Nokian WR 235/60-16 update

**gibbons** · 06-07-2004, 09:10 PM

It was 90 degrees today, and I drove the XC up Utah's Logan Canyon, speed limit 35 mph (indicative of the twisty turns). The body roll on the XC gave me the willies before I heard any complaints from the tires. No squeal, no drift, no mushiness. And when winter comes, the WR 235's could do the same thing up the canyon on ice! Well, almost

What else can I say? Except for my wife has curbed the 235/60's a couple of times. With the extra tire body width, the wheels never touched the curb. The WR 215/65 sidewalls (remember, I have had both on this car) were about flush with the lip of the wheel. The wheels would have been toast by now with the 215's.

Oh, yeah, one more thing. I rotated them at 3500 miles to get a good look at the what was going on. I had been running 32 PSI, and noticed a tiny bit of wear on the center of the tread. I have dropped them to 30 PSI and didn't notice any handling differences.

For an XC, I can not think of a reason to not use these tires (in 235 size). And again, no, I have no affiliation with Nokian.

**wiz** · 06-08-2004, 07:30 AM

Interesting about the wear. Jason (Hiro's XC) had the earlier version of the WRs on his XC, and he said that you needed to rotate at 5K miles because of wear issues. I think he used to run those tires pretty hard.

I run my OEM Scorpion STs at 33psi and the tires look great with very little wear. I'm at 16.5K miles on my car.

**tgrumaj** · 06-08-2004, 10:41 AM

I have read with envy the conversation going on about the 16" Nokian WRs as replacement tires. I am within 10K of replacing the Continental ContiTouring tires on my 1999XC. I'd like to attempt this "upgrade" and would appreciate advice on doing this with the 99 15" rim. The std size for my XC is 205/65/R15 and Nokian does make that size. But to "mimic" what gibbons did would I need to move to a 225/60/R15? Difference is about .8 in width. Has anyone done this with the 98-2000 XC using Nokians? Any issues or problems?

**gibbons** · 06-08-2004, 12:40 PM

Wiz- That tiny bit of wear was measured with a digital micrometer. The Nokian guy said I probably wouldn't get 60K out of them. I was surprised and I told him I would be happy with 30K. He said probably more like 50K. That's like 4 years of driving for me, and the cost per year for tires isn't much compared to the cost of the vehicle. I will probably chuck them way before the wear-bar indicators, and go with a new fresh set for the deepest tread depth. If I got 40K with decent tread depth, that would be more than any other tire I have owned. I could go through a set of rear tires on my Chevelle in a few minutes

tgrumag- Just make sure you get the "passenger" version indicated by a "P" before the size designation. After having had the SUV version, I can't recommend them because of their stout ride.

**wiz** · 06-08-2004, 06:03 PM

... stout ride - I like that one!

50K sounds good to me. You presumably had the Scorpion STRs as OEM on your car, I have the earlier STs on mine. So far only 16.5K miles on the car and I'm not wild about the tires but I will keep them for a while.

You must have really hated the OEM tires to change them so soon. What was the biggest factor?

**gibbons** · 06-08-2004, 08:06 PM

Wiz- I am used to Hakka Qs and Hakka LTs on slick roads. I pretty much demand the best traction I can buy. My wife told me that I couldn't put Nokians on the XC because of how much we had just spent on it. But then one day she took it on slick roads. She called me from the car and said, "these tires suck!" That was the green light for Nokians. Sort of. I couldn't afford another set of Volvo wheels, and learned about the WRs. So I tried them risk free with the Nokian 30 satisfaction guarantee. Wahoo! I excercised the guarantee to go to the 235s from the 215s.

The 235 WRs are simply superior to the STRs on slick roads. They are smoother and quieter. Not that it matters to everyone, but the tread looks really cool, too.

Elsewhere in the forum I have posted my observations of their traction and characteristics compared to the Hakka Qs on our Subaru. Ya know, I think the WRs are better traction. But that's just my opinion. If I'm happy, hey, I'm happy, too

Anyone tired of me raving about WRs yet? Tell me when to shut up.

**Raynald** · 06-08-2004, 11:02 PM

Originally Posted by gibbons

(...) If I'm happy, hey, I'm happy, too

Anyone tired of me raving about WRs yet? Tell me when to shut up.

Hey, I'm sure nobody would complain for earing good news! Be my guest and go on!

Today wasn't my day. So I found your positive comments.. well.. most uplifing!

**wiz** · 06-09-2004, 06:55 AM

gibbons - the STs have a pretty good grip - I don't have a problem with that aspect, but they are horribly noisy, and appear to be getting worse. I think I've read reports on this forum that they do get noisier as they get older.

The other thing is that they provide what one forum member described as a "billowy" ride. Quickly changing lanes at speed on a highway is an interesting experience...

**John@CdnRockies** · 06-09-2004, 10:48 AM

Well the fun has started and I haven't even taken delivery yet. I asked to swap-out (at my cost) the stock tires with Nokian's as per Gibbon's messages.

Volvo's response: "Those tires are too wide sir, they will scrape the wheel wells and we would have to get them from another supplier".
Me - "Perhaps, but I've read on bulletin boards that this is not the case and they are more appropriate".
Volvo - "We have checked with our service department and they strongly recommend you NOT do this as they are 20 mm wider. However, we have these Guslaf's with steel rims for only $1,200 ..."
Me - "Sigh, forget it".

So much for my first encounter with Volvo.

**wiz** · 06-09-2004, 11:45 AM

They are trying to flog you a set of Gislaved winters on steel rims. They probably think the WR is a winter tire.

If you get no joy from the dealership, you could make an arrangement with a wheel shop in your area to drive over at car pick-up from the dealer and get the tires swapped there. You pre-order the Nokians from the 'net so they have them, they get "new" Pirellis in trade and reimburse you + $$$ for the install/balancing. It might work...