If I got Hakki tires, would I be cool?

I have a chance to get a set of 4 Hakki's on rims for $200.

This is an on-topic post because I'm pretty sure that Hakki's are known
to be the best snow tires. And they're Finnish, right? ...All part of
skiing, right? Cool!

The guy who has them prizes them so much that he's never used them.
He's been saving them for driving on real snow but it never gets snowy
enough around here. It makes me wonder if I'd be 'wasting' them to put
them on our car for an LP Michigan winter. We have dry roads more
than half of each winter. Would they last decently long being used in
Michigan? Or are they weird soft rubber and would be used up in one
season...? I don't want to waste em either.

---JP

I drive an '02 Outback wagon with all-wheel drive. It came with cheesy
factory all-weather tires. It didn't handle nearly as well as I
thought it would in snow with those, so I put on Michelin Arctic
Alpins that were $600 mounted and balanced. I got them at Tirerack.com
and paid $20 to have them put on the car. It is like a completely
different car with them on. There is nothing better than having good
snow tires in Michigan -- even if the snow season isn't that hideous.
It's bad enough, and the county I have to drive in never treats the
roads at this end of it. I have to drive the early morning dark with
lots and lots of snowstorms. I'm north of Detroit. I have them put on
at the end of November and switch back to all-weather tires at the end
of March. It works for me. I sure wouldn't pass up a deal like that. I
thought of getting Hakka Qs but went with the Michelins instead.

June

wrote in message
ups.com...
I have a chance to get a set of 4 Hakki's on rims for $200.

This is an on-topic post because I'm pretty sure that Hakki's are
known
to be the best snow tires. And they're Finnish, right? ...All part
of
skiing, right? Cool!

The guy who has them prizes them so much that he's never used them.
He's been saving them for driving on real snow but it never gets
snowy
enough around here. It makes me wonder if I'd be 'wasting' them to
put
them on our car for an LP Michigan winter. We have dry roads more
than half of each winter. Would they last decently long being used
in
Michigan? Or are they weird soft rubber and would be used up in one
season...? I don't want to waste em either.

---JP

Q's or NRW's? We use Q's (winter only) on my car and find they do
quite well. They make the handling feel a little mushy and wierd at
first but you get used to it (soft compound and deep/heaviy siping for
ice). The control you get in the snow more than makes up for that. We
run NRW's on my wife's car--it's basicly the Hakka2 studded tire
carcass made w. an all-season compound, another really good tire, kind
of the all-season-tire-from-hell.

Depending on the roads and mileage you put on, you should be able to
get two, maybe three sesons out of a Q if you use it winter-only.
NRW's, three years regular daily driving.

If you're dealing with any of the studded varieties, check your local
laws....but 4 on rims for $200?? even if they only last a season or
two, that's a good deal!


e.

wrote:
I have a chance to get a set of 4 Hakki's on rims for $200.

This is an on-topic post because I'm pretty sure that Hakki's are
known
to be the best snow tires. And they're Finnish, right? ...All part of
skiing, right? Cool!

Jeff,

I have 4 Hakki Q's on my mini van and I love them. It feels like 4
wheel drive sometimes. They just eat up the snow and I can drive the
van through lots of conditions that I couldn't with regular tires.

I left them on the van all summer, but didn't drive much....about 5000
miles. They still have plenty of tread and I'm on the second winter
with them.

I bought them mostly for driving the 4 hour trip from Mpls/St. Paul, MN
to our place in Tofte, MN, where there has been 120" of snowfall this
year already.

I highly recommend the Hakkepallita Q's.

Greg Fangel

I live in Minneapolis and recently our winters have been very mild.
Anyway, I bought 4 Hakkpelitta 10 185/70R14 for $376.50 (M & B) in
1994 when my '92 VW Passat had 28k miles. I now have 128k on the same
car and I still put them on every winter( they are mounted on old GTI
steel wheels, they still have a lot of tread left, tho the rubber is
probably hard). In my opinion they last forever, if used in cold
weather Oct-Nov till March-April. Under the right conditions(not too
much ice) I have all most as much traction as my wife's Suburu (all
wheel drive) with original equip(cheep) street tires. (We now have
Vredestein SnoTrak's all season radials on the Suburu which make it far
superior.) The Hakki's are also very good during spring and fall
rains,,,,,,, no hydroplaning. They use to hum a little but not badly,
I actually don't notice anymore(old age or older noisier car). I can't
imagine not using them. if the weather stays cold.

