Summer Report On Winter Tires: Nokian WRG3

[Lyon]

Unfortunately, yes. How much is still up in the air. This was surprising to me because Nokian has been exceptionally good with rolling resistance. Note: this is from 19" to 19".

Okay, good to know. I will keep an eye on it but the 21" penalty is pretty high so I'm still expecting some improvement.

 

[Lyon]

Installed today. Short drive from the tire place to the office but they seemed fine. Definitely a shorter ride over the 21".

 

[ilovemycoffee]

very nice! We still need a car first, then i'll see about new tires

 

[Super_Popular]

I have a set of 21" Pirelli winter tires I bought from Tesla last year that I barely used if any one is interested. I paid $1900. I am located in Portland.

 

[MrPinrel]

(LMB spouse)

There's been a lot of debate about winter tires on this forum. Many think the Nokian Hakka R2 is the best no-compromise snow tire, but of course it's not suitable for warm weather.

LMB and I live in south suburban Boston where the roads are usually cleared within 24 hours following a snowstorm. After reading all the discussions last year, we decided to replace the stock (early 2013 S85) 19 inch Goodyears with Nokian WRG3 so-called all weather tires. Our hope was that we could run these year round with reasonable performance in snow, rain, and hot weather.

We had the Watertown service center install these at the beginning of January (thanks Mat). Two weeks later, it started snowing and didn't stop much, setting a season record of 119 inches. The tires performed very well in varying snow conditions, including a day trip to New York city with heavy snow both ways. The only winter condition we didn't experience was glare ice, and performance was very good otherwise.

This spring, we did some driving in heavy rain with standing water and again, performance was very good, much better than the stock Goodyears.

Dry handling is also much better than the Goodyears (probably not saying much), with very little squirm during hard cornering. We do keep the tires at 48 psi except during multi-day hot weather road trips so this may be helping a bit.

Road noise is quiet on good surfaces, moderate on rough ones. So far we have about 10,000 miles on the tires and tread depth is down less than 1.5 millimeter (they've been rotated once). There has been no obvious loss of range on long trips either, suggesting that rolling resistance is pretty good.

To this point, the tires have lived up to our most optimistic expectations. We'll see how they do over several years, but I would highly recommend them for owners that need good but not ultimate winter performance in a year-round tire and don't want to have two sets of tires and rims.

LMB, curious as to how things are going with the WRG3s and if you are still happy with them during winter. I am in Kansas City and planning on putting WRG3s on as year-around tires when the original ones wear out.

thanks for any updates

Marcos

 

[jerry33]

LMB, curious as to how things are going with the WRG3s and if you are still happy with them during winter. I am in Kansas City and planning on putting WRG3s on as year-around tires when the original ones wear out.

The WR-g3 don't get as good a Wh/mi as the Primacies, other than that there's no problem with year round use.

 

[AWDtsla]

The WR-g3 don't get as good a Wh/mi as the Primacies, other than that there's no problem with year round use.

How about noise? The primacies are so quiet, I'm afraid to change it.

 

[jerry33]

How about noise? The primacies are so quiet, I'm afraid to change it.

Seems about the same to me. However my previous experience with WR series tires is that they get noisier as tread depth approaches zero, more so than the Primacies.

 

[MrPinrel]

The WR-g3 don't get as good a Wh/mi as the Primacies, other than that there's no problem with year round use.

Jerry, could you venture a guess as to the amount of range lost with the Nokians? less than 5%?

 

[jerry33]

Jerry, could you venture a guess as to the amount of range lost with the Nokians? less than 5%?

It's hard to estimate the value for just the tires because the temperatures are lower and there has been rain. Combined I'm down about 12% from the Primacies in summer. I'd think no more than half of that would be due to the tires. Interestingly, previous WR series tires had better efficiency than the Michelins. I attribute the difference to the 250 km/hr speed limit.

 

[MrPinrel]

It's hard to estimate the value for just the tires because the temperatures are lower and there has been rain. Combined I'm down about 12% from the Primacies in summer. I'd think no more than half of that would be due to the tires. Interestingly, previous WR series tires had better efficiency than the Michelins. I attribute the difference to the 250 km/hr speed limit.

thanks. could you let us know if you get a chance to use them in the snow and whether the difference is enough to warrant the decrease in efficiency?

