Hankook Gets Serious About Winter Tires

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http://www.tyrepress.com/2017/02/technotrac-hankook-tire-opens-own-winter-test-facility-in-finland/

Quote:
...[Hankook's] Technotrac is located in Ivalo, Finland, some 150 miles north of the Arctic Circle and next to Test World’s Mellatracks site. Hankook Tire commissioned Test World Oy to build the facility in late 2015, and work got under way as soon as the ground thawed in the warmer months. In addition to workshop facilities that can handle tyres for rim diameters up to 24 inches, a large cold-storage tyre warehouse, offices and meeting rooms, the Technotrac site contains three flat tracks for braking, traction and lateral stability testing on snow and ice, as well as two snow handling tracks for subjective tyre evaluation.

...According to Klaus Krause, head of Hankook Tire’s ETC (Europe Technical Center) and now coordinator of test activities at Technotrac Ivalo, the tyre maker looked at sites in Finland, Sweden and Norway before ultimately selecting Ivalo. The stable and prolonged winter conditions there – Ivalo receives an average of 138 days of snow a year – best suited its requirements. The tracks will be used from mid-November through to the end of March or start of April. Three mechanics from Test World are currently assigned to work with Hankook at the site, and at least two objective and at least two subjective test drivers will be based at the Technotrac and conduct evaluations there. “We need to be precise, as our developers base their work upon this data,” notes Krause...
 
It'll be interesting to see what comes out of there.

I read a post a while ago that claimed all these major well-known brands aren't true snow tires, they have like 1/2 all season tread and then some nice soft gritty stuff on top to grip for a season or two. They claimed Nokian and similar brands were MUCH better snow tires, never heard anyone else claim this, but I don't find it that hard to believe considering I've never really heard reviews of Nokian. I wonder where Hankook will be... passenger winter tires or true snow tires?
 
Originally Posted By: horse123
It'll be interesting to see what comes out of there.

I read a post a while ago that claimed all these major well-known brands aren't true snow tires, they have like 1/2 all season tread and then some nice soft gritty stuff on top to grip for a season or two. They claimed Nokian and similar brands were MUCH better snow tires, never heard anyone else claim this, but I don't find it that hard to believe considering I've never really heard reviews of Nokian. I wonder where Hankook will be... passenger winter tires or true snow tires?
"ALL" these major well known brands? Sounds like Bridgestone to me.
 
What?

I'm talking about Michelin, Continental, General, etc vs Nokian and a couple others. 99.99% of cars with winter tires have the major brands that sell other tires, Nokian and a couple others (can't recall names off hand) are much rarer and the few people that have them say they're way better than typical passenger winter tires.
 
Originally Posted By: horse123
It'll be interesting to see what comes out of there.

I read a post a while ago that claimed all these major well-known brands aren't true snow tires, they have like 1/2 all season tread and then some nice soft gritty stuff on top to grip for a season or two. They claimed Nokian and similar brands were MUCH better snow tires, never heard anyone else claim this, but I don't find it that hard to believe considering I've never really heard reviews of Nokian. I wonder where Hankook will be... passenger winter tires or true snow tires?


Typical internet hogwash.

That sounds like a severely distorted desc. of the regular blizzak tires
half of the tread is multicell compound on top of regular winter compound.

All the major well known brands.. uh no not even close.
 
I don't think so.

There's no advantage for most brands to include winter compound below 6/32" because you're supposed to replace them by then anyway. I still believe Nokian is superior, but you own a Jeep and probably think it's a reliable vehicle and Michelin is the only worthwhile tire brand and is the only oil that won't blow up your engine, hilarious you say "internet hogwash" then throw some of your own around.
 
Originally Posted By: horse123
I don't think so.

There's no advantage for most brands to include winter compound below 6/32" because you're supposed to replace them by then anyway. I still believe Nokian is superior, but you own a Jeep and probably think it's a reliable vehicle and Michelin is the only worthwhile tire brand and is the only oil that won't blow up your engine, hilarious you say "internet hogwash" then throw some of your own around.

Nokian might be superior in deeps now, but deep snow is not only condition people drive during winter. In ADAC tests (most comprehensive winter tire testing) Nokian is ALWAYS in the middle, since they seriously behind major brands in dry, wet etc.
 
Mich xice and Blizzaks were at the top of testing a few yrs ago. The tested them on packed snow by measuring braking distance and traction on starting off.
 
Originally Posted By: andrewp1998
Mich xice and Blizzaks were at the top of testing a few yrs ago. The tested them on packed snow by measuring braking distance and traction on starting off.

Unfortunately for us, we do not get some really capable tires like Continental TS series, Good Year Ultra Grip European series (though UG SUV in RFT is available). Blizzaks are also one of those mediocre winter tires. However, people like them because for the U.S. market their compound is very soft, they have more aggressive tread pattern, but in dry and wet are underperforming, especially on capable suspensions. I have DM-V2 on X5, and 20K is max I will get out of them. On top of that, ice handling is not good at all.
Next year I am trying X-ice or Conti Wintercontact SI.
As for Hankook, I had them once. By far the worst winter tire I ever had in my life.
 
Originally Posted By: horse123
I don't think so.

There's no advantage for most brands to include winter compound below 6/32" because you're supposed to replace them by then anyway. I still believe Nokian is superior, but you own a Jeep and probably think it's a reliable vehicle and Michelin is the only worthwhile tire brand and is the only oil that won't blow up your engine, hilarious you say "internet hogwash" then throw some of your own around.


