OEM Hankook Tires, Like or Dislike

Smartas, Do you have the Hankook Optimo H426 versions on your XLT? If you have the 20" wheels, you would have them. Otherwise, the XLT usually gets the 18" Michelin Latitude Tour HP.

ksav8r said:

I had my first real snow experience in my 2011 Explorer this past week and it was a disaster. After entering a parking lot I got stuck. 3 hours later I had dug out enough to get out after getting stuck multiple times in the lot. While this was going on, dozens of vehicles, all makes and models i (2 wheel drives, 4 wheel drives, front and rear wheel drives) were coming and going in the same snow depth with not a single one of them getting stuck. This happened 3 more times after leaving the lot trying to get home. The tires just spin and can't get any traction (my tire pressure was correct).
Are the Optima H426 tires that came with the 2011 Explorers truly an all weather tire or is that just bull? Have others here had this experience with them? I will not drive in the snow again with these tires. I guess I'll need to buy new ones after only 12,000 miles and drive my wife's Honda Accord until then when it snows.

Paul

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I had EXACT problem in deep snow with my fwd Ex. Then I turned of the traction control and all was well. Why? In deep snow the Traction Control brakes the slipping wheel and reduces the throttle until there is traction. If it is real slick the car doesn't move. Turning the system off in deep snow or sand helps you take advantage of variable and slight traction opportunities. Off course snow tires are much better!

With a snow forecast of 12-18 inches the next 24 hours I opted to replace the tires today with Bridgestone Alenza HL tires. I'll report back how they performed.

Paul

PJFW8 said:

I had EXACT problem in deep snow with my fwd Ex. Then I turned of the traction control and all was well. Why? In deep snow the Traction Control brakes the slipping wheel and reduces the throttle until there is traction. If it is real slick the car doesn't move. Turning the system off in deep snow or sand helps you take advantage of variable and slight traction opportunities. Off course snow tires are much better!

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I did turn it off after I initially got stuck and still had problems. The tires just couldn't get any traction and would spin with it off (and do nothing when on). Maybe I got the lemon batch of these tires.

ksav8r said:

Hello, I'm glad they're working out for you, wish they would for me . One spot trying to get home was at an intersection that had been plowed, it was very slightly uphill with maybe 2 inches of new snow (no ice). Just set there spinning when the light turned green. I finally had to back up to flatter ground about 50 feet, time the light and accelerate hard to make it through the intersection. Again all other vehicles around me here were not having a problem.

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I didn't realize you had 2wd. I have awd so clearly that is why I have no problems unlike you. Hopefully the new tires are an improvement for you.

SHOinSUV said:

Smartas, Do you have the Hankook Optimo H426 versions on your XLT? If you have the 20" wheels, you would have them. Otherwise, the XLT usually gets the 18" Michelin Latitude Tour HP.

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Yes, I have the 20" wheels with the Hankook Optimo H426.
I'm hoping that my current positive experience with these tires is not short lived... I hate to come across as a brand snob but I just can't feel overly confident with Hankook.... Bridgestone, Michelin, Pirelli yes but, not Hankook....

blwnsmoke said:

I didn't realize you had 2wd. I have awd so clearly that is why I have no problems unlike you. Hopefully the new tires are an improvement for you.

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+1

Have you thought of getting a completely separate winter set up with dedicated winter tires using a narrower size for better traction...
Just a thought...

ksav8r said:

I did turn it off after I initially got stuck and still had problems. The tires just couldn't get any traction and would spin with it off (and do nothing when on). Maybe I got the lemon batch of these tires.

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"Spin with it off(and do nothing when on)" says it! My Ex (fwd 20" Hankooks) does have the worst front drive performance by far in snow that I have experienced. It is true that everyone passed me, even an old rear drive Mercury. Turning off the TC changed the Ex from scary to poor, but at least I got home.

PJFW8 said:

"Spin with it off(and do nothing when on)" says it! My Ex (fwd 20" Hankooks) does have the worst front drive performance by far in snow that I have experienced. It is true that everyone passed me, even an old rear drive Mercury. Turning off the TC changed the Ex from scary to poor, but at least I got home.

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That is why they make decicated Winter tires. Although some so called all seasons may have been better, they can't match a dedicated Winter tire for either snow or cold bare pavement traction.

Peter

peterk9 said:

That is why they make decicated Winter tires. Although some so called all seasons may have been better, they can't match a dedicated Winter tire for either snow or cold bare pavement traction.

Peter

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True, Peter, but I have driven in Wisconsin snow for 45 years. The shock of being passed by a rusty Chevy Cobalt and a rwd Mercury and everyone else while my Ex was literally immobile was a first. It was a combination of wide tires and a very aggressive traction control. No snows on the cars passing me. I respect your opinion...nothing beats snow tires, but don't dismiss the surprise that many of us have with the unusually poor snow performance of the fwd Ex with these 20" tires.

PJFW8 said:

True, Peter, but I have driven in Wisconsin snow for 45 years. The shock of being passed by a rusty Chevy Cobalt and a rwd Mercury and everyone else while my Ex was literally immobile was a first. It was a combination of wide tires and a very aggressive traction control. No snows on the cars passing me. I respect your opinion...nothing beats snow tires, but don't dismiss the surprise that many of us have with the unusually poor snow performance of the fwd Ex with these 20" tires.

