Tires Kumho or Nokia
I run Hakka r3. My wife runs General Winter Contact and they are about equal, very quiet good studless winter.
Got Nokians last year. They work much better than the cheap chinese ones i had before.
Very, very much a happy camper. Ride is suprisingly supple, I went up in size from 215/65 R16 to 215/70 R16 which I knew would give it a bit of a cushier ride but I didn’t expect it to feel better than the All Seasons, which it does. A little added road noise, slight roar over the All-Seasons but not noticeable unless you look for it. Ride height went from the stock 8.2in to about 9.4in which easily cleared the wheel well with no rubbing.
Most surprisingly though, it feels like it handles better. Comparing it to the high-mile Continentals I had (90k warranty) they’re more confidence inspiring
in turns, not much added lean at all, might be due to other mods on the wagon but
it definitely didn’t make it worse. Tested today at 90F from a winter-rated “AT-lite” tire, I was caught off guard how well it takes the turns. It’s no Michelin Pilot Sport, but it’s better than I thought it’d be. It also took a gravel road I threw at it like nobody’s business. I drove it pretty aggressively through some twisty, dusty gravel and it was planted pretty much the whole time.
The compound in a decent snow tire like a Nokian, Michelin, Blizzak, etc… stays less form in cold weather and will stop better in the winter.
Kumho makes solid tires. I had a set of the PA31 and they did well.
I have used Kumho tires for many years now. Quiet and smooth. Never had a problem.
Winter tires are best in class, their Hakkapeliitta 10 and R3/R5 line is the best in the world right now, their summer tires are very good, up there with the high-end brands maybe not as good as top-end Michelin or Continentals but still very good.
I use Nokian Hakkapelliita R3 winter tires in the winter (in Michigan) and they've worked great.
I previously tried Michelin CrossClimate2 tires, but they didn't provide quite enough snow traction. On packed, compacted snow, I could feel the car just barely sliding if I changed lanes, and I occasionally felt the ABS when braking. With the Nokian winter tires, I never feel either of those phenomena.
Khumu Solus: 60,000 mile tread warranty. About $115/tire. Hard to tell on efficiency because it also got super cold right after I installed them, but they seem fine, and for the price and tread warranty, I will take a minor efficiency hit.
Falken RT660 suck when temps are below 60F as even in the dry the rears won't get enough heat in them to work properly until around runs 5-6. Kumho V730 do better in cool dry weather than the RT660, but they're not a rain tire (at least not here in the Pacific NW).
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