Greer Enterprises and Nokian Tyr

Greer Enterprises and Nokian Tyres - 2010 Sno*Drift Contingency / Worker Awards Program.

Greer Enterprises and Nokian Tyres are pleased to announce the 2010 Sno*Drift Contingency / Worker Awards Program.

The 2010 Awards program will be identical to the 2009 program with 3 sets of Nokian tires awarded to competitors and 2 sets awarded to workers. Five years ago the then new Nokian Hakkapeliitta RSi was tested by Mark Utecht three weeks prior to the rally -the article describing his results appears later- [see Endorsement below - Nokian Tyres Hakkapelitta RSi Tire Test:.). In 2009, Nokian introduced the new Hakka R- an evolution of the revolutionary RSi by the same designer that produces 12% better grip on ice and snow. It debuted last year at Sno*Drift driven by such notable drivers as Pat Moro, Andi Mancin and Arkadiusz Gruszka. In 2006 we achieved our greatest results yet when Nokian Tyres equipped cars won all three rallies! Andrew Comrie-Picard won the National rally using Hakka C2's and Robert Borowicz won both Regional rallies on one set of Hakka RSi's! Over the past 6 years many notable drivers have achieved excellent Nokian equipped finishes including Mark Utecht, Doug Shepherd, Kyle Sarasin, Chris Gilligan, Travis Hanson, Cary Kendall, Justin Pritchard, Heath Nunnemacher, Piotr Wiktorczyk, Evan Moen, Kenny Bartram, Travis Pastrana, Ken Block, Andrew Pinker, and Mark Fox. In 2008 and 2007 both 67% of the field were on Nokian Hakkapelitta's. Many thanks and congratulations to all the Nokian equipped competitors for their efforts and results over the last seven years! So if you haven't already joined the Hakka Group, why not join the winners on Nokian Hakkapeliitta Tyres this year? See the Sno*Drift Competitor / Worker Promotion below.

3 sets of Nokian Tires will be awarded to the finishers on Nokian Tyres by a Lottery style drawing at the Awards Ceremony as follows:

T Any tire[s] in the Nokian line are available for this promotion and will be shipped to the winners anywhere in the U.S. at no charge.T

At least one set of 4 Nokian tires must be run on at least one stage on each day of the rally to qualify for this program. At least 2 Nokian Tyres stickers must be displayed on the rally car for the entire duration of the event, including Parc Expose', practice, during the rally, post-rally celebration and media display. Upon completion of filling out a Contingency form at Registration, each competition team will receive 2 Nokian Tyres stickers which must be applied [one to each side of the car ] by the competition team and checked at Scrutineering. Note: Failure to fill out Contingency Form and/or apply Nokian Tyres stickers prior to the rally will result in ineligibility for a Contingency Award. A team may only win one set of tires for the duration of this event. If a team's finishing position would qualify for more than one set of tires, another Nokian Tyres equipped finisher will be selected and awarded the prize. The decision of the Greer Ent. Rep.on site will be final. These Rules may be amended by Greer Ent. and it's rep. at any time.

Any competitor, service crew member, rally worker, organizer team member, or event sponsor may purchase any Nokian Tyres from Greer Ent. at the special Sno*Drift Promotional [dealer] Price at any time prior and for the two months following the rally. To inquire and/or purchase tires please contact Dave Parps at : (414) 640-0693 or dparps@wi.rr.com . All tires can be picked up at Greer Ent. in Milw., Wi., or will be shipped via SpeeDee or UPS from our warehouse. Please place your orders ASAP to insure delivery before the rally!

Note: I will not be at Tech. this year prior to S*D on Thursday, so be sure to fill out the Contingency Forms at Registration, pickup and apply the Nokian Tyres stickers and get them checked by the crew at Scrutineering.

In 2008 Erik Zenz / Dave Parps experimented with cuts on the angled tread blocks flanking the central rib of their Hakka RSi's which resulted in a significant performance gain which contributed to a 2.5min. overall lead in the Sno* rally until a R/R brake rotor broke on the last stage causing a DNF. Feel free to contact me discuss this mod. or discuss Nokian Tyres.

Contact me at 414 640-0693 or dparps@wi.rr.com for more info, pricing and availability.

Nokian Tyres Hakkapelitta RSi Tire Test:

I recently had the opportunity to compare the Nokian Hakkapeliitta Q with the new Nokian RSI. The Q has been a great tire. We ran the Q on our Group N WRX at the Sno*Drift rally the last 4 years, winning our class 3 of those 4. I had heard that the new RSI was better than the Q but I was skeptical. The Q is a great tire and I thought it would be very difficult to make a better tire. So... we arranged a test!

The test car was a 2004 Subaru Forester base model with an automatic transmission. The tire size was 215/60/16 on 7 inch wide rims. The testing surface was a frozen lake with about 2 inches of snow cover. The course had very tight esses sections and high speed sweeping corners. In some corners on the course, previous cars had blown the snow clear and polished the ice. Basically, we had all the usual Sno*Drift conditions.

First, we ran the car with the Qs. They performed great as usual. You could exceed the grip the tire provided by throwing the car around or overcooking a corner. The Q is very predictable and reacquires grip when lost easily by reducing the control inputs in the car. The Qs are the same great tire I remembered. We ran three runs trying three driving styles, max attack, slow and steady and then the compromise between those two. The compromise style yielded the best time.

Next, we mounted the RSIs. Within 100 feet of the start line, I could feel the difference in the seat of my pants. The tire had more grip in all circumstances. The first run, we did the slow and steady method. It did not yield a faster time than the Q but was much more controllable. The second run was max attack. The car was even more predictable than on the Qs. Because of that, I pushed the pace even more. Unfortunately, my enthusiasm sent me far off course in one corner and the time clearly showed my mistake. Finally, we ran the compromise pace. After having less than 2 miles experience with the RSI, I was able to shave two seconds per mile off my best time with the Qs as timed from inside the car. The higher level of grip made the car much more stable. It was harder to get the tires to break traction and they came back much quicker. The biggest change was under braking. The RSIs made braking on snow covered ice feel like wet pavement in warm weather. There was enough grip that we actually got weight transfer to the front end and I had to counter steer to keep the rear end behind us.

Overall, I was very impressed with the new RSI. I will be running them at Sno*Drift and will recommend them to anyone that asks my opinion.

Mark Utecht