Winter Rubber 15 Radius Studded Test. Nitto Therma Spike: Japanese calculation. Production and design

Trying to consolidate in the US market, the Japanese company Toyo Tire in 1995 created the Nitto brand. The enterprise products were intended solely for powerful premium sedans, sports cars and SUVs. Gradually sales started in Europe and Russia.

The company's line has different types of tires. Among the drivers, the winter model Nitto Therma Spike uses in great demand. Reviews of the presented rubber in most cases are only positive.

Production and design

The model was created with the active application of various technological innovations. For example, the design of the tread was designed using digital simulation methods. After creating the prototype, engineers started testing at the Toyo polygon. Only after bringing the model to perfection under these conditions, the tires were allowed into the series. Multi-level quality control, certified ISO, eliminates the risks of acquiring a retail of defective tires Nitto Therma Spike. Motorists testify that the quality of tires is consistently high.

Tread design

It is worth mentioning that the concern moved from the adopted canons in the design of winter tires. Tires received a revolutionary asymmetrical tread pattern. The outer part is quite large, consists of large quadrangular blocks. Massive elements retain their resistance with sharp deformation loads. As a result, the vehicle maintains stability during the passage of turns and in braking.

During the tests of Nitto Therma Spike, it turned out that the presented sample of the tire allows you to maintain a motorist phenomenally high speed of maneuvers. Wheels quickly respond to any changes in the steering.

The inner part gives stability with rectilinear motion. The vehicle is well holding the road, demolitions during the speed set are missing in principle.

Two compound

The outer and inner parts of the winter tires Nitto Therma Spike are different not only by design, but also by the type of rubber mixture. In the first case, a tougher composition is used. It is it that allows you to preserve the necessary maneuverability and the quality of movement. In the second, manufacturers in the compound increased the share of elastomers. As a result, the tire behave more gently, do not provoke high shaking in the cabin when moving through a bad road surface.

The use of special compounds allows you to expand and temperature operation. Tires retain their elasticity even in a heavy frost. Reviews of Nitto Therma Spike drivers argue that the rubber of this class is able to withstand extremely low temperatures.

Behavior on ice

During test test tests, Nitto Therma Spike showed almost perfect ice behavior. The clutch quality is high due to important technical solutions.

1. First, spikes are located in 14 rows. This allows preventing the formation of a rut effect. The car retains his maneuverability even on the glaced tracks.
2. Secondly, the spike head has a variable cross section. Such an unusual approach allows to maintain the stability of turning and braking. Demolitions are absent in principle.
3. Thirdly, special small notches are applied to the tread blocks. As a result, the rigidity of all elements increases, the total number of clutch edges increases.

Snow and water removal

Reviews of Nitto Therma Spike drivers mark and stability ride on a wet road. The negative effect of hydroplating, formed due to the occurrence of the micropoline of water between the tire and the road, is completely absent. This is implemented thanks to a number of measures. For example, Nitto Therma Spike tires received a developed drainage system. The liquid quickly enters the longitudinal channels, then it is redistributed over the entire tire and removal from the contact spot. Improve the clutch quality allows the increased proportion of silicon dioxide used in the compilation of the compound.

The dimensions of the drainage tubules allow the tires to quickly remove the snow hinged on the protector. It just cleans with the depths of the tread under his own severity.

Durability

In reviews of Nitto Therma Spike drivers celebrate and high enough mileage. Tires can withstand about 75 thousand km run. Naturally, the ultimate figure largely depends on the style of the motorist control. After installing the wheels, it is necessary about 1 thousand km to overcome in the most gentle mode. The driver must avoid high speeds and sharp braking. This will allow the spike to be more tightly fixed in the installation places and prevent their premature loss.

Improve reliability helps the use of reinforced frame of a frame. Metal threads are binding to an elastic polymer. As a result, it is possible to more fully redistribute external deformation loads. The risk of forming cones and hernia is reduced to zero.

In the production of rubber mixture for tires NITTO THERMA SPIKE, technical carbon is actively used. The compound reduced the speed of mechanical abrasion.

The optimized distribution of external pressure leads to uniform wear of the tire. The emphasis on the central part or external is missing.

Winter studded tire. The main features declared by the manufacturer:

• provide confident driving when maneuvering on the icing surface,
• improve the course stability when driving in a track,
• provide confident adhesion when overclocking and braking like ice and dry surface,
• the non-directional asymmetric design helps the tread to be cleaned from moisture and snow porridge.

Special development for Russian winter conditions.

