The most current data from the NHTSA shows that bad weather is to blame for about 11% of the more than 6.1 million traffic accidents that happen every year in the United States. Seven hundred thousand injuries, property damage, and even deaths are caused every year by puckered hoods, broken windshields, and crashes involving small pieces of rain. If it snows or ices unexpectedly before you change your seasonal tires, it could be not good. Nokian and other manufacturers say that their tires can handle conditions that all-season tires can’t, and often at a wider temperature range than specialized winter rubber can. This is one reason why Nokian has combined its winter and all-season tire technology to make a tire that can handle heat and heavy rain or snow. Nokian’s New Tire The new Nokian Tyres Remedy WRG5 comes in 70 sizes to fit wheels from 15 to 20 inches in diameter and costs between $130 and $290 each. The WRG5 is the official sixth-generation all-weather product from the company, but the “WR” in the name means it can be used in bad weather, and the “G5” in the name means it is the fifth version of the name. Nomination says this new tire can handle sun, rain, slush, and snow because it has a compound that adapts better to warmer temperatures while still keeping the grip of traditional winter tires, which, unlike all-season rubber, are made to work in temperatures below 45 degrees Fahrenheit. The Nokian Remedy WRG5 has an asymmetrical tread design. It is backed by Nokian’s Pothole Protection policy, which covers free tire replacement for a year after purchase if the damage can’t be fixed. The Remedy WRG5 has a 60,000-mile treadwear warranty and the company’s new “Electric Fit” emblem, which makes it clear that it was made with heavy-duty electric cars in mind. Of course, they will keep rolling forward and backward if they are attached to a gas-powered rig. A lot of different parts of the Remedy’s design support its claim that it can handle more situations, so it can do its job of providing a tire. The tread surface is made up of different tread blocks that fit together in different zigzag patterns that help keep the tire stable and let snow stick to it at depth. Tiny “support blocks” are said to help strengthen and stiffen tread and are made for winter use when used on dry or hot roads with these grooves. Other lines are made to get rid of water quickly when it’s wet or slushy. The Beauty of All-Weather Tires It’s easy to not know the difference between all-weather and all-season tires because of the way they are sold. The names seem to be the same, but only the all-weather option has the three-peak mountain snowflake (3PMSF) certification, which is only given to tires that have been tried very thoroughly in the snow. Instead of getting all-weather tires, why not get a set of winter tires and use them all summer? Our friends at Tire Rack told us that “rubber compounds are tuned for the ambient temperatures the tires are designed to encounter.” Winter or snow tires work best in cold places, while summer tires work best in warm places. Even though we have yet to test Nokian’s Remedy tires, we have put all-weather tires from other companies on a few long-term test cars that we will drive, analyze, test, and keep records on for 40,000 miles. In Michigan, last winter, we only had one weekend of snow and cold weather. However, all-weather tires are already on our 2023 Mazda CX-90 S Premium Plus (Pirelli Scorpion WeatherActive) and 2023 Honda Accord Hybrid Touring (Bridgestone WeatherPeak). The electric 2023 Hyundai Ioniq 5 and the 2022 Volkswagen Golf GTI are two other long-term cars that use Nokian Hakkapeliitta tires. These cars can drive on snowy roads. Hakkapeliitta R5 EVs made the tires that the Ioniq 5 has. These tires have an ice-rating logo on them, which is a new name for tires that have passed an ice-stopping test. If you rotate and balance a single set of tires at the manufacturer’s suggested maintenance intervals, it would be much easier to keep track of. This is true even though many of the cars we review and test for publication and the editors’ cars switch between winter and summer tires as the weather changes. Especially when getting to work turns into a survival mission in the winter wonderland.
