Stay on the road and out of the ditches: Nokian Tyres Winter Driving School gives you tips for safe winter driving

Drive better on snow and ice

Did the winter catch you by surprise? Did you once again find out that summer tyres are only good for skidding in the winter? Luckily, winter driving does not have to be all slips and slides, even though many motorists are lacking in their knowledge of the requirements of winter driving. The two prerequisites for safe winter driving are tyres designed to suit for your own winter conditions, and a calm and proactive approach to driving.

Nokian winter tyres are the test winners in the 2012 winter tyre tests conducted by the German car magazines “Auto Bild”, “auto motor sport” and “AUTOStraßenverkehr” earning top ratings of “exemplary”, “highly recommendable” and “very good”. In more than 20 winter tyre tests carried out by car magazines in Germany and other European countries this winter, Nokian tyres came out on top. It is best to drive the test winner.

You can test and supplement your knowledge and skills online at Nokian Tyres Hakkapeliitta Winter Driving School.

Nokian winter tyres are the world's most famous winter tyres. The safe and economical Nokian WR D3 is for the compact and middle-sized class and small cars, the safe and sporty WR A3 is for large, fast cars. These winter tyres were especially developed for European weather and the higher speeds on European motorways. The winter tyres optimised for colder Scandinavian winters are called Hakkapeliitta. They are well known and very much appreciated in the Nordic countries. You can also find good tips for winter driving in the blogs of the world’s leading winter tyre manufacturer’s professionals.

Practise winter driving on slippery roads

In the winter, it is easy to find drivers who have too much confidence in the grip provided by winter tyres. They do not slow down for anything and they take corners at excessively high speeds. When a car finally goes into a slide, they do not know how to correct the dangerous situation. There are also many inexperienced drivers who feel insecure on slippery roads.

Nokian Tyres performs thousands of tyre tests when developing new winter tyres. During these tests, we gather plenty of useful information about winter driving and the car’s behaviour under different weather conditions. For your added safety and driving comfort, the Nokian Tyres website now offers the new Winter Driving School that guides motorists in the basics and subtleties of winter driving.

“Our Winter Driving School provides instructions for setting up your car in the winter, and for surviving different driving conditions, on icy roads as well as during snowfall or freezing weather. When driving on slippery roads, you should remember that doubling your speed will quadruple your braking distance,” says Matti Morri, Technical Customer Service Manager from Nokian Tyres.

The Winter Driving School hands out information by means of both illustrative videos and texts. Finally, it allows you to test your knowledge of winter driving. Even those who feel confident as winter drivers should visit the site and see if their knowledge is still up to date. The Nokian Tyres Winter Driving School is available in English, Russian, Swedish, Norwegian, and Finnish.

Blogs provide new information daily

Like last winter, Nokian Tyres has dozens of real-life Nokian Test Drivers who write in their blogs about their experiences in Finland, Sweden, and Norway. The consumer testing and blogging programme will now also be initiated in Germany, the Czech Republic, the United States, Canada, and Russia. The professionals at Nokian Tyres also have their own blogs that provide versatile tyre information.

In his latest blog post, Technical Customer Service Manager Matti Morri provides tips for tyre selection: “Information that you should give to the tyre dealer includes the car’s make and model as well as the manufacturer’s size recommendations, and the type of use and driving that you intend to use the tyres for. Then, the dealer can assess if you need tyres for high speeds or, for example, family use, where convenient driving and safety are the most important properties of the tyre.

However, the consumer should be careful when purchasing tyres, particularly over the Internet. For example, when buying tyres for the winter from an online shop, a common mistake is that after finding tyres at a suitable price, the buyer forgets to check if the tyres are designed for the rather easy conditions that prevail in Central Europe or the demanding northern conditions. The safest option is to choose tyres that are suitable for one’s own driving habits and requirements, and that were designed for the conditions in the country where they will be used.”

Nokian Tyres Winter Driving School:
www.nokiantyres.com/winter-driving-school

Photos Downloads Nokian Tyres Winter Driving School:
www.nokiantyres.com/testingwinter

Video Download Nokian Tyres Winter Driving School:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEGQ7ie-JlM&list=UUv-VDEjbdBkuZ-eSvYOn0FA&index=6

Photos, videos, downloads Nokian WR winter tyres:
www.nokiantyres.com/NewNokianWR

Video Download Nokian WR winter tyres:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxhC-xT_uLo&feature=relmfu

Nokian tyres – test success:
www.nokiantyres.com/test-success

Nokian Tyres is the world's leading winter tyre specialist, a multiple test winner, and a premium brand

As the world's leading winter tyre specialist, a multiple test winner, and a premium brand, Nokian Tyres offers the safest tyres for northern conditions. Innovative Nokian tyres from Finland for cars, trucks, and heavy machinery demonstrate their high quality particularly well in snow, tough climates, and demanding driving situations, and deliver sustainable added value. In addition, Nokian produces tyres especially developed for European weather and the higher speeds on European motorways. Nokian tyres deliver excellent safety, save fuel, and are the forerunner of environmental friendliness. The company is number 1 in terms of brand recognition and appreciation in Scandinavia and Russia and has a positive, exceptional image.

