Nokian WR A4

Normal driving on the XL version (judging by online inventories the default one produced) from proper snow and neg. C in Livland to warm dryness, 0 C slush and much less snow to around Regnum Hungariae. For winter tyres in general they seemed to perform perfectly competently, although once did fail to get any traction on wet ice on a very slight incline, sadly expectable without studs. No noticeable noise increase compared to summers and no noticeable wear at all. Seemed rather heavy/substantial in hand and with a stiff sidewall. The latter characteristic might very well have saved one of the rims on a particularly crashy pothole, but also made for a subjectively unpleasant firmness in general in a car with an otherwise superb suspension (the Sport version at that). So much so that one actively avoided any manhole covers or other imperfections on the road surface, which then motivated an early sale before the second season. For reference, the replacements in the form of Continental TS 870 P provide vastly improved levels of comfort.

Good especially for winter condition.

This is my 2 week review of a set of the Nokian G4's tires installed on our 2020 Ford Transit Connect by Discount Tire. Again my other reviews shows that at least 5 different brand tires will not work with the Transit Connect as those tires listed in my other reviews will not work on the van. The issue is those other tires have too much sidewall flex. The Nokian G4's are made with a Kevlar derivative which stiffens the sides and the design of the tires, but the tires are not runflats. This past weekend we actually had a chance to drive in the snow and on icy roads in Boone/Banner Elk NC while on our way to Asheville. NC. These Nokian G4's 245/40/r19 are the best tires we've even had the privilege of owning. They can handle a wide range of road conditions and still keep on going. All types of weather and climates do not stand a chance with these tires. We're very pleased with the Nokians G4's we're glad we gave the Nokian brand another chance after the Nokian "One" tires failed to impress us. Again, This is a review for the Nokian WR G4 245/40/R19 tires on a 2020 Transit Connect so your results may very. But clearly this IS the best tire for our van's setup.

Have YOU got experience with the Nokian WR A4? Help millions of other tyre buyers

Review your Nokian WR A4 >

This makes our second attempt with the Nokian tire brand. Although the first Nokian One 245/40/R19 performed very well, it was poor on wet roads and other aspects. We were willing to give the Nokian brand one more chance and this time we selected the Nokian WRG4's. One thing we noticed about these tires as compared to the Nokian one tires, is that they are lighter than the one tires even though the site list these as being heavier. The other thing about these tires is that no matter what the road conditions, these tires will find a way to keep you driving. Superior dry grp and handling without over flexing side walls with very well wet road handling on our Transit Connect. With a Kevlar derivative designed into the tires, these sidewall still flex, just not as much as some of the other tires we've tested. Although these WRG4's are not runflats, they make up for it with the stiffer sidewalls that will help protect your tire for years to come. One test we performed right after the mounted and balanced on our 19x8.5 wheels, was to drive around a circle (round about) just to see what type of handling we're dealing with. 6 times we went around the circle/round about in dry and wet road conditions without any slipping or sliding. Another instance, while driving over the painted stripes in the road, the Nitto & Kumho tires would flow over and slide, the Van would get squirrely and would not handle very well. While the Nokian WRG4's kept right on gripping over these painted single or double lines. We gave the Nokian tire brand a second chance and this time, it has paid off and so far these tires have proven themselves in a variety of conditions. So yes the perfect tire for our 2020 Transit Connect is the well designed and one of the best handling tires we've ever tested.

I have been driving this tyre for 9 seasons (which is a tad too much but the tyre lasted really long and it is still ok to drive, so durability was fantastic). For a winter tyre it did great on the dry and it almost felt like a summer tyre there. I also felt safe in the wet. However, I was not so lucky with the performance on snow and ice. It was something that I expected and since I am not driving a lot in snow/ice I was fine with it. It felt like all season tyre that does better in winter conditions. For what I need this is quite a good comosure and so I was quite happy with the tyre. Compared to my summer tyres (Conti PremiumContact) the Nokian was a little bit louder. Fuel consumption was level with the summer tyres when you take the temperatures into account which really surprised me.

I have been driving tires for 3 seasons and this will be my last. Very low wear and stability at high speed. Next year I will be buying Continental or Bridgstone, which are great in the rain.

Owned on 2 cars, 520d & 535d, also the WRA3s previously, found to be the best of, Conti 810, 830, GY UG2* and UG 'performace'. For use in travelling the Scottish highlands, the real ones above Gairloch/Cairngorms. These A4s are the best of the bunch, 2nd was the UG2* (the UG 'performance were terrible and 2 garages incl BMW felt the tyre unstable, 1 said dangerous and GY support were not interested, so that's unfortunately the end of me buying GY). Good in the wet and cold, keeping the traction control with minimal work to do, and in the snow. Not brilliant on ice but then nothing that isn't studded is!

Car BMW F10, 520 and 535. Have had various winter tyres on BM's over 10 years, used in the Scottish Highlands and Europe, and daily winter) in the midland. Previous tyres before settling on these: Continental 810, 830, GoodYear UG 2, UG Gen1 and Nokian A3. The worst of them by far, that resulted in tests by Garages and BMW were the GY Gen 1 - I strongly suggest you do Not buy these for a BMW 5 series, GY techical 'support' were absolutely no use, other than saying by BMW '*', the nokians aren't '*' are are 100% fine. The GY UG2 were a good tyre for cold and wet but no where near as good as the Nokians in real winter/snow conditions. The only draw back is the 535 can wear them a little quickly, but out of all the aforementioned tyres for real wintery weather, cold, snow, slush, wet they are a very good tyre, so much so I will be replacing with the same tyres for next winter.

