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I took delivery of my HCH2 on January 7, 2006. Luckily (if you can call this lucky) there was a snowstorm the night before and I had a chance to see what these new-fangled low rolling resistance tires will do in anything other than dry pavement. In less than 5 miles I had already made the decision that the craptacular (yes, that's a word :D) Dunlop SP31's had to go. I replaced them with the Nokian WR which I had on my old 2001 Civic EX. It's the only all-season tire with the severe snow mountain & snowflake rating which means it's a snow tire you can drive on all year long.

30000 miles later and as far as I'm concerned every car I own will have these tires on them. They have low rolling resistance as compared to "regular" all seasons, though not as much as a true LRR tire, and the grip in rain, snow, and slush is excellent. Grip on ice is not as good as a true snow tire but it's much better than an all-season. Grip in the dry is good for a tire which is designed more towards bad weather performance. It's no summer tire, but for a non-sporty daily driver it's still good.

The only two cons for the tire are the noise and the price. I paid around $500 out the door for this set. Not cheap considering I see billboards pimping the most worthless all-seasons for $100 for 4. As far as noise is concerned it's about halfway between a snow tire and an all-season. Some people may not like this. I didn't really care too much because I'd rather be inconvenienced by some road noise than sliding off the road in a heavy rainstorm. But to each his or her own :)

But this initial peek is about the WR G2, not the WR. So where does the G2 come in? Thanks to my inability to remember when 5000 miles come and go in a car that goes around 10000 miles between oil changes, I didn't rotate my tires as often as I should* and ended up with a set of chopped rear WR's. I pulled up Nokian's website for local dealer info and spotted the WR G2. It's supposed to replace the WR. The tread is asymmetrical unlike the WR and of course it also carries the mountain & snowflake severe snow service emblem. According to Nokian's website they don't bring a new product to market unless it beats the old product by at least 10% in every measurable test. So I crossed my fingers, called the tire dealer, and ordered a set of G2's. They were installed this morning.

Having driven around a bit in the morning I can say the following about the G2:
- Noise has dropped dramatically. It's barely louder than a typical all-season. When driving in EV mode, it's very quiet. I can see why blind people can think hybrids will be a problem for them.
- Dry grip is a little improved but the tires need about 500 miles to break them in so I see more improvement there.
- It hasn't rained (or snowed :D) today so I can't comment on the tire's poor weather performance. If the 10% figure is true then this should exceed my old WR's and I will be a very happy driver come December 2008.
- Rolling resistance is lower than the old WR. The car now glides much more smoothly.

Even though I've only had the morning to play around with these tires, everything tells me the G2's will be a good improvement over the WR's and hypermilers who live in the snowbelt and want good traction can't do much better than the WR G2.

Out with the old (WR)...
http://www.ityre.com/i/tyre/2332.jpg

...and in with the new (WR G2)
http://www.ityre.com/i/tyre/20866.jpg

* I now have modified my mileage spreadsheet so that every 5000 miles, I get a warning to rotate my tires. This should prevent this incident from occurring again.

I unfortunatly found out the hard way after my wife sideswiped a curb that these tires have been discontinued!!. Bought 4 nokian I3's and have been happy with them thus far. I share the same sentiment in that nokian is a superior brand of tire that will always be on all of my vehicles.

Just got a set of WRG2s after reading this post and researching them. Love them! wet driving is excellent and so darn quiet. Roll very well. Happy.

Will probably get a set of i3 for the summer. Love the fact that they are such a green tire compared to the other brands. Non toxic tires since 2004.

Is it just my imagination, or is there a little bit of snow in the treads of the WRG2 pictured above ;)

We picked up a set of WRG2 in the midst of a heavy snowfall just before Christmas last year. They've been excellent for our very mixed weather: a coastal region, mostly rain, sometimes icy, and occasional occasional snow.

They do impose a mileage penalty compared to our OEM all-seasons, but not too bad, mostly in stop-and-go. Highway mileage seems less effected, if any.

