Nokian Tyres

For those of you not familiar with them, the Nokian Tyre company is headquartered in Nokia Finland where they started manufacturing tires in 1932. At the time, they were known as the “Nokia Tyre Company”. Over time they diversified, got into electronics, and eventually made cell phones, at which point the tire division was spun off into its own company “Nokian Tyres”. From this heritage of high-tech manufacturing and icy cold winters, Nokian has a history of developing the world’s best winter tires.

Nokian's "White Hell"

To test their latest tire designs in harsh winter conditions, Nokian Tyre maintains its own permanent winter tire test facility 800 miles above the Artic Circle in Ivalo Finland. They call it “The White Hell”. The Leffler brothers traveled to the test track in February (yes, Finland in February!) to see how Nokian’s latest tires performed on a frozen lake versus their competition’s winter tires. For two days we did laps in BMWs on the frozen lake, and it wasn’t close. The Nokian WRG4’s were the hands-down winners in nearly every test category. They made a believer out of us!

Nokian Tyres Are Now Made in The USA

Despite their connection to the phone company, Nokian tires are not well-known in the US. For most of their history, Nokian only had one factory that ran at 110% capacity and sold most of their tires in Europe to Mercedes, BMW, and Volvo owners for use on the Autobahn. Their supply constraints and high demand in Europe meant limited supplies available for the US market. That all changed in October of 2019, when Nokian Tyre opened their first North American factory in Dayton Tennessee. In keeping with Nokian’s commitment to sustainability, their headquarters building (shown here) was built to LEED Gold V4 standards. Congratulations Nokian!

Nokian WRG4 and Nokian WRG4 SUV

Our most popular Nokian Tire is the WRG4 (Winter Tire Generation 4) which is ideally designed for the Chicago climate. With “Blade Grooves” that efficiently move rain, snow, and slush away from the center of the tire, you’ll find this tire is grippy when you need it, yet quiet and comfortable for year-round use. Unlike most tires that are only truly good for use half the year, the Nokian WRG4 is a full 4 season tire. In fact, Nokian invented the category of “All-Weather Tires” because Nokian WRG4 was so radically different that it didn’t fit into the winter tire or all-season tire categories.

Although the Nokian WRG4 works great on day-to-day cars like the Honda Accord or Toyota Camry, the Nokian WRG4 really excels when fitted onto luxury European cars like the Audi A8, BMW 7 series, and Mercedes S-class. There is also a version designed specifically for cross-over and sport-utility vehicles called the Nokian WRG4 SUV which is often fitted on the Toyota Rav4 and the Honda CR-V but was really designed for use on vehicles like the Volvo XC90, the Land Rover Range Rover, and the Porsche Cayenne.

Chicagoland’s Authorized Nokian Tire Dealer

Suburban Tire Auto Repair Centers has been selling Nokian tires since 1994 and is proud to be Chicagoland’s first authorized Nokian dealer. Besides the WRG4, and the new Nokian One we also stock popular tires such as the Nokian Entyre 2.0, and the Entyre C/S, the Nokian Rotiiva AT plus, and the Nokian Hakkapeliitta R3. Nokian’s main warehouse for the US is in Shorewood Illinois, so if we do not have the tire you want in stock, we can usually get it for you within a day or two.

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Duke and Susan Leffler started Suburban Tire in 1976 with a 100% commitment to great tire prices, honest dealings, and expert automotive repairs. Three generations of Leffler’s promise to keep Duke’s commitment to our customers. We want you to be 100% satisfied every time you step through our doors. Our mission is to give you a world class tire and auto repair experience with honesty, integrity and professionalism.

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