Nokian Encompass AW02 all-weather compound tire

[GFrosty]

Looks like Nokian is releasing a new tire for the U.S. market at the start of the year. Looks interesting, for those needing a year-'round compound, siping and tread design capable of handling summer, rains and moderate winter conditions.

The tread looks a bit reminiscent of the Hakkapeliitta 10, and somewhat like the Michelin CrossClimate2 but with additional siping.

Nokian's blurb about the tire: Nokian Encompass AW02 all-weather tire. DiscountTire/TireRack is showing the tire. Only a few CX5-compatible sizes so far, at least for DT/TR. Uncertain if it's to be distributed in the U.S. by DiscountTire/TireRack only.

Nokian Encompass AW02 -- 12/32" depth, 65Kmi tread warranty, 3PMSF rating

• 225/65-17
• 235/65-17 (a bit tall)
• 235/50-19 (a bit short)

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[jakeuten]

I was tempted by the AW01 but wasn't sure how much it would do for me having a dedicated set of winters. Does anyone on here use the AW01 in the winter where temps get down to -30 F? How do they hold up in terms of not becoming a hockey puck?

 

[GFrosty]

I was tempted by the AW01 but wasn't sure how much it would do for me having a dedicated set of winters. Does anyone on here use the AW01 in the winter where temps get down to -30 F? How do they hold up in terms of not becoming a hockey puck?

I'm completing my fourth year on the Nokian WR G4, which has the same essential compound as the AW01 and AW02.

In temps down to -15ºF or so, the WR G4 have been very good on very cold roads. Have had the Nokian Hakkas previously (though not on the CX-5), and I'd rate these WR G4s at about 90% of the grip of the Hakkas, in snow, ice, and mixed cold crud. Pretty good in rain, too. Aside from the differences in tread format, though I'm guessing, I can't imagine the AW01 or AW02 compound would grip much differently than the WR G4 in cold.

This past ~6mos or so, I've begun to notice the beginnings of slightly reduced grip on "launch" during drizzly mornings if I'm not careful with the throttle. Not frequently, but it's starting. Indicative this is likely the last season I'll be on this set of tires.

Seriously considering the AW01 and AW02 models, for the CX-5. In my case, while I have to contend with cold, it's quite rare we have more than 12-18" of snow for an entire winter, and usually less than 1-2" on the ground at once. Can't justify winter tires, but these all-weather variants (at least from Nokian) seem a decent alternative ... for such lighter conditions.

 

[maxwax]

I put a set of Nokian Encompass AW02 on my 2014 CX-5 about three weeks ago.

First, I think they look great. I love the directional style of Nokian Hakkapeliitta tires so I wanted something for non-winter use that had the same look.

Second, the driving experience has been very good. So far I've driven these in wet and dry conditions on both city and highway roads with no complaints. They feel comfortable, grip well, and I have no issues on their feel. I have high expectations that they'll be very good for early snow before I put the winter tires back on.

Before these I had a mixed set of Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2 and R3 winter tires. This year, expecting late snow in Colorado, I ran them until May so I was familiar with driving them in warm conditions. They were more grippy than these Encompass BUT they were also worn down from 12 32nds of tread to 7 32nds and were run at a lower air pressure. I feel strongly that if I compared the Hakkas new to these at the same inflation pressure they'd probably feel exactly the same.

Because we get strong snow in the Rocky mountains, but not actually that much in the city of Denver, I thought about wearing the winter tires down and then buying these and using them year round, but the Hakkas are just too good in the snow so I'll reserve them for real snow conditions. Once the hakkas are worn down, I might just keep these year round.

For those in the USA: I believe these are made at Nokian's Dayton, TN plant which means they should be resistant to tariffs. These are only sold at Discount Tire or Tire Rack, so hopefully you won't have someone trying to charge higher prices "because of.." inflation/tariffs/magic.

For those noticing, this is a 12 year old 2014 CX-5 bought in 2013 with 111,000 miles on it. The wheels are aftermarket and overall the car is still driving really well, looks great, is fun to drive and soo much less expensive by maintaining it than buying a new model instead.

Disclaimer: I don't get any compensation from Discount Tire, Tire Rack or Nokian for this. I just want to share becuase this is a very new tire with few online reports about their quality and more specifically how they feel on CX-5s.

