Nokian NRW-H impressions

[Larry C Leung]

Taka, I don't know how many miles you have on the snows yet, but if they
are comparatively fresh, there may be an issue of moulding compound on
the treads. My Kumhos were quite squirrely in the wet until I had about
2-300 dry miles on them, then they were quite exceptional. Perhaps you
have the same situation.

LL - NY

On Sat, 19 Jan 2002 19:10:35 -0500 "TM" <t44tq at mindspring.com> writes:
>Having just driven for about 3 hrs. in our first decent
>snowfall of the season, I have to say that I'm a bit unhappy
>about my snow tires.
>
>It is quite possible that my snows are just too low-profile
>and too wide, but the NRWs are awfully squirrelly and loose
>in the soft, slushy stuff as well as corn snow-like marbles.
>They hooked up very nicely on hardpack and fresh snow, though.
>
>I don't think my 200 is heavy enough to put sufficient weight
>down on 225/45R17 snows or the NRWs are not as good as the Dunlop
>M2s. Our A4 on 205/55R16 M2s is awesome (but that's not a fair
>comparison, as it is apples-to-oranges).
>
>Anyone try weighting down their quattro with some sandbags?
>Maybe an extra 100-200 lbs. in the trunk will make it less
>loose.
>
>That said, I think if one is accustomed to driving hard in
>the snow, the NRWs will provide sufficient grip to drive around
>rally-style in the snow. However, for everyday driving, they
>are a little disconcerting when they start drifting in a rather
>gentle turn- easily recoverable at prudent speeds, but not
>what I was expecting. I know my mechanic would love it.
>
>My 5ktq with 195/65R15 Firestone Winterfires was far superior
>in the snow, although it understeered like crazy.
>
>If you have NRWs, I'd like your impressions- maybe my tire choice
>was just too wide. I know it wasn't ideal, but I had little choice-
>I didn't have a spare set of 16s (Dad is using them on the A4)
>and the crappy OEM Potenzas on the S4 Avus wheels had to go anyway,
>so thus the choice of 17" snows.
>
>Taka
>