For the Consumer Reports article, go to www.consumerreports.org and search for snow tires. The most recent snow tire test was 11/99 but they also have an 11/00 report that summarizes the past results. The Michelin Arctic Alpin was their top-rated overall snow tire. Howsomeever... keep in mind that any test looks at a small selection of tires (Oregon recognizes 107 currently available traction tires and that's not all of them!) on typically one type of car for a limited set of conditions. That's why asking other Volvo owners about their personal experience has merit. There seem to be a lot of happy Michelin and Nokian users, as well as many with Bridgestone, Gislaved, Toyo, and other brands.

The Hakka 2 tire is described at www.nokianrenkaat.fi/index_en.html under "New Products." There's also test information of 5 brands of snow tires at www.nokiantyres.com/indexen.html under "Hakka Q Test Results." More results are at www.tirerack.com. I've also uncovered several other tests, both here and in Europe, in my research. The bottom line is that there are many good tires and they are steadily evolving.

My gut feel is that the Guardex is a competent tire and good value for the price but that there are better choices. My current choice is a Bridgestone Blizzak WS-50 (about $70) which I'm happy with after one season and 5500 miles of use. I'm sure others would find its dry road performance inadequate. Happy shopping!