Nokian Vatiivas w/ pics

[Baba Booey]

I had a set of Nokian Vatiiva A/Ts installed this week. IMO, this is a "sleeper" tire that does not get the attention it deserves. Just about every review that I have been able to find on the web has been great (e.g. Tundra Solutions, BITOG, Jeeps Unlimited, etc.)

I paid $152 per tire (incl. mounting & balancing). The Nokian WRs may be a better choice, but the Vatiivas cost $50 per tire less than the WRs.

These Vatiivas were made in the U.S. under contract. Most other Nokians are made in Finland. I have owned two sets of Nokian winter tires, and they have been superb. I hope the Vatiivas are as good. The tires are heavily siped, and the siping extends the entire depth of the tread. They are supposedly great tires in winter weather.

The Vatiivas have a deeper tread depth and slightly higher load rating than the P-rated REVOs in the stock size (265/65/17). They also have a 60,000 mile warranty, although I'm not a big fan of tire warranties. The REVOs were $212 ($60 more) per tire at the same dealer.

Here are some pics:

 

[alaskaman]

I have heard very good things said about the Nokians....keep us up to date.....aka must be snowing somewhere but not in california.....

 

[mole177]

haha... what the hell is this "snow" people are talking about?

these tires don't have spikes? or you don't need them yet?

 

[Baba Booey]

haha... what the hell is this "snow" people are talking about?

these tires don't have spikes? or you don't need them yet?

When the time comes we break out the dog teams and stow the vehicles until spring.

 

[bowhunter53]

Those look great! I like the tread design. How about ride quality, noise?

 

[Baba Booey]

Those look great! I like the tread design. How about ride quality, noise?

I only have driven about 75 miles so far. I'm coming off OEM Bridgestone H/Ts that were fairly worn, and so it's a tough comparison to make. I would venture a guess that Toyota chooses OEM tires that provide a smooth, quiet ride for test drives, if not much else.

I would say that the ride is slightly "harsher", but definitely not unbearable. The road noise may be somewhat increased too, but again not bad at all. These have a deep, fairly aggressive tread design compared to the stock Bridgestones that were pretty smooth when I got rid of them, and so more noise is probably expected.

The tires handle well, and the steering response is noticably better than the H/Ts. Minor movements of the steering wheel are translated quickly to the road.

 

[J.A.]

Looks like a great choice and a nice alternative to revos and grapplers. I've had good experience w/ nokians in the past and did not know they make an a/t version.

What size did you go with? I took a look on their website and the LT275/70R17 C look nice with 17/32 tread depth. C rating would not be as harsh as E and more durable than p metric, whicle the 275/70 comes out at a true 32.1".

 

[Baba Booey]

Looks like a great choice and a nice alternative to revos and grapplers. I've had good experience w/ nokians in the past and did not know they make an a/t version.

What size did you go with? I took a look on their website and the LT275/70R17 C look nice with 17/32 tread depth. C rating would not be as harsh as E and more durable than p metric, whicle the 275/70 comes out at a true 32.1".

I went with the stock 265/65/17 size, which is a P-rated tire. The load rating is 112 and the tread depth is 14/32. The load rating for REVOs in the stock size is 110 and the tread depth is 13/32. I don't tow much other than a small aluminum row boat, and I don't do any hard-core stuff off road, and so the P-rated tire should work for me.

The Nokian WRs in the stock size have a load rating of "116XL", which Nokian says is an extended load range between a P-rated and LT tire. However, they are unidirectional, have a 50k mile warranty instead of 60k, and were $50 per tire more expensive than the Vatiivas.

They now have Vatiiva A/T, H/T and M/T tires.

 

[cknsls@adelphia]

Not trying to put a damper on anything

But, there was a recall on these tires. I am sure yours is most likely newer than the recall but you may want to check just to be sure....


NOKIAN VATIIVA - Campaign #06T022000
Summary: TIRES:TREAD/BELT
Defect:
CERTAIN NOKIAN TYRES' MODELS LISTED ABOVE MANUFACTURED BETWEEN AUGUST 6 AND AUGUST 19, 2006 (DOT SERIAL WEEKS 3206 AND 3306.) SOME OF THE SUBJECT TIRES MAY HAVE BEEN PRODUCED WITH NON-CONFORMING BELT WIRE COAT STOCK. IF PLACED IN SERVICE, THE SUBJECT TIRES MAY DEVELOP A BELT SEPARATION DUE TO A REDUCED ABILITY TO PREVENT CORROSION OF THE STEEL WIRES IN AN INSTANCE WHERE MOISTURE REACHES THE STEEL BELT.
Consequence:
A BELT SEPARATION COULD RESULT IN A VEHICLE CRASH.
Corrective action:
NOKIAN TYRES WILL NOTIFY OWNERS AND REPLACE THE DEFECTIVE TIRES FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN DURING OCTOBER 2006. OWNERS MAY CONTACT NOKIAN TYRES CUSTOMER SERVICE DEPARTMENT AT 800-565-2525.

 

[Baba Booey]

Thanks for the heads-up. I came across that recall notice on the web when I was searching for reviews. I forget the exact manufacturing date, but the tires I had installed had a 2007 code on them.

I didn't pay too much attention to the recall, especially because my tires were manufactured well after the recall date. I have a set of Nokian Hakkapaliitta (sp.?) snow tires that are coming up on their sixth year, and they are still very winter-road worthy.

