After months of indecision, I settled on these PowerProof Nokians at a great price. Tirereviews.com has been an incredible source of information in this process. In regards to these tires, I'm a little bit disappointed, to be honest. They are not bad tires, and do everything as advertised. They just don't FEEL like a Max Performance tire. The feel exactly like a premium TOURING or comfort tire, such as a Michelin primacy something. Grip is great in all conditions, but the lateral stability is questionable when pushing the limits. In long sweeping turns at speed, any bumps in the road surface cause a sense of "swimming" from the tire sidewalls. This can be described as splashy, squirmy, unstable, indecisive, un-nerving, un-settling, or flighty. This is really only experienced at considerable side-G forces at high speed in the corners, especially while on the gas. One can easily just ignore this and push on, but this is not necessarily wise to do and the experience is simply not confidence-inspiring.
It is worth noting that such driving is never done by the average driver, but then again, this tire is sold as a "MAX PERFORMANCE PREMIUM TYRE", so it simply MUST be expected to keep up with the competition in that category. It really feels like they are using the same tire carcass as is used in their great winter or rain tires, it just feels basic and uninspired as a sports tire. Not at all sharp in the carcass, and it's increasingly noticeable as you get the carcass flexing in the turns. This is genuinely only going to be noticed by those who know what they're doing behind the wheel, and push the limits in the process.
Also worth noting is that this "squirmy" feeling is most notable on mountain roads(uphill and downhill, likely because weight is shifted off of one axle), and is only experienced when the road is uneven/bumpy. Even at the pace of 100% scramble, these tires were stable on the smooth German Autobahn until about 180kmh, so they meet the expectations there. From 180kmh up, the lateral stability issue starts to show itself incrementally.
I'm genuinely missing the all-out confidence of the Continental SportContact2's which these replaced. Those just felt absolutely planted in any corner, as if the car was "squat and scoot" like a race car: "Grip it and rip it", "point and squirt": That's the feeling I need in premium sport tires, and these Nokians simply do not have that feeling. A superb touring tire, sure, but with reports of high wear rates. We will see.
I believe Nokian can work on tire carcass structure and sidewall integrity to improve the second generation of this tire so that it shows better lateral stability at speed on uneven surfaces. Don't simply stiffen the sidewalls, actually do the work to make the carcass stabilise itself under side-load. This is done in the belts, not the sidewall. A tighter belt-pack in the carcass would do wonders for this tire. Maybe something like the 0-degree steel radial belt that is used by Metzler (and Pirelli... and Conti...) in motorcycle tires can help with this. Then you can run very tight belts at the tire shoulder for stability, but leave the middle looser for warm-up, comfort, aqua and noise. Then these tires will be highly competitive as a max performer!
It is worth noting that such driving is never done by the average driver, but then again, this tire is sold as a "MAX PERFORMANCE PREMIUM TYRE", so it simply MUST be expected to keep up with the competition in that category. It really feels like they are using the same tire carcass as is used in their great winter or rain tires, it just feels basic and uninspired as a sports tire. Not at all sharp in the carcass, and it's increasingly noticeable as you get the carcass flexing in the turns. This is genuinely only going to be noticed by those who know what they're doing behind the wheel, and push the limits in the process.
Also worth noting is that this "squirmy" feeling is most notable on mountain roads(uphill and downhill, likely because weight is shifted off of one axle), and is only experienced when the road is uneven/bumpy. Even at the pace of 100% scramble, these tires were stable on the smooth German Autobahn until about 180kmh, so they meet the expectations there. From 180kmh up, the lateral stability issue starts to show itself incrementally.
I'm genuinely missing the all-out confidence of the Continental SportContact2's which these replaced. Those just felt absolutely planted in any corner, as if the car was "squat and scoot" like a race car: "Grip it and rip it", "point and squirt": That's the feeling I need in premium sport tires, and these Nokians simply do not have that feeling. A superb touring tire, sure, but with reports of high wear rates. We will see.
I believe Nokian can work on tire carcass structure and sidewall integrity to improve the second generation of this tire so that it shows better lateral stability at speed on uneven surfaces. Don't simply stiffen the sidewalls, actually do the work to make the carcass stabilise itself under side-load. This is done in the belts, not the sidewall. A tighter belt-pack in the carcass would do wonders for this tire. Maybe something like the 0-degree steel radial belt that is used by Metzler (and Pirelli... and Conti...) in motorcycle tires can help with this. Then you can run very tight belts at the tire shoulder for stability, but leave the middle looser for warm-up, comfort, aqua and noise. Then these tires will be highly competitive as a max performer!