Tyre: Nokian Vatiiva, 265/70/r17
Vehicle: 2003 v6 LTD.
http://www.nokiantires.com/newsite/t...m?cid=2&sid=14
Price: approx $195 Cdn/ea.
100K km tread warranty,
free flats,road hazard, balancing,rotation.
My recent purchase of a used '03 4Runner came with 2 front dunlops (oem) and 2 brand new, rear Revos. They were stock sized at 265/65/r17.
I decided to 'up size' my tires for that little extra ground clearance, and to match all the tires. I replaced all 4 main tires with vatiivas, and the spare with a cheap used 'wrangler' of the same size.
Dry condition/Driving impression: 1 factor to consider is that an upsized tire will not drive quite the same as the smaller tire. That said, I have found that the ride is slightly worse overall in city conditions. Specifically, going through the same tight corner at the same speed, the new tires "squirm" a bit just past the apex of the turn. In addition, we have terrible roads in this city. I find that the new tires are just a bit harsher, but not by much.
Wet performance: by no means did I 'push' the envelope, but as far as I could tell, the nokians perform very well, but not noticably worse or better then with the Revos. According to a relative who has a lifetime of experience in the tire business, he thinks the Vatiiva will be excellent in wet conditions (he thinks the same of the revo).
Mud: by this I mean just a slick top layer on hardpack. Both tires were acceptable, but the test was limited.
Snow conditions: The revos seemed good in the snow (in 2wd mode). However, there is a clear advantage for the Vatiiva. Testing in the same snow covered parking lot, I felt I could get further before getting stuck.
Ice: the Vatiivas seem to have a clear ice advantage as well. They perform better then the Revo (in my limited trials). They absolutely embarass the Michelin LTX ATs I had on a previous vehicle.
Speaking of the LTX AT - this was a solid tire that I ran for approx 100K km on my 99 Ranger. The tires hardly wore down. They are great for highway, but not so great for ice/wet. They work well in deeper snow/mud, I think it is because of all the tires mentioned the LTX had the greatest "shoulders" around the edges. They also handily beat the original firestones I had (prior to the recall). The LTX also really excelled for gravel road handling...I hope the Vatiivas do as well.
As the snow is disapearing fast, I was sure to get somewhat "stuck" this weekend in 4x4. Basically, as soon as the snow was too deep and solid, the truck started to high center. Sadly, that didn't take much! It also didn't impress my pregant wife who was riding shotgun. I can say that the Ranger would have cut through much deeper snow. I look forward to lifting the runner.
Conclusion: the new vatiiva seems to have performance where I consider it most important: wet/ice/snow. Those are my most important factors because I feel the most danger can come from those conditions. (highway speed, hit black ice, or risk of hydroplanning).
At this point I hope they perform on gravel roads, and can accomplish what I need from them in the off road. I wished they handled as "tight" as the previous setup, but that is city-only and I can overlook it. The increased harshness is not welcome, but liveable.
This review was still pretty scattered - if you have any other questions or comments, let me know.
J