Wide swaths of the country yearly plunge into the type of weather in which what falls from the sky simply isn’t to be believed, meaning a significant number of drivers annually – and smartly – install a set of winter tires on their rig. Nokian, a brand synonymous with winter tires thanks to top shelf products like the fun-to-say Hakkapeliitta line, has raised the bar for measures of traction by stamping a new Ice Grip symbol onto the sidewalls of its tires.
Or, at least the Hakkapeliitta 10 and R5 lines of winter tires, that is. Most gearheads are familiar with the three-peak mountain snowflake (3PMSF) symbol, a mark which denotes which tires have passed an industry standard for traction when tested in appropriately wintery conditions. Like the pass/fail grade on a math test, there is no wiggle room in the measurements for being granted a 3PMSF mark – either it does or doesn’t.
While the 3PMSF remains a stringent bar to clear, new technologies in areas both molecular (compounds) and mechanical (tread designs) mean that more tires than ever before are able to display the mark. This isn’t a bad thing, since the greater number of appropriately robust winter tires available means all hands are safer on the road. But it does muddy the waters a bit when the likes of all-weather tires knobby off-road hoops have the thing as part of their marketing arsenal. What do to?
Well, if you’re a leader in one’s field like Nokian, you go for an even tougher designation – the new Ice Grip symbol. Like the 3PMSF, this is an industry standard and is actually kept tabs on by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), meaning it isn’t some contrived mark like the meaningless M + S stamp which has no basis in testing. If you’re wondering, one of the bars to clear to earn the 3PMSF mark is accelerating with a minimum of 110 percent the traction of an all-season reference tire whilst on medium packed snow.
To be eligible for the ice grip marking, the tires’ ice performance was verified through an internationally agreed-upon ice braking test by an accredited independent test laboratory. Tires had to perform at least 18 percent better than a standard reference tire in terms of braking to receive the emblem and was actually agreed upon back in 2021. Feel free to dork out on the specifics at this link; this author did, for sure.
Nokian is the first to put this stamp on mass-market tires, starting with the R5 and then appending it to the Hakkapeliitta 10. It is worth noting that both the studded Hakka and non-studded R5 from Nokian both qualify for the Ice Grip Symbol. How? Wes Boling, Senior Communications and Content Manager, explains. “The technology we use in the R5 [rubber] contains cryo crystals which act like built-in studs embedded throughout the tread in specific patterns. And we can use more of them than metal studs on a similarly sized tire.”
It all amounts to yet another arrow in the quiver of people who try to educate others on the benefits of winter tires (raises hand). Just like when 3PMSF first appeared, the Ice Grip symbol is one more identifier to help select a tire that right for the conditions in which one finds themselves driving – especially if yer route contains untold yards of frigid conditions.
[Images: Nokian]
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