 

[ilovemycoffee]

thanks. could you let us know if you get a chance to use them in the snow and whether the difference is enough to warrant the decrease in efficiency?

Lyon has driven in the snow with the Nokians: Snowy drive over Hwy 58

We have not driven in snow, but found the tires to perform very well in heavy rain.

 

[jerry33]

thanks. could you let us know if you get a chance to use them in the snow and whether the difference is enough to warrant the decrease in efficiency?

I used them in snow and ice last winter. They are equal to or better than all but the best snow tires.

 

[Super_Popular]

Anyone have an suggestions on a 21" staggered set up?, besides Pirelli?

 

[jerry33]

Anyone have an suggestions on a 21" staggered set up?, besides Pirelli?

The best recommendation is to get a set of 19" wheels for the winter. This will save your summer wheels from salt and pothole damage.

 

[Super_Popular]

The best recommendation is to get a set of 19" wheels for the winter. This will save your summer wheels from salt and pothole damage.

Uggggg....I know I just hate the look of the 19"

 

[jerry33]

Uggggg....I know I just hate the look of the 19"

They're going to be dirty with winter muck anyway, no one looks. (actually I like the 19" look far better than the 21")

 

[f-stop]

bumping this thread from last year... wondering if those of you including the OP who previously reported here running Nokian WRG3 on their Model S year-round can offer any update now that we're well into another summer's driving. Specifically interested in hearing estimated impact on range in non-winter weather compared to the OEM Michelin MXM, as well as any other update on experience with them.

we did put a set of WRG3-SUV on our CR-V last fall and like them, but I notice those have a different tread pattern than the non-SUV variant, so not really directly comparable. In any case, we're driving that car much less these days, choosing to drive the S mostly instead. Thinking ahead about winter tire/wheels for the Model S, one option in mind is WRG3 on the stock 19" wheels all year - or buy another set of wheels w/ dedicated winter tires (I'm used to doing seasonal tire swap myself).

 

[jerry33]

we did put a set of WRG3-SUV on our CR-V last fall and like them, but I notice those have a different tread pattern than the non-SUV variant, so not really directly comparable. In any case, we're driving that car much less these days, choosing to drive the S mostly instead. Thinking ahead about winter tire/wheels for the Model S, one option in mind is WRG3 on the stock 19" wheels all year - or buy another set of wheels w/ dedicated winter tires (I'm used to doing seasonal tire swap myself).

I bought a second set of wheels. The main reason is that winter wheels get beaten up pretty badly--especially in areas that salt heavily.

 

[jon1478]

bumping this thread from last year... wondering if those of you including the OP who previously reported here running Nokian WRG3 on their Model S year-round can offer any update now that we're well into another summer's driving. Specifically interested in hearing estimated impact on range in non-winter weather compared to the OEM Michelin MXM, as well as any other update on experience with them.

we did put a set of WRG3-SUV on our CR-V last fall and like them, but I notice those have a different tread pattern than the non-SUV variant, so not really directly comparable. In any case, we're driving that car much less these days, choosing to drive the S mostly instead. Thinking ahead about winter tire/wheels for the Model S, one option in mind is WRG3 on the stock 19" wheels all year - or buy another set of wheels w/ dedicated winter tires (I'm used to doing seasonal tire swap myself).

I live in the PNW and bought these tires. I only really got to use them last winter for 2 mild snows. During the summer, I really liked them; however, I am not pleased with their wet traction (especially during cornering and acceleration -- it is very easy to slide). I would also venture to say their braking distance isn't amazing either, especially on wet road (again the car slides when hard braking). I used to have a camry hybrid with hankook 727s on it. I went around turns soo quick and confidently with those tires. Too bad they don't come in 19 inches -- man do I miss those tires. I have to drive much slower and my confidence level is much lower with these WRG3's. Consumer reports rated the 727's as an all season with better performance in snow than many of the snow tires. I thought I was getting a similar (if not better) product with the WRG3's; however, it is not the case.