The Nokian Hakkapellittas are hard to beat. However, I didn't have that kind of money, and last year ran a set of Gislaved Nord*Frost II's on my 240. All I can say is WOW what a great tire. No excuses, the car would go anywhere under most any conditions. Very impressive.
I couldn't keep up with my friend's Golf on Hakka's but I could safely drive to work and back, and that's all that mattered.
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Rob Bareiss, New London CT ::: '87 244DL/M47- 234K, '82 245T/M46-182K, '89 244DL/AW70- 212K Not too distant past: 86 244DL 215K, 87 244DL 239K, 88 744GLE 233K, 88 244GL 147K, 91 244 183K

You just can't beat Nokians for snow and ice. I don't know if you're looking at the studded or the studless friction tires, but I have both on different cars ( all rwd volvos), and they work great.
Nothing like a tire company whos test track is a frozen lake in Finnish Lapland.
Those folks know their frozen white stuff.
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-------Robert, '93 940t, '90 240 wagon, '84 240 diesel (she's sick) , '80 245 diesel, '82 Mercedes 300SD

I live in Maine, and we get lots of snow -- like you do in Canada. And a few years ago I bought a used set of studded tires mounted on Volvo wheels from a guy. They were Hankook Zovac HPW 401 studded snows. I’d never heard of them before, and my expectation for them was low… boy was I surprised!

They were awesome! Excellent dry road handling, unbelievable on snow and ice. – that brick would go anywhere in anything. And they wore extremely well (not too soft) The one drawback was that they were pretty noisy -- but I’m of the opinion that low noise level offers little comfort when your family is upside-down in a ditch.

I will be buying a new set of snows this year for the car (945T) that carries my wife and kids -- so safety is of the utmost importance. I will be putting a set of Hancook studded tires on the car. And when I need another set of snows for my daily driver, Hankook will also be the choice.

My research this season, however, indicates that the Zovac 401 in no longer available in a 185/65-15 or 195/60-15. If that’s the case, I am confident that the Hankook Radial 404 (studded) will perform equally well. We’ll see.

Here’s their web site:

http://www.hankooktireusa.com/products_view.asp?CatID=6

Jeff Peirce

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'93 945 Turbo ( one kickass family car ! ), '92 Mercedes 190E (my daily driver), '53 Willys-Overland Pickup (my snow-plow truck/conversation piece -- sold to a loving home), '85 Jeep CJ-7 w/ Fisher plow

Sorry. I'm just tired and I couldn't resist the pun.

Living in MD, I have no business telling a Canadian about snow tires.

someguyfromMaryland