Nokian PowerProof Reviews - Page 2

Given 83% while driving a Volkswagen Golf GTI MK7 (235/35 R19) on a combination of roads for 10,000 average miles
Very good in the wet, hugely comfortable for the sector, seem to be wearing ok, but they're not as good handling as the Goodyears I had before.
Helpful 24 - tire reviewed on April 4, 2021
Given 94% while driving a Opel Astra J Sports Tourer (225/55 R17 W) on a combination of roads for 2,400 average miles
Chose these after reading a lot of reviews, and taking into consideration that my local tire shop had a good enough price for a set of 4. Initially they were rather hard, every pothole and crack could be felt. Turns out it was the shop who overinflated them to an absurd amount, so after correction: these are quiet and iron out bumps nicely. Drove them for about 2400 miles since, no noticeable wear. The Astra J is NOT a lightweight car, being a diesel adds additional weight to the front, that said these are more than capable of dealing with the torque produced, which cannot be said for the Firestones they replaced. With those, constant ESC was the name of the game whenever a few drops of rain hit the road. Overall, am very happy with them, and will fit a new set once the current ones have run their course.
Helpful 27 - tire reviewed on August 14, 2020
Given 91% while driving a Mercedes Benz C300 (225/45 R17) on a combination of roads for 4,070 spirited miles
I bought these tires for my 2012 Mercedes C300 4MATIC Sport. It's the first time I buy Nokian Tires as they were highly recommended by the tire shop I deal with. So far, their dry and wet performance has been great and the car's handling is definitely superior to the Continental OEM tires it came with. I'm really happy with them especially with the tread depth indicator (3 to 8 mm) that comes engraved on them. After 6,550 km on them, the 8 mm tread depth indicator disappeared meaning 1 mm wore out. If the wear is linear and I extend it to 4 mm which is when the droplet symbol disappears meaning an increased risk of aquaplaning, then my calculations say that this will happen at the 26,000 km mark; which I think would be too much wear and they wouldn't last long. The full 8 mm would be gone by 52,000 km. Maybe this is normal because they're a soft compound, but I was hoping they'd last a bit more. I will update this review as time goes, but again I am very happy with their performance.
Helpful 58 - tire reviewed on April 5, 2020
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Given 100% while driving a Skoda Octavia vRS (225/45 R17) on mostly town for 100 spirited miles
Very good grip on wet and dry. Noise level is low and the comfort great. I recomend these tires.
Helpful 29 - tire reviewed on February 20, 2020
Given 88% while driving a Subaru Forester sti (235/45 R18 W) on mostly country roads for 6,000 spirited miles
When these landed the first thing I noticed was the really wide grooves, 2mm wider than the previous Z-Lines, the only grooves I'd seen anything like this wide were on Michelin PS4's - what was the dry grip going to be like I wondered? Then a bit of poking showed that the sidewalls were definitely more flexible than the previous tires - :rolleyes: Anyway I needn't have worried about the grip, as the guys in Finland have obviously working hard to improve their rubber. It's superb, dry and wet - I've never managed to unstick them in the slightest, I think you'd need to take them onto a racetrack for that as it would involve speed/manouvres that really aren't meant for public roads, hence the N/A rating for how progressive they are at the limit. The softness of the sidewalls is noticeable though, you get the slightly odd feeling that the tread is welded to the road and the car is moving a bit on top of that. Upping the pressure a few psi helps with this, but doesn't altogether remove it. Steering feel/response is very good, the extra tread grip compared to the previous tires gives a sharper turn in and more focused road feedback, though this is slightly spoiled by the soft sidewalls. And they're quieter and more comfortable than the Z-lines too, though if you're driving a car like the FSti that's likely a secondary consideration!
Will I buy them again - probably, unless Nokian do what they ought to and make a version with stiffer sidewalls - after all they have the Wetproof for general high powered cars, why not make the Powerproof for those of us who really want to DRIVE?
Helpful 20 - tire reviewed on November 8, 2019
Volvo V50 T5 (235/40 R18 W) on a combination of roads for 1,200 spirited miles
In my opinion superior to Contintental ContiSportContact 5, Michelin PS3 and Toyo Proxes T1 Sport, on dry roads!

