Tire Review: Nokian WR-G4

"AkursedX" (akursedx) 02/17/2020 at 10:30 • Filed to: tires, tirelopnik, nokian, tire reviews, oppo review, Nokian WRG4, Wrg4

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It is quite a common phrase among various car-related communities that ‘all-season’ tires are actually ‘no-season’ tires. This statement is used to reflect how most all-season tires are rather bad at handling cold temperatures and snowfall while also sacrificing significant overall grip in warmer temps.

The Nokian WR-G4

In recent years, a new category of tire has begun work its way into the discussion: The !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . All-weather tires are supposed to be able to handle winter temps, ice, and snow much better than standard all-seasons while still providing good tread-wear, wet weather performance, and comfort in warmer weather.

In this article, I am going to review the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . I have had a set on my 2016 Subaru WRX-STI for over a year and a half and feel like I have driven on them through enough various situations to put together a fairly good picture of what these tires are capable of.

Disclaimer: The opinions in this article are my own and have no quantified data of my own to back it up. I have no affiliation with Nokian Tires other than the fact that I have bought and used their products (Although I’m sure this article reads like a commercial for Nokian). I also have zero credentials other than reading insane-amounts of tire tests and reviews. Like seriously, I LOVE reading about tires more than any other thing car-related.

My STI with a good view of the snow-packed Nokian WR-G4 tires.

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!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! is a long-established tire company based out of Finland. They aren’t as popular as some of the larger tire manufacturers, but chances are that if you live somewhere where snow-tires are common or mandated, you have heard that Nokian makes an excellent snow-tire. Nokian actually developed !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and have carried on their expertise in this category with tires like the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! which are some of the best-performing winter-weather tires on the current market.

The WR-G4 is the 4th rendition of the all-weather ‘WR’ line and is not a dedicated winter-tire. It has the all-weather-rating required !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! symbol and carries a solid, but not spectacular 500tw A A !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! rating and is sold with a 60,000 mile !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

The tire is sold in North America in about 45 different sizes from 14" all the way to 19". Nokian also sells the physically similar !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! in a number of additional sizes from 16" up to 20".

Even at a quick glance at the tread, you can see that the tire has aggressive siping, a couple of deep center channels and some long, swept ribs. The design bears much similarity to some well-regarded tires like the Continental Extremecontact DWS or the Michelin Pilot Alpin PA4. Nokian advertises that the tire is made of an ‘ !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ’ and claims that its style of siping results in better lateral stability over standard, more horizontal siping.

My Nokian WR-G4 equipped STI in the middle of a Buffalo, NY winter.

——Performance and Driving Manners——

In regular, daily driving, the WR-G4 is a pleasant tire to live with. Road noise was significantly reduced over the OEM Dunlop Sportmaxx RT’s and also offered a noticeably smoother ride over all surfaces. The increased comfort does come at the cost of increased sidewall flex in hard cornering.

In warm weather, the WR-G4 performs like a regular, unassuming all-season tire. They have good hydroplane resistance and wet weather grip. If you push them to their limits, they will provide you with early and progressive audible feedback. In quick maneuvers like slaloms, they feel a bit ‘floaty’ at times, but nowhere near what most winter tires, but you are never going to confuse it with a high performance summer tire.

When the temperatures start to drop below 45-degrees, that is where the WR-G4 really starts to separate itself from the conventional all-season tires. The compound used in the WR-G4 stays soft and pliable which allows it to better able to keep its grip on the cold road. Dry and damp roads with temps below 40-degrees are where the WR-G4 really excels in its performance.

On a 40-degree day with non-stop rain, I had the 7th fastest raw time on my WR-G4's with stock suspension and alignment at the first autocross of this past season.

Once the snow starts to fall and ice begins to form, the WR-G4 is up to the task. As long as there is ground clearance, the WR-G4 will provide good all-around traction, but it does it in a manner that is less confidence inspiring than most full winter tires. The many grooves and sipes help dig into fresh snow and slush very well. Hard packed snow feels a little less grippy, but still quite formidable. Sheet ice is awful for almost any tire without studding, and the WR-G4 struggles as well. But the tires are still compliant enough to get you moving or stopped in reasonable distances and they have enough grip that adjusting the center-differetial in the STI netted significant handling changes.

