Author Topic: Gislaved NordFrost 3 - Q-rated? (Read 2059 times)

compact · « **on:** December 09, 2004, 10:35:52 am »

Hi,

One of my dealers is recommending this Swedish snow tire to me. I've read that they are pretty good: they are standard issue on Volvos, and the company is owned by Continental. However, their speed rating is 'Q', the lowest possible. Is this a bad thing? Thanks.

http://www.conti-online.com/generator/www/com/en/gislaved/automobile/themes/pc_t yres/winter/nord_frost_3/master_nf3_en.html

Compact
p.s. Sorry to crowd things with my posts here, but if I added it to my other post, no one would probably notice it. Thanks.

multipath · « **Reply #1 on:** December 09, 2004, 12:51:18 pm »

Q rating is not necessarily a bad thing with winter tires. A couple of generalizations about the Q rated tires: they will tend to be made with a softer compound which usually means better ice traction, but quicker tread wear; and they will tend to be a squirmier tire with less responsive handling.

That said, provided you adjust your driving significantly for winter (i.e. no aggressive driving) or never drive that way to begin with, they should do you just fine. Otherwise, stay close to the OEM speed rating.

HeliDriver · « **Reply #2 on:** December 09, 2004, 04:55:48 pm »

Depends how you define "aggressive driving". I don't drive aggressively at all in the winter, but I do like to cruise at 120 km/h when the pavement is bare and dry. In my experience, at anything over 100 km/h, crosswinds, rutted pavement, or even a simple lane change can be nausea inducing on Q-rated tires.

A poster in an earlier thread (http://test.canadiandriver.com/discus/messages/2479/22588.html?1102601431) had the following question about his new 14" tires (presumably Q-rated): "Seems to me that the steering is very touchy now, and sometimes feels like the car sways a little bit from side to side. Is this something that I'll just get use to?"

FWIW, in three winters, I never got used to it. Hated every minute of it, in fact.

multipath · « **Reply #3 on:** December 09, 2004, 05:30:38 pm »

I guess it does depend on a lot though, and how much of a handling trade-off you can tolerate.

bf7890 · « **Reply #4 on:** December 11, 2004, 07:20:13 pm »

If you do a lot of driving on dry pavement and/or highway, I would not recommend Q-rated tires. I have Q-rated, 14" tires and the car really does "feel" like it's swaying side-to-side. Having said that, though, they're fantastic in snow. But next time, I'm sticking to H- or at least T-rated tires for the winter.

My OEM summer tires are V-rated and a few summers ago, I made the mistake of getting T-rated Yokohamas (Avid T4). Big mistake. Brakinging sucked. Every time I stopped, my passengers would roll forward. Consumer Tires in Mississauga graciously offered to buy these tires back from me as I bought their Michelin Exalto's.

panda_tsx · « **Reply #5 on:** December 12, 2004, 05:29:41 am »

I'm running on Nokian RSi's which are R rated, one step above the Q's and yes they are no SUMMER tire but i think everyone over-exagerates the performance on pavement. To be honest, it's not really terrible! If you find yourself travelling 110-120Km/h quite often then u will feel they are really squirmy. I've been doing about 80-90 quite often on these tires and no problems. The car is a Acura TSX. Just remember it's winter now and you shouldn't be driving like it's summer anyhow.