beaums

Prepping for the upcoming winter here in New England and trying to decide between the Nokian Hakkapeliitta 8 (studded) vs the R2 (not studded). Have a 535xi wagon w/ a manual and went last winter will no-season tires. I've switched to dedicated summers and need a true winter tire going forward.

Head up skiing most weekends and well as a coastal Maine commute of ~20-miles each way.

Had studded General Altimax Artic on my old E46 and they turned it into a RWD snow monster. Not offered in the right size for the E61. Any experience with the Nokian options?

FormerE30Owner

I would go with the R2s. Studded tires aren't a good idea on dry pavement, which I think would be about 70% of your driving conditions.

I have the Nokian WGr2 tires and they are fine year round. 2005 545i in Montreal conditions.

Salut, Bob P.

beaums

Thanks Bob, part of me leans in the direction of daily usability of the R2. The other part of me is considering the bombproof option where driving to ski in storms transitioning from coastal rain/ice to inland snow is a non-stressor.

Read an interesting tire test by a finish magazine interesting results and the engineer in me can't resist numbers. On ice 8's brakes 41% shorter (50-0kph), same in the snow (80-0kph), 14% shorter dry (80-0), and 3% shorter wet. The studded was worse in gas mileage and clearly the noise but better in nearly all other aspects surprising including the dry braking.

Has anyone driven the 8's who can attest to the noise? We've likely got more sound deadening than the tests Ford Focus.

beaums

Got the Hakka 8's and the have done amazingly well in the coastal ice storms this winter! Amazing the power I can put down with great stability in bad conditions. Noise intrusion is minimal and I credit the car for that; quite noisy when I roll the window down on the way into a parking garage. Braking in icy and packed conditions is phenomenal.

Dry performance is acceptable but certainly no summer tire. A bit more sidewall slop (also a factor of going from 18" summer to 17" snows) and you can feel some tread squirm under heavy braking. Accel is fine w/ the AWD not overtaxing any single tire.

Overall a killer winter choice when looking no compromise winter traction. Very happy.

FormerE30Owner

Shows that the engineer in you was not wrong - all those Nokian tires are good for winter conditions - you just have to specify exactly what conditions you will encounter most often to choose the correct tire for your needs. Tks for the feedback on those tires. Salut, Bob p.