The WR-G4 provided a comfortable drive through an 1100 mile trip through Northern Michigan this past summer. Pic was taken at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

——Price——

The Nokian WR-G4 can be purchased online from a number of places (But not !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! for some reason). !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! are all sites that carry the WR-G4 as well as most of the rest of the Nokian’s tire lineup.

In 245/40-R18, the WR-G4 is competitively priced at !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Here is a list of some other all-season and all weather tires that TireRack has highly rated for comparison:

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! - $169

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! - $185

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! - $184

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! - $197

The !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! is 225/60-R17. The WR-G4 is listed at !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . Price comparison of this versus some of TireRack’s top rated tires looks like this:

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! - $193

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! - $186

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! - $127

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! - $147

Note: All prices listed is what they were listen for at the time of writing the article. Places like SimpleTire change their prices quite often.

I have done a lot of driving on snow on the WR-G4's and really don’t have any complaints about their ability.

——Summary——

While having separate winter and summer tires is still the best way to making sure you are on the best tire for the weather you are in, not everyone has the ability and/or luxury of being able to do it. An all-weather tire like the Nokian WR-G4 does an exceptional job of bridging the gap. It’s not going to out-perform dedicated seasonal tires on paper, but it will provide superior and safer winter traction over a standard all-season while being on par with them in warm weather.

The WR-G4 is a tire that is exceptionally adequate as a year-round tire and for the money, you will be hard-pressed to find too many other tires that can keep up with it.

The author, who goes by Joe in real life, is an avid automotive enthusiast with a particular passion for Mazda rotaries. You can find him at many Western New York SCCA and surrounding area events autocrossing his RX-8. He can be reached at AkursedX@gmail.com (If you are an automotive company and want to give me free stuff to write about, let me know!) More of what I’ve written can be found here: !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

Notchback88 > AkursedX 02/17/2020 at 09:39

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I might give these a look when it comes time for new tires on the Focus ST. I regularly had DWS-06s on it, but when I bought a set of wheels second hand (stock snowflakes rashed and one bent after 120k miles,) they came with Brabus all-weathers. Seem ok, but the lateral grip is significantly lower than what I’m used to.

Overall, good review. 

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > AkursedX 02/17/2020 at 09:53

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I’ve got the WRG4 on my Sti as well and have similar opinions! I live in southern California where seeing a day time high below 55 would be unheard of even in the dead of winter. So any sort of snow tire is laughable there. But I went on a three week trip through a major snow storm to Utah, Wyoming, and Montana with those tires. They performed flawlessly on that trip, even on the unplowed roads of Montana and steep rural driveway of my Airbnb in Wyoming. Braking on sheer  ice was the only time where the tires proved to not be a real snow tire but like you said, without studs you're gonna see that struggle no matter what. And they did stop, just with some ABS complaining and easy dorifto action if desired. Most importantly though, after the trip I've continued driving for a year and like 20k miles with no complaints. A few other snow occasions thrown in like a rare powder day in May at Mammoth where a good 50% of other cars on the road were struggling to get around due to not expecting snow in May. Those times I was happy to have my subaru with those tires for sure! Anyways, this is pretty much the only tire that fits the bill for me in my situation. I too spent way too much time researching tires until I found this one! 

fhrblig > AkursedX 02/17/2020 at 10:37

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Nice write-up!

I bought a set of Nokian Rotiiva all-seasons for my 2WD F-150, and while I'm a little disappointed in how they handle snow and ice, they're fantastic in the wet and they're pretty quiet at speed.

Chariotoflove > AkursedX 02/17/2020 at 10:39

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Well done, Racer X (sounds cooler than “Joe”). Love “exceptionally adequate”. That seems like a phrase my English teachers would have scowled at, but it conveys the idea perfectly.

Could you see these doing well on a large lux sedan?

Tripper > AkursedX 02/17/2020 at 11:21

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Great write up! I just recently had the CrossClimate s put on my wife’s forester. They were expensive (almost 1k to go all the way around), but precious cargo and all . Plus I was unaware of the Nokians. I tested them out in the little bit of snow that we got and it was super easy to handle. Full disclosure, so was my Alltrack on whatever all season they come with.