Fitted these Nokian to suit my driving style as well as the harsh conditions in winter. I was amazed by the dry grip to start with, no spin even on full throttle, which is handy when the weather is around 10°C and not really winterish. Very stable at speed, so quiet that you could fall asleep. No increase in fuel consumption. In the wet, it is about the same, good handling, stopping distance and acceleration. Snow handling is just the best. Having a FWD, good tyres are required. What I really liked was that when the roads are not maintained, you don't have a puncture each time you drive over a pothole which was the case with my previous winter tyres as they were too soft. The price is a bit on the heavy side, but if I had to drive a lot in winter, I would not hesitate once to invest. But that will be in 5yrs+ now for me, and I'm sure Nokian will have figured how to design an even greater tyre in the meantime.

I first bought half a set of WR A4s in late 2016 as the original Goodyear I got with the car were a bit worn and slidy. Being on my second RWD car I knew that good tires are a must if you don't want to slide into a ditch boot first at the first sight of adverse weather.

On my old Supra I had older Michelin Alpin tires for the winter, but having a few friends running their RWD coupes ont the old WR A3 I went for Nokian, even though I don't usually get much snow.

After a first test where I had to cross a mountain with the old Goodyears at the front and the new Nokians at the back in fresh snow at 1 in the morning, I decided that a full set was necessary.

I've been running a full set of WR A4s since 2017.
The result has been overwhelimingly positive.

As general information : the car is an old Lexus IS200 sedan, RWD manual, no LSD, about 1400kg. Summer tires are a set of Michelin PS4 in 225/18"

Dry grip isn't as good as with the summer tires, but when changing my wheels when the temperature drops, I can feel right away that I'm getting some grip and control back (in temps under 7°c).
Wet grip is good, and I'd say better than with classic symetric patterns. Lateral grip is great in the wet, which stops your rear tires slipping around when going up and down hills and mountains.
Snow grip is perfect. I've driven in snow deep enough that my bumpers scraped the top, and with just the help of snow mode and a light touch on the throttle, the car just chugged along up and down hills at 6 in the morning before the snowplow could get there. Never had to park the car at the bottom of the road like my neighbours.
Ice I haven't crossed yet.

Of course comfort is upgraded by switching from 18" in the summer to 17 in the winter.
They don't wear too fast, and the mileage on my car doesn't change much between them and the Pilot Sports.

The asymetric pattern makes them easy to rotate to even the wear, which means they will wear more slowly in western Europe where roundabouts are everywhere.
The asymetric pattern also makes them look pretty sexy compared to the run-of-the-mill symetric winter tire.

The price is also usually pretty low for a performance winter tire.

The main downside I have found with owning them over multiple years is that they don't like warmth at all, and require a pressure check even before you fit them back in autumn. Mine tend to deflate during the summer months while they're in storage. But once filled back up, they don't require more pressure checks than your average winter tire.

In conclusion, I can't talk to those tires on a FWD car, but if you own a RWD coupé or sports sedan, they are absolutely worth the (little) money you'll pay.

Wow
I had Michelin A4 & A5 before for winter tyres but this ones outperform them.
This year we had a lot of snow and not for even one moment they let me down! It's nice when you pass with a smile by smaller SUV who is "struggling" in the snow.
From now only Nokian for a winter tyres.

Having gone from a summer UHP tyre of the same size exactly i feel this review would be most helpful to those people doing the same as most people I have spoken to have a different size wheel and tyre combination during summer to those fitted in winter.
I purposely looked for a winter tyre I could fit to the exact same wheel size with the exact same ratios. The Nokian was the only available tyre, the tyre had a tad less grip on all surfaces for the first few hundred miles that I have put down to any oils and compounds used to separate the tyres from the moulds when initially made, however after time this has passed and the tyre behaves and stops well and so far I have very little complaints, I'm sure if driven hard in either wet or cold conditions the tyre would reach limits quicker than the summer tyre normally fitted would, however in the very cold the tyre does seem to grip well with very little wheel spin on acceleration.
It could be all in my head, but i do feel as if the behaviour of the tyres also improves with colder weather, an example been that traction and road holding on cambered roads and rounder-bouts seems better when the temperature is bellow 7 degrees than it would be approaching 10 degrees. I would like to think that come snow I should be in a better position commuting on these tyres than I would be on the Bridgestone S001 summer tyres usually fitted and so far have yet to see any characteristics of this tyre that come across as unsafe, unpredictable or scary.
That's not to say I would necessarily drive this car with these tyres on winter roads the same way I would with UHP tyres in good summer weather.

Mercedes Viano rear wheel drive Vs 4X4 in the snow no contest Merc wins every time.
These tryres have allowed the rear wheel drive people carrier to drive on roads up hill when a Range Rover and a Land rover got stuck!! I just pulled passed them nd carried on.

Instant difference to car handling, much much better than stock Michelin tyres that where on from new! Much reduced road noise, much better grip in dry and wet conditions than other reviewers had given. I was initially a little sceptical, but really unjustified. A very competent tyre in all settings.

Done 3.5k miles in them now and its a joy to drive the car with them on. You can get very leary in them and you know where you stand and what will happen if you push too far, there are no surprises with these tyres. Done long motorway journeys in them and well as short hops between local villages. Its going to be hard to replace them with as comfortable summer tyres with the same attributes.

Well, first impressions from pair new WR A4s' on my 2007 BMW X3. Brought the tyres about 3 months ago-10000 km already. Pretty quiet for a winter tyre. Stability in dry condition up to 200 km/h - car cant achieve higher top speed. Stability of course, easy to control the car and no surprises in torrential rain on highway up to 160 km/h on autopilot. I was affraid to put the pedal to the metal. Stabile in snow up to100 km/h. May be xdrive helps, i dont know. Autobild said, that there is a understeer in snow. Thats true . I think that is the only drowback. It is written that were made in Finland. After this pair is gone, i think that will buy again a new one.