Well, the first snowfall showed me the overall cruddyness of the stock tires.

I got Nokian WRT 4-season snow tires. Had to go up one size because they didnt have stock sizes.

No rubbing. Nice dry grip. Very nice wet grip. Very very nice slush grip.

Nice look too.

Good information. Post this to the Wheel and Tire sticky on the Under The Hood/Performance forum

Joseph, a few questions. I'm thinking of WRT's or maybe a
full winter nokian. How long have you had them? What size
are they? What about road noise? Had them in snow yet?

I notice they have a To Be Announced for the Nokian WR SUV in the STOCK Element size of 215/70R16, and they sure SEEM to be better than most other options ....ok the two only other options for the Element.

I can't find anything on their wear rating. I noticed someone loved a tire that had only a 250 wear rating, which would translate out to roughly twice around the block. OK, maybe a slight exageration, but definitely I would prefer a higher wear rating than THAT.

So what is the wear rating on YOUR Nokians? (yes, I know all the usual disclaimers on that rating....Please humor me). Hopefully higher than 250!

I have only had them fot just over a week. We had 6 inches of snow the day prior to me getting them, so I have hit a few patches of still cold slush. We had a freeze one night, and it was a little slippy slidey, nothing to write home about (OK, I am from Florida, so I did write home about it)

Road noise is negligible. Nothing a little radio volume cures. Handling is same if not better.

We'll see how they hold up this winter. Full report in June (when the last of the snow is gone)

Without running down the garage at 2AM, I think the wear rating is 320.

Just ordered my Hakka CQ's yesterday. I'll give you
a full report later. With my luck we won't get any snow
this winter.