Nokian Hakkapeliitta 10 SUV

I have these tires on an F-150 and also in a 255/55R18 on a Touareg, studded in both applications. They are my go-to tire for the conditions that I drive in, which is snow and/or ice-covered roads, typically in a -30 deg F to 10 deg F (-35 to -12 deg C) temperature range. On dry pavement, they are a notably more squirmy than my summer tires. They also cost me 5% in fuel economy. Braking distances are notably longer than summer tires if driving on dry pavement, but I should note that drive pavement is an exception for my location.

These tires are focused on snow and ice, and suffer a bit in other categories as you might expect.

I have no hesitation to buy the best tire money can buy, and have settled on these. I will note that I think they are no better (maybe slightly worse) then the discontinued Hakkapeliitta 9 SUV. I suspect they reduced studs a bit to improve noise or reduce how much damage they do to roads.

I have the hakkapelitta 10 on my 2014 VW Caravelle (only front wheel drive) as a dedicatet winter tyre. Here in northern Norway the roads are covered with hard packed snow and ice for almost 5 months of the year. Occasionally we get a change in the weather pattern and it dumps a lot of rain on the icy roads.

After two winters i can now say that the hakkapelitta 10 is the best option for those extrem conditions. They grip well on the slippery surfaces in high speeds and loose traction in a slow and controlled manner. Before, i lived in the southern parts of Norway, where i had the hakkapelitta R8, which is a non studded winter tyre. It felt like that the non studded winter tyre was better in digging itself throug deep snow and it was quieter when cornering, but that where the only advantages of the non studded winter tyre to the hakkapelitta 10.

It is hard to judge how the treadwear is after now 20.000km of winter driving. The tyres get only driven on mostly hard packed snowy and icy country roads and in the town. There is not that much driving on bare asphalt in the winter months, so the rubber of the tyres almost doesn`t wear at all. Like 1mm after two winters. And the studs are still all there, still looking like new. Here in the nordics we usually buy new winter tyres when the old ones get so old that the rubber hardens. The last studded winter tyres i had to change had still 6mm of depth in the profile and all the studs where still there, but they were 8 years old which hade made the rubber hard.

Whily noisy because of the studs, it's a low pitch that you can easily tune out. I found the tires to be, for an extreme snow tire, excellent in the dry, and good in the wet. I also found that I had good control in slush. In normal turning, the tire can feel a bit vague due to sidewall flex, however under heavier corners I can feel the tire "sit" over the sidewall, and it becomes very stout. In a RWD car (with an aftermarket LSD), I never got stuck this winter, even living on a dirt road with an uphill driveway. I've driven about 3,000 miles on the tires in a quite warm winter (mostly between 20 and 40 degrees fahrenheit), and they look just about new as of now. I've hit some notable potholes and the tires did not pop or bubble, which pleased me. Despite being a sedan, I figured the SUV tire was a good fit due to the body roll, and weight capacity, and this has proven true. Overall, an extremely safe, durable tire, with impressive snow and ice traction. I will be purchasing these again, or their successors in a few years time.

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At any point there might be ice, snow or gnarly outside, the tires tend to loose grip in every bend, roundabout, turn or whatever. While driving normally when the roads are nice, they sure do the job! They are good at stopping on ice, and snow, they are mostly good at accelerating, however almost every time you put a sideload this tyre skids about