And in the wet / rain, well, these tires are hands down the best I've ever experienced during my 20 years of driving.

I do warm up my engine and transmission at least 20 minutes, so I haven't felt the need to test them when they're cold. But they don't feel as hard as my other 18" tires did (mentioned above).

I haven't noticed any fading in grip whatsoever when warm.

Braking, quick narrow corners and accelerating all put a smile on my face every single time. Very progressive grip, very comfortable.

Road noise was initially a bit high, but now 1000 miles later they are super quiet and comfortable. Amazing grip when accelerating hard from tight corners.
In the rain you are the master at the highway. These tires make me confident enoug to go into each corner equally fast on wet roads as I would on dry roads.

My wheels are 8J wide and these are providing excellent curb protection. New thread depth is 8mm. Much better experience than my previous not so grippy, loud, uncomfortable wearing like crazy Continental tires, which only had 6.8mm when new.
So far the Nokians haven't worn away the 8mm indicator.

Truly a high quality product, and if Mika Häkkinen would review these tires he would use the word "yes" and nothing else.
Helpful 41 - tire reviewed on April 4, 2019
Given 93% while driving a Skoda Octavia (225/45 R17 W) on a combination of roads for 0 average miles
Combined drive in Macedonia. Wet and dry grip superb. Makes me feel confident. Soft comfortable drive feeling. Far better compared to my previous set of pirelli. Would definitly recomend them. Hope they'll be just as good in wear, since that it's still early to say.
Helpful 31 - tire reviewed on March 30, 2019
Given 86% while driving a Mazda 3 2.0 DISI (205/50 R17 W) on a combination of roads for 1,000 spirited miles
This is the initial review of the new tires I put on Mazda 3 (2010). I was trying to choose tires that would be very safe (short braking distances, good aquaplanning resistance) and also provide reasonable feedback for spirited driving. The expected tread life or rolling resistance was not considered as the car is used as a second car in the family and covers only 6,000 - 7,000 kms per year. The Nokians have replaced Michelin Primacy 3.
For now I had the opportunity to drive only in the dry and I would summarize my findings:
Advantages:
- surprisingly good comfort (at least the same as Michelins), I was expecting harsher ride as the Nokians are supposed to be UHP and Michelins touring tires and also Nokians are 93Y and Michelins were 89W.
- better handling and stability than Michelins
- noise level is similar but slightly less bothersome then Michelins (on the other hand Michelins were also more pleasant when new :-) )
- 8 mm tread depth (Michelins had 7 mm when new) and perfect tread depth indicator built in the tread
- nice and sophisticated tread features and cool look (very important for tire geeks :-D )
- no tramlining (Michelins were more sensitive and the factory fitted Toyos R32 were very sensitive)

Disadvantages:
The Nokians have no rim protection in 205/50 ZR17 size! What the hell, Nokian?! I would rather pay few extra euros in change for unscratched alloys. It is dissappointing in comparison to "cheap" Matadors I have on the other car in 235/50 R18 size which have huge rim protector (largest I have ever seen :) ).

Overall it seems like the Nokian Powerproof is very good match for Mazda 3 ride capabilities.
Helpful 63 - tire reviewed on March 23, 2019
Given 77% while driving a Renault Megane RS250 CUP (235/40 R18 W) on mostly country roads for 300 spirited miles
Fitted them to my Megane 3 rs with 322hp. It is my daily car so I wanted tires in the UHP range like Michelin PS4. Since I am very positive about the Nokian winter tires, I wanted to try the Powerproof's as they claim in to be UHP and a PS4 competitor. When I bought them no tests or reviews were placed on the internet.

First of all: this is not as good as the Michelin PS4 and PS4s which I had both the Megane. Not as precise and direct. Also, full throttle in second gear comes with quite some wheel spin. I did not have that with the PS4S's.

It does not give me that confidence as the Michelin's but maybe I have to "read" the tires better and learn how to push them.

The pro's are more comfort and less noise.

Overall: very good tire but I don't recommend these if you do a lot of spirited driving or track days. Great for all day though!
Helpful 97 - tire reviewed on February 15, 2019