Based on what I paid, $200 would be a bargain.




On Feb 26, 2005, at 1:26 PM, wrote:

I have a chance to get a set of 4 Hakki's on rims for $200.

This is an on-topic post because I'm pretty sure that Hakki's are known
to be the best snow tires. And they're Finnish, right? ...All part of
skiing, right? Cool!

The guy who has them prizes them so much that he's never used them.
He's been saving them for driving on real snow but it never gets snowy
enough around here. It makes me wonder if I'd be 'wasting' them to put
them on our car for an LP Michigan winter. We have dry roads more
than half of each winter. Would they last decently long being used in
Michigan? Or are they weird soft rubber and would be used up in one
season...? I don't want to waste em either.

---JP







V Stachura

BTW the o's are zero's

I installed Hakkas Qs on my wife's Miata, and we drove the car all
winter to skiing through several snow storms (how does one put 4 pairs
of skis in Miata ? Check it out
http://www.stanford.edu/~revyakin/00...1778_miata.jpg).
Performed just as good as my Subie with all-season tires.

Tires have soft rubber, but they look just fine, no noticeable wear
since November.

Thanks for the tips everyone. My pal owes me some $ and this is a way
to be repaid: buy his tires for cheap. : ) These are fresh tires but
probably 5-10 years, so probably not either of the current models. I've
been hearing about his Hakki's in storage for YEARS now. He's a
high-end mechanic. We're on tight budget but our Volvo can't get out of
the driveway as it is. I think I'll spring for these. My wife won't
complain about the purchase when she gets good traction. : ) And I
swear that even tho I'm the only skier around here that I'll feel
cooler runnin' Hakki's. --JP

wrote:
I have a chance to get a set of 4 Hakki's on rims for $200.

This is an on-topic post because I'm pretty sure that Hakki's are
known
to be the best snow tires. And they're Finnish, right? ...All part of
skiing, right? Cool!

The guy who has them prizes them so much that he's never used them.
He's been saving them for driving on real snow but it never gets
snowy
enough around here. It makes me wonder if I'd be 'wasting' them to
put
them on our car for an LP Michigan winter. We have dry roads more
than half of each winter. Would they last decently long being used
in
Michigan? Or are they weird soft rubber and would be used up in one
season...? I don't want to waste em either.

---JP

This is a topic where I can share a lot of information. I own an auto
repair shop in upstate N.Y. and have been selling snow tires for about
25 years. I sell all brands of tires- not just Nokian Tires. In my
opinion they are absolutely the best winter tires in the world. Anyone
who drives a car in a winter climate should use some kind of snow tire!
There is a ton of information to prove the safety benefits of snow
tires over "all season" tires. www.tirerack.com has some good
information about winter tires. Alas- Tirerack does not sell Nokian
Tires. You need to purchase them from "independent" tire stores. If it
helps you skiers any- I happen to know that Zach Caldwell drives on
Nokian Tires- so it will at least make you like Zach- so I think that
makes you cool!

Nokian has a few different winter tires for the U.S. market:

Hakka RSi - a studless tire. Replaces the Q. Even better traction and
dry road performance over the Q. Too soon to tell about wear rate but
early results are promising. It is amazing how good a studless tire can
do in deep snow and on ice!

Hakka 2- a studable tire. The ultimate in deep snow and remarkable on
ice if studded. Non studded they are a great deep snow tire and good on
ice- but not as good as the RSi

WR - the only true "all season" tire. This tire passes the "Severe
Service" test for winter tires- so it can be classified as a winter
tire, although Nokian markets it as a year round use tire. The WR works
better in the winter than any other "all season" tire. It is on par
with most other manufacturers "snow tires" in snow and on ice. They are
a great rain tire. They are a good choice if you have a front wheel or
4- wheel drive vehicle and don't want to change your tires each season.
They are marketed as 50,000 mile tires, but I seem to see more like
40,000.

