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Tuesday we had the biggest snowfall of this season with about 6" of snow. It was the first real snow that my new Hakka R2s had experienced and they did not disappoint!!!
Since I started to own SAABs 30 some years ago, I've always used Hakkas. Now with a stage 4 Viggen, good snow tires are more important than ever. My winters are 17" with a 225 aspect ratio....I know, not skinny enough but I find this a good balance between snow covered and dry roads given the Viggen's power. SAABs, the Viggen included are amazing winter cars and there's nothing better than driving a snow covered, winding little secondary road!!
So what's so amazing about the R2s? Grip, noise (or lack there of), and ride.
On the grip side of things, they are almost as good as my Michelin Pilot Super Sports on dry roads. Pretty difficult to light up the tires unintentionally. Rain is amazing. However, according to many studies, I believe that when really pushed the summer tires will do much better on dry or wet roads so I drive accordingly. Things really get uncanny in the snow, or even more so on ice. After the fist big snow fall I always take my car out to a virgin parking lot to relearn it's handling. The Hakka R2s have plenty of traction but, as expected, do break loose in panic stops, severe cornering or acceleration. Still, their grip is much better than I've ever experienced. On ice, they behave as if they had studs...truly amazing!! I have driven cars with many other snow tires and Gislaved or Blizzaks (only brand new) come a bit close in grip.
Noise....there is none! No whoop-whoop-whooop- that's usually associated with snow tires....none!!!
Ride is very smooth and road imperfections are transmitted appropriately. Now I may not be the best judge here as my summers are 18" and I like to feel the road.
The not so good, as with all snow tires, the R2s do exhibit a bit of the squishy handling that takes some getting used to. My summer 18s feel extremely direct....you move the wheel a bit and the car changes direction. The R2s are a bit vague but not as bad as I've experienced with other snow tires.
The other not so good is price, but I do believe you get what you pay for and I subscribe to the idea that tires are the most important performance part on a car. Besides, I don't want to get my Viggen all messed up!! Unfortunately I have to share the roads with other drivers who don't feel the same way. I look forward to the day that Ontario mandates snow tires! My biggest concern is the large number of people driving high performance cars (BMWs, Porsches and especially Audis come to mined) with performance summer tires, because they lease the car and can't/won't afford snow tires.
Wishing everyone safe and happy winter driving!!!
posted by 69.157.114...
, Sat, 30 Nov 2013 05:32:02
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