[s-cars] Winter wheels and tires

[Varon H. Fugman]

For winter tires, Nokians are awfully good.  For the absolute best snow &
ice performance in a studless winter tire, the Nokian Hakkapelitta Q is hard
to beat.  However, if you do a lot of sustained speed highway driving on dry
pavement during the winter, the Hakkapelitta 1 might be a better choice.

I run 215/55R16 Hakka Q's on my OEM Avus 6-spoke wheels.  This is my 3rd
winter with them and I am very satisfied.  They have also held up better
than I expected for having such a soft rubber compound.  I believe they are
now also available in the 225/50R16 OEM size, although I didn't mind going
just a tad narrower and taller for a winter tire.

In addition to fun-in-the-snow winter street driving, I run timed ice trials
whenever I get the chance!  Here's a picture from January last year:
http://www.w-a-g.org/events/ice/2002/2002-01-20/batch1/photos/MVC-111S.JPG

You won't find Nokias at big tires store or TireRack, but many little shops
handle them.  For more info, try the Nokian web site:
http://www.nokiantyres.com/

Varon
'95 urS6 on Nokian Hakka Q's