I could just hear them, at highway speeds, comparing to OEM, and the sound is not obtrusive.

I had the WR's predecessor, the NRW, on my 02 Protege 5. They were much quieter than the stock Dunlop 5000 A/S's, and I did not experience any mileage penalty.

Good performance in rain also. It's a shame that Nokian distribution is so limited. If they were easier to get, I'd probably always choose them.

In Canada Kal Tire has them (maybe exclusively?), fwiw.

I've been running WR G2s on my Jetta for about a year now. Excellent performance on dry and (around here, especially important) wet pavement, much quieter than the awful Traction T/As that come on the car, and seemingly excellent traction the couple of times I've used them on snow and ice.

I didn't rotate them until 10,000 miles, and the fronts showed noticeable wear. I'm used to 80,000 mile tires where that wouldn't normally be the case. I'm a little concerned about the treadwear on these guys -- especially at the $700 a set that I paid for them. I like the fact that these are the only TRUE snow tires on the planet that can be run year round, but at the current rate of wear I think in the long run it might end up being substantially cheaper to go back to a separate set of snows that I swap in seasonally.

I think in the long run it might end up being substantially cheaper to go back to a separate set of snows that I swap in seasonally.

We're using our WRG2 as separate "snows", on their own steel rims, just for the winter months. Our OEM Bridgestone Insignia SE200_02 might just go another season, due both less mileage travelled and being used only in the summer months. Our mileage is around 75000km right now, but maybe 5000 of that is on the WRG2's.

The Bridgestone's are around 5/32" remaining tread depth. They are horrible in snow but otherwise ok.

Hey everyone,



As a certified retailer of Nokian Tires...our customers have had only good things to say about their products. We can tell the quality of their tires simply by how many repeat customers we have! It is not uncommon to get 75,000 miles out of a Nokian tire if it is driven on responsibly and conservatively.

The Nokian eNTYRE is a great all season tire. It has ultra low rolling resistance becuase its rubber compound is made with natural oils such as canola oil instead of petroleum. Also, it is noticeably quieter than competing products.

However, if you're going for winter performance (but don't want/need a dedicated winter tire) i would have to recommend the Nokian WR-G2. This is an absolutely incredible all season tire.
The tire performs better than most dedicated winter tires, but it can be driven all year round!
It is one of the only all-season tires that comes with the Severe Service Symbol (meaning that it has exceeded government standards for winter driving).
The WR-G2 also has lower rolling resistance than most other tires for increased MPG.

Treadwear update: I let my WRG2s go with the Jetta I just sold. With 21,000 miles on them, two of them were down to the 8mm wear bars and the other two only had another mm or two beyond that. I'm sure they have a lot of above-freezing life left in them, but I wouldn't rely on them as real snow tires for another winter from this point. If I had to do it over again I'd probably get a dedicated winter tire (Nokians are excellent, though expensive) and do the seasonal swap because once the tires start getting worn you're going to have to do that anyway.

They have been awesome tires in every other performance aspect though. Reasonably quiet ride, good rolling, great braking and cornering grip on both wet and dry pavement, very good ice grip (for non-studded tires), though I'd say snow grip (especially in loose snow) is at best average compared to the winter tires I've used in the past.

those WR-g2's are sweet, but DANNNNNGG :eek::eek: they are spendy.. $225 each..

I think the way to justify the purchase of these tires is either (1) the additional winter safety for folks who wouldn't otherwise buy snow tires or (2) the savings and reduced hassle vs. having two sets of tires/wheels and swapping them seasonally. *IF* you don't want to bother with the seasonal switchovers they are a good choice.

