have to agree with everything said here. They are great in the snow, but very soft and squishy in the dry. Not really a surprise since, after all, it is a nordic tire and I am running the OE winter setup 235/55/19 which would already be softer even if it were a max summer tire. I feel like they have gotten better in the dry as they have worn down since they comes with 12/32" new. Can't say I'm really surprised at that. I have about 6000 miles on them now and at 9/32" so I don't expect them to last much more than 16k miles before they are at the 4/32" winter limit, unless they become incredibly more hard wearing as they wear down. For myself that is still about 5 seasons, but it is something to consider. I got 6 seasons out of the OE Conti performance winter tire, but was driving more then and that was about 25k miles, probably could have pushed it to 30k, but the Conti winter rubber compound does not go through the full tread depth, so they were basically already an all-season tire.
As djn876 pointed out I'd probably also be better served by a performance winter tire, but I am glad I at least tried them out. We'll see what is available 3 years from now if nothing new, might try Scorpion winters depending how well the Scorpion A/S+ I recently mounted to the 21's perform.

[choppstixxx]

I will note that running any winter tire in warmer temps 40*+ for extended periods of time will greatly shorten the lifespan of them. By nature they are a softer compound that is meant to be that way to handle ice/snow better. If you don't have to deal with a crazy amount of snow, I would strongly recommend a snow rated all-season instead i.e. DWS06/AS3+/Scorpion Verde A/S+