Fitted Nokian rear tyres to my 996...bargain?

[DickusMaximus]

Having managed only 8,000 miles from the last set of Conti's on my 996 C2, I booked Event Tyres (excellent as always - just a superb outfit) to fit a couple of Nokians. The price was just £110 each including fitting - less than half the price of the usual contenders...

Does anyone have experiecne of these Finnish 'cheapies' on fast motors?

...and yes, I know they're not N-rated and I really don't care. There's no warranty and it doesn't affect insurance so please let's not go there

[Panthro]

They make good mountain bike tyres, but their car tyres are not really up to scratch compared to other brands. I guess thats obvious with the price you pay.

[993kimbo]

Yes, I've had Nokians on my BMW. Excellent tyres, very hard-wearing.

[Pope]

DickusMaximus said:

I know they're not N-rated and I really don't care. There's no warranty and it doesn't affect insurance so please let's not go there

Answered your own question there - our opinions wont matter............

[noneedtolift]

Lend an employee my car the other weekend and got an Audi RS3 in return - fitted with Nokians at the rear only (apparently he couldn't get anyone to supply a matching set of winter tyres due to odd sizes on the RS3). Nearly killed me

As one might suspect, the more renowded brands are in a different leage grip wise. Can't comment beyond that as its not my car and only drove it for 200mls ore so.

[DickusMaximus]

Pope said:

DickusMaximus said:

I know they're not N-rated and I really don't care. There's no warranty and it doesn't affect insurance so please let's not go there

Answered your own question there - our opinions wont matter............

Not really - I'm interested only in opinions of the quality of the tyres and not the N-rating or lack thereof

[Maersk]

Their winter tyres are impressive.

[Raitzi]

Panthro said:

They make good mountain bike tyres

Actually that is different company nowadays.

Nokian does good in summer tires tests for normal cars and excellent in winter testes. High speed tires are not compared very often in our local magazines so I can not remember. But I believe they are at least good as koreans like hankook.

I can try and look for a review and post findings here if I get some info.
edit:

Nokian "Hakka Blue" took divided 1st place in speed rating of 240 km/h class in last test for summer tires in our local magazine.(ironically hankook got same points )

I bet your tires are "Hakka Z" which are rated for 270(W) or 300 km/h (y). No test data on those however.

Edit 2: Ok I found one test where Hakka Z got 9.1 points but only comparable size tire was goodridge which only got 7.1 points. Hakka Z was compared also to H-class tires and was better than any of those.

Edited by Raitzi on Monday 23 April 10:59

Edited by Raitzi on Monday 23 April 11:05

[DickusMaximus]

Looks good on here. Drving 150 miles later today in pouring rain so will give feedback later. The tread pattern is individual:

http://www.nokiantyres.com/tyre?id=10924145&gr...

Stable, precise and quiet
Retains its driving properties in extreme situations
Excellent wet grip at all temperatures

Nokian Z G2 tyre is the test winner in the 2012 summer tyre tests of the German car magazines “Auto Bild”, “auto Test”, “gute Fahrt”, and “Auto Bild allrad“.

The top ratings of “Auto Bild exemplary”, “auto Test test winner”, “auto motor sport especially recommended“, “gute Fahrt recommendation” and “Auto Bild allrad exemplary” show the outstanding qualities of Nokian Z G2 summer tyre of the world’s leading winter tyre specialist in the respective test report.

[monthefish]

I doubt you got a bargain, but you probably got what you paid for.

(A "Bargain" would be Super Sports at those prices!)

[boxsey]

DickusMaximus said:

Having managed only 8,000 miles from the last set of Conti's on my 996 C2, I booked Event Tyres (excellent as always - just a superb outfit) to fit a couple of Nokians. The price was just £110 each including fitting - less than half the price of the usual contenders...

In my experience 8,000 miles for rears on these cars is about average regardless of make of the tyre.

[thegoose]

Maersk said:

Their winter tyres are impressive.

..and N rated.

I put Hankook Ventus K103 (IIRC) on the rear of a C2, as at £53 each for 285/30 18 from www.tyretraders.com they were a bargain. No issues whatsoever, although it's fair to say I drive differently on the road compared to when I'm racing.

[DickusMaximus]

thegoose said:

..and N rated.

I put Hankook Ventus K103 (IIRC) on the rear of a C2, as at £53 each for 285/30 18 from www.tyretraders.com they were a bargain. No issues whatsoever, although it's fair to say I drive differently on the road compared to when I'm racing.

Checking now, they have only Nankang's at £93 plus p&p and the rest are the usual suspects at >£220. I'll try these and if they're bonk I'll get more Contis as 8000 wasn't horrendous but if I can get the same mileage for haf price all to the good (I do nearly 3,000 miles a month)

[FarQue]

Don't forget the default 'budget' tyre: Falken FK452. Really good for the money IMO/IME.

[DickusMaximus]

200 miles in and:

Quieter than Contis
Good handling so far and it was wet on the A / M roads this afternoon

I called Event Tyres to thank them for such a great job (no affiliation with them I should add)

[DH01]

Sounds good. I'll have a look at them, been getting fed up with a set of Contisports on the Cayenne every 7000/8000 miles.

[kVA]

noneedtolift said:

Lend an employee my car the other weekend and got an Audi RS3 in return - fitted with Nokians at the rear only (apparently he couldn't get anyone to supply a matching set of winter tyres due to odd sizes on the RS3). Nearly killed me

Not surprised - rims on the front, tyres on the rear, handling would be a bit suspect!

On a serious note, different tread pattern, etc at the rear to those on the front, is just asking for trouble on any powerful 4WD car - I suspect you would have the same issues whatever was fitted at the rear, if significantly different to the front: It really is not recommended, potentially dangerous and damaging (to the viscous coupling) and would probably invalidate any warranty on the drivetrain... Just silly, really

[993kimbo]

I've tried lots of different brands and I reckon the grip is all about the same in dry conditions. Some are noisier, some give a harder ride. I found Michelin PS2's hard and noisy, and the Nokian's soft and quiet with just as much grip, and £100 cheaper per tyre.

It the wet though, it's a different story. But having said said that, I found a cheap Nokian will easily outgrip a Pirelli pzero at twice the price.
Funny (and costly) old game.

[supermono]

Out of interest did you check the torque on the nuts after ET left? Something happened to all my wheelnuts less than two weeks after they'd been for my peugeot that made them so tight the locking nut tool broke when I tried to undo them.

ET assured me they'd left them perfectly torqued so I'm at a loss to explain what happened there, although I won't use them again just in case the impossible happened...

SM

[Raitzi]

Some of my sources tell me that nokian Zs are made by bridgestone on contract for nokian tires. (I guess they get some regular tires in return)