OEM Hankook Tires, Like or Dislike

[182RG]

Just for ref, this is what I ordered.

I'll report back with driving impressions.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...r=2015&autoModel=Explorer&autoModClar=Limited

I have these on both of my vehicles (2011 Ex and 2013 Touareg TDI). Quiet, good wear.

 

[jmr061]

Buy dedicated winter wheels.

 

[Uaglio]

Buy dedicated winter wheels.

^this^

 

[goochman]

Got 32k on our set and were terrible in snow. Replaced with Bridgestone Dueler H/L Alenza Plus which so far have been 10x better in first snow.

 

[burtman]

I have these same tires on my 2015 Limited. I live in Buffalo New York and as you know we get lots of snow. This is my second winter with my Explorer and I have to say that these Hankooks are very good in Snow and Rain. I have had no problems getting to work which is 39 miles from home.

 

[droptopron]

Buy dedicated winter wheels.

I have to say, maybe you guys are more patient or tolerant than me, but IMO it's not acceptable to put such a crap tire on a car that stickers for $45K. All the AWD settings in the world aren't going to help you with crappy tires. The car is a lease. I wouldn't expect to drop $1K on an extra set of wheels & tires to get three seasons out of them. My CTS AWD which has prob 5" of ground clearance doesn't need a dedicated set of winter tires and this car does? Not acceptable in my book.

 

[jmr061]

I have to say, maybe you guys are more patient or tolerant than me, but IMO it's not acceptable to put such a crap tire on a car that stickers for $45K. All the AWD settings in the world aren't going to help you with crappy tires. The car is a lease. I wouldn't expect to drop $1K on an extra set of wheels & tires to get three seasons out of them. My CTS AWD which has prob 5" of ground clearance doesn't need a dedicated set of winter tires and this car does? Not acceptable in my book.

Some people say the tires are fine and others say they are not. If you expect to have excellent traction in the winter time you have to have dedicated winter tires. All-season tires are called that for a reason...they are "ok" in all conditions, not great, just "ok." Some wheels have the designation of summer only.

It is really up to the consumer to research the vehicle including the tires to see if it fits for what they will use it for.

 

[Sgt1411]

I have to say, maybe you guys are more patient or tolerant than me, but IMO it's not acceptable to put such a crap tire on a car that stickers for $45K. All the AWD settings in the world aren't going to help you with crappy tires. The car is a lease. I wouldn't expect to drop $1K on an extra set of wheels & tires to get three seasons out of them. My CTS AWD which has prob 5" of ground clearance doesn't need a dedicated set of winter tires and this car does? Not acceptable in my book.

Having been involved with the Police program Goodyear RSA testing I would suggest there is a lot more engineering in those Hankooks than most realize.

Im interested to know SPECIFICALLY what makes the Hankooks unacceptable.

Third party internet website reviews?

Not anecdotal BS that is completely subjective, real factual information based on specific information.

Is it UNACCEPTABLE to ask a All Season tire to handle like a $350 Michelin Z rated performance tire?.....or provide traction in the snow like a dedicated snow tire with engineered rubber compositions that work best in sub zero temperatures and have tread design to grab and discard snow?

Please do tell.....but facts, not BS.

 

[droptopron]

Please do tell.....but facts, not BS.

Tirerack is very respected & rate these tires 31 out of 32 in its class.

 

[Sgt1411]

Tirerack is very respected & rate these tires 31 out of 32 in its class.

Tirerack is well respected.

Is the rating simply people who bought tires giving their opinions?

Or is it based on empirical testing where engineers test various tires within set parameters?

Because the first one is 3rd hand hearsay.

 

[goochman]

Having been involved with the Police program Goodyear RSA testing I would suggest there is a lot more engineering in those Hankooks than most realize.

Im interested to know SPECIFICALLY what makes the Hankooks unacceptable.

Third party internet website reviews?

Not anecdotal BS that is completely subjective, real factual information based on specific information.

Is it UNACCEPTABLE to ask a All Season tire to handle like a $350 Michelin Z rated performance tire?.....or provide traction in the snow like a dedicated snow tire with engineered rubber compositions that work best in sub zero temperatures and have tread design to grab and discard snow?

Please do tell.....but facts, not BS.

Here are my facts from ownership. My wife and I have owned 7 AWD/4WD vehicles in the past. The Explorer replaced an AWD Enclave.

We purchased in Mar, so ours didnt see snow until Jan of the next year. My wife came home asking me how to put the Explorer into 4WD mode after a 2in snow. I told her its AWD so no reason to change anything for such a small snow (powdery snow, not wet). She moved the dial to "snow" mode at one point and made no difference - the Explorer slid all over the place. I didnt believe her since every AWD vehicle we've owned has never done that.

Next snow I was out of town - she claims the same loss of control in snow.

3rd snow is about 3" and Im in town. Its not 100% powdery but not totally wet. I take the Explorer out and get stuck at a stop sign. It cannot gain traction and is basically swerving into the side of the road no matter the setting. Im speechless..............

Fast forward one more year. 32k miles and we're almost at the wear bars. No way Im going into another winter with these tires. Put new tires on.

