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Re: WR G1 vs G2 - didn't like G2's Posted by Snowmobile [Email]  (#686)  [Profile/Gallery]
(more from Snowmobile) on Mon, 25 Nov 2013 07:19:53
In Reply to: Re: WR G1 vs G2 - didn't like G2's, steve, Thu, 21 Nov 2013 21:38:18 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
The original WR's are a number of years old now and Nokian seems to revamp their tire models every 3 or 4 years as new technology or market forces change. Old models get relegated to Russian made "Nordman" tires, which are a good budget snow tire. The WR is trying to be all things - it is an all season tire that is trying to be a snow tire as well as a tire that you can use in summer. Unfortunately, to be a jack of all trades, you really can't specialize in any one of them. That is the problem with all all season tires... however, there are still some pretty darn good "jacks of all trades"...
It sounds like overall the WR is pretty good at what it is intended for... running year round in a place that is cold and gets snow, but roads are plowed etc. I suspect the changes in tire tread for G2/G3 address several items that the original WR might not have been as good at:
1) rolling resistance. directional symmetric tires often are not great at that, though some of the newer ones are supposedly quite good (eg the R/R2). Fuel economy and RR have become higher priority items for consumers in recent years. Nokian's summer tires have gone from directional water oriented designs to asymmetric RR oriented designs in the past 5 years also.
2) performance characteristics. often a different type (size/shape) of tread block is desirable on the inside of a tread than the outside for the way the tire meets the road, camber etc, and to suit suspensions of modern vehicles.
I suspect the changes to the WR in G2 and G3 were to make it a better performer in the non-winter months (and dry/wet winter conditions), probably at minimal minor expense to the snow/slush/ice performance... recognizing that those who buy these tires instead of specialized snow tires don't need as much snow performance. If you get significant amounts of wet heavy snow, I would get dedicated snow tires on rims. If you get significant ice (freezing rain etc) and you're allowed to get studs, I would. We're not here, so the next best thing is something like the R2 that has grit in the tread. I currently have R's on our car, but wish I had known the R2 was coming out - I might have kept the Michelin snows rather than selling them... btw those would not be bad either in your climate - Michelin Primacy Alpin - good dry road driving characteristics, look similar to the WR's but are not all seasons.
What tire size can you not get in WR's? I thought they had a huge range of sizes - certainly any size I'd put on a Saab... and they are one of the few manufacturers that actually have high enough load ratings for the 9-5.
, Mon, 25 Nov 2013 07:19:53 <-- Viewing This Message, Tue, 19 Nov 2013 10:45:08, Wed, 20 Nov 2013 10:14:15, Tue, 19 Nov 2013 06:58:13
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