Winter Tires: Hakkapeliitta R2 vs. Generals

Mrs. Clarty's new (to us) Ford Flex needs some snow tires. I have General Altimax Arctics on my Mercedes, and they're great. But the man at Discount Tires says he can get Hakkapeliitta R2s for a hundred bucks more.

Is it worth the extra dough? From what I've gathered, the Generals are well-regarded by the GRM folks, but it seems most people think the Hakkas are a little better.

Thanks.

Sounds like the man is overcharging for Generals if he can get you Hakks for $100 more.

The Hakks will be a bit better, being a newer design, the General is actually a Gislaved Nordfrost something or other, Swedish competitor to whatever Nokian was putting out 5-10 years ago.

hakkas are the best in the world. Generals will still get the job done 95% percent of the time. Also it's a Flex, not a rallycross car or car that will be ice racing, so the softer sidewall of the general won't be a handicap

I can't comment on how either tire is (they aren't here yet), but I could either get Generals for $80 or Hakka R2s for $160 on my Miata for Rallycross. I decided that there was no way the Nokian was twice the tire for my uses, no matter how amazing.

If studs aren't a problem where you are, consider the Hakka 8 though. The Nokian rep stated the following: "The structural and tread hardness, and the stiffness of the sidewalls of the Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2 and 8 are pretty equal." They're $10 more.

This reminds me, buy your winter tires online, most of the shops gouge snow tires. Also, Tirerack now includes their 2 year road hazard warranty free of charge on all passenger car tires. Though if you choose to pick them up from the South Bend warehouse/shop, I'd have them mounted elsewhere, they do good work, but SLOW, I think they do the online order tire/wheel processing on the same equipment, took us like 4 hours in the line to get tires mounted to 8 wheels in the back of a van.

I have the Hakka R2's, just put them on. They work well, but if the Generals had been made in the size I needed, I would've bought them instead.

Will 215/64-17s work on a car with a standard size of 235/60-17?

Provided you mean 215/65-17, then they should fit fine . The speedometer will only be off by 0.3% according to a tire calculator I used. Besides, it is better to use a narrower, higher-profile tire when buying snow tires.

No, I'm looking for a set of Norwegian Hakkapeloogiees in the 64% aspect ratio for my '79 SAAB 900!

I meant 65. The man at Tirerack made me wonder if I was on the wrong track. They recommend against it because they can't guarantee they'll, and I quote, "operate as designed."

In reply to Clarty:

Standard operating practice on winters is to go -1.

My Golf runs 205/55/16 and winters run a 195/65/15. You should keep the diameter within 3%, but personally I aim for +-1% on diameter. Use the Miata tire calc off the net to check.

In reply to NGTD:

I did likewise with my Golf, and my main reason was cost. The Ford, however, has expensive TPMS sensors and we figure we'll just swap tires for now, so keeping the 17" size.