On December 5, 2014 I had decided to upgrade my Gislaved NordFrost5 studded tires to the new Nokian Hakkapeliitta 8 studded version.
Test car is a 2010 Honda Fit Sport 5 speed manual running on a downsized base car version of 175/65/15 tires versus the stock 185/55/16. I chose the 15 inch version based on lower cost per tire as well as the extra height of the rubber (65 profile) to absorb those nasty Quebec potholes better. Keep in mind that the Honda Fit is an extremely light vehicle weighing in at a mere 1122 kg in the manual version.
I have currently done 1369 hard driven kilometers on the Hakkas. The kilometers were mixed roughly 50/50 city/highway.
The Nokian Hakkapeliitta 8 studded were rated the best among all winter tires in 2014. Please keep in mind that my comparison tires are the Gislaved NordFrost5 studded tires previously on the same car. The Gislaveds were rated in the top 15 out of roughly 60 winter tires.
The Nokian Hakkapeliitta 8's are incredibly stable at highway speeds, the Gislaveds were good as well but we are at whole new level in handling and driving comfort. In town, with the Gislaveds the Fit would jump around like a Yak over uneven city roads, with the Hakkas those road abnormalities are absorbed better.
Cornering with the Hakkapeliitta 8's is very good as well (in the cold), almost as good as my summer tires.
Another very surprising aspect is how quiet they are for a studded tire compared to my previous studded tire. Steering and body vibration is kept to a minimum versus the Gislaveds even though the Nokians have an insane amount of studs (see pictures below) versus the competition.
The reason the stud itself is placed slightly deeper in the tire and uses the cushion Eco Stud system.
Deep snow traction is also vastly superior to the previous tire, although I don't see much difference between the tires as far as ice traction is concerned.
In conclusion if you have a need for speed in the winter, get them. If you want better handling with no spongy feeling like the Yoko IG series get them.
Yes they sell at a premium but now I know the reason why. Like with most things in life you get what you pay for. For me it's Nokians for winter forever.
For more technical information on Nokian Hakkapeliitta 8 tires follow this link: http://www.nokiantires.com/winter-tires/nokian-hakkapeliitta-8/
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