New stud technology provides a naturally safe performance in the worst winter conditions

Colchester, VT - Nokian Tyres today announced its newest flagship product, the Nokian Hakkapeliitta 9 for passenger cars and Nokian Hakkapeliitta 9 SUV, which will be available fall 2017. Nokian Tyres’ most advanced winter tire, the Nokian Hakkapeliitta 9 showcases the new adaptive Nokian Tyres Functional Stud Concept, which features two designs of studs on the tire for use during specific driving conditions, such as braking or accelerating and cornering, ensuring optimal traction in all winter conditions.

The new-generation studded Nokian Hakkapeliitta 9 provides excellent longitudinal and lateral grip on icy and snowy driving surfaces, and behaves in a controlled and logical manner. Nokian Tyres’ new tread pattern offers stable bare-road handling, a comfortably silent ride and rolls lighter than previous Hakkapeliitta generations resulting in improved fuel economy.

“As we’ve seen during the past few months, the snow and ice of winter results in dangerous driving conditions on the roads,” said Tommi Heinonen, president of Nokian Tyres North America. “Leveraging 80 years and millions of miles driven on Hakkapeliittas, our team developed the safest, most comfortable winter tire that we can’t wait to bring to drivers throughout North America.”

Nokian Hakkapeliitta 9 features new functional stud technology, tread pattern, tire structure, and rubber compound

The Nokian Hakkapeliitta 9, developed over four years and countless miles of testing, was fine-tuned to master extreme conditions at Nokian Tyres’ White Hell testing center located north of the Arctic Circle in Ivalo, Finland.

“One of our starting points was to develop a completely new studded tire that combines balanced longitudinal and lateral grip with eco-friendliness,” said Juha Pirhonen, vice president of research and development, Nokian Tyres. “Unique to the Nokian Hakkapeliitta 9, the new stud technology features a dedicated, tailored stud for the center of the tread and a separate stud for the shoulder areas.”

The studs in the center area maximize reliable longitudinal grip during acceleration and braking; the tire is supported by the optimal shape of the studs’ body, lower flange and hard metal center. The longitudinally wide hard metal pin on the center studs offers a maximum grip surface, enabling the best possible longitudinal grip.

“The upper part of the stud body is bevelled, which allows the stud to penetrate even deeper into the ice than before; this further improves braking grip and lateral grip,” said Pirhonen.

The shoulder studs have been designed to provide first-class lateral grip, which is especially important when cornering on slippery surfaces. The stud body and flange are different from the center studs, and the triaxial hard metal pin has been designed to effectively withstand lateral forces. When cornering, the studs will encounter maximal surface-area, which improves lateral grip. This technical innovation offers improved, precise handling under slippery conditions.

In an effort to produce safer, more eco-friendly tires, Nokian Tyres developed the Eco Stud 9 concept for use in the Nokian Hakkapeliitta 9. The Eco Stud 9 concept is incorporated into both the center rib and shoulder studs to reduce road wear and ensure a quiet ride. The technology consists of an Eco Stud cushion to dampen road contact, an air space in the middle of the lower flange for reduced stud impact and bevelled hard metal tips to distribute the stud’s impact force across a wider area.

Designed to perform on all road conditions

In addition to reliable ice grip, the Nokian Hakkapeliitta 9 performs on snowy and dry roads. The tread pattern is heavily grooved with Self-locking 3D sipes allowing the tire to respond quickly and sensitively to steering for improved handling. The self-locking sipes lock the tread blocks firmly together on road contact, which results in fluent driving during cornering and evasions.

Dense siping combined with Snow Grip Boosters on both sides of the middle blocks in the center of the tread provides more sharp edges for improved snow grip in both the longitudinal and lateral directions. The aggressive Deep Snow Grooves on the shoulder areas provide additional grip when driving in deep snow.

The Nokian Hakkapeliitta 9 features a new type of eco-friendly winter tread compound providing impressive winter grip and durability. The new compound contains silica, canola oil for improved tear resistance, natural rubber and the new Green Elasto Proof biomaterial that keeps the compound elastic at low temperatures. The strong and durable chemical bonds allow the tread compound to offer the best possible grip year after year, even as the miles add up.

With a large amount of winter driving taking place on bare roads, Nokian Tyres fitted the Nokian Hakkapeliitta 9 with its stability support network tread pattern, where the tread support network is rigid and unified at the bottom of the pattern getting more grooves and sipes where the rubber meets the road.

The strong Ultra High Tensile Steel belt structure makes the structure light but hard, providing precise handling even at higher speeds. The sturdy structure also helps prevent punctures and the new special Clinch rubber compound in the bead area improves driving comfort and durability.

The Nokian Hakkapeliitta 9 features Nokian Tyres’ patented Driving Safety Indicator to indicate remaining tread and the snowflake symbol or Winter Safety Indicator to indicate when it is recommended to replace tires.

Sizing and specifications

The Nokian Hakkapeliitta 9 is designed for small family cars and sporty vehicles alike, and covers 52 sizes from 14 to 20 inches. Most are marked XL for the highest possible load capacity in that particular size.

The Nokian Hakkapeliitta 9 SUV comes in 51 sizes from 16 to 21 inches and features The Aramid Sidewall technology, which uses aramid fibre, to optimize durability. The versatile selection also offers several products that employ Flat Run technology or that are marked XL for the highest possible load capacity.

About Nokian Tyres

Nokian Tyres is the world's northernmost tyre manufacturer. The company promotes and facilitates safe driving in demanding conditions. It supplies innovative tyres for cars, trucks and special heavy machinery mainly in areas with special challenges on tyre performance: snow, forests and harsh driving conditions in different seasons. Nokian Tyres’ product development is consistently aiming for sustainable solutions for safety and the environment, taking into account the whole life cycle of the tyre. A part of the Nokian Tyres group, the tyre chain Vianor has 1,475 outlets in 26 countries. In 2015, Nokian Tyres had approximately 4,400 employees and net sales of approximately $2.1 billion.

Further information:

Website: www.nokiantyres.com/Hakkapeliitta9

Hans Dyhrman, director of marketing, Nokian Tyres North America
[email protected]
www.nokiantires.com
Nokian Tyres, Inc. / Nokian Tyres Canada Inc.
P.O. Box 623
Essex Junction, VT 05453
1-800-565-2525