Founded: 1898
Founder: Suomen Gummitehdas Osakeyhtiö
Headquarters: Nokia, Finland
Website: https://www.nokiantyres.com/
Nokian is a Finnish brand of tires specifically designed to be effective in the harsh climate and environment of Northern Europe. As a consequence, Nokian assortment has more winter options that all-season and summer combined. But it’s not exclusively a winter treads manufacturer – there are also other exciting offers.
Who makes Nokian tires? This company has a relatively small manufacturing enterprise scattered across Finland, Russian and USA. It makes these tires relatively cheap, but at a small cost of safety.
Nokian isn’t a premium brand. Somehow there is an idea that everything coming from this region is automatically costly. The usual passenger tires aren’t costly. In fact, they are very cheap. The studded winter, heavy tires and other tough unorthodox tread options are Nokian’s real specialty.
The regular passenger tires cost about $50, which isn’t a result of making them in Russia. It doesn’t reduce their quality terribly, but the cheaper tires are generally soft and gentle on the sides. Essentially, you shouldn’t be too risky while driving with these on.
Where are Nokian tires made? The main bulk of Nokian tires are actually made in Russia. That’s where most Asian and European stores get their supply of Nokian from, anyway. But there are also plants in Finland and America.
This softness makes them reasonably flexible when it comes to road obstacles, but it also makes them gentle. It’s not uncommon for a Nokian tire to rip after just 10,000 miles. If it wasn’t for the absolutely tiny price they asked for it, it would be outrageous. Their grip is what makes people buy them, in fact.
They behave really well on most surfaces. The usual winter options are decent on ice, but these tires aren’t where Nokian’s technology went. They invested a lot more into the studded tires and the heavy tires for machinery, big trucks and other monstrous vehicles that need to work in harsh terrain and climate.
The studded tires are a bit costlier (especially the crossover variants). These can reach $100-150 a piece because of their advanced technology – they are basically well-studded off-road tires with some great traction. These costlier variations are what you need if you aim for harsher weather and harsher terrain.
Where to buy Nokian tires? There are Nokian tire dealers all over the world, and you can find the one nearest to you on this handy locator they implemented into their official website.
Obviously, these more expensive tires have ultimate traction on everything from ice to mud to deep snow. They are undefeatable, basically. Consequentially, it’s also pretty hard to wear them out or puncture them. You can safely drive at least a few seasons with these on.
The only real problem you’ll have with them in their noise. The lesser tires are noisy as they are, but the superior studded variations (AT or not) are obviously far from quiet when it comes to tarmac. The off-road is much more tolerable, but in the urban environment, the SUV ones are just overkill.
If you want a tire with great traction, not much noise pollution and at a reasonable price, tires like Hakkapeliitta are what you need.