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You are only reinforcing Peter's point with which I agree with 100%. Get your vehicle equipped with the proper winter tires and it's a non issue. I've driven many vehicles with various brands of all-season tires in the winter that had varying degrees of success (or lack thereof in the snow). Bottom line is as they wear, they are only be worse off going into the next winter season. Buy dedicated winter tires and you'll be sure to pass the rusty Cobalt and Merc next time

Havent had no issues with hankooks, have the 20's and also 4wd. I figure ill get at least 40000 miles out of them.

The new Bridgestones performed fine in the snow yesterday so hopefully the problem is solved.

Thanks everybody for your comments.

Paul

Got stuck

I spoke too soon. My wife got stuck today in about 7 to 8 inches of wet snow here in michigan. I figure the hankooks definitely didnt help the situation, but now i wonder if i should have gotten a vehicle with 4 wheel low.

I call BS on anyone that has issues with the OEM tires in the snow with an awd explorer. We got close to 30 inches of snow a few weeks ago, and I came home the morning after, with some towns taking 4-5 days to clear the roads. While I didn't drive on any unplowed roads, plenty were only one lane wide with 12+ inches on them. I had zero issues. Never got stuck once, never slid once, even drove over 2 feet of snow and ice that was piled onto the end of my driveway from the plow 3 days after the storm.

This is what my driveway looked like when I got home.

I apologize. I didn't realize the OP had a fwd explorer.

I would never attempt to drive in the snow with fwd without snow tires. I used snow tires on a fwd car for 6 years and never got stuck either.

I did pretty darn well here on Long Island in the recent blizzard with the Hankook Optima tires too. I have AWD and we got 28-30 inches of snow in our town, no roads plowed for 2 days. When they were plowed we had a single lane and I was able to get out and about with no issues at all.



Above is the road in front of our home, not a plow in sight. Like I said I didn't bother to try and get out for 2 days until plow made one pass, not worth it but the Explorer did really well when I did get out. I had a 4Runner (2004) prior to the Explorer and I think the Explorer did as well as the 4Runner ever did in snow.

14 Explorer Sport - Watch out for Hankook Tires!

Owners of 2014 Ford Explorer Sport need to read this!

When I began to get acquainted with my new 2014 Ford Explorer Sport, I wanted to carefully go through and know every aspect of it starting with the tires. I hadn't heard of Hankook tires that came on it so I thought I better get educated on them. Well, that was a $865.30 mistake. Why? Well, I went to one of the most thorough tire websites out there, Tirerack.com (which I hadn't even seen before this). Here's where I learned the Hankook Optimo H426 tire is classified as a Grand Touring All Season tire. Great, right? Well, it has 270 reviews on this specific tire with a combined rating of 4.89 out of 10! That's right, not even half way to a minimally acceptable tire. Here's what's wrong. The tire has a "SL" (standard load) for load range and it's placed a vehicle built with plenty of HP and torque and a "tow pkg". Also, it's a "passenger" classified tire on a "Sport" vehicle. See anything wrong yet? Next, the rating it get's is tied with the Hankook H428 for LAST PLACE by Tirerack.com. There are 30 other tires in the Grand Touring All-Season category that are BETTER. Why did Ford put a MSRP of about $50,000 on a vehicle and then put the cheapest, poorest rated tire on it??? After reading all 270 reviews, I decided my family deserves better than what Ford thinks. Why do they offer so many safety features and then put the poorest rated tires on their vehicles? Can someone help me understand that. So I spent another sum of money trading in the tires at my local Discount Tire for a credit and purchased a set of Perelli's for a net difference of $865.30. I would have gone with the top rated Continental's but they don't make them in a 255/50R20.

Your completely entitled to your opinion and personal tire selection but as a 14 Sport owner I don't share your concerns. This is my 3rd (Gen5) Explorer with Hankooks and never had an issue in snow or rain.

I have seen first hand the engineering that goes into tire selection and the safety standards Ford has to go through with every single piece of their vehicle products and in my opinion EVERYTHING is way over engineered including the tires.

Keep in mind the majority of people suggesting a rating on Tirerack.com are not engineers and they are offering an anecdotal opinion.

If you saw how they test the tires at the Dearborn Development Center you may reconsider.

I have 67000 miles on my 2012 Limited's Hankooks, driving in snow, rain, mud and sometimes deep sand here in Michigan. No real concerns or worries, actually impressed with the wear. Many owners here in the northern climate have dedicated snow tires for their Ex's, which can be expected, as the Hankooks are an "All-Season" tire.

The Explorer Firestone recall in 2000 cost Ford more than 3 billion dollars. The company had a lot at stake with the intro of the gen5 Ex in 2011. Tire choice and engineering vehicle dynamics to work in harmony was critical to consumer confidence and sales success with this vehicle.

I would much rather seek the opinions of my fellow Explorer owners here, than rely on a retailer's website "reviews". What works well on a Nissan Sentra, doesn't mean it will work well on an Explorer.

Looking forward to picking up my 2014 Sport at the end of this January.
Tires are the least of my concerns.