The new Nokian Outpost nAT claims to be an all terrain tyre you can use in snow, but how good is it? Nokian invented winter tyres, so they're pretty confident, so confident in fact they suggested we test it against the king of winter tyres, the Nokian Hakkapeliitta R5, along with their much loved all weather tyre, the Nokian WRG4 SUV, and their high mileage all season tyre, the Nokian One SUV.

Before we start, it's worth noting that three of the tyres are 3PMSF marked, which is the 3 peak mountain snowflake symbol, sometimes called "severe snow rating". The Winter, All Weather and All Terrain tyres carry the 3PMSF marking, but the all season does not. The test size was 265/65 R17, and we used a Toyota Hilux for the test in RWD only mode.

Snow Data

Snow traction is a difficult test for a tyre, especially on an unloaded pickup, so it gave us the largest differences between the tyres. The Winter was naturally the best, with the all weather around 18% slower in the acceleration test, the all terrain was 12% behind the all weather, and the all season another 11% behind the all terrain.

Interestingly while the order remained the same for snow braking, the extra weight over the primary axle helped the all terrain finish closer to the all weather, and significantly ahead of the all season.

While the Nokian Hakkapeliitta R5 was unsurprisingly the fastest around the lap, the real brilliance of a full winter tyre came in the subjective handling - the confidence you felt on the Hakka R5 was unrivaled. The all terrain was close to the all weather in time, but the all weather tyre felt more balanced around the lap.

Results

1st: Nokian Hakkapeliitta R5
265/65 R17 3PMSF: yes	Test # Result Best Difference % Snow Braking 1st 15.3 M 100% Snow Traction 1st 4.92 s 100% Snow Handling 1st 89.6 s 100% The Nokian Hakkapeliitta R5 is totally joyful tyre to drive on snow, and proof that a good winter tyre can make anything fun in the snow as it made the test Toyota Hilux exceptional fun! Compared to the other tyres it just had more grip everywhere, loads of front end grip on turn in, no understeer at all and loads of traction at the rear and when it was sliding it was controllable. This tyre is one of the kings of snow performance, and it shows. Read Reviews
2nd: Nokian WR G4 SUV
265/65 R17 3PMSF: yes	Test # Result Best Difference % Snow Braking 2nd 20.14 M 15.3 M +4.84 M 75.97% Snow Traction 2nd 5.8 s 4.92 s +0.88 s 84.83% Snow Handling 2nd 98.3 s 89.6 s +8.7 s 91.15% Admittedly the WRG4 couldn't match the winter tyre in the snow, but it's not a winter tyre, it's an all weather tyre so should be better in the dry and wet, but the grip is offered was predictable and safe. Read Reviews
3rd: Nokian Outpost nAT
265/65 R17 3PMSF: yes	Test # Result Best Difference % Snow Braking 3rd 20.72 M 15.3 M +5.42 M 73.84% Snow Traction 3rd 6.96 s 4.92 s +2.04 s 70.69% Snow Handling 3rd 98.65 s 89.6 s +9.05 s 90.83% The Nokian Outpost nAT was way closer to the all weather than the all season tyre, which is very impressive. It's worth reminding you that we're testing on very hard packed snow at around -17c / 0f! Sure, the all terrain tyre felt a little more like a blunt instrument, there was less feedback around the limit of grip and even coming out of the garage you could tell that it's a more solid tyre, but considering you could do a weekend of winter offroading in the sunshine then drive back home through a where it's snowing and still be better off than everyone on their all season tyres - it's a very impressive blend. Read Reviews
4th: Nokian One
265/65 R17 3PMSF: no	Test # Result Best Difference % Snow Braking 4th 23.88 M 15.3 M +8.58 M 64.07% Snow Traction 4th 8.44 s 4.92 s +3.52 s 58.29% Snow Handling 4th 105 s 89.6 s +15.4 s 85.33% A lot of tyre retailers are wanting to recategorise all season tyres to "three season tyres" to acknowledge their limited snow performance, but the Nokian One HT was surprisingly good, for its category. However, it's still nearly 20% slower than the winter tyre around the lap and easily 100% less confidence inspiring. Traction as always was the most noticeable thing when comparing all season tyres to full winters, , the small inclines on the track were taken much slower with minimal acceleration. Turning was fine at lower speeds but there was no reserves on the all season tyre. Read Reviews