I bought them based on (2) but I'm not thinking I was money ahead by doing it. I do the seasonal swap myself anyway (takes me about 1/2hr with a hydraulic jack) so in the long run I still think I'll be much better off with separate winter vs. 3 season tires.

yeah, i do my own maintenance, too. it would be really hard to justify even having those as my only set cause they are so expensive. i'll just drive more careful in winter and hope that prices might have dropped by the time it comes for me to get new tires. i can spend less for 2 sets of tires and rims than just getting those. i used to do that, but i'm limited on storage space now. i don't go for the grippest tires since i drive pretty conservative. even the tires i got now have shown no hint of issues cornering-wise at MY limit. and these tires rate lower in all categories compared to what i would normally pick. so, for all those years, i could have been saving some money... ;(

yeah, i do my own maintenance, too. it would be really hard to justify even having those as my only set cause they are so expensive. i'll just drive more careful in winter and hope that prices might have dropped by the time it comes for me to get new tires. i can spend less for 2 sets of tires and rims than just getting those. i used to do that, but i'm limited on storage space now. i don't go for the grippest tires since i drive pretty conservative. even the tires i got now have shown no hint of issues cornering-wise at MY limit. and these tires rate lower in all categories compared to what i would normally pick. so, for all those years, i could have been saving some money... ;(

Right. I got through last winter on my Yokohamas, which are definitely not winter tires. Early braking and easy maneuvers. Oh, and don't panic when you drift a bit in a corner*.

* No, I don't do it regularly.

Well, i hope these "Kooks" aren't too bad. i do have some minimum standards and i hope they pass.

not too worried if they do suck ... i used to drive RAM1500 2wd on 20's in South Dakota winters. never got stuck, and never had an accident. plus i grew up in the frozen tundra of WI. if they do suck too much, wife will just have to drive the van.

Hey everyone,

Here's a little bit of information on the WR-G2 that i got directly from the manufacturer.

Inside – Outside Design Tread Pattern - Tread pattern differs on the inside of the tire and the outside shoulder of the tire for the best handling on wet and dry pavement
• Driving Safety Indicator - DSI system uses number blocks displayed in the center of the tread area, indicating the safety level and remaining tread depth in millimeters
• 3-D Self-Locking Siping - The self-locking siping located in the central rib supports the tire in the lateral and longitudinal direction, and particularly improves driving stability and wet grip
• Water Wipe System - Ensures that the tread is pressed firmly against the pavement to prevent hydroplaning and slushplaning when braking
• Canola Oil and Cool Silica Tread Compounds - These compounds combined improve winter wet grip and reduces tire rolling resistance saving fuel without compromising its winter capabilities
• Respecting the Environment - Manufacturing Process uses only low aromatic, purified oils
• Severe Service Emblem - Only four-season family of tires that carries the Severe Service Emblem exceeding new government snow condition regulations

These tires are an ALL SEASON performance tire...yet they perform better in snow than just about ALL dedicated winter tires!

As you can see from the information above, the Nokian WR-G2 is simply the best all-season tire that money can buy.

Hope this helps!

When I sold my HCH2, my Nokians went with it. My current car wears the Yokohama Avid S330's that came with it in the spring, summer, and fall, and Michelin X-Ice 2's in the winter. I finally had enough storage space to keep a spare set of tires and wheels so I went for that option. For a single tire solution, I still like the Nokian WR G2. But if you have the money for a second set of wheels and tires (and TPMS sensors), go get a proper set of snow tires. The Michelin X-Ice 2 is excellent as is the Nokian Hakkapeliitta R.

Funny: we've got 2 stacks of four tires in our garage right now: one of Nokian WRG2 and one Michelin X-Ice. We used the Nokians as "snows" on our previous HCHII, and it's still owned by family members. As far as mileage goes:

I came to expect a (minimum) 0.5 liter/100km improvement whenever the Nokians came off the HCHII and the OEMs (Bridgestone Insignia SE200) were re-installed.

With the Michelin X-ICE on our current Prius (in 195/65R15 size), I noticed little or no difference with our first swap back to OEM (Michelin Pilot). That said, our OEM's are the 215/45R17 optional size. Maybe with 195/65R15 OEM's there would be some difference.