The Nokian WR A3 is a Central European winter tire with generally strong dry-road performance and positive owner reports on wet grip, comfort and noise. Snow and ice ability are less consistent, while tests raise concerns about aquaplaning resistance and wet braking.
The quick answer
Owners say76%from 76 owner reviews83% would buy againRead the reviews
Built from every independent test result and vetted owner review we hold for this tire - the evidence is all further down the page. Data updated October 2026.
Based on test and owner data, the Nokian WR A3 is expected to last around 25,333 miles (40,769 km).
What do owners say about the Nokian WR A3?
Across 76 owner ratings the Nokian WR A3 averages 76%. Owners rate Dry Grip highest at 9.2 out of 10 and Ice Grip lowest at 3. 9 of those reviews come from owners past 10,000 miles. 88% of owners score it 70% or better.
How comfortable and quiet are the Nokian WR A3?
Owners rate the Nokian WR A3 9.1 out of 10 for comfort and noise across 59 reviews.
How well do the Nokian WR A3 wear, according to owners?
Owners rate the Nokian WR A3 9 out of 10 for wear across 59 reviews. 9 of those reviews come from owners past 10,000 miles, and the typical review covers 3,900 miles.
Would owners buy the Nokian WR A3 again?
83% of owners say they would buy the Nokian WR A3 again, based on the 75 owner reviews that answered the question. 65% of them gave it the highest possible answer.
More questions about the Nokian WR A3(4)
What do owners say about the Nokian WR A3's wet grip?
Of the 55 owner reviews analyzed for the Nokian WR A3, 32 mention wet grip: 27 praise it (confident wet grip) and 5 criticise it (weak wet grip). One owner wrote: "If I was to select one particular quality it would be their wet road grip in either cold or warm conditions". Read those reviews
What do owners say about the Nokian WR A3's snow traction?
Of the 55 owner reviews analyzed for the Nokian WR A3, 26 mention snow traction: 19 praise it (strong snow traction) and 7 criticise it (weak snow traction). One owner wrote: "The car just drove up with the Anti Skid light flashing once or twice". Read those reviews
What do owners say about the Nokian WR A3's dry grip?
Of the 55 owner reviews analyzed for the Nokian WR A3, 22 mention dry grip: 22 praise it (strong dry grip) and 0 criticise it (limited dry grip). One owner wrote: "this tire works just perfect there. Fells just like my summer tires in the dry, really". Read those reviews
Has the Nokian WR A3 been replaced?
The Nokian WR A3 has been replaced by the Nokian WR A4.
Owners mainly praise the Nokian WR A3 for wet and dry grip, comfort and generally quiet running, with 50 of 59 reviews scoring above 70%. Snow traction is more often liked than criticised, but around one in eight owners report a concern, so confidence in snow is not universal. Ice grip is much more evenly divided, as is steering feedback. Longer-use accounts generally support good tread life, including substantial actual mileage, though a few describe short life or poorer grip in later seasons. Repeat reviewers remain positive rather than showing a shared decline with use. Noise complaints are a minority alongside the more frequent praise, making everyday road comfort a more consistent positive than ice performance.
What owners mention most counted across 55 reviews
Tap one to read only the reviews that mention it.
Owner ratings averaged from 76 ratings
Owner score76%
Dry Grip92%
Comfort91%
Wear90%
Road Feedback88%
Wet Grip87%
Handling82%
Snow Grip35%
Ice Grip30%
Featured reviews
Most helpful 73%
“I have been driving this tire for 9 seasons (which is a tad too much but the tire lasted really long and it is still ok to drive, so durability was fantastic). For a winter tire it did great on the dry and it almost...”
“Will surely not buy these tires again. After I read a lot of reviews about the Nokian tires, I bought them in November 2014. One year later, in December 2015, the front tires are almost at the end of their life with...”
“Bought as winter tires and kept them on, had two sets of NCT 5 and they matched them all round and in heavy rain/ very wet roads even in an estate never lost any traction and heavy braking was controlled and very very...”
I had them for one season, received with the car quite old dot 2017. for 4 months of winter they were ok. There was no snow, so I can't give an impression. the tires were then already 6 years old and had a lot of cracks on the side, but the tire was over 6mm.
73%
Member
Skoda
205/55 R16
53,000 miles
Track
Average
I have been driving this tire for 9 seasons (which is a tad too much but the tire lasted really long and it is still ok to drive, so durability was fantastic). For a winter tire it did great on the dry and it almost felt like a summer tire there. I also felt safe in the wet. However, I was not so lucky with the performance on snow and ice. It was something that I had expected and since I am not driving a lot in snow/ice I was fine with it. It felt like all season tire that does better in winter conditions. For what I need this is quite a good compromise and so I was quite happy with the tires. Compared to my summer tires (Conti PremiumContact) the Nokian was a little bit louder. Fuel consumption was level with the summer tires when you take the temperatures into account which really surprised me.
Check out how the BEST all seasons tires perform against premium summer and winter tires!
As every time when I'm about to buy something, I did some research which winter tires to buy. I read everywhere that Nokian produces excellent winter tires so this brand was one of the options and one day I saw a set of these tires were on sale so I bought them. I really had high hopes for these tires after reading great reviews, but if I want to summarize my experience with them so far, I would say: these are not winter tires at all. The comfort is ok, they are very silent, but the grip is just awful. If the road is any but dry, they just don't grip. In the snow they are totally useless and I'm not exaggerating. If you stop in snow, you will most likely not be able to get going. This is really annoying, because my car has really low torque and I am really easy on gas, but it still rolls the wheels without any single sign of grip. I was driving in snow with my Falken Ziex summer tires and they were so much more confident in snow than these Nokians. Ridiculous. I replaced my 10 year old Hankook Icebears to these Nokians and even those 10 year old tires were so much better. I could even get going with the Hankooks in snow on a 8-10% slope, with these Nokians it's a miracle if I can move the car on flat surface from a stop. I decided to write this review when this weekend every single car could go up a snowy slope except me. Even a big transporter with worn out winter tires, it was so annoying. With the Hankooks them being 9 years old, I could cross the High Tatras in snow!! With these I can't go up on a little slope. I even experienced my very first slide with them on a wet road, I was doing 70km/h and the rear of the car just started drifting and I almost ended up in the trench. I'm going to sell them the next day I'm changing to summer tires. Very very disappointing, I would definitely not buy these again.
