New Winter Tyres from Nokian

Nokian Tyres has developed a number of new products for the fast growing European winter tyre market. These tyres have been produced with Central European driving conditions in mind and therefore their design and construction features place maximised safety especially in winter conditions as their number one priority.

New legislation and improving economic conditions in Eastern Europe have been two of the main factors behind the rise of the winter tyre market, a market in which about 67 million passenger car winter tyres were sold in 2006, some 12% more than the previous year.

During the last decade here has been much talk about extremes in weather conditions becoming ever more the norm in Europe, and Nokian have responded to these apparent changes by developing the high-performance Nokian WR passenger car tyre. In slush conditions the company reports that the tyre’s unique features – namely its slush edge, asymmetrical tread design and polished grooves – enable it to have a ten per cent greater slush removal efficacy than its competitors.
Nokian claims these superior slush handling properties have not come at the expense of other safety and handling properties, and they assert that the tyre’s performance on snowy roads and bare asphalt is ‘excellent’, even at high speeds. In wet conditions grip is also reportedly good and stopping precise.

The new WR range should be available in a range of sizes from autumn 2007 onwards.

Drivers of commercial vehicles can also look forward to new offerings from Nokian – the WR C Van and WR C Cargo tyres. The van version has an asymmetrical tread pattern and is best suited to minibuses and light deliveries. The cargo model has an arrow-shaped pattern with a block structure and is intended for use on fleets delivering heavy materials and items.

Winter grip, driving stability and durability were the main design priorities when developing the new C tyres. Nokian reports that driving comfort and silence are particularly noticeable in the van version designed for use on light fleets.

Like the WR passenger tyre the WR C tyres are developed for use on commercial vehicles driven in conditions such as those experienced in Central Europe. Retail sales will begin in the autumn of 2007.