Results of the test 195/65 R15 "Polem" 2018

821 score ,.
Number of spikes: 119.
Tire weight: 8.95 kg.
Speaking of spikes after the test: 1.4 ... 1.7 mm.

Satisfactory handling.
+ Not bad permeability.
+ Acceptable smoothness.

These tires are economical, provide an average level of comfort ... and last place on the asphalt.

Review of experts "Autores" 2016: 185/65 R15

8.1 points ,.
Number of spikes: 115.
Tire weight: 8.5 kg.
Speakers of spikes: 1.4 mm.
The depth of the tread pattern: 9 mm.

Pros:
• longitudinal coupling properties on ice,
• ease of control in the snow.

Disadvantages:
• coupling properties on asphalt,
• low resistance to aquaplaning,
• loss of spikes.

The Nitto brand belongs to the Japanese Toyo Tires company. And this is not the second, but rather a parallel line.

Nitto tires are distinguished by catchy extraordinary design. Here in the stack of winter tires for them immediately clings to the look - for an asymmetric pattern, for a diamond-shaped scheme of obychi.

And such a scheme works: on the coupling property on the ice Nitto in the top three leaders! But on the run of the controllability, these tires endow the car with a tendency to drift: in steep turns, well, and on the running arcs of the silent of the rear axle inappropriate.

In the snow, the average indicators, but on the asphalt coupling properties leave much to be desired, exactly as the resistance to aquapalnation. But it is even worse that by the end of the tests on one of the tires we were not subject to ten spikes. Yes, and in the rest one or two empty holes.

Good tires for winter coatings, but aggressive ride on asphalt them is contraindicated.

In the next large test of "Shipovok" we collected six kits of 15-inch tires from Western and Eastern manufacturers. Some among the visa is the experience and the latest technologies, others have the will to victory and affordable prices. Whose will take?

This time we chose one of the most running dimensions - 195/65 R15, which suits many small and inexpensive cars. Different markets, different understanding of the product, different design schools. What distinguishes the tires from the east and west apart from each other, what are their strengths and weaknesses and what to pay attention to the Russian buyer?

Fresh model Bridgestone Blizzak Spike-02 - Maja dear in the East Team (price 3650 rubles), but cheaper than European chanda.

Another novelty, Hankook Winter I * Pike RS 2, - tire with an increased number of spikes and an updated tread pattern. It replaces the Winter I * Pike RS model. This year will appear in Russia in 57 dimensions - from 155/65r 13 to 255/40 R19.

The new Toyo Observe Ice- Freezer bus came to a change of the OBSERVE G3-ICE model and will be available on the market in this fall until 16 sizes are from 14 to 19 inches. The rubber mixture includes silicon dioxide, providing elasticity in the cold, and microparticles of walnut shell for additional clutch on ice.

Another model with Japanese roots is now produced in Russia - Firestone Ice Cruiser 7. Previously, this tire wore an index 7000 and belonged to the BRIDGESTONE brand line.

The next player from Japan - Nitto Therma Spike, Relative Brand Toyo. These tires take part in our tests a second time and are characterized as inexpensive, with modest characteristics.

The new tire GT Radial Icepro 3, who came to the change of the GT Radial Champiro Icepro model, is designed in its own research and development center in Hannover. A brand GT Radial belongs to the developing international Giti company based in Singapore. The novelty is available in 22 dimensions - from 175/65 R14 to 225/60 R17.

Tires participating in the test are produced in China.

West

There are no new products in the Western team, but the players are incredibly strong, since most of these tire manufacturers are updated annually.

Nokian Hakkapeliitta 9, the most expensive tire in the domestic market, is the only one in the world has the spikes of two different types.

Continental IceContAct 2 is also the only and unique: its "carnations" is glued into the protector, and therefore it is very firmly held in it.

From tires cheaper - Goodyear Ultragrip Ice Arctic, more than once occupied prizes in our tests, and Pirelli Ice Zero.

Close the composition of the Western team of two direct competitor, representatives of the second echelon of Continental and Nokian companies - respectively, the Gislaved Nord * Frost 200 and Nordman 7 models.

On the track of the estimates of controllability on ice after each set of tires, the "brush" cleans the coating from the ice crumb. The cleaner the ice, the more accurate the results of the assessment.

cat house

Roulette, annually determining the place of our tests of winter tires, this time pointed to the Continental polygon. It is located in Sweden, next to the small town with the purrious-rigorous name Arvidskore - directly some "Koshkin House".

