A new front tyre complements the Hakkapeliitta family for heavy vehicles

Nokian Hakkapeliitta Truck F beats the winter

The Nokian Hakkapeliitta truck tyre family is expanding. The new Nokian Hakkapeliitta Truck F is a front tyre designed for demanding professional truck and bus driving. It has been made to beat even the toughest of winter conditions and driving situations. In keeping with the strong Hakkapeliitta tradition, this new front tyre is another manifestation of Nokian Tyres’ core expertise: knowledge of winter conditions.

The new tyre’s development work started out with an ambitious, brave goal: to introduce the best winter front tyre in the world. Nokian Hakkapeliitta Truck F is a relentless, reliable traveller of medium and long distances. This multipurpose tyre is at home on broad main roads but can as easily cope with the challenges of winding small roads or distant forest roads. It provides professional drivers with efficient grip, uncompromised durability and economic driving. Nokian Hakkapeliitta Truck F was designed for the rapidly changing, challenging and tricky winter conditions.

The new Nokian Hakkapeliitta Truck F is a member of the same strong family as the heavy traction tyre Nokian Hakkapeliitta Truck E, which was introduced just over a year ago and has generated a lot of positive feedback from users. Aiming at absolute grip, safety and ease of driving, you can now equip the entire vehicle with Hakkapeliitta tyres.

Siping to ensure absolute grip

The Nokian Hakkapeliitta Truck F is a pure-bred winter tyre. The Spiral Sipe System, developed by the northern tyre factory, ensures unique grip properties for the front tyre. Thanks to the dense siping, the longitudinal sipes in particular, the new tyre has up to a 15% better lateral grip on ice and packed snow than its predecessor.

In addition, the tyre’s aggressive tread pattern supports the siping and further enhances grip. This winter front tyre maintains its absolute grip even when worn after accumulated kilometres.

Nokian Hakkapeliitta Truck F endures hard wear on rough roads. Thanks to the ideal contact area and even surface pressure, the tyre wears evenly, which is a property particularly appreciated among professional drivers.

A high-quality front tyre must not only maintain its grip even in extreme situations but also feature systematic, logical driving properties. Nokian Hakkapeliitta Truck F steers according to the driver’s wishes, without any surprises. It remains precise and stable in all situations and conditions.

The new front tyre’s groove bottoms are shaped to resist small rocks from gravel or chippings. The groove bottom design and rock removers prevent rocks from sticking on the tyre. Preventing sharp rocks from harming the tyre body in this way extends the tyre’s service life and makes it more suitable for retreading.

Responding to future challenges today

- We wanted to design a front tyre with impeccable winter properties and reliable grip even in extreme conditions. Winter weather is increasingly fluctuating, and the rapid changes in temperatures and conditions from dry frost to heavy rainfall require new kinds of adjusting properties from tyres. We wanted to come up with a tyre that responds to future challenges today, says Product Development Manager Teppo Siltanen, describing the development work.

The product was designed, developed and tested with the users’ needs firmly in mind. Upcoming regulations and norms were also taken into account. As a forerunner in tyre development, Nokian Tyres wants to comply with the new standards and values in advance.

The tyre’s rolling resistance has an impact on the amount of energy the tyre needs for rolling and the consequent deformation. Tyres with a low rolling resistance roll lightly and smoothly. Consequently, the car consumes less fuel and generates less harmful exhaust emissions.

Equipping the entire heavy vehicle with environmentally friendly tyres helps ensure minimal fuel costs and emissions. Good rolling properties have been a key focus area in the development of Nokian Hakkapeliitta truck front and traction tyres, and the newest Hakkapeliitta is no exception to this rule: it rolls lightly and saves fuel.

Tread indicators show the tyre condition and use

Tread indicators make it easier to monitor the condition and wearing of tyres. Developed and patented by Nokian Tyres, the Driving Safety Indicator (DSI) indicates in numbers how many millimetres of tread there is left on the main grooves of the tyre. When the number 4 of the indicator has worn out, this means that there is only three millimetres of tread left on the main grooves, and the tyres should be retreaded or replaced in order to guarantee safety.

It is recommended to mount the Nokian Hakkapeliitta Truck F on the vehicle in the autumn, as its properties come out most ideally in winter conditions. The Winter Safety Indicator (WSI) with the snowflake symbol indicates that the tyre is safe and suitable for winter conditions. When the snowflake symbol has been worn off, the tyre can still well be used in summer conditions.

Nokian Hakkapeliitta Truck F is one of the quietest tyres on the market, which enhances its driving comfort and the professional driver’s well-being at work. It is manufactured without harmful, highly aromatic oils.

Satisfied feedback from first test users

Professional heavy vehicle drivers expect certain simple basic properties of front tyres: good grip, reliable operation and durability. - The tyre must take me where I want and need to go and take the cargo, even if the destination is at the end of a poor forest road, says Hannu Lamminen, a Finnish driver specialising in timber transportation.

The Nordic test users of Nokian Hakkapeliitta Truck F front tyres were enthusiastic about the new product. The first driving experience with the new tyre in the winter 2008-2009 was pleasant. The tyre delivered its promises: the grip was as good as desired, and other properties also met the drivers’ expectations. The tyre coped well even in the toughest driving situations.

Nokian Hakkapeliitta Truck F is targeted at the Nordic markets, as well as other Nokian Tyres’ market areas where there is a need for truck tyres suitable for demanding winter driving.

The tyre will become available for sale in autumn 2009.

Sizes:

315/80 R 22.5
385/65 R 22.5
315/70 R 22.5 (in 2010)

For further information: Nokian Tyres plc

Teppo Siltanen, Product Development Manager, tel. +358 10 401 7709
Ari Maunula, Marketing Manager, tel. +358 10 401 7521
E-mail: [email protected]