Is this the Best Winter Tyre on the planet?  

I’m not sure how that rangy came by the rims - it’s not a Westminster, so they must have been procured separately!

All the best to you and yours for the New Year too, Richard! I’ve run my 9s on continually shifting road conditions - including bare roads and plus 20°c temps - and the studs have held up very well over the last 4 seasons! They’re perhaps not the best for those who live in the south of the UK, but I’m surprised how well they hold up all things considered (especially considering my annual winter mileage)! Well, the no-name winter tyres are otherwise only going to be thrown away - no-one buys them used here. Running them off on the highway won’t do the vehicle any harm and more recent tyre compounds don’t explode in warmer weather as these days, so that’s not the same issue that we had back in the day. In fact, on my last L322 I ran for 2 years my Cooper winters off during the summer after moving to the Hak9s for my winter tyre. They worked surprisingly well (though they were obviously less good off-road. We get temperatures up in the +40°s some times here, and the Coopers held up fine. I think early winter compounds were a problem, more more recent compounds (even in no-name tyres) have improved significantly. Yeah, you’re right about the Hak9s becoming the new Nordman. I’ve become more interested in Nordman options recently and I might try them for my next tyre (depending on what Nicki thinks of the Hak10s)!

The difference from 255/50/20 to 255/55/20 is about 1” on diameter, so the Speedo is out but within tolerance. The Speedo can be adjusted with the GAP tool (I show how to do this in my first video on the Nokian Outpost AT), but it is a trial-and-error procedure, as the options are randomly organised. If you move to 275/55/20, then you will definitely have to adjust the Speedo, as it is about 3-4mph out at 70mph.