Sheet ice on smooth roads is so dangerous that we don’t even need to link a video in order to prove it, but we will anyway. It can turn any drive on a seemingly clear road into short-lived and fast-paced adventure that usually ends in the back of another car (or somebody’s living room) unless you have a set of the new Nokian winter tires with retractable studs.

The Finnish company’s newfangled tires offer the best of both worlds: extreme grip on ice, with the metallic studs deployed and smooth (and most importantly quiet) progress on motorways or other fast roads where they are not needed.

The tech would also theoretically allow people to use these kinds of tires for a longer period of time, since conventionally-studded ones are restricted in many countries.

Don’t expect to see one of these at your local tire vendor’s any time soon, though, because they are far from being ready for mass production. Nokian Technical consumer service manager Matti Morri said they “may indeed become a reality one day.” Cost is probably the main issue, though, for now…

Check out the first promo video, below.

By Andrei Nedelea

VIDEO