 

[GFrosty]

Tire Report -- Nokian Encompass AW02

Car: 2016.5 Mazda CX5 GT AWD
Tire: Nokian AW02 all-weather, 235/50-19 103V XL, 12/32"
Time on car: 6mos
Conditions, summer: 60-95ºF+; dry/clear; rainy/deluges
Conditions, winter: 0-50ºF; dry/clear; rainy; icy; snow; slush/crud, frozen sleet

Tread compound is all-weather, meant for year-'round usage. In my area, it's nearly winter and we've had a few snows, frosty morning, some ice. Have used these since July 2025 in all conditions.

"Summer", hot weather grip -- Exceptional, for an all-weather, winter-biased tire. Of course, this set is in the 235/50-19 sizing, so the sidewall's shorter and the handling feel is firmer and sharper. Very nice amount of grip, even when pushing through winding roads.

Emergency braking and manuevers -- Have been forced to brake very hard a few times, on these, and make hard left/right maneuvers to avoid other wayward drivers. Very sure-footed handling, some of which probably has to do with the shorter sidewalled 235/50-19 sizing. Impressed, though. Brakes very quickly, "chirps" less than the previous WR G4 tires. Confident, predictable "emergency" grip. Nice to see.

Rain grip -- Exceptional. Great, dealing with hydroplaning risk. Never a hint of being unstable or "floaty" even at highway speeds (up to 70mph). Just seems to shove all the water aside, maintaining great grip at all times. Very sure stopping ability, even in a deluge. Confidence inspiring.

Snow grip -- Excellent, so far. Have had a couple of 5" snows. (One snow was very lightweight, stuck around awhile. The other snow was heavier and wetter, with an icy underlayer.) Not all that cold, yet, with that snow on the ground, mostly ~28-35ºF. Very sure grip through snow, slush, mildly frozen crud.

Ice grip -- Have had only a little bit of it, so far. Not hard-frozen ice or black ice, yet. But over what ice we have had, these tires have been fairly sure-footed. Had one day of frozen sleet ... those hard little "marbles" that defy tires' grip. Handled it just fine.

Cold grip -- Have had temps dip into the single digits. I tend to drive gingerly when the road surface's condition gets sketchy, or when it gets very cold. So I tend avoid "pushing" the tires hard in such conditions. But, so far, the grip has been excellent. A slight apparent reduction in overall grip (on otherwise clear/clean roads), as compared to warmer temps on the same roads at the same speeds. These tires still have the "nearly-new" tread depth and only ~6mos' worth of heat cycling. So it's nice to see they don't give up much, when the temperature plummets.

Overall -- I'm impressed. Have previously had the Nokian Hakkas (RSi) on another AWD vehicle, and the WR G4 on this CX-5. These AW02 tires don't give up much when compared to the WR G4. A little less mixed-crud prowess, perhaps, but only slightly. It's comforting to feel how much grip and stability there is on mixed-conditions road surfaces, in all temperatures, almost without regard to how I'm driving. I'm sure by the third or fourth season, they'll start to moderate, but for now they are exceptional for an all-weather, year-'round tire.

4.75 / 5


After this winter, I'll post further comments regarding the tire's ice handling abilities. Haven't had a couple weeks of very hard ice on the ground, yet. But I'm sure it's coming. As these aren't studed, it will be interesting to see if the all-weather compound and the siping copes well enough with "hard" ice or hard-frozen mixed slush/crud. The WR G4 did fairly well the first 3 seasons on such stuff. Hopefully these will be roughly similar, though with fewer sipes I suspect it will have noticeably less ice grip by comparison.

 

[GFrosty]

Tire Report -- Nokian Encompass AW02

Car: 2016.5 Mazda CX5 GT AWD
Tire: Nokian AW02 all-weather, 235/50-19 103V XL, 12/32"
Time on car: 6mos
Conditions, summer: 60-95ºF+; dry/clear; rainy/deluges
Conditions, winter: 0-50ºF; dry/clear; rainy; icy; snow; slush/crud, frozen sleet

Snow grip -- Excellent, so far. Have had a couple of 5" snows. (One snow was very lightweight, stuck around awhile. The other snow was heavier and wetter, with an icy underlayer.) Not all that cold, yet, with that snow on the ground, mostly ~28-35ºF. Very sure grip through snow, slush, mildly frozen crud.

