Bought my X in April 2008 and had been reading the threads about how the X handles in snow and ice conditions. I'd planned on buying some alloy wheels (no chrome so no flaking, peeling from the salt they put on the road in NYC) and mounting snow tires to them when I saw Eurotech having the $500 per staggered set fire sale on the 215s at the end of the summer.
My plans changed though after purchasing the wheels and doing research on the price of snow tires. The absolute least I could find the fronts for was $250 each but the rears (315mm) were $350 and up. I wound up selling the 215s on Ebay for $800 including $200 shipping and guess what? The guy that bought them lived 10 minutes away! I tried to coordinate to drop them off to him and I was gonna give him
some of the shipping charges back but he wasnt there and told me to leave the wheels with the guy that worked there.
OH WELL, OH WELL!
Anyway, in the process of googling and yahoo-searching for snow tires for the replicas, I came across a Craigslist ad posted by a guy in Oregon who'd had a Cayenne he'd totaled a few months before. He was advertising studded Nokian Hakkapeliittas for $400 for the set!
I called the guy and found out he just wanted to get rid of them since they were taking up space in his basement and he wouldn't be using them again. He'd mounted them only once to his Cayenne during the prior winter and claimed they had only about 5000 miles on them. He had summer tires mounted to his Cayenne when it was totaled.
We got to wheelin' (pun intended) and dealin' and I got all four shipped to my door for $450. I mounted them literally just as the first winter storm dropped flakes on our dirty sidewalks and so far so good.
In general, they feel much like the Hankook Ventus ST. I actually never had the opportunity to sling the X around on ice on the Hankooks so I cant truly say how much more surefooted in the snow than it would have been with the Hankooks.
But what I
can say is it feels like it is on rails around corners through the snow and on ice!
The tread is very deep and the spikes are like cleats on a football field on every surface except those metal plates they put over big holes during construction and on bridges with those metal grates on their surfaces (ie: Brooklyn Bridge which I traverse daily). The only minor drawback is that when the windows are open, those litle metal spikes sound like you're pulling up in a gravel-filled driveway. With the windows up and the radio OFF, the sound is really only audible below 7mph. Wind noise pretty much drowns it out above that. The studs are loud enough that they're clearly noticable but not unpleasant or annoying. I picked a friend up last week and he says he heard me from inside pulling up outside his house.
The best part about these tires is that I can keep the look of having my Beyern 20s on through the winter but not compromise my safety.
Happy driving yall!
PS: My X (I call him Brawn) is embarassed because I posted dirty pics of him, lol
Hakkapeliitta 2 185/70 R14 88T spiked S (Standard Load) 
- Stock Level: 5
Winter tires - WARNING: DO NOT MIX WINTER TIRES WITH OTHER TIRES!
Winter Tires should be installed on your car only in complete sets of four. According to the manufacturer, it is unsafe to mix them with other tires. Your tires should all have the same tread pattern, size, and construction.
- Speedindex T: the tire's speed capacity is up to 118 mph/190 km/h !
- We only supply the tire. If there is a rim shown in the picture, it is for display purposes only.
- The picture serves only representation purposes
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Nokian Hakkapeliitta 2 - the winter tire, which unites in itself the most important coupling properties of the refractory-face and friction tires. With very safe refractory-faced tire Nokian Hakkapeliitta 2 makes the progressive technique of refractory-faceing and new rubber compound. Safe on snow and to ice The innovation friction rubber compound of tire and saturated lamination guarantee reliable cohesion on the snow-covered roads. The large area of refractory-face makes possible for tire to remain steady also during the motion on ice. Surprises are not always desirable Nokian Hakkapeliitta 2 - safe winter tire for those, who do not want to be encountered with the surprises, being located beyond the control. On tires Nokian Hakkapeliitta 2 it is possible to be calm even when winter does not gladden by excellent weather.