Re: hakka 1's on the a4?

["Daniel Hussey" <dan_hussey@email.msn.com>]

Rocky,

Glad to hear you are still around.  I didn't see an email address though and
saw "on behalf of" so not sure what's up there or I would have replied
privately.

Anyways, I think you will be happy with the Hakka 1's.  They have the
eco-studs, but I don't think they are real studs per se.  The great part
about the Hakkas are thier compound and the fact that they have really deep
sipping!  It is a bit squirmy in the dry from what I hear, but it is
comfortable and supprisingly quiet....more so than the Blizzaks on the other
car.  And, you were questioning longevity and not wearing them out on dry
pavement..... well that is the biggest reason to go with the Hakkas, and why
I went with them.  The sipping goes all the way down the full length of the
tread (unlike Blizzaks and others).  So, a Blizzak will handle great for the
first so many miles, but after a while the tread wears down (quickly?) and
you are left without much sipping and then a tire that hanldles not only
sloppily in the dry, but on snow and ice too.

The Hakkas will wear, but handle much better as they wear down and they last
a lot longer.  I've heard of listers getting 4 good seasons out of these
tires.  That is a LOT.

BTW, Nokian has a new tire called the Hakka Q that is a lot like the Hakka
1, but desighned to be more of an ice tire.  This is what I got.  Don't have
them mounted yet, so can't say much about them, but supposedly have the same
characteristics as the Hakka 1, just much better on ice.  But, unlike a lot
of ice tires, handle well in snow too.  But, I think the Hakka 1 is probably
the best for snow, and I think that may be the way to go in Tahoe (lots of
fresh powder).  Here is Wisconsin, it is ice I am more worried about so I
went with the Q's.

But, with any snow tire you are going to sacrifice dry weather performance,
but I don't think you will do it to a degree you will be unable to live
with.  Something like a Pirelli Winter Ice Assymetric is going to give you
better dry handling, fair ice handling, but supposedly not great in snow.
Arctic Alpin is very similar but not as good as Pirelli in other two
categories.  Either way, it is a compromise of sorts, but as a seasonal
tire, I decided I wanted a good SNOW & ICE tire, and that's what I got!

If you want the number of the guy I got my tires from, let me know.  He's
one of the largest importers of those tires in the country and can ship them
anywhere.  He's here in Wisconsin so I saved money by picking them up
myself.

Later,
Dan