Mighting last year's weather Apocalypse in Sweden with sudden February warming, they decided to begin the tests early - in mid-January.

And the weather did not fail: during testing stood frosts from -7 to -14 ° C.

In the tests, two hatchback Volkswagen Golf helped us. On the black we laid the main part of the routine work - it chopped on ice and snow, fixing the built-in VBox instrument time acceleration and the magnitude of the braking path. Red performed more creative tasks, participating in evaluating manageability and coursework stability, since it could completely disable the stabilization system using a special program.

Black work for driving

The first to work is a black Golf, which also involves the anti-lock system, and the anti-duct. We begin with overclocking and braking on ice on a small frozen lake, repeating the races of eight or ten times for each tire set. Through two or three test sets - measurements on basic (reference, as shinniki say) tires: without them do not do.

Measures on different coatings differ in the "upper" high-speed limit, which serves as the maximum value of speed during acceleration and initial - when braking. On Ice, this value is 20 km / h, and in the snow - 40 km / h, as a modest ice area is much less snowy. Recalling the results, taking into account the amendments defined using reference tires, we obtain leaders and outsiders in these exercises.

A real surprise issued a plan that broke the traditional leaders. Incredibly, but on these tires Golf accelerates and slows down on the ice even better than on continental and Nokian. To overclock the place up to 20 km / h, the Hankook tires took only 4.1 seconds, and the braking path from 20 to 5 km / h was 6.6 meters. The most protracted acceleration turned out on the tires Gislaved: 5.9 seconds. Close result, 5.8 seconds, obtained on the GT Radial and Firestone tires. Worst of all Golf slowed down on the GT Radial tires: the brake path was 8.7 meters.

The fastest acceleration in the snow is up to 40 km / h provided the Continental tires with an indicator of 5.9 seconds, and Hankook lost them only one tenth! Six all - GT Radial tires.

In braking on the snow cover, Hankook broke forward. To slow down the Golf from 40 to 5 km / h, this tires were enough 16.9 meters. Second place - Gislavda: 17.2 meters. The latter in braking was Firestone and GT Radial: 19,1 and 19.0 meters, respectively.

We complete the Ice Test Series after measuring the circle time, which characterizes the transverse clutch. Continental has retained leadership by running the circle for a record 15.6 seconds. Nearest rivals - and this Hankook, Nokian and Gislaved - it took half a second more. The slower only - for 18.0 seconds - the car passed the circle on Bridgestone tires.

Rating of the best winter studded tires 2018

The tires released after measurements occupy their place on a red golf - we will evaluate the controllability on the snow cover and on the ice.

The test track is great: turns of different radius, from running to zacnyny, straight, allowing to reach the speedometer arrow up to 80 km / h, lifts and descents, then unloading wheels, then pressing them to "road".

Due to the modest dimensions of the frozen lake, we estimate overclocking ice to a speed of 20 km / h, and inhibit from 20 to 5 km / h.

12 Firestone Ice Cruiser 7

Brake properties level on dry asphalt medium

11 GT Radial Icepro 3

Stable following the course on the snow;

No noisy;

Satisfactory smoothness

Meager coupling properties on ice and snow;

Complex handling;

Limited permeability

10 Nittotherma Spike

Satisfactory handling;

Good permeability;

Acceptable smoothness

Low brake properties on wet asphalt and ice;

Complex handling when performing an extreme maneuver on the snow and cocoic stability on asphalt;

9 TOYO OBSERVE ICE-FREEZER

Good coupling stability in the snow;

Stable handling on ice and in the snow

Weak brake properties on ice and dry asphalt;

High fuel consumption at a speed of 90 km / h

8 Bridgestone BLIZZAK SPIKE-02

Confident Patency and Satisfactory Handling in Conventional Driving in Snow

Weak braking on dry asphalt and lateral clutch on ice;

Low economy;

Complex handling in active driving in the snow;

Comments to the course stability on asphalt and comfort

7 GISLAVED NORD * FROST 200

Before the creators of the winter tires, it is worth a difficult task - they have to create a product capable of working in absolutely different conditions. After releasing the new studded model Therma Spike, Nitto approached the solution of this task almost closely

What are the requirements of the Winter Tire? Ideally, it is equally well to work on dry asphalt, and on a wet, both in the snow and on ice, and also when driving on puddles and dirt. Practically, it turned out during our test: under the wheels there was a wild meal out of water, snow and ice. What, what is it not possible for new thermal spike to demonstrate their talents?

