Small Review on Hankook Icebear W-300i
01-22-2009, 02:09 PM
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Small Review on Hankook Icebear W-300i
Here is the Brief answer: Great tire for cold temps and dry pavement handles very well. On the snow/ice it is barely above an all season.
Lets start I have driven probably 5000miles on this set of tires now. 225/45 R17. And has a 130mph speed rating, OEM S4 size. Which is a bit wide IMO for snow, but they were on closeout, and I got them for a really low price from edgeracing.
Deep Snow in a straight line is decent at low and high speeds (quattro!). No issue with pulling up hills or through 1.5' depth snow banks. The tread pattern gives in straight line stopping a similar situation, being no real issues. The braking threshold however seems to be attained quickly, meaning it is losing grip, probably due to the relative stiffness of the tread lugs.
Lateral traction is where I have my gripes with this tire. The rounded edge on the outside lend to a great dry road performance for a snow tire, however it is a letdown in snow/ice. The shoulder lacks the flex that other (non-high-performance)snow tires have. This leads to having the feel of an A/S tire on VT dirt roads covered in ice and snow. This can cause the front end to plow with ease off throttle. I was able to manage it easily, but whenever I got on the throttle the rear broke out with too much ease. Making it hard to really trust this tire if you were in a sudden avoidance situation. Keeping the car driving normally was a real finicky situation, like I said before the feeling I could associate most with a set of All seasons in deep snow. That being said I am an aggressive snow driver from the whole NH/VT gene pool... and I rarely drive on these roads without inducing drift.
Overall it may be a perfect tire for people that Live in CA and travel from warm weather at work to skiing on the weekends, because it truly can handle warm dry roads, or someone who is in the lower NY/CT/PA area and doesn't deal with an excess amount of snow and ice.
Tread Pattern to compare to:
<img src="http://www.reifen-server.de/bilder1/hankook_icebear_w300.jpg">
Lets start I have driven probably 5000miles on this set of tires now. 225/45 R17. And has a 130mph speed rating, OEM S4 size. Which is a bit wide IMO for snow, but they were on closeout, and I got them for a really low price from edgeracing.
Deep Snow in a straight line is decent at low and high speeds (quattro!). No issue with pulling up hills or through 1.5' depth snow banks. The tread pattern gives in straight line stopping a similar situation, being no real issues. The braking threshold however seems to be attained quickly, meaning it is losing grip, probably due to the relative stiffness of the tread lugs.
Lateral traction is where I have my gripes with this tire. The rounded edge on the outside lend to a great dry road performance for a snow tire, however it is a letdown in snow/ice. The shoulder lacks the flex that other (non-high-performance)snow tires have. This leads to having the feel of an A/S tire on VT dirt roads covered in ice and snow. This can cause the front end to plow with ease off throttle. I was able to manage it easily, but whenever I got on the throttle the rear broke out with too much ease. Making it hard to really trust this tire if you were in a sudden avoidance situation. Keeping the car driving normally was a real finicky situation, like I said before the feeling I could associate most with a set of All seasons in deep snow. That being said I am an aggressive snow driver from the whole NH/VT gene pool... and I rarely drive on these roads without inducing drift.
Overall it may be a perfect tire for people that Live in CA and travel from warm weather at work to skiing on the weekends, because it truly can handle warm dry roads, or someone who is in the lower NY/CT/PA area and doesn't deal with an excess amount of snow and ice.
Tread Pattern to compare to:
<img src="http://www.reifen-server.de/bilder1/hankook_icebear_w300.jpg">
01-22-2009, 02:33 PM
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looks like tons of sipes. having never really used a true winter tire what gives them better
stopping than A/S or summer? Is it the softness combined with the sipes? I understand why a studded tire on ice stops a bit better depending on driving style but on studless what makes them stop better? Anyway, just curious...
01-22-2009, 02:39 PM
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Sipes allow for flex, and a place for the water on top of ice to escape to...
Siping is the one thing that really makes snow tires different. Without sipes the excess water ontop onthe ice cause micro hydroplaning. The sipes allow the water to get off the ice and better traction. Along with more flex to each lug which can help to not break out of a threshhold of grip in sudden movements on slippery areas.
I'm sure tirerack.com has some writeups that have more detail...
I'm sure tirerack.com has some writeups that have more detail...
