Nokian is a Finland-based tire manufacturer that’s popular for making tires utilizing cutting-edge technologies. Over the years, Nokian has achieved a distinct level in manufacturing world-class winter tires and has further extended to making other types of tires that target different driving or weather preferences. One tire that’s not the typical Nokian winter tire is the Nokian ZLine A/S SUV, an all-season tire that’s dedicated for use on CUVs, SUVs, and light trucks.

The tire is designed to offer confident driving and performance along with catering supreme comforts and luxury. Nokian has optimized the tire to ensure precise handling and has incorporated numerous technologies to ensure that the tire does what it is supposed to. Let’s know more about this tire in this Nokian ZLine A/S SUV tire review and learn about its features, pros and cons, vehicle compatibility, and other important details.

Features and Benefits

Like a typical all-season tire, the Nokian ZLine A/S SUV is engineered to deliver year-round performance in dry, wet, and light winter weather conditions. However, there are enhancements driven by various advanced features for a spotless driving experience in changing weather conditions. So, let’s know in detail about these features and find out what are the key highlights of this tire.

• Excellent stability, cornering, and handling – The ZLine A/S SUV features solid outboard shoulders that provide the much-needed stiffness to the tread pattern and ensure superior stability. The contoured grooves present on the tread also enhance the driving experience by providing balanced road contact while cornering and lane changes. Likewise, the 3D siping technology binds the tread blocks together to provide an excellent handling performance.
• Quieter rides and enhanced driving comforts – The tire features an extra rubber layer under the tread that absorbs the vibrations and driving shocks and improves the ride quality to deliver a pleasant driving experience. Additionally, all thanks to the silent groove design that doesn’t let airwaves accumulate in the footprint and generate noise, thus enhancing both ride quality and comfort levels.
• Solid durability – The tire gets a durable Aramid sidewall compound that ensures puncture resistance. The strong and synthetic Aramid fibers reinforce the sidewall and resist impacts and cuts to achieve commercial-grade durability.
• Reliable year-round traction – The tire is optimized for reliable year-round performance and comes with a computer-tuned asymmetric tread pattern, featuring 3D sipe detailing for improved grip in dry, wet, and light winter conditions. There is a functional full silica compound that adapts to changing weather conditions and provides reliable performance in wet and wintry conditions. The full-depth transverse grooves of the ZLine A/S reduce the risk of hydroplaning by effectively dispersing water and slush from the footprint, thus contributing to year-round performance.
• Impressive high-speed performance and wet grip – The tire utilizes a dynamic traction boost tread compound that provides improved wet grip and controls tread wear while assuring impressive high-speed performance.
• Better fuel efficiency – The usage of Cooling Edge Technology in making the tire helps reduce the chances of rolling resistance and improves fuel efficiency.
• Backed by tread life warranty – The ZLine A/S SUV is backed by a 40,000-mile limited manufacturer tread life warranty to offer the customers a worry-free ownership experience.

This tire is available in 18- to 20-inch rims and is available in a total of 7 sizes, which include:

• 255/55R18
• 235/55R19
• 255/50R19
• 245/45R20
• 255/45R20
• 275/40R20
• 315/35R20

Pros and Cons

Now that we’ve explored the key attributes of the ZLine A/S SUV, let’s delve into the strengths and weaknesses to get a comprehensive understanding of the tire’s real-world performance.

PROS:

• Better handling performance than its competitors
• More affordable than its competing tires
• Reliable traction performance year-round
• Comes with a 40,000 mile limited manufacturer tread life warranty
• More quieter and comfy than its peers
• Optimized for improved fuel efficiency
• Superior durability and high-speed stability

CONS:

• Not the best choice if longevity is your preference
• Not suitable for use on thick ice and snow
• Warranty is much shorter than many competitor’s all-season tires

SimpleTire’s view on Nokian ZLine A/S SUV tires

The ZLine A/S SUV is for those drivers who are searching for a reasonably priced tire that comes at a starting price of around $119 per tire and offers reliable year-round traction and solid handling performance. If we look at the tire's SimpleScores for traction and handling, which are 9.2 and 8.7 respectively (on a scale of 10), it is evident that the tire is a reliable choice when it comes to steering responsiveness, cornering, and year-round traction and grip.

Nokian offers a 40,000 mile limited manufacturer tread life warranty that makes the ownership experience more delightful for tire buyers. The rides with these tires installed are quieter and comfy as the tire reduces the tread noise levels and absorbs the shocks and road vibrations very well. This tire also impresses with its fuel-saving performance, superior durability, and high-speed stability.

That being said, the ZLine A/S SUV isn’t the best of tires if longevity is your preference if you look at its SimpleScore for longevity, which is 7.4 out of 10. Moreover, it is also not an ideal choice if you’re looking for something very specific for driving on thick ice and snow.

This tire has its competition with the likes of Continental CrossContact LX25, Bridgestone Dueler H/L Alenza Plus, Pirelli Scorpion Verde All Season Plus II, Goodyear Assurance WeatherReady, Hankook Dynapro HP2 (RA33), and Yokohama Geolandar G055.

Vehicles the Nokian ZLine A/S SUV is a good replacement tire for

Suitable for use on CUVs, SUVs, and light trucks, the Nokian ZLine A/S SUV can be a great replacement choice for use on vehicles like the Kia Sorento, BMW X5, Mercedes-Benz M-Class, Volkswagen Touareg, and Land Rover Range Rover Sport.