Nokian Z G2 Reviews - Page 2

Given 93% while driving a Opel Astra H CDTI (205/55 R16 W) on a combination of roads for 100 spirited miles
Bought the tyres today I drove 160 kms with them. Great upgrade from Pilot Exalto 2, lots of grip , hard sidewalls but with more confort (I don't have any idea that this could be achieved!)

Lots of dry and wet grip, but I think that they aren't as progressive as the Pilot Exalto, but I'll review them again after the next 10.000 kms

Also they seem more silent than my previous tyres.

I don't expect them to last very long because the rubber is made from a very soft compound.
Helpful 30 - tyre reviewed on October 26, 2012
Given 81% while driving a Volvo 2.0 T5 Saloon (205/50 R16 W) on a combination of roads for 5,000 spirited miles
I am very pleased with these tyres. Amazingly quiet which I really appreciate after my long suffering with some industrial plastic sh.t they called "tyres".
In my size (205/50/16) it has the profile of the V but it is a very small difference and its compound is a Z.
Dry grip is excellent, it doesn't make a noise even in very hard cornering.
Wet grip is much better than my previous tyres and I have a very safe feel on the straits, however it is quite good in long curves also.
My fuel consumption is also better now. Not that much but it is noticeable (let's say about 5-8%).

I have to say that Nokian really CAN make summer tyres. I would definitely buy them again.
Helpful 16 - tyre reviewed on August 20, 2012
Given 57% while driving a Toyota MK2 MR2 NA (215/40 R17) on a combination of roads for 1,000 spirited miles
I've driven this tyre for some months now and for the most part it is ok, but there are a few things that let the tyre down on my car.

In the wet the tyre behaves good, and grips well.
In the dry it lets go a bit fast. If you drive a bit hard and spirited the tyre slips on dry asphalt sooner than you would expect. This have happende to me a couple of times. I'm used to driving conti sport contact 3 on the car, and this had a lot more grip in the dry.

The biggest let down of the tyre however is that it is not able to drive in a straight line. You do constantly have to make minor corrections to the steering wheel to keep the car straight. The tyre follows tracks in the road like they were railroad tracks, and it is hard to keep the car from following deep tracks in the road.
When braking hard the tyre can't go straight either, and will pull the car to the side. This can be scary at high speeds, as you suddenly use two lanes when braking hard, because you have to correct the dirrection the tyres send you in.

On the pluss sides the tyre is very quiet and grips good in rain.
If it had been more direction stable, it would have been good. But the "unstabilty" of the tyre lets it down big time on a sports car.

I'va also tried the tyre on trackdays. If you are thinking about doing this:
In the rain it can be done. In the dry: DON'T do it.
If you are travelling at 180 km/h and brake hard, you will use the whole track to keep the car staight.
I have tyres with the XL sidewalls. This may cause these problems.

However I would not buy these tyres to any car. They are to expensive compared to what they offer in preformance.

Next time I'm probably buying goodyears or bridgestone.
Helpful 19 - tyre reviewed on June 9, 2012
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Given 100% while driving a Ford Mondeo (235/40 R18 W) on mostly town for 3,000 spirited miles
great tires. I recommend to all enthusiasts. comfort. cool on a wet road. generally give a lot of fun to drive.
Helpful 16 - tyre reviewed on April 21, 2012
Given 93% while driving a Lexus GS300 (225/45 R18 W) on mostly town for 100,000 spirited miles
Outstanding for my Lex very comfortable & smooth driving, much better than my previous Pirelli PZero rosso.
Helpful 10 - tyre reviewed on April 20, 2012
Given 40% while driving a Renault Laguna 1.9 dCI (225/45 R17 W) on a combination of roads for 12,000 average miles
I remember my dad buying nokians when i was young and he bought them as budgets so when i needed tyres for my laguna and they had a deal on these tyres i thought i would have a try, not too bad in dry not great in the wet average noise and not great mileage, still a budget tyre! Buy a falken or a toyo if you want cheap tyres!
Helpful 11 - tyre reviewed on January 24, 2012
Given 91% while driving a BMW E39 5 series (255/40 R17 W) on mostly motorways for 600 spirited miles
Good quality tyre. I changed my Pilot Sport 2 with this Nokian in my rear tyres and I'm not missing the Michelin's tyres. Anyway, I expect that once I will have been driving more than 1.000 kms with the nokian, the dry grip will be higher, but right now it is quite high dry grip.

Regards.
Helpful 10 - tyre reviewed on December 21, 2011
Given 90% while driving a Mazda 6 Wagon (205/55 R16) on a combination of roads for 8,000 average miles
Fantastic!
Helpful 8 - tyre reviewed on December 18, 2011
Given 97% while driving a Ford Mondeo Titanium X (225/45 R17) on mostly country roads for 20,000 easy going miles
Nokian Z G2 are the best tyres I have used during my 23 years on the roads! the comfort, grip and quietness is just amazing. They are not cheap but worth every penny! I drive appr. 30000 km a year on country and highway roads.
Helpful 10 - tyre reviewed on September 19, 2011
Given 100% while driving a BMW E38 7 Series (225/45 R17) on a combination of roads for 5,700 spirited miles
I am a professional driver, with over 1,7 Million Miles of driving experience primarily in heavy, powerful rear wheel drive vehicles, such as the Mercedes S430, BMW 740i Euro, BMW 540i, and most notably the BMW M5.
During my driving experience, I have learned several things about tires, which I could share with you.

a)I am a very, very demanding driver - I am able to discern a difference in ‘cut in’ during a high powered turn instantly
b)I can usually tell, knock on wood, exactly where the breaking point is when a tire is just about to lose grip from the asphalt during high powered activities
c)I can very well tell the difference between tires, and I don’t “forget” what tires feel like, I still to this day remember the characteristics of one of my favorite tires ever, the Potenza S03 which is now unfortunately out of production.

