Jim Schiffman

Has anyone used these all weather plus tires during the summer? Wondering how they perform year round. Nokian web site says these tires (NRW) are true all season/weather. Any comments to that?

Thanks, Jim S.

DMoore

I had NRWs for winter tires for 4 seasons, on two successive A4s. I downsized, so they were 195-65-15. I live in SoCal, so even though I bought them for weekend trips to the snow, they spent most of their time on dry roads. I had them on during ski season, which for the Sierras is November through May.

Compared to my summer tires - stock 205/55-16 Goodyear GA all weather tires - they didn't corner quite as well, and you could feel a little tire squirm. The switch back to the summer tires was always worth a few extra mph on my favorite ramps.

However, I think that was due as much to the tire size as it was to the tread pattern. The NRWs were very good in snow - better than the Pirelli 210As presently on my S4. And their performance in the dry was quite acceptable. I'm sure they would have been as good as the Goodyears in dry conditions, if they'd been the same size. I'm told that the newest NRWs have changed a little, and now tilt a little more towards dry road handling. Is that at the price of snow handling? I don't know, but probably so.

If you're looking for a year round tire for 16" wheels with good snow performance, I think the NRWs would do well. The 16" 205s will be quite passable in the dry, but of course that represents a considerable trade off in the winter. OTOH, I wouldn't run 15" wheels year round. There was a noticeable decline in handling on the smaller wheels.

I do know that if I had to make do year round with a single set of tires, the NRW would be the first tire on my list.

DMoore
'00 S4

Jim Schiffman

Re: NRWs in the dry - Thanks for the helpful info.