 

[rook]

Originally posted by Baba Booey I didn't pay too much attention to the recall, especially because my tires were manufactured well after the recall date. I have a set of Nokian Hakkapaliitta (sp.?) snow tires that are coming up on their sixth year, and they are still very winter-road worthy.

Good choice of tires. Another member did a write up on Vatiivas last year and was happy with them. I bought a set of Hakka 5's for the winters here. Keep us posted on how they hold up.

The tread resembles the Revo and Geolandar patterns. Full siping is a good thing to have, especially as the tire wears, you have edges to bite in. Nokian seems to care about quality and the environment.

 

[MikeinCincy]

Is this tire an All Terrain tire? Or strictly a snow tire?

 

[Baba Booey]

According to Nokian it is an A/T tire. The info on their website says that it is based on their "WR" tire, which is what they call an "all-weather" tire. The WR is a four-season tire that receives the severe service (mountain/snowflake) emblem but is for year-round use and is more of a highway tire.

The Vatiiva has a 60,000 mile warranty and I believe a 500 or more treadwear rating (doesn't always mean much), which I think would be tough to get out of a dedicated snow tire.

My rig is mainly driven as the family battle wagon, and it sees limited off-road duty. I figured just about any decent tire would suffice during the warmer months, but I wanted what I thought would be a great winter tire because that's when a good tire can really make a difference when it comes to safety, IMO.

I have/had other Nokian snow tires, but I did not want to go through the hassle of dedicated snow tires on the 4Runner because of the TPMS pain in the a$$.

 

[rook]

Is this tire an All Terrain tire? Or strictly a snow tire?

Mike,
Take a look at the tread pattern of the revos and the vatiivas, they are VERY similar. That is what makes both tires good all terrain tires with a smooth quiet ride and enough bite for the occasional off roader. the Nokians have what is called "hakka-siping" which means the sipes go all the way through the tread and create more edges to grip the snow even as the tire wears. There is more siping in the vatiivas, which will perform better for you in the snow. Tiresbyweb.com sells them online at a competitive price with free shipping.

http://www.nokiantires.com/en/tire_vatiiva.aspx

REVO

 

[MikeinCincy]

Yea, you're right. They are very similar. I never even thought of the idea of getting that tire because when I did a search on Tirerack, I didn't even see them as an option for 265/65/17.

 

[jacal]

According to Nokian it is an A/T tire. The info on their website says that it is based on their "WR" tire, which is what they call an "all-weather" tire. The WR is a four-season tire that receives the severe service (mountain/snowflake) emblem but is for year-round use and is more of a highway tire.


because of the TPMS pain in the a$$.

I spoke with a Nokian representative about the Vatiiva and why it did not have the snowflake symbol. His reply was that they never sent it in for approval. They market it more as an AT and didn't think the snowflake approval was necessary. He offered that, in his opinion, it would have had NO trouble qualifying.


J

 

[blueleezard]

The used 2003 V8 Sport I acquired nearly three weeks ago [perfect in it's own right, as my sigline says!] came from the previous owner with Nokian Vatiiva tires, 265/65R17, almost new -- this was one of the reasons I chose this particular vehicle over others that were also available but had stock Dunlop rubber [very quiet and comfortable and very nice in Spring, Summer and Fall, but horrible in snow / ice, with no hope in Hell of being even close to Winter rated]. Previous experience: I had the snowflake Nokian WRs installed on the previous new 2003 V8 Sport I had a couple of years ago and was exceptionally pleased with their great performance especially in the unpredictable Winter conditions of the Canadian Rockies between Banff and Jasper. My hours on the road tell me that the Vatiivas do not seem quite as capable as the WRs in really nasty ice and snow, but are IMHO perfectly suited to most Winter conditions here in the foothills / mountains of SW Alberta, and so I have no plans to switch. Other members' comments on siping on this model are spot-on -- a superb design. Overall with this tire I am very pleased with comfort, traction, braking, handling, and quiet. So far.

 

[alaskaman]

nice post. Canadian Rockies....you da man.

 

[blueleezard]

Thanks -- not sure "I da man", but lemme tell ya, if you haven't driven the Icefields Highway between Banff and Jasper, you should. Not in the Summer when everyone in their 50-foot Runamuckas stops every three miles on the shoulder to "looka da bears, looka da bears!", but best in the Fall with crystal skies and long shadows, long after the public schools get back in and the traffic dies down to a dull roar and bumper to bumper is no longer a serious problem -- and the chances of deadly weather are still relatively low. It's undeniably a spectacularly beautiful place on our planet, and probably one of the last perfect two-lane drives in the heart of the wilds that is so beautiful it can even make a person from Kentucky fall down on their knees and cry, what with the sun and shadows and peaks and glaciers and majesty and all. It's true -- a friend from there who had never seen the Canadian Rockies did just that. She cried like a baby at 8:30 in the morning looking out over a glass-smooth Bow Lake with picture-perfect reflections and the giant waterfall roaring a couple of miles away off in the distance -- she was totally overwhelmed, standing next to creation, and all that. A long, long way from the Piggly-Wiggly. Makes having a T4R with perfectly-matched Nokians worth every penny.

 

[alaskaman]

I am there.....my GF from Nelson BC. i asked her once how if everything from Canada including the women and the scenery was that beautiful? her reply...

"who knew"?