Recently I was faced, once again, with the “tire purchase dilemma” - last year I went through the same thing, and purchased the highly recommended “Dunlop Sport SP9000”, in 235/50/18 + 255/45/18 for my BMW 740i. I was extremely disappointed, as I had just removed a set of worn out Continental ContiSport Contacts (original), and the difference was absolutely shocking. On the same exact route I took to the tire shop, and back, I noticed that in order to turn the vehicle at speed, 2-3 degrees more of turn on the steering wheel were required to accomplish the same turn I did hours earlier. I initially chalked it up to break in period, but, it never got better. I ended up wearing the tires out, and most definitely it was an uninspiring, slow, and rather unpleasant driving “year” for me.
After this, having lost all memory of the car’s performance and handling capabilities, I reverted back to the 16” 235/60/16 16x8” wheels, and put a new set of Continental Premium Contact 2 tires on them. Review on this, 5/5, for a 235/60/16 tyre, you can’t get any better than this. This is a better tire by far than the previous top contender, the Michelin Pilot 235/60/16 100W, and it’s also much better than the Pirelli P6000 100W, which I might add is a horrible tire in the dry, way too much screeching and not enough grip. Shameful.
A few months later, summer comes around, and I was looking at my 18” wheels which are idle in the garage, and decided to get some tires on them to enjoy the 18” wheels over the summer. I was faced with the following choices:

*Michelin Pilot Sport - discontinued
*Michelin Pilot Sport A/S- horrible reviews
*Goodyear Eagle F1 - done that in the past, WAY too much noise, and MUCH too poor grip
*Bridgestone Potenza S03 - probably the best tire I’ve ever owned, unfortunately discontinued now, so this is out of the question
*Continental ContiSport Contact 2, sure a good choice, and probably would have been excellent due to it’s straight-line tread rather than these silly angled designs, but I skipped over this due to cost
*Dunlop - forget it - see above (if you want to have any semblance of straight tracking, forget about the SP9000)
*Nokian Z G2 - as soon as I saw this tire, I liked it - the straight tread pattern, the solid sidewall, and the high load capacity rating, not to mention the dozens of reviews of people using these tires on M5’s and other powerful cars - made me put this on the top list

A week later, after literally flipping a coin between the ContiSport Contact 2, and the Nokian - I chose the Nokian Z G2.

These are solid tires, with a very firm sidewall, and most definitely give a “solid” feel from the first glance.
Fast Forward:
*Tires mounted on car
*Car driven so far 5700KM
*I immediately realized what I had been missing all these years, with the horrible Dunlop and Goodyear “NAME BRAND” tires I’ve been running

Pros:
*Cut in during turns - EXCELLENT, BEST EVER, maybe even BETTER than the legendary S03 Potenza
*Stopping response while straight and/or turning - EXCELLENT 10/10
*Road Noise - 8/10 - you can definitely hear them - but it’s nothing like the roar of the Goodyear Eagle F1’s I had (asymmetric)
*Starting traction - my car is heavily modified with 340 RWHP - it’s very easy to break the tires loose especially on a 1st gear start, and during 1-2 shifts (3.15 LSD rear)
Guess what - these tires are the STICKIEST, tires I have __EVER__ used, even with 340 RWHP I can’t get more than a chirp out of the right rear tire, and the 1-2 shift / 2-3 shift rear-end-sliding-around is gone. (that was fun, but it’s unsafe esp. if it happens and you’re not expecting it)

THEREFORE:

If you’re one of those guys, like me, that likes to drive hard, solid, and you’re not one of these guys that “has to show off” that he got the EAGLE F1 or the PIRELLI ... give these tires a shot.

You absolutely can’t go wrong. After all, I love these tires so much that I spent the money to buy this domain, and the hosting, just to tell you and save you money and SUFFERING from buying some horrible Dunlop SP9000 like I did last year.

NOKIAN Z G2
My rating: 10/10
Cost: 70% of Dunlop cost
Performance: 300% better than everything else (except again, Potenza S03, but that’s discontinued ;)
235/50/18
255/45/18
BMW 2001 740i Sport 6 speed Euro spec
Helpful 10 - tyre reviewed on June 1, 2011
Given 96% while driving a Lexus IS200 (225/45 R17) on a combination of roads for 4,000 average miles
This is the first time I have used Nokian tyres and I must say I am very impressed. In he first week of using he tyres I got 20miles more from quarter of a time than my usual milage.
The handling and drive is beats the Dunlop sports I used to have. The car feels more responsive and I am very happy with my choice.
Just wish Nokian tyres was av ailable more freely in the UK
Helpful 11 - tyre reviewed on November 26, 2010
Given 86% while driving a MG ZS (205/50 R16) on mostly country roads for 7,000 spirited miles
Great feeling tyres, much better than Dunlop Fast Responses that I had on the car before. Also have a really good wear indicator feature
Helpful 18 - tyre reviewed on September 3, 2010