Winter tire 90 years: “We can ensure safety by keeping ahead of the challenges”

Kelirengas was the first

Nokian Tyres invented the winter tire to tackle the harsh Finnish winter. Prior to the innovation, there were no tires suitable for winter driving: tires had a smooth surface and required snow chains on top of them for grip in winter. The winter tire featured a rough tread pattern for grip and traction, and the tread pattern was also designed open enough to clean itself of snow while driving, enabling a safe journey on winter roads.

The world’s first winter tire Kelirengas, Weather Tire, was mostly designed for trucks, and two years later, in 1936, a further improved design specifically for passenger cars, Lumi-Hakkapeliitta, Snow-Hakkapeliitta, was introduced. To meet the demands of slippery roads, caused by the increased number of vehicles and plowing, Lumi-Hakkapeliitta featured small suction cups to prevent slipping on icy surfaces. Nearly 90 years later, the Nokian Tyres Hakkapeliitta is one of the world’s best-known winter tire brands.

90 years of reinventing safety and developing sustainability

“The winter tire taught us that we can ensure safety by keeping ahead of the challenges. As the world keeps on changing, so do the challenges. In these 90 years, the weather conditions have changed, new materials have been innovated, and product development has taken leaps towards creating more and more sustainable tires”, says Soini.

Winter tire as one of the most important pieces of safety equipment for winter driving is as relevant today as it was 90 years ago. The modern winter tire features a mix of about 100 different raw materials, roughly three times more than the winter tire in the 1930’s , including both renewable and recycled raw materials.

The modern winter tire relies on decades of product development and innovation work. Continuous testing in real winter conditions for example in Nokian Tyres’ test center in Finnish Lapland makes sure that the tires from the inventor of the winter tire will be able to safeguard drivers in all conditions.

“When designing winter tires, we must consider the different winter conditions they will be driven in. In Scandinavia winter is icy and in Central Europe wetter. We were the first tire manufacturer to start testing our tires on slush, for example,” Soini says.

In addition to the varying winter driving conditions, development in vehicle technology affects the development of winter tires.

“Ten years ago, Nokian Tyres introduced the first winter tire specifically designed for electric cars and in 2020 the first studded winter tire designed for EVs. Our starting point is that all our products make driving safe no matter what car you drive and all Nokian Tyres tires that can be fitted to your vehicle, whether an EV or not, will be tested to be safe and compatible”, says Soini.

Studded or non-studded

In Scandinavia, the choice of winter tire is made between the studded or the non-studded. Nokian Tyres introduced studs into the design of winter tires in the early 1960s, creating yet another innovation for safe winter driving.

Both non-studded Nordic winter tires as well as studded Nordic winter tires are under constant development, and both offer solutions for a variety of vehicles. Performance difference between the two categories comes down to the conditions for which the tires are usually needed for.

“With smaller studs we have been able to lower the road wear even while increasing the number of studs, which is important for safety when driving in extreme conditions. Overall, Nokian Tyres endeavors to make the safest and most sustainable tires, be they studded or non-studded, and the driver can be confident in choosing the Nokian Tyres solution that best fits their driving needs”, Soini says.