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All-season tires are a great compromise for year-round traction and performance. They offer good handling, cornering and braking performance, they resist hydroplaning on wet days, they usually have a quiet, forgiving ride, and deliver a long tread life. When it comes to nasty winter weather and deep snow or ice, though, most all-season tires just cannot get the job done. That’s where you can’t do without winter tires if you need to get where you’re going.
Winter tires have come a long way since the heavy, clunky, noisy “snow grips” that were on your grandpa’s Buick wagon a generation ago. Today’s winter tires use a combination of a rubber compound that stays flexible for traction at sub-freezing temperatures and a whole package of special tread features that boost traction on heavy snow, slush or ice. When it comes to winter tires, we feel that the Hankook Winter i* cept iZ2 (W616) is an outstanding choice and a strong, reliable performer.
So what is it about this tirethat makes it such a good option? Let’s break it down a little with this Hankook Winter i* cept iZ2 (W616) review.
The Winter i* cept iZ2 (W616) from Hankook is absolutely packed with next-generation features to enhance winter performance:
The Hankook Winter i* cept iZ2 (W616) is such a great performer in winter weather, but it does present a couple of minor Cons to balance out the Pros:
PROS
CONS
To be direct, we’d say that the Hankook Winter i* cept iZ2 (W616) is one of the best winter tires on the market today. This is a tire that’s loaded with high-tech features that deliver outstanding safety and performance in winter weather, including its tread compound, sipe pattern and tread design – Hankook really did their homework to come up with a tire that can get you there and back safely when there’s deep snow, slush, or ice on the pavement. The tread design and groove geometry is truly innovative, the silica-enhanced rubber formulation offers noticeably-better braking and handling, and its noise levels and ride quality on ice and snow are comparable to premium all-season tires. Hankook is confident enough about the Winter i* cept iZ2 (W616) that it’s covered by a 40,000 mile limited manufacturer tread life warranty – which says a lot, since many winter tires don’t offer a warranty at all.
The Cons listed above aren’t too surprising. Many winter tires don’t excel on dry pavement, but that’s not what they’re designed for. The softer, more pliable rubber of winter tires wears quickly in warmer conditions – tire manufacturers advise against using winter tires at all if temperatures are consistently above 40-45 degrees. And as for studs, they’re only for severe ice conditions where nothing else can get traction, and studs aren’t legal in many states, so you should check with state laws before you decide on tires with studs anyway.
This is a tire you could consider if you live in an area that sees hard winters with lots of ice and snow that sticks around for weeks at a time. It could be a great fit for vehicles like the Buick Envision, Chevrolet Traverse, Dodge Grand Caravan, Ford Explorer, Honda Accord, Hyundai Elantra, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Kia Forte, Mazda CX-5, Nissan Murano, Subaru Forester, Toyota Highlander, or Volkswagen Passat.
overall rating
Would you buy again?
4.5
4.5
4.8
4.5
4
4.1
Loving it so far. Feel pretty confident on thick snow, cold and icy conditions despite driving in a RWD vehicle with low ground clearance (BMW). They look great too (if you care) and the ride is very comfortable. Price point was perfect when compared to other retailers, especially with the installation fee reduction.
Very good winter tires. Not super long treadlife but they were built to suit winter conditions. And they do well at that
Great winter tires at a reasonable cost, run em year round without excessive wear during the warm summer days. They wear out I'll replace them with the same tire. I recommend them for Wisconsin/Michigan and Minnesota severe winter conditions.
Excellent choice for a dedicated winter tire
Car felt very stable in poor weather as well on dry roads. I'd recommend these tires to anyone. Road noise was also minimal.
Great tires. Wish I could use them all year long.
have put on 3000 miles so far in winter conditions. snow traction is good bordering on great. ice traction is some of the best i've seen short of a studded snow tire. time will tell for tread life-too soon to say
My 2nd set. 235/60R16 on a 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan. Love these in the winter, they're awesome in the snow and ice but only ok in the rain, pretty quiet except when stopping hard. I got about 25,000 miles out of my first set but I drive pretty aggressively.
I went from 215/65R16 to 235/60R16 on my Dodge Grand Caravan. Dry handling in the summer is awesome. Off ramps at 50 plus is no problem. I tried that on a damp day, not even raining and almost ended up in the ditch. I know, it's a minivan, but with my last set of 3/4 worn out Michelin Defenders it was like a cart on rails. The Hankook winter tread definitely loses the traction in the rain but in the snow they are great. Pretty good even on ice without studs. Tread life, I'll be honest and say I didn't take them off in the summer but, 25,000 miles... Maybe I should invest next year in a set of summer tires, Highway tread with a high mileage treadlife warranty. They must be pretty good for the price though cause I just bought another set.