Posted Wednesday, February 25, 2026 at 9:42pm
Nokian Tyres is celebrating the 40th anniversary of its Ivalo test center this year. The company said the center is the largest and most diverse winter tire testing environment in the world, and it tests thousands of tires there every year. Also known as “White Hell,” the facility in Finnish Lapland has been central to Nokian Tyres’ winter driving safety research since it opened in 1986.
Tire tests are an integral part of Nokian Tyres’ development process. The company said it tests tires on more than 20 tracks from November to April. Nokian Tyres maintains more than 40 kilometers (approx. 24 miles) of test tracks at White Hell, including a 700-meter-long ice hall, frozen lakes, rural roads and courses designed to evaluate a tire’s performance in snow and ice.
“The Ivalo test center is at the core of our expertise – the place where our practical knowledge of extreme winter conditions originates and evolves,” said Nokian Tyres President and CEO Paolo Pompei. “For forty years, Ivalo has been the proving ground for many pioneering innovations, and it will continue to play a key role in our research, development and testing processes.”
