Excellent performance; low noise
Got these tires just before a winter storm leading up to Christmas. I was sold on getting Nokians, but not sure whether to get studs or not. After getting advice from several dealers and also some Nokian reps, I went with the Nordman 7 studded instead of non studded 7's or R2's.
I've driven them on dry highway and country roads, dirt access and local roads with hard packed snow and ice, and paved roads in poor condition with snow and ice. These tires replaced Cooper Weathermaster winter tires without studs.
1. Noise. Surprisingly quiet! I only hear the studs at very slow speeds (10-15 mph or less). Once rolling well, there's noise, but doesn't seem like more than the Coopers had - just a different tone to it. It doesn't sound metallic as I'd been led to expect by most people.
2. Dry handling. Even at speed, the tires are very stable. Far more than the Coopers, and rivaling my all seasons. When experimenting with turns, I found the response to be very gradual rather than sudden (in a good way). The lateral stability is excellent. No wiggling back and forth in response to turns.
3. Ice/snow. Amazing - almost perfect even in terrible conditions with curving, steep roads. On a few occasions, there was a slight drift, but it neither began nor ended suddenly, so it didn't even bother me. I just felt complete confidence that car and tires wouldn't lose it. I found myself going much faster than I would have with the previous tires, and usually slowed down on general principle.
The dealer experience was excellent as well. I bought these from Vianor in Rutland, Vermont. They know the roads leading to the mountains, and they know tires. They had me out the door in well under an hour despite me arriving very early for an appointment that they managed to squeeze me into ahead of the storm.
I'm rolling these on a 99 Subaru Forester without traction control. I highly recommend this model tire
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