First snow - no sweat. Explorer performed flawlessly. 2nd snow 32 inches. We didnt go out - my 4WD Wrangler chokes over 17 inches .

After a quick plow we still have 2 inches of slick snow covering our road. Took the Explorer out and NO problem. stop/go/turn/etc....My wife finally trusts the car again.

Only change - tires.

The Hancocks were great on dry pavement and very quiet - totally sucked in snow. New tires are not as quiet but 10x better in snow/wet traction.

Those are my "facts"

 

[peterk9]

Tirerack is well respected.

Is the rating simply people who bought tires giving their opinions?

Or is it based on empirical testing where engineers test various tires within set parameters?

Because the first one is 3rd hand hearsay.

Although testing results are meaningful, I also prefer to read reviews of actual owners of various products. Personally, I would give a little more weight on actual user reviews when considering buying products.

Peter

 

[613GT500]

Here are my facts from ownership. My wife and I have owned 7 AWD/4WD vehicles in the past. The Explorer replaced an AWD Enclave.

We purchased in Mar, so ours didnt see snow until Jan of the next year. My wife came home asking me how to put the Explorer into 4WD mode after a 2in snow. I told her its AWD so no reason to change anything for such a small snow (powdery snow, not wet). She moved the dial to "snow" mode at one point and made no difference - the Explorer slid all over the place. I didnt believe her since every AWD vehicle we've owned has never done that.

Next snow I was out of town - she claims the same loss of control in snow.

3rd snow is about 3" and Im in town. Its not 100% powdery but not totally wet. I take the Explorer out and get stuck at a stop sign. It cannot gain traction and is basically swerving into the side of the road no matter the setting. Im speechless..............

Fast forward one more year. 32k miles and we're almost at the wear bars. No way Im going into another winter with these tires. Put new tires on.

First snow - no sweat. Explorer performed flawlessly. 2nd snow 32 inches. We didnt go out - my 4WD Wrangler chokes over 17 inches .

After a quick plow we still have 2 inches of slick snow covering our road. Took the Explorer out and NO problem. stop/go/turn/etc....My wife finally trusts the car again.

Only change - tires.

The Hancocks were great on dry pavement and very quiet - totally sucked in snow. New tires are not as quiet but 10x better in snow/wet traction.

Those are my "facts"

Those are your facts, but you didn't provide details on the new tires?

 

[Sgt1411]

Although testing results are meaningful, I also prefer to read reviews of actual owners of various products. Personally, I would give a little more weight on actual user reviews when considering buying products.

Peter

You mean people who know nothing about tires and simply offer their opinion, that's good too but again hearsay when you are getting info from simply a buyer.

Would you ask someone who had open heart surgery if they liked the stints they had surgically implanted or would you ask the Surgeon or the Doctor who designed and engineered the stints?

To each his/her own, I just prefer facts not opinion and hearsay.

"I dont like these tires"...

" Why exactly?"

"Just because I don't like them"

 

[edino]

Although testing results are meaningful, I also prefer to read reviews of actual owners of various products. Personally, I would give a little more weight on actual user reviews when considering buying products.

Peter

You have to be careful with these owner reviews, because owners tends to base their test results on the comparison between the new and old tires on their ride. Often with replacement tires the tire type is different, and comparing a tire with lots of mileage on them with a new one is not very realistic....

 

[peterk9]

You have to be careful with these owner reviews, because owners tends to base their test results on the comparison between the new and old tires on their ride. Often with replacement tires the tire type is different, and comparing a tire with lots of mileage on them with a new one is not very realistic....

When reading reviews, I tend to use various sites and get an overall view of the comments. As I mentioned before, I prefer to get 'real world' reviews of people that have actually used the tire I'm looking at. Although not every review may be the most comprehensive one, if you read enough of them you tend to get an overall impression of the tire's performance.
I then use that feedback along with the manufacturer's remarks to make my decision. I would not go by the manufacturer's description alone. It is a little like gas mileage figures. The manufacturer says you should get x.. mpg while real world figures rarely meet that number. The bottom line is that you must have the proper tire for the season in which you intend to use it.

Peter

 

[droptopron]

The Tirerack ratings are based on more than 500 reviews so it's a fairly significant sample size. They aren't rated superior in a single category and only eek out an excellent (just barely) in dry traction. Empirical evidence is great, but when everyone is saying more or less the same thing, its coming from someplace.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...r=2015&autoModel=Explorer&autoModClar=Limited

 

[goochman]

Those are your facts, but you didn't provide details on the new tires?

Was posted in a msg above:
Bridgestone Dueler H/L Alenza Plus

 

[peterk9]

The Tirerack ratings are based on more than 500 reviews so it's a fairly significant sample size. They aren't rated superior in a single category and only eek out an excellent (just barely) in dry traction. Empirical evidence is great, but when everyone is saying more or less the same thing, its coming from someplace.

In addition, I also use www.1010tires.com

Peter

 

[chazglenn3]

Our 2016 Platinum was delivered with the higher end Hankook Ventus S1 Noble 2 tires on it. They seem to have much better reviews than the tires linked above.