You trolling bro? even blizzaks have regular winter compound under the multicell compound.

name another winter tire with 2 different compounds... yea not holding my breath. let alone one with "winter compound over regular tire". They aren't made.

I find your attack on me being a jeep owner funny.. because the most hated car on bitog is subaru and that is what I traded in on it. No problems with either.

Not sure where you are going with the michelin and oil digs?

Your statements aren't factual with regards to any tires known to mankind. So maybe stop drunk posting?
Originally Posted By: horse123
What?
I'm talking about Michelin, Continental, General, etc vs Nokian and a couple others. 99.99% of cars with winter tires have the major brands that sell other tires, Nokian and a couple others (can't recall names off hand) are much rarer and the few people that have them say they're way better than typical passenger winter tires.


Michelin continental and general don't have any dual compound winter tires...
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Originally Posted By: horse123

I read a post a while ago that claimed all these major well-known brands aren't true snow tires, they have like 1/2 all season tread and then some nice soft gritty stuff on top to grip for a season or two. They claimed Nokian and similar brands were MUCH better snow tires, never heard anyone else claim this, but I don't find it that hard to believe considering

That "post you read a while ago" was 100% internet hogwash.. which is what I was referring to.

Nokian make good winter tires.. esp for very severe conditions with their studded series.
Their R2 Studless series are also quite good.

Their price is astronomical.. about 40% more than "those overpriced michelins" let alone
more value priced tires.
 
Hi everyone. I'm new to the forum. I have Nokian r2's on my Ford Fusion. And they have great performance all around. They actually ranked better than both the Michelin x ice xi3 and blizzak ws80 in snow and on ice.
 
Originally Posted By: DieselTech18
Hi everyone. I'm new to the forum. I have Nokian r2's on my Ford Fusion. And they have great performance all around. They actually ranked better than both the Michelin x ice xi3 and blizzak ws80 in snow and on ice.

Nokian are good in snow and ice, not so much in dry and wet (comparing to other major brand winter tires).
It all depends where you live and conditions you driving in.
 
I have a set of Blizzak DM-V1 for my Envoy, they are incredible winter tires. Braking on ice is pretty good, snow traction is stellar. I rarely need 4WD with those tires. No all-season tire remotely comes close, not even in the same league.

Dry handling isn't bad, it's a winter tire what do you expect?
 
Originally Posted By: i6pwr
I have a set of Blizzak DM-V1 for my Envoy, they are incredible winter tires. Braking on ice is pretty good, snow traction is stellar. I rarely need 4WD with those tires. No all-season tire remotely comes close, not even in the same league.

Dry handling isn't bad, it's a winter tire what do you expect?

I am not comparing winter tire to All season tires. ANY winter tire is better then all season tire in snow.
As for dry, there are better winter tires. They are good for softer suspensions, for BMW in this case, they just do not do good. You cannot say: they are winter tires, what to expect, when there are winter tires that do much better job in dry and wet.
As for ice, generally previous Blizzak generation is better in cornering. There is no progressive loss, but just sudden loss of traction with no warning whatsoever. Only tire that I previously experienced that with was Hankook W300.
 
Originally Posted By: DieselTech18
I find dry handling to be quite good on the r2's. Better than my hankook rc01. Those at highway speeds felt floaty in the rear end on my grand caravan and felt like they were slipping out

Comparing them to Hankook does not say anything. Many say R2 is best winter tire. I would say they might be best tire in deep now, however far from best winter tire.
 
That was the point, these more common passenger tires are meant to be pretty good on snow and as good as they can be on ice. If you make a tire that's really good for snow it's generally not quite as good on ice or dry roads.
 
Originally Posted By: horse123
That was the point, these more common passenger tires are meant to be pretty good on snow and as good as they can be on ice. If you make a tire that's really good for snow it's generally not quite as good on ice or dry roads.

It is all about good performance in all categories. Deep snow is just one of the elements. When you have AWD on a car, it is questionable do you need best tire in deep snow, or tire that just does everything good, something like Michelin X-ice or Conti Wintercontact SI.
 
When I bought my Xice in DEC 2013 they were the only winter brand that had a treadlife warranty. I have gotten almost 4 winters out of them with minimal wear. They are quite and perform well especially braking.
 
Sounds like it is crowded up there in Ivalo, Finland. Michelin has been up there for 20 years. I wonder if Bridgestone does Blizzak testing up there?

http://www.tyrepress.com/2015/12/michelin-buys-fox-farm-test-centre-in-ivalo-finland/

Quote:
Michelin has acquired the “Fox Farm” artic test centre in Ivalo, Finland in order to “reinforce its testing and approval operations for winter tyres for passenger cars, vans and trucks”.

Michelin, which made the purchase through its Michelin European Technology Centre, reports that it has operated the site for more than 20 years on an exclusive basis, regularly carrying out its testing and approval operations for winter tyres there. According to the company, the purchase guarantees Michelin can control its own test equipment and “top up” its winter testing resources, which range from Alpine passes to the Finnish plains as well as indoor infrastructures.

Ivalo was selected for its “extreme climatic conditions” and the quality of the snow, which has a different consistency to Alpine snow. In fact, 3 PMSF (3 Peaks Mountain Snow Flake, the European logo for winter tyre performance) certified tyres are partially tested at the Ivalo site.

Tyre tests carried out at Ivalo include start-up acceleration on snow; braking on snow; traction on snow; timed testing for behaviour on snow; transversal grip on snow; traction on ice; braking on ice; transversal grip on ice; timed test circuits on ice; stud ejection (nordic tyres); and start-up on ice.
 
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