Tires Nokia or GENERAL TIRE
I like the Federal 595s for track days, and I run general gmax as05 the rest of the time. Surprisingly grippy tire for an all season and pretty cheap!
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.
I run General Altimax arctics which are kind of budget but I have never gotten stuck.
I went with General Altimax RT-43's (H speed versions). Are they as good as the Michelins they replaced feeling wise? No. But they were affordable, have been lasting quite nicely in terms of tread life, and have been working out just fine for my uses.
My F150 came with General Grabber HTS60’s. Highway-biased all season tire, but it’s not afraid to go through a little snow - so rain should be fine. Nice, quiet highway ride.
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.
Hate to be a neighsayer, but I've haven't been really impressed with the Nokian Hakkas. For all the praise they get on the forums, I was pretty disappointed with how they performed. I live in Central NY so we get tons of snow, so I got to test them out in a variety of conditions and they never really seemed to have traction. I had a set of 195 wide studless tires on my Golf. Upgraded to a GTI and the previous owner threw in a set of 225 studded Hakkas with the car. So I've tried these studded and studless, and have tried narrow and wide tires. I'm looking to try some Blizzaks this year if I can get my hands on them. A family member had them on their FWD Audi and the traction on them seemed really impressive; we were driving on a road that was completely covered in snow and he was swerving left and right and the car rode like it was on rails.
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