Who is the second best tire in the Nordic market? Michelin X-Ice Snow vs Nokian Hakkapeliitta R3

Michelin X-Ice Snow vs Nokian Hakkapeliitta R3: From our previous comparison of Continental Viking Contact 7 vs Michelin X-Ice Snow/ Nokian Hakkapeliitta R3, the Continental Viking Contact 7 was outstanding against both tires hence ultimately claiming the winner spot for the best Nordic tire. However one question still remains, who is the second best tire in the Nordic segment? The X-Ice Snow was recently launch in 2020, while the Hakkapeliitta R3 was introduced in 2018. So the Hakkapeliitta R3 is 2 years older than the X-Ice Snow. We will use the test magazine results of 2020 Vi Bilagare Nordic Friction Winter Tire Test as our basis for comparison.

The graph above shows the comparison between Michelin X-Ice Snow vs Nokian Hakkapeliitta R3 based on the relevant performance category. The X-Ice Snow was set as a reference hence at the 100% mark. Note that for handling evaluation, we equate 1 point as 5%. Hence for example if the tire A is graded 4 while tire B is graded 3, A is better than B by 5%. The natural scaling does not really make sense in evaluation whereby the max number is 5. The tire size chosen for the test is a 205/60R16 which is commonly used by Mazda 3 and Ford Focus.

Ice

Ice forms a key requirement when it comes to driving in a Nordic country during winter. As the usage conditions are usually lower than -10°C, tricky ice conditions are widely present outside of the cities. The Hakkapeliitta R3 slightly edges the X-Ice Snow when it comes to ice braking but totally dominates when it comes to ice handling.

Nokian Hakkapeliitta R3:

• +1.5% in ice braking
• +7% in ice handling

Snow

Snow on the other hand was neck to neck. Both tires performed fairly well with the Hakkapeliitta R3 only marginally sneak ahead.

Nokian Hakkapeliitta R3:

• +0.3% in snow braking
• +0.8% in snow handling

Wet

While on wet surfaces, with a label class of “E“, I would expect Hakkapeliitta R3 to perform on relatively same level compare to the “E” class rating of X-ice Snow. However the results shows otherwise whereby the R3 managed to beat the X-ice Snow by 5.5% in wet braking! While wet handling was close as both are equally matched. The true strong point of X-Ice Snow was finally shown by having a strong aquaplaning performance.

Nokian Hakkapeliitta R3:

• +5.5% in wet braking
• -0.2% in wet handling
• -4.3% in aquaplaning

Dry

With such bad performances in winter and wet braking categories, I would expect a strong dry performance from X-Ice Snow. I was left disappointed as the X-Ice Snow’s dry braking was 4.2% worse than the R3. However when it comes to dry handling, the X-Ice snow is one full point better than the R3.

Nokian Hakkapeliitta R3:

• +4.2% in dry braking
• -5% in dry handling

Rolling Resistance

Nokian has been championing its label “B” rolling resistance Hakkapeliitta R3 since it was launch while the X-Ice Snow has has a label “C” in rolling resistance. So one might expect Hakkapeliitta R3 to be significantly better then the X-Ice snow. The results shown otherwise, with X-ice Snow being 2.6% better in rolling resistance. This was definitely unexpected.

Hakkapeliitta R3:

• -2.6% in rolling resistance

Noise & Comfort

X-Ice Snow scored a subjective level of 3/5 while the Hakkapeliitta R3 did 1 point lower landing in at 2/5.

Hakkapeliitta R3:

• -5% in noise & comfort

Price

Based on the test report, the prices of the tires were also noted down.

Tire size: 205/60 R16

Hakkapelliita R3 : € 145

X-Ice Snow: € 152

Difference: -5% cheaper for Hakkapelliita R3.

Summary

Based on the test results, it is clear that the Hakkapelliita R3 was strong in winter and dry/wet braking conditions. While the Michelin-Ice Snow strong points are aquaplaning, wet handling and rolling resistance. As the winter performances holds the main priority, Nokian’s Hakkapelliita R3 is clearly our winner !

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