Nokian is the inventor of the winter tyre

Nokian has been designing, testing, and patenting innovative tyres for more than 75 years and is the inventor of the winter tyre. The world's first winter tyre was developed and manufactured in the midst of icy winds and bitter cold in 1934. Two years later, Nokian Hakkapeliitta, created for harsh northern winters and today one of the best-known winter tyre brands, was born. The world's fastest winter tyre with a top speed of 270 km/h, the Nokian WR, was launched by the Finns in 2002. In 2007, the Nokian WR G2 was introduced, it was rated as "highly recommended" and "good" in tests for its outstanding grip and unique protection against slush planing.

Read more:
Nokian Hakkapeliitta winter tyres for 75 years
www.nokiantyres.com/first-winter-tyres
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JA-fJDKvwE&feature=share&list=PL1BE04B7BAC224A97

Nokian winter tyres are the test winners in the 2012 winter tyre tests

Its success story continues with the safe and economical Nokian WR D3 for the compact and middle-sized class and small cars, as well as with the safe and sporty WR A3 for large, fast cars: Nokian winter tyres are the test winners in the 2012 winter tyre tests conducted by the German car magazines “Auto Bild”, “auto motor sport” and “AUTOStraßenverkehr” earning top ratings of “exemplary”, “highly recommendable” and “very good”. In more than 20 winter tyre tests carried out by car magazines in Germany and other European countries this winter, Nokian tyres came out on top. The Finnish tyres are given the top rating of “good” by the German automobile club ADAC and consumer protection organisation “test Stiftung Warentest”.
“Auto Bild” praises the Nokian WR A3: “Strengths: exemplary handling qualities on snowy, wet and dry surfaces, stable directional control and precise steering response, shortest wet and dry braking distances, low fuel consumption”. The “auto motor sport” assessment for the Nokian WR D3 is: “Outstanding performance on snow, short braking distance on dry surfaces, balanced handling”.
Nokian is the test winner for the German company car magazine “Firmenauto” (11/2012) too. “Highly recommendable” is also the assessment of the Nokian tyre in the 2012 winter tyre tests carried out by the German car magazine “Auto Zeitung”, Auto Club Europa ACE, GTÜ, ÖAMTC, TCS and ARBÖ as well as “very good” in the tests conducted by the German car magazines “promobil”, “Firmenauto Transporter” and “lastauto omnibus Transporter”. It also wins the “gute fahrt” recommendation for “the best tyres” from the German car magazine “gute fahrt”.
Standard Nokian winter tyres achieved a new Guinness World Record with a top speed of 331.610 km/h on ice.

Nokian tyres are test winners in the German car magazines' summer tyre tests, 2012

The summer tyres from Nokian are also multiple test winners, offering high levels of safety and they save fuel. The Nokian tyres are test winners in the 2012 summer tyre tests in the German car magazines "Auto Bild" (9/2012 + 8/2012), "Auto Zeitung" (6/2012 + 12/2012), "auto Test" (4/2012), "gute Fahrt" (3/2012), "Auto Bild allrad" (4/2012), "pro mobil" (4/2012), and "Firmenauto Transporter" (4/2012). With eight wins in the tyre tests, the Finnish premium brand has won more tests than any other brand. The top scores – "Auto Bild, exemplary” "Auto Zeitung, test winner", "auto Test, test winner", "gute Fahrt, recommendation", and "Auto Bild allrad, exemplary" – show the outstanding qualities of the summer tyres from the world's leading winter tyre specialists in each of the test reports. The SUV tyre is also the test winner in the "Auto Zeitung" SUV tyre test (12/2012). Nokian was the runner up in "auto motor sport" (7/2012) with the excellent rating of "highly recommended".

Driving Safety Indicator (DSI) with the unique snowflake symbol, the Winter Safety Indicator, provides more safety

The Nokian Driving Safety Indicator (DSI) with the unique snowflake symbol, the Winter Safety Indicator, on the Nokian WR winter tyre clearly shows the driver the groove depth as a number from 8 to 4 millimetres. The snowflake remains visible down to 4 millimetres. When it disappears, the risk increases and the winter tyres should be replaced. No other tyre manufacturer has these patented innovations.

Nokian Tyres achieved a 1.456 billion euro turnover in 2011

Nokian Tyres achieved a turnover of 1.456 billion euro in 2011 and had 3,900 employees. The Vianor tyre retail chain, with 1000 outlets in 24 countries, is a subsidiary of the company. The Nokian Tyres stock is listed on the NASDAQ OMX in Helsinki.
www.nokiantyres.com

Press contact:
Dr Falk Köhler PR
Dr Falk Köhler
Tel.: +49 40 54 73 12 12
Fax: +49 40 54 73 12 22
E-mail: Dr.Falk.Koehler(at)Dr-Falk-Koehler.de
Ödenweg 59
22397 Hamburg
Germany

Further information:

Nokian Tyres plc:
Technical Customer Service Manager
Matti Morri, Tel.: +358 10 401 7621
E-mail: matti.morri(at)nokiantyres.com

Communications Manager
Anssi Mäki, Tel.: +358 10 401 7782
E-mail: anssi.maki(at)nokiantyres.com

Nokian Tyres s.r.o
Managing Director Central Europe
Dieter Köppner, Tel.: +420 222 507 761
E-mail: dieter.koppner(at)nokiantyres.com

Product Development Manager
Sven Dittmann, Dipl.-Ing., Tel.: +49 8143 444 850
E-mail: sven.dittmann(at)nokiantyres.com

Marketing Manager
Lukáš Líbal, Tel.: +420 222 507 759
E-mail: lukas.libal(at)nokiantyres.com