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 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 round, 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 on the round 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.