Ice grip -- Have had only a little bit of it, so far. Not hard-frozen ice or black ice, yet. But over what ice we have had, these tires have been fairly sure-footed. Had one day of frozen sleet ... those hard little "marbles" that defy tires' grip. Handled it just fine.

Cold grip -- Have had temps dip into the single digits. I tend to drive gingerly when the road surface's condition gets sketchy, or when it gets very cold. So I tend avoid "pushing" the tires hard in such conditions. But, so far, the grip has been excellent. A slight apparent reduction in overall grip (on otherwise clear/clean roads), as compared to warmer temps on the same roads at the same speeds. These tires still have the "nearly-new" tread depth and only ~6mos' worth of heat cycling. So it's nice to see they don't give up much, when the temperature plummets.

Tire Report -- Nokian Encompass AW02 @ nearly 7000mi.

Like much of the country, this past several days in my area has delivered a bit of nasty wintry weather. One nice thing about a good-sized snow storm with frigid near-0ºF temperatures? Sure does offer up a great opportunity to "push" the tires a bit in the conditions, to see how they perform.

Snow grip -- Have had 8-10" of snow on the ground. Some of hit fairly heavier quality, much of it the lighter, "puffier" type ... with a bit of sleet "marbles" to add a bit of surprise.

Grip was rather good on harder-packed areas, though on the fresh stuff at ~10" depth these tires began to wallow around a little. Cornering had to be taken carefully, gingerly even. Compared to my prior Nokian WR G4 set, these don't have quite the grip in the deeper stuff that the WR G4 had. Fewer sipes are the root cause, I'd say. Still stellar tires, just not when the snow gets challenging beyond 3-5" of depth.

Ice grip -- A little bit of the stuff, here and there. Not full sheets of "black ice" or nasty stretches in the corners, thankfully. But in what few iced-up areas I have run through, the tires have performed well enough. Ice can be bad, as it's so unforgiving. And these tires don't have nearly as many sipes as all-out winter-specific tires (ie, Blizzak, Nokian Hakkas). But so long as I'm cautious and judicious when tip-toeing around icy sections, grip is still fairly secure and predictable.

Cold grip -- Wonderfully grippy down to 0ºF. Isn't forecast to get much below zero over the next week or so. But it's been great grip so far.

Wear -- A nice bonus has been how little overall wear they've been showing. Just had the tire shop do a rotation, and they asked me what sort of driving I'd been doing. Seems as though the tires aren't showing any change in the tread depth, yet, even after nearly 7Kmi of usage in all conditions. I have been doing a bit more highway travel, and a bit less of more-spirited cornering. Though, otherwise I've been driving normally. The prior set of WR G4 had noticeable reduction of tread depth the first year; these AW02 seem to be a bit more durable, in that way.

Still impressed with these tires. A confidence-inspiring choice, when the roads get nasty. Rain handling is excellent. Snow, fairly great, except when it gets deeper. Cold is no problem, at least down to 0ºF. Overall handling is sharp and quick, even on a ~10yr old factory suspension. Not bad at all, for a tire that isn't truly a "snow+ice" tire.

IMO, this is a very good choice of tire, for anybody wanting a year-'round tire that's still capable of excellent winter grip without sacrificing much.

In the 225/55-19 size, or 235/50-19 (which I currently have), these ought to be a fine option for a moderate-performance all-weather tire on the CX-5.

 

[maxwax]

I put a set of Nokian Encompass AW02 on my 2014 CX-5 about three weeks ago.

That was my posting from June of 2025.

I continued to drive on the Encompass AW02 tires from June 2025 to early February 2025.

Changing climate conditions have made Denver, Colorado, USA a rather warm and dry place this year and we really haven't had much rain or snow in this driving window.

Driving in warm and dry weather has been great. I'm sure I've driven in wet conditions but I don't recall anything negative report -- these tires just do their job and I'm very satisfied with them.

I had only one negative experience: A few days after one of our few, rare snow days I drove on a side street perpetually in the shade. Four to five inches of snow had been packed down hard and with warmer conditions was starting to melt the ice layer on top.