AkursedX > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 02/17/2020 at 11:36

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I think we had a discussion about the WRG4 here before.  And yeah, for someone in you situation where you only need that quality snow-traction on rare occaisions while need a decent handling and wearing tire for the rest of the time, there aren’t that many options out there.

AkursedX > Tripper 02/17/2020 at 11:38

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I’d love to get me hands on some Crossclimates to compare them to the WRG4.  I remember the first time I saw a set of those and how different of a tread design that it was really fascinated me.  I’m willing to bet that they handle snow and wet exceptionally!  But I do wonder about the difference in tread noise.  It just seems like it would be a louder design.

AkursedX > Chariotoflove 02/17/2020 at 11:43

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Thanks! And yes, ‘exceptionally adequate’ was a tough phrase for me to write, but in this instance, I really can’t think of a better way to explain the WR-G4. I feel it is truly a ‘jack of all trades’ tire.

I don’t know how it would be on a large luxury sedan. I do feel that they did a good job with making it rather quiet and comfortable so I think they would be pretty good. I have had the WR-G2 on a couple of ex Michigan State police vehicles that I bought, and I bought a set of WR-G3's for my Mom’s Nissan Cube. Those tires were just as capable in the snow, but they had larger tread blocks and had more road noise and fixing that shortcoming seemed to be a priority fix for the WR-G4

Tripper > AkursedX 02/17/2020 at 11:46

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The tires that came on it are TRASH. The cross climates are actually quieter. I thought the same thing when I saw the tread pattern, “cool!”. On the downside I think the cross climates are rated to only 4ok miles. I’ll go for the Nokians next time or maybe on the Alltrack.

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > AkursedX 02/17/2020 at 11:57

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Nokian does year round tires the right way. Design it for the harshest conditions and then make it work for the rest of the year.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > AkursedX 02/17/2020 at 12:11

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Lol yeah it did feel a little bit like dejavu. My other option was to swap wheels every time I went on a ski trip. But as inconvenient as that would be, that doesn’t even really solve the problem since 100+ is not uncommon in the Mojave while it’s still below freezing in the mountains overnight. I found this Nokian to be fine during Canyon carving, it's not a bad all season in that department at least. 

Spasoje > AkursedX 02/17/2020 at 13:38

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We replaced the stock Michelin Pilots on our XC90 with WRs (SUV) and never looked back. It’s on its third set now (G4) and they’ve all been fantastic. Excellent tread wear and comfort, and they turn the Volvo into a mountain goat when the weather goes sideways.

Out here on the west coast, we get almost no actual winter, except for a few sudden,  random days when it’s as bad as on the east coast! Suffice to say, having separate winter tires doesn’t make sense. With the Nokians though, I don’t care what the forecast is - I’ll always get where I’m going all the same.

I’ll be putting Rotiivas on my Ram when the time comes for that.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > AkursedX 02/17/2020 at 15:39

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Great write up! I think a tire like this would be great in a place that gets snow less than 10 times a year. I really detest driving blizzaks long distances on dry roads. Where I live you really do need a dedicated snow tires, even a Subaru is going to have issues without good sno ws.

Odddoylerules > AkursedX 02/17/2020 at 16:28

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When we lived in the puget sound our g2's were the perfect tire. We live in the highlands of central WA now but nokian is still the go- to winter tire brand and always will be for me . (Now hakka 8's. Its REAL icy here)

Tire rack is doing the world a disservice not stocking these guys.  Their snow tires are truly a class above the rest. 

Snuze: Needs another Swede > AkursedX 05/12/2020 at 11:37

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I’d never heard of Nokian tires until I bought a set of $200 wheels/tires on Craigslist for my Volvo 850 back in the fall . I really just wanted the rims (semi-rare factory Zeus 16" 17 spoke wheels that look like rally wheels ) and had low expectations for the tires. What I ended up getting was a brand new set of Nokians (not sure the model, but they have the mountains and snow flake!) and I’ve been really impressed with them so far. I don’t push them hard because, let’s face it, it’s a 24 year old, non-turbo, automatic Volvo. But still, these things have been fantastic in the rain and on colder mornings. I’ve been impressed enough that I will strongly consider Nokian for my next tires.