Wheels/Tyres: Tyres again - Nokian Z SUV - Summer tyres

[TruckbusUK]

Well summer approaches ... dont really need tyres at the moment, the Nokian WR G2 SUV's are coping and all year wear is very acceptable, but I wondered, is anyone running their XC90 on Nokian Z SUV summer tyres? if so whats the feedback.
I've done a search on the forums but didnt find much, so question now asked.

[TruckbusUK]

Bump.

Are there no XC90 owners running these tyres ... ?

[JimG]

I've had a search through the tyre sticky and there doesn't appear to be any mention of them there either.

[TruckbusUK]

Yeah, surprised Jim, the Z tyre gets stonking reviews on the VW Touareg and Saab sites .... only reason I'm asking is at the current wear rates, the Nokian WR G2's I am currently shod with, will be close to the suggested 3-4 mm limit for winter use come the winter ... so since I have a spare set of alloys for the tank I thought I'd eek another winter plus out of them ... maybe 2 .... they are currently at 6mm all round and have 17K miles on them so not bad going really.

Robin

[JimG]

I assume that because the XC works so well on winters all year round that people don't feel the need to shell out for another set of wheels and tyres for summer use.

If you already have the second set of wheels, give the Z tyre a go.

Let us know what you think of them.

The WR G2s have done well, were they the later type with 8mm starting tread or the deeper ones? 10mm or 12mm was it? Can't remember.

[TruckbusUK]

Originally Posted by JimG

I assume that because the XC works so well on winters all year round that people don't feel the need to shell out for another set of wheels and tyres for summer use.

If you already have the second set of wheels, give the Z tyre a go.

Let us know what you think of them.

The WR G2s have done well, were they the later type with 8mm starting tread or the deeper ones? 10mm or 12mm was it? Can't remember.

Think I might .... my WR G2's are the newer version with 8mm of tread ... so 17K on 2mm is very good in my book ... realistically 50k 'ish if you dump them in the summer @ 2mm and I drive carefully etc.

Robin

[AB-UK]

I had the Nokian WR tyres, with 11mm tread depth. They were very good, and gave me confidence, feeling very sure-footed, unlike my current Pirellis.
The WRs were unfortunately discontinued by Nokia and replaced by the WR2 tyres, with 8mm tread depth.

I've also used the Nokian NRVi summer tyres, which were pretty good - lasted twice as long as the factory fitted Continentals.

I'm looking at fitting some Winter or all-season tyres (like the WR2) to a spare set of alloys, when I can find another two wheels to match the 2 Atlantis ones I already have.

[TruckbusUK]

OK, I did it I've ordered the Z tyres and will fit them to the other set of alloys, and I'll report back how they go .... so I reckon I should now get another couple of winters out the WR G2's and maybe 2-3 years from the Z's ... time will tell.

AB-UK the supply of wheels can be very sporadic second hand as can the quality and price, I had a look at some a couple of weeks ago for a friend and with the cost and the price of a refurb, it made them a bit expensive.

I was lucky? .. my car was delivered with the wrong wheels (my opinion, the dealer had a different one ... - Atlantis instead of Camulus) ... after a serious moan the dealer supplied a new set of alloys and I did a deal for the "used set" the car was delivered with ...

[TruckbusUK]

Well finally fitted the Nokian Z SUV's, was going to earlier but that poor weather at the start of April delayed me a couple of weeks.
Initial feeling are they are VERY quiet, really noticeably so, but time will tell, I'll report back after some mileage has been put on them.

[TruckbusUK]

OK update time, I have just returned from holiday in Italy and rotated the Nokians (front to rear) ... measured the tread depth as I moved them ....

Results after 5300 miles running on the Nokian Z Suv's

Fronts New - 8.6mm
Rears New - 8.6mm

Fronts after 5300miles - 7.8mm
Rears after 5300 miles - 8.2mm

So the estimated life of the tyres to 2mm will be approx 45K 'ish miles with careful rotation/storage.

Opinion ....

New they took approx 1000 miles to scrub in and get full grip.
Noise - Remarkably quiet on the motorway
Grip - outstanding in the dry
Wet - around town - excellent,
Wet - fast/very fast motorway - surprisingly surefooted
Fuel consumption - not noticeably different from the WR G2's

Comments : - A much better tyre than the WR G2's in the dry (to be expected) but not as good as the WR G2's in the wet though (again as expected.)

Overall, very pleased and would buy again if I had to ....

I report back again when I swap them for the WR G2's at the end of October.

Robin