Northern comfortA non-studded tire that offers supreme driving comfort and safetyA new tire for drivers who require absolute driving comfort, tangible fuel savings, and non-studded winter tire technology with the best safety characteristics.SUPREMELY SAFE NON-STUDDED TIRE ON ICE AND SNOWSUPREME HANDLING ON WET AND DRY ROADSLOWEST ROLLING RESISTANCE, SMALLEST FUEL CONSUMPTION Skip to secondary content News > 'Featured' > Super Cool: Retractable-Stud Winter Tire Concept Provides Studded Grip at the Press of a Button Super Cool: Retractable-Stud Winter Tire Concept Provides Studded Grip at the Press of a Button February 18, 2014 at 10:24 pm by Andrew Wendler When it comes to transforming even the most helpless vehicle into a winter-weather warrior, no single tool is as effective as a set of studded winter tires. The problems begin when the snow and ice retreat, and the studs start chewing into the pavement, leaving their telltale pockmark signatures in your wake. Finnish tire manufacturer Nokian has come up with a solution: retractable studs.

The idea is to provide the capability of studded tires without the need to swap them out every time the sun shines, and the concept tire deploys—and retracts—the studs at the punch of a button. Check it out in the video below—it’s awesome. As pointed out by Jalopnik, where we first saw this story, the idea of tires with retractable studs will be familiar to James Bond fans, the technology debuting in Timothy Dalton’s Aston Martin V8 Vantage Volante in 1987’s The Living Daylights. Winter Driving Guide: Tips to Survive the Snow and Ice Nokian was the first maker to market with a winter tire, and the announcement of the retractable studded rubber is at least in part meant to celebrate its 80-year history in the winter tire game. (Watch the bottom clip for more info, although we enjoy it mostly for the dozen or so times you get to hear a guy pronounce “Hakkapeliitta“.) If Nokian can actually produce this concept—that is, provide the traction of studs at the push of a button in an otherwise standard winter tire—at a reasonable price, we’re sure the residents of wintery climes would stand in line to purchase a set.

Nokian so far isn’t elaborating on how the system operates (‘effin magnets, how do they work?), but all we know is that every time we see the studs pop up from tire we get a crazy-intense craving for turkey. Select A Model (optional)I didn't know what else to do. The nice man that answered my call said, "911, what is your emergency?" I said I was sorry to bother him, but my car is stuck in the snow and I'm essentially blocking Interstate 70 eastbound somewhere between Vail and Frisco.Hunter Douglas Power Blinds Review He said, "OK, sir. Portable Toilet Chemicals South AfricaYou did the right thing calling us. Changing Headlight Bulb Acura Rsx 2003We'll send out a tow truck as quickly as we can.

Please stay in your vehicle. What color is your car?" "And what kind of car is it?"I didn't want to tell him. I knew he would think I'm an idiot for driving a Corvette through Colorado in January during a blizzard. "A Chevy," I said. "What kind of Chevy, sir?" And with a snicker he said, "OK, sir. We'll be there as soon as we can." From Santa Monica to Grand Junction, CO the trip was dry and drama free. I knew there was some weather ahead, but honestly I wasn't worried about it. We had fitted the Corvette, which is rear-wheel drive and packs 460 horsepower, with Pirelli winter tires, and I had successfully driven our long-term Mercedes SLS AMG Roadster from Santa Monica to South Dakota and back last February without any issue. Then the snow started. It was no big deal at first. The Corvette's tires and sophisticated traction and stability control systems were working as designed. With the car in "W" or Weather mode, which slows throttle response, traction was not an issue.

As long as I could still see some blacktop, 60 mph was still drama free. Then I began to climb the mountains. And as the elevation rose, the amount of snow falling increased. And then traffic stopped for the first time. A lane was closed ahead and they were forcing us to merge. Suddenly, I found myself in stop-and-go traffic in a blizzard while driving uphill at 5,000-ft. elevation. Everyone else was driving something with all- or four-wheel drive, and now I knew why. Every time I would need to inch the car forward I was testing the limits of the tire's and the Stingray's ability in these conditions. The incline of the road was becoming a real issue. Getting the car to move from a dead stop was getting harder and harder. And now it was getting dark. By the time I reached Vail I was concerned. I wanted to stop but getting off the interstate and onto the unplowed service roads where the snow was certainly deeper seemed like a bad idea. So I kept going, inching the Corvette through what was now a blizzard.

I felt like I was on the set of The Shining . Thirteen miles later traffic stopped and stayed stopped. We sat there motionless for 20 minutes as an accident was cleared from the road up ahead. I called my wife. She could hear the worry in my voice. I asked her to make me a reservation at a hotel in Frisco 13 miles down the road. "Any room will do," I said in a mild panic. "Just make sure the hotel is close to the interstate." During the call traffic began to move, but the Corvette was snowed in. For the first time it wouldn't budge. There was just no traction. The car's stability system was keeping the tires from spinning but it was also shutting off its big V8 engine in an attempt to cut power to the tires. The 18-wheeler behind me was not amused. "I'm stuck," I yelled into the Bluetooth.I tried to spin the tires. I tried to rock the car back and forth. And I was blocking the number two lane. Out of consideration for my fellow motorists I rolled backward (downhill) onto what little shoulder I could find just to get out of everyone's way.

I knew that meant putting the Corvette's tires into even deeper snow and making my situation even worse, but I didn't have much of a choice.I was out of the way. And two lanes of continuous traffic rumbled by the driver-side mirror of the Stingray. "You have a room booked at the Holiday Inn in Frisco," my wife said, "if you can make it there." I hung up with my wife and tried again to get the car moving. It was no use. So I made that 911 call. And then I sat there testing the Corvette's seat heaters as I watched the snow fall and the traffic go by. Traffic that was now limited to the far left lane and included the occasional plow. I started to think that if I could get over to the left lane I could get going. Twenty minutes later, just as my survival instinct was kicking in with an odd desire to eat my left foot, I could see a break in the traffic. For the first time there were no headlights in my rearview mirror. I rolled backward down the hill again, this time maybe 100 ft. and maneuvered the car over into the left lane.