Mar 2012: Two Nokian Tyres Achieve Top Position in German Tyre Tests
Two of the summer tyre products manufactured and marketed by Finnish tyre major, Nokian, have acquired top position in two separate tyres tests carried out by Germany based magazines.
The Details
The tyres under question are summer products - the Nokian Z G2 and the Nokian H. The former was adjudged the best tyre in a test conducted by “Gute Fahrt”, the German Volkswagen and Audi specialist magazine. The Nokian H, on the other hand, took the top honours in a test conducted by German specialist magazine – “the Auto Zeitung”.
The Gute Fahrt Tyre test
The Gute Fahrt tested summer tyres on a variety of parameters like braking on wet surface, rolling resistance etc. A total of six tyres in the size 225/45 R17W were evaluated and in this group, the Nokian Z G2 was accorded the top honour.
The top honour comes in the form of the highest ‘very good’ rating that the magazine has conferred on this tyre. The tyre additionally received a Gute Fahrt recommendation and was particularly appreciated by the magazine for its exemplary focus on safety parameters.
A Word From Gute Fahrt
Gute Fahrt was all praises for the Nokian Z G2 tyres. The magazine said that tyre offers excellent handling characteristics and superior wet grip.
The safety features are further driven home by the fact that this tyre attained the best braking score in the group. The test results revealed that the Z G2 provides the lowest rolling resistance, almost 22% less than the tyre that performed worst on this particular parameter.
This figure, Gute Fahrt mentioned, means that the Z G2 can save up to half a litre of fuel per 100 kilometres driven as compared to the worst performing tyre. The only suggestion that the magazine had to make for the tyre was that the longitudinal aquaplaning characteristics could be improved.
Incidentally, this is the first time any Nokian tyre has made it to top honour list in the Gute Fahrt test.
The Auto Zeitung Test
The Auto Zeitung summer tyre test evaluated a total of 8 tyres in the size 185/60 R 15H. This included 7 premium and one budget tyre. The Nokian H tyres came up trumps in this test. Auto Zeitung was all praises for the Nokian H, saying that it deserved every bit of its victory.
The magazine particularly praised the tyre’s performance on wet as well as dry surface. According to Auto Zeitung, the Nokian H on wet as well as dry roads provides excellent grip, good braking response and superior handling. The tyre outperformed the other brands in the rolling resistance test too.
About Nokian Tyres
Nokian Tyres is a Finland based tyre manufacturing company headquartered in Nokia, Finland. The company produces tyres for a wide range of vehicles including cars, buses, trucks and heavy duty equipment.
The company produces summer and winter tyres, but is well known for its winter tyres. Nokian Tyres focus only on the vehicle tyre replacement market and the premium snow tyre market and do not supply original equipment to automotive manufacturers.