J Meaden

I'm about to get Gislaved Snow tires. I would like any comments that onwers have of this brand.<p>Thanks.

Ray Calvo

had them on old Coupe Quattro; very good winter tires

LarryS

With 4 Gislaved snow tires the Volvo drove like a 4 wheel drive in snow

CLL

Perform and wear well on BMW. Had them studded because of RWD.

Greg Slater

When I was doing my snow tire research last week, I ran across a posting on one of the newsgroups that dealt with the results of a snow tire comparison in some Scandinavian car magazine or something. The poster included a summary of the results, and I've included them here. I think several of these tires are only available in Europe. The poster also indicated that the big surprise was that the Gislaveds finished slightly ahead of the Nokians for the first time. According to the author, usually it's Nokian #1 and Gislaved #2. In either case, they're both supposed to be very good snow tires. I looked at the Gislaveds, but went with the Nokians because the Nokian tread pattern looked like it would handle slush much better, and that's a frequent condition here in the Pacific NW.<p>Here's the text from the post:<p><br> Studded tires:<p> Gislaved NordFrost II (9.0/10pts)<br> +Traction on snow & ice<br> +Drivability/predictability/handling<br> -Noise<br> -Traction on slush<p> Nokian Hakkapeliitta 1 (8.6/10)<br> +Traction on slush<br> +Handling on snow and ice<br> -Slight nervousness<p> Continental Viking Stopp 4000 (8.4/10)<br> +Predictability on snow and ice<br> +Fairly good traction on snow and ice<br> -Noise<br> -Slight nervousness on icy main roads<p> GoodYear Ultra Grip 400 (8.2/10)<br> +Drivability on main roads<br> +Traction on ice<br> -Handling on ice<br> -Braking on snow<p> Michelin Ivalo (7.9/10)<br> +Lateral traction on ice<br> +Handling on snow<br> -Handling on ice<p> Pirelli Winter 160 Direzionale-S (6.7/10)<br> +Fairly good longitudinal traction on ice<br> -Traction on snow<br> -Handling on snow and ice<br> -Drivability on main roads<p> Non-studded tires:<p> Nokian Hakkapeliitta Q (8.3/10)<br> +Traction on snow<br> +Handling on snow<br> -Traction on ice (in some situations)<p> Continental Conti Contact (7.8/10)<br> +Handling on ice and snow<br> +Drivability on main roads<br> -Traction on ice (in some situations)<p> Micelin Maxi-Ice (7.6/10)<br> +Predictability<br> +Quiet<br> -Understeer on ice<p> Bridgestone Blizzak MZ02 (7.5/10)<br> +Quiet<br> +Stability<br> -Traction and handling in slush<br> -Unpredictability<p> Falken Espia-02 (5.8/10)<br> +Drivability on main roads<br> -Poor handling on snow and ice<br> -Traction on ice<p> Pirelli Winter Ice (5.5/10)<br> +Braking on snow<br> -Very poor traction on ice<br> -Poor handling on ice<br> -Stability<p>

Doug

Great traction but too much noise; also the noise is a wierd pitch that made me feel queasy (like vertigo).<p>I swapped for some Michelin Arctic Alpin and am very happy. Less noise, better on dry pavement and in the rain. As good as the Gislaveds in the snow. <p>By the way, I am talking about unstudded Gislaved Nord Frost II. I am sure that studded Gislaveds will be much better in snow and ice than my Michleins (studless).<p>The Gislaveds are in my garage now in search of a home. Less than 2 months (last winter) of wear. Located in Detroit. <br>185 X 65 X 15" (originally on a Saab) A little small for the A-4 but not by much. <p>I am driving a '98 Front Wheel Drive V6 Passat; 5 Speed manual trans.<p>-Doug

ErikR

It is remarkable how subjective this topic is. The Automobile test gave the Conti Contact a WORSE score than the all season TA, and the Haka a complete pan for actual g's and braking distances, except that is felt good. The last Consumers actually gave a fairly good snow tire test, too.

Joe M

Our family has always had the studded Gislaved Nordfrost II on all our cars, I was the first one to change the trend to the Nokian Hakka Q. Im not pleased with them at all, and think the Nordfrosts would have been better. The studless Nokians are way to sloppy and i dont like the way my A4 handles with them. They are dead silent though... The Nordfrosts are NOT!<p>The Nordfrosts are the best studded winter tires IMHO, they have been market leaders in Scandinavia for some time now. The Nokian Hakka 1 are almost as good I think. <br>As for studless tires, Id recommend the Gislaved Softfrost or the Nokian Qs (even though Im not pleased with them, they are rated #1 in many tests, thats why I bought them).<p>I saw someone below saying it was a surprise that tires were subjectively tested. That is right, but also a tire that excels in Scandinavian climates and roads, may very well suck in parts of the US, which has a different climate. The companies also have different rubber comounds for different markets, so the tires are NOT the same all over the world.<p>Mail me if you want more opinions...<p>Joe M<br>98 A4 Avant T