Which tires do you drive?
Researching the Nokian WR A3? Rate the tires you actually drive - and help the next buyer choose.
Bought these tires in late 2011 after two bad winters and fitted them to a Audi A3 Quattro, followed by an A4 Avant then current Golf GTD Estate. After winter of 2015/16 I decided to leave them on all year as I only do c. 5K miles/annum and got fed up with the wheel changes 2 x per year. They have never encountered deep snow here in Central Scotland but have proven quiet, reassuring and economical as a year round tire. Late April/Early May this year we did a round trip to Murcia in Spain (though Portsmouth - Santander by ferry) and did 2.5K miles in 19-days. Conditions ranged from torrential rain then 2C and snow in Cantabria mountains to 30C in Costa Calida. The tires took all in their stride and on return to UK trip computer showed 54mpg average. I know these tires are no longer made in Finland but would hope the Russian versions will be of similar quality. I will probably need to change them after the next winter due to their age, they will certainly not be worn out, as at service last month they were all 6mm+. If I was to select one particular quality it would be their wet road grip in either cold or warm conditions and resistance to aquaplaning. Highly recommended.
BMW 5 RWD 3.0 diesel, driving high speed in winter Lithuanian coast conditions, usually not to much snow, but ice, wet roads and some snow ocassionaly. Highly recommend A3 for sharp and fast driving in variuos conditions, comfortable as well. I feel confident with these tires even with rear wheel drive car.
IN A COUNTRY LIKE GREECE I THINK THERE ARE VERY GOOD IN ANY CONDITION.I TESTED THEM IN SNOWY CONDITIONS IN THE MOUNTAINS AND IN A HARD TRIP FROM GREECE TO AUSTRIA AND BACK AT 140KM/H FOR 15 HOURS AND THEY HAVE NO PROBLEM IN EVERY GRIP... I WILL KEEP THEM FOR ONE MORE WINTER AND I WILL BUY THE SAME AGAIN OR SOMETHING SIMILAR.
An outstanding tire. My set are 4 years old, but have been shed stored from new and never used. These Nokians grip far better than the R17 Bridgestone RFT summer tires (unsure of the exact model right now) which I have removed for the winter, at least over the 300 miles of Irish roads covered, with temperatures of 3 to 9 deg Celcius. Also, I cannot get over the increase in fuel economy. Gone from 44.5 mpg average up to 54. Incredible the difference a set of tires can make. My drive has been transformed. Now I am just praying for snow (and for the Irish government to mandate all season/winter tires for the cold months). Fat chance.
I've run 4 of these on VW Tiguan auto 4motion. After 37k miles the fronts are about 1mm off the markers and the rears have about 4mm left. used all year round, winter in Scotland and summer all over the UK. Seem to have a lot of grip in the dry, and been pretty good in the wet. Mostly motorway and fast A road miles. Very impressed with these tires, especially the wear, although the car seems quite kind on tires. Good grip in snow and slush, but not much grip on 'polished' snow and sheet ice.
Member
BMW
225/45 R17
30,000 miles
Mostly Country Roads
Spirited
Excellent tires in the winter. I have run Nokian's on various BMWs since 2010 and nothing else comes close. My last set did 30000 Miles comfortably. Snow performance is great , never been stuck or had any problems with ice or snow. Good in the wet and dry.
Only negative comment is they aren't as good as they were in 2010-11 when they still came from Finland rather than Russia.
Bought these tires two years ago. The only weakness of this tire is driving on ice. It is hard to drive uphill with RWD car. But most studless winter tires have the same problem.
Was really impressed with comfort and quietness of these tires. They are superb to other tires I had (Bridgestone, Dunlop, Michelin...). There is absolutely no noise in the car. And what I really like as well that they grip very well on dry and wet roads. This is strange, because other tires I had that were very quite and comfortable did very poor in handling department. I feel very confident then driving with these Nokians.
After 30000km my expirience for this tire are average. Bad road feedback, on wet road not so good grip. Tire is good on snow. On highway at high speed (140-150 + km/h) feeling is unplesant.
90%
Member
Vauxhall
225/55 R17 V
2,000 miles
A Combination of Roads
Average
My Vauxhall/Opel Insignia could not get up a moderate hill in the snow with its summer tires and having watched my neighbour getting up the same hills I had to leave my car at the bottom off, took the plunge and purchased Nokian WR A3 tires (225 55 17 on steel wheels) this winter having read all the reviews I could. What a revelation. The tires are quieter and no difference in fuel consumption noted. In the dry and the wet, I know that the tires are different, (standard summer tires 245 45 18 on alloy wheels), but they are safe and progressive. However, in the snow and ice, the car is totally different. It will go up hills in over 4inches of snow, both loose and packed. For the sheer hell of it, I took it up a particular hill that is difficult to walk in the snow let alone drive and the car just drove up with the Anti Skid light flashing once or twice. I even decided to stop on the hill and the car drove away with barely a skid. I don't know what the wear will be like, but I am delighted with the tires up to now and will buy again.
