Nokian makes very good dedicated winter tires. I've run their studded Hakkapeliitta LT for the past ten years on my truck and have been extremely pleased with its traction, handling and braking, in all types of snowy and icy conditions. My dedicated summer tires are very cut resistant Toyo M55.
The Nokian Rotiiva AT Plus is a member of a new group of "All-Weather Tires". All season tires that meet winter severe service standards (the mountain / snowflake symbol on the tire). When reviewed by the
APA (Automobile Protection Association in Canada) the Nokian All-weather tires did better than some other vendor's dedicated winter tires (scroll down to see discussions of other vendor's tires, rated from "Top rated" to "Avoid"). The cut resistant tread of the Rotiiva is appealing as well for summer use on shale roads.
That said, APA also discusses in their
Winter Tire Info section the trades offs of this group of tires. A harder tread compound in all-weather tires will likely have decreased traction on ice compared to the dedicated winter tires, but still better than an all season tire. They note that the winter severe service standard only tests the tire's capacity to handle snow and slush, but not ice. Yet APA mentions that they are being heavily marketed in "Pacific Coast markets like Vancouver, where ice and wet weather predominate, but roads are relatively snow-free".
It just depends on how you are using your TC in the winter. If you don't have room for a set of mounted, dedicated winter tires, and are just going skiing at coastal resorts or in the BC interior via Hwy 1, 3 , or 5, you could probably get by with these.
If you want additional traction / safety or are into alpine touring and roads less traveled, then I think dedicated studded winter tires are a better choice. I'd worry less about the impact on the roads and more about skidding down a hill when braking, taking the tangent on a corner or drifting sideways in the TC in winter conditions.
APA also has some interesting snow driving videos at the bottom of that page showing the performance difference between a dedicated winter tire and an all season tire.
'05 Ram 3500, 4x4, DRW, LB, 6spd man, CTD, PRXB exhaust brake, Roadmaster bar
'01 Corsair 10'8" - 4,200 lbs., Xantrex XADC 80A, Link 20, 4-Lifeline GPL-4CT, PowerGate Isolater, 2 AWG wire, PI 30A EMS, 2 Honda EU2000i, parallel kit, ext. duration tank.
