Nokian Vatiiva H/T OR HT SUV

[skiwindjunkie]

Question on tires. P265/70R/16. I have a 2003 SR5 V6. I was running Nokian WRG2 year round. They started to not be so good in the second winter season. So I bought a pair of Nokian Hakkapeliitta 5 SUV for this winter. I was going to run my WRG2's for a summer but they are massively loud now on their second summer. They were good on the first year but as they normally wore they sounded like a burly tire. I can trade these in so I am wanting to get a dedicated summer tire. I do some highway road trips under load in spring/wet conditions as well as sandy back roads. My ideal summer tire is quiet and good at preventing hydroplaning. So what do you think would be better? The Vatiiva H/T or the new HT SUV. The first is made by cooper and the new one is made by Nokian in Finland. I know there are other tires out there that may be better..like Michelin l/x etc but I am a Nokian fan. Any thoughts? I am steering towards the HT SUV.

 

[M1911]

My only experience with Nokians was Hakkapeliitta snow tires on my 4Runner. They were awesome the first couple seasons, but then got worse and the noise was ridiculous, so I got rid of them this spring.

For summer tires, I've been running Michelin CrossTerrains and had great luck with them. These are road tires -- not aggressive offroad tires at all. Great on the beach, but not what you would take offroad otherwise. Not cheap, but I've put at least 50k on mine so far.

The CrossTerrain has been superseded, I think by the Latitude Tour.

 

[skiwindjunkie]

Thanks so much! I do think the Latitude Tour might be the best tire in the long run for my needs. However, my trade in cost for a new pair of Nokian SUV HT are worth trying it. I don't really care if my Hakka snows get loud with wear b/c they rip but my summers are more important. I will give the Nokians a try and if they fail then I will anti up for the Latitude Tour. I will post when I know how the Nokians SUV HT did. Thanks again

 

[CJ3Flyr]

The Latitude tour doesn't get the warmest reception at tirerack.com. I'd consider the LTX M/S2 or the Toyo H/T as an alternative.

 

[skiwindjunkie]

Thanks Chris!
I certainly will. The Tours said that the treads wear super fast. So I will look into those you suggested as well.

 

[CJ3Flyr]

Thanks Chris!
I certainly will. The Tours said that the treads wear super fast. So I will look into those you suggested as well.

I'm running the Toyo H/T's in a P265/70/17 now. They are hard to fault for what they are... They are quiet, amazing in the rain, the ride is very smooth yet the sidewalls don't fell 'sloppy' in the turns. For a street tire they seem hard to beat so far.