Nordman - the old Hakka 1 mold from a few years ago. Sort of like the
old Fischers versus the new Fischers. Hakka 1's always worked great,
but who wants to drive on old version snow tire when you can drive on
this years model?

I know I am rambling on, but just a couple more items-

Nokian is the only tire company that actually test their snow tires on
winter test tracks - they have 3 north of the Artic Circle. The other
snow tire manufacturers "test" theirs on a computer.They also focus
more on lateral stability than other manufacturers. Most manufacturs
only check braking distances of their tires- not stability- which is
what really keeps your car out of the ditches and heading in the right
direction.

Nokian tires get me more positive responses from my customers than any
other product I sell.

Nokian Tires are expensive, but the wisest investment of your money to
insure your safety in the winter time.

Yes you really should use 4 winter tires

No I do not work for Nokian-

Joe Ricci

I've had the WRs from late 2003 on an Outback and they've done well
enough for me. It should be clear that no tire is going to stop sliding
on ice, but some have a higher threshhold. Unless you live near Joe,
Nokian tires can be obtained online from etires.com. They were about
$400 plus shipping at the time. Also, some farm coop stores carry or
can get them for a good price, if one is nearby. What I did was go
straight to the regional wholesaler for the best price and then have
someone else mount them.

Gene

wrote:


This is a topic where I can share a lot of information. I own an auto
repair shop in upstate N.Y. and have been selling snow tires for about
25 years. I sell all brands of tires- not just Nokian Tires. In my
opinion they are absolutely the best winter tires in the world. Anyone
who drives a car in a winter climate should use some kind of snow tire!
There is a ton of information to prove the safety benefits of snow
tires over "all season" tires. www.tirerack.com has some good
information about winter tires. Alas- Tirerack does not sell Nokian
Tires. You need to purchase them from "independent" tire stores. If it
helps you skiers any- I happen to know that Zach Caldwell drives on
Nokian Tires- so it will at least make you like Zach- so I think that
makes you cool!

Nokian has a few different winter tires for the U.S. market:

Hakka RSi - a studless tire. Replaces the Q. Even better traction and
dry road performance over the Q. Too soon to tell about wear rate but
early results are promising. It is amazing how good a studless tire can
do in deep snow and on ice!

Hakka 2- a studable tire. The ultimate in deep snow and remarkable on
ice if studded. Non studded they are a great deep snow tire and good on
ice- but not as good as the RSi

WR - the only true "all season" tire. This tire passes the "Severe
Service" test for winter tires- so it can be classified as a winter
tire, although Nokian markets it as a year round use tire. The WR works
better in the winter than any other "all season" tire. It is on par
with most other manufacturers "snow tires" in snow and on ice. They are
a great rain tire. They are a good choice if you have a front wheel or
4- wheel drive vehicle and don't want to change your tires each season.
They are marketed as 50,000 mile tires, but I seem to see more like
40,000.

Nordman - the old Hakka 1 mold from a few years ago. Sort of like the
old Fischers versus the new Fischers. Hakka 1's always worked great,
but who wants to drive on old version snow tire when you can drive on
this years model?

I know I am rambling on, but just a couple more items-

Nokian is the only tire company that actually test their snow tires on
winter test tracks - they have 3 north of the Artic Circle. The other
snow tire manufacturers "test" theirs on a computer.They also focus
more on lateral stability than other manufacturers. Most manufacturs
only check braking distances of their tires- not stability- which is
what really keeps your car out of the ditches and heading in the right
direction.

Nokian tires get me more positive responses from my customers than any
other product I sell.

Nokian Tires are expensive, but the wisest investment of your money to
insure your safety in the winter time.

Yes you really should use 4 winter tires

No I do not work for Nokian-

Joe Ricci

wrote in message
ups.com...
I have a chance to get a set of 4 Hakki's on rims for $200.


Tires ane not like wine, they don't get better with time. The soft winter
tires rubber compounds dry up and harden with time, greatly reducing grip
and handling capabilities. Check the sidewall for a 4 number code first 2
digits are year of fabrication, last two are the month. E.G. 0310 is 2003
october.

BarryT