Nokian zLine A/S Review

While shopping for A/S tires for my LGT wagon I came across Nokian. I have used their winter tires for over 18 years and loved them. When it came down to making the decision between the Michelin Pilot Sport 3+ that retail for $600 at Costco or the Nokian zLine A/S tires for $220 with free delivery plus $50 to mount and balance. The decision was easy. Nokians. This is the review I found (which there are not many) of this new tire.

 

"Replacing the outgoing zLINE performance summer tire, the zLINE A/S maintains great dry traction and sharp handling characteristics while adding in features that allow it to provide safety in inclement weather. This is Nokian’s flagship UHP (Ultra High Performance) all-season tire, with a fantastically strong carcass complimented by long tread life, soft ride, and silent tread design (you can see the golf ball-like dimples between the treads). For the performance side, the proof is in the proverbial pudding, as zLINE A/S tires are installed on the MX5 race cars that live at Lime Rock Park. With as much time spent on these as the previous zLINE generation, the longevity and grip is even BETTER than the bespoke summer tire it replaces. In several thousands of miles of track torture, the zLINE A/S exhibits as much as 80% better treadwear, with excellent resistance to chunking and chipping."

 

So I ordered them and should have them on by Tuesday. We have dry roads, wet roads, and snowy roads. So I will see how they do and report back. They are $55 per tire at Walmart Online (Hate them, love the price).

 

Link if you want to check them out: https://www.nokiantires.com/all-seas...ian-zline-a-s/

 

Here is a link to the Walmart page. https://www.walmart.com/ip/Nokian-ZL...-91W/506396453

 

Update:

I am loving these tires. I pressed around a 20 mph corner with them about 10 times yesterday testing capabilities and they held tight up to 40mph without making a sound. When they did start to make noise it was while I could easily control it and didn't want to go faster in the corner anyway.

 

Update 2:

30 days and 800 miles in and had a chance to drive them in the heavy rain of Portland, OR. I forgot how much that city gets at one time and it's impressive. I am guessing the climate is similar in Norway because these tires handled wet conditions very well.

Edited April 20, 2018 by VespaGTS
Update

Thanks for the review and the link!

 

Discovered that my passenger front tire has a moderate leak, so I ordered a set today. Price went up a little ($238.08 shipped), but that's nothing for a tire from a good, known company. Always swore by Nokian snow tires, so I'm sure these will be excellent All Seasons.

Please let me know your thoughts. It's a deal that's hard to beat.

Will do! Tires are coming in today and I have new wheels on order (Used this as an excuse to buy a new set).

I have always heard they make a great snow tire. I couple years back I got talked into the WR G3's, I hated them. Only put about 5000 miles on them if that. Had them on the wagon when it got hit a couple months back, had to throw away two of the tires, have the other two in the shed, I bought four Blizzicks, much better winter tire even in the wet then the G3's. I will say the G3's did fine in the snow, but I chock that up to me having zero confidence in them.

 

I'm amazed the zLines are that good.

I put Haakapellitas on my wagon and I like them even more than the Blizzak WS-60s they replaced. They also went on the rime with almost no tire weights onto some Forester 12 spoke wheel knockoffs.

"I am guessing the climate is similar in Norway because these tires handled wet conditions very well."

 

Why Norway? Nokian is Finnish company.

 

Krzys

Thanks for reviewing Nokians Zline A/S. That tire has been on my short list for my next set... after winter.

Update: So I got about 2 years (20k miles) out of the Nokians. The center tread is in great shape (60% tread left) but the edges are cooked form me pressing my car so hard with lowered suspension and sway bars etc... Plus our city has so many roundabouts it makes sense that the outside of the passenger and inside of the driver sides wore out sooner. I think that if I was doing longer drives regularly and less roundabouts the lifespan would have increased. Just ordered another set for $300. I also increased size to 225/45r17.

 

Side note: Consumer Reports did a review of these tires and it was total garbage. I think the problem lies in the fact that these are summer tires with a A/S pattern. So when tested against other A/S tires it was not totally fair. Either way, I like the tires and saved about $500 over a set if Michelins (which I would love to try someday).

Nobody forced Nokian to market their tires as AS so they used to have decent summer tire now they have mediocre all season (because winter traction sucks and wet breaking is not that good).

Oh well.

 

Krzys