Tires OEM BMW or Nokia

Just a quick follow-up on my 4Motion GSW with the Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2s. This is an amazing winter car. I've been driving on bad winter roads for 30 years, and this is the best winter car that I've owned, including my 2005 Subaru Outback. Winter is in full force in Calgary and it feels like I'm driving on dry pavement. So much grip.

I've been using Nokians for 20 years and have never been disappointed.

Nokian WR G3. It is a all-weather tire (all-season with the mountain-snowflake for severe winter conditions). They are available in 225/45r18 It's not going to have the dry road grip of the DWS06 or A/S3+, but will easily outperform them in the winter, that we are suppose to have.

So, this year, I banked big and bought the test-winning studded tires from Nokian (Hakapeliita 8). And let me tell you, I don't think I'm going back to studless tires ever, unless studded tires suddenly become illegal here.

- The grip and handling-ability on ice is unmatched. Everyone who sais that studless tires have come such a long way that there almost isn't a difference anymore has never tried a studded tire and should shut up. Especially the difference in brake-ability on ice is huge. Studded tires outperform studless in any icy-condition, that is for sure and any other claim is wrong. these tires really have given me confidence that no other studless tire has before.

Nokian's I've just put on the Hakk R2s for this winter. I was running WRG2s which I was thoroughly impressed with.

Car and Driver tested several studless snows and Nokian killed the competition

I have a set of 16" rims on order that will be getting Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2 winter tires (205/55R16). They'll be getting installed at the end of October, after the car arrives.

I replaced them with Nokian Z-lines and I am loving it (cheaper too!)

I'm currently running Nokian eTyer02's A/S <700/AA Rating> on the stock 17''s. With regard to our marvelous New England weather (CT) in the winter- It's either going to be (Bridgestone)Blizzacks, (Nokian) Hakkapeliittas, or (Gislaved) NordFrosts. All on my stock wheels. I used to be a huge Goodyear and Continental Fan. Things changed. Getting older with two in college I sharpen my pencils often to get the absolute best while keeping as much $ in my pocket.

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.