Before starting the test, we will study the technical features of the novelties. There is a lot of interesting things. For example, Japanese engineers managed to make the composition of the mixture even softer, which led to an increase in the efficiency of the tire at low temperatures. In addition, the Nitto Therma Spike rubber mixture added a natural component from Walnuts shells. In addition to concerns about ecology, such a solution led to the fact that solid microparticles seem to be combined into ice, increasing the coupling and brake characteristics of the tire.

Special attention deserves a tread pattern. It is an asymmetrical - for winter tires such an advanced solution is quite unusual. Yes, and the form of the grooves from this model nitto is unusual: all lines broken, as if they painted an abstractionist. In fact, multidirectional grooves provide the so-called edge effect and with rectilinear motion, and in turns. This is especially important in the snow and ice - thanks to the strongly broken grooves, the rubber is better cling to a slippery surface.
We also worked on the strengthening of the tread blocks, pursuing two goals at once: improve controllability characteristics and reduce the likelihood of premature wear. In addition, the edges of some blocks were made by saws, which made it possible to achieve an additional increase in stability in turns and improving the adhesion in deep snow.

It was not without the newest 3D technologies. First, there are three-dimensional lamellas, allowing rubber to show excellent results on slippery surfaces due to a stable contact spot. Secondly, "locking" elements were added to them - a set of internal small depressions and bulges. When accelerating or braking, they closes, significantly increasing the rigidity of the blocks, which allows them to preserve their shape.

But perhaps the most interesting thing in the new product is spikes. We can say that they are real "stars". No, really. Let's start with the fact that everyone's base is made in the form of a five-pointed star, so engineers have tried to minimize the likelihood of metal elements. But the "claws" themselves have a cross-shaped form, remotely resembling an asterisk. This configuration ensures the contact of the spike with the surface is not in one, but at once in two points. Moreover, it works and when moving in any direction (forward or backward), and in turns, where such spikes are very effectively vague into the icing surface. It is interesting for their location on the surface of the tread: in the longitudinal projection of the spikes form 20 lines to ensure maximum efficiency.

At the very beginning of the test, there were contradictory feelings. On the one hand, nature presented a surprise behind a surprise - the temperatures of the temperature turned into a real mesh of snow, ice and wet asphalt. In addition, heavy low clouds hung over his head, which turned the surrounding nature in a dull gray picture. On the other hand, it is similar conditions that are not suitable for checking winter tires. So I had to distract from the gloom of the weather and concentrate on the behavior of the tires.

First of all, in the city drew attention to the noise level. Of course, a miracle did not happen: the characteristic rust of the studded tires still makes its way into the car's salon, even despite the very worthy noise insulation of Mitsubishi Outlander. But, of course, this applies mainly to the asphalt ride. In addition, objectively speaking, new nitto does not too spoil acoustic comfort. For example, listen on the road music or companion practically do not interfere. Perhaps the overwhelming majority of competing tires make up loud sound.

As for the riding comfort, there was no complaints at all. The smoothness of the Japanese model provides quite decent. With small cracks, these tires coped playing, thereby unloading the car suspension. Yes, and on major ughab, the elasticity of the tire helps to make the trip comfortable.

But the main surprise expected after leaving the semi-empty country highway. Rare pretty neighbors crawl over it, like a turtle. And no wise, because after several temperature surges, the coating turned into a bar of obstacles. Basically under the wheels wet asphalt, but no, no, and there is an island of a rolled snow or a mirror-smooth area of \u200b\u200bnaked ice. And here the tires showed themselves in all its glory - they would seem to them all. Therma Spike, as a real universal soldier, easily cope with all the tasks. And they do it so well that I slowly build a pace. A little faster, some more and more ... However, the crossover is still riding just as reliably and confident. I trial sharp braking - and there are no problems here. By the way, when slowing, drew attention to how confidently the car holds the trajectory.

Having imbued with confidence, I perform the following maneuver: with a set of speed I pass a gentle gear, where under the wheels and snow, and ice. Began carefully, but soon I increase the tempo. As it turned out, these tires and at lateral accelerations work is no worse than with a straightforward movement. True, as a result, I still overtook you in the ceiling of possibilities - from a certain point, the car began to learn to go into the skid. However, this happened at such a speed at which such a turn would not pass any sensible and appreciating his life driver.

After completing the test program, I can say: although Nitto Therma Spike has not done a revolution, they unequivocally raised the quality bar to a new level. So if you have selection of new winter shoes for the car, be sure to pay attention to these universal, high-quality and modern tires from Japan. They really can not only instill confidence in you on the winter road, but also save from many troubles.