I drove about 20 feet on the Encompass then braked hard and could feel the anti-lock brakes kick in and the vehicle slide a bit. This was a rather extreme test and I hadn't had enough practice this season driving on snow and ice to remember that no tires are perfect and careful driving is still required.

Because of this experience and the fact that we traditionally get most of our snow in February, March and potentially April, I switched from the Encompass AW02s to my used pair of Nokian Hakkapeliitta R3 SUVs worn down to about 7 32nds. I've been driving Hakkas in the winters for the last decade and I am reminded once again these Hakkas are SUPER GRIPPY.

I think they feel better for a few reasons that are all celebrating the Hakka and not taking away from the Encompass:
* They're made of softer material in general
* That material is definitely soft even in cold conditions
* They've got more sipes so the treads flex and grip differently than the Encompass
* I really feel like the Hakkas are even more grippy on dry asphalt as they wear down. Like probably most tires, there is less 'wiggle' on the treads because the treads are smaller. So switching from one tire at 12 32nd/s to one at 7 is going to make the worn tire feel better.. until snow comes.

My driving habits have changed from recent years when I lived in the mountains where it snowed on a regular basis and the Hakkas were a requirement. Now I live in the city, it doesn't snow much and I often just don't drive.

My plan is to wear the Hakkas until April, then switch them out for the Encompass. This will let me feel safer on snow and ice and keep the deep tread of the Encompass for muddy dirt roads in the mountains next summer and fall.

I'd recommend either of these tires to anyone interested.

Also, while I love the Hakkas and enjoyed driving through the snow just for fun in the last few years and felt safe living in the mountains with them, I'm back in the city, work from home and I can just avoid snowy conditions if I don't want to go out. So I'm seriously considering a point where the Hakkas are gone and I won't replace them with any dedicated winter tires. I really appreciate others reviews of the AW02s in snow so I can gauge how well this plan will work out. It'd be nice to save $1200 and the storage space required by a spare set of wheels and tires.

Cheers,

 

[GFrosty]

@maxwax , that pretty much parallels my experiences with the Nokian Hakka (RSi) compared to the Nokian WR G4 and AW02.

The Hakkas are so exceptionally good, IMO, in the snow and general crud, pretty good in the rain, moderately good on icy surfaces (but then, nothing's truly excellent on ice, nasty as ice can be).

The WR G4 was a step down from the Hakkas, but I was surprised at how darned competent in wintry weather those were. Very good the first several seasons in snow of any depth. The last winter season of them (as the mileage went north of 45Kmi), the winter grip began to be noticeably less, as was early morning damp performance on initial acceleration.

The AW02, so far, have been very good, though on some days when the wintry mix of the surface is challenging, it has felt a step down from the WR G4. Overall, very close in performance, but far better in wet, dry conditions in terms of handling. But with some combinations (and I haven't quite been able to tell just what mix caused this), grip got a bit sketchy. Very, very good in light to moderate snow. But once it got mixed up with some sleet, some icy crud underneath, the AW02 began to slip around and necessitate a more gingerly approach.

Excellent tires, the AW02. But, like the WR G4 (now the WR G5), they're no straight snow+ice tire and have their limitations.

Have had quite a bit of snowy and some icy/crud conditions since mid-December through a couple weeks ago. Other than 3-4 days of nasty icy/mix stuff, the AW02 has handled it all nicely. A good, competent tire for all-weather, all-season use, except for some small percentage of mixed winter conditions where a snow+ice tire such as the Nokian Hakkas would do better.

Best snow tires I've ever experienced: Dunlop SP Winter Sport about 20yrs ago, and the Nokian Hakkapeliitta RSi about 15yrs ago. Stellar, both of them, at least for the first couple of seasons, after which performance noticeably dropped on the worst wintry days.

If I were to have truly severe wintry roads through much of winter, or still did snow skiing, and didn't mind the extra space (or cost) of a second set of wheels/tires, it'd be a set of the Nokian Hakkas, perhaps even one of the studded variants. But, like you, other than a couple three days annually, I'm unlikely to ever need the extra oomph a "proper" snow+ice tire would provide.