Hankook Winter i*Pike W409 Winter Tires

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Hankook Winter i*Pike W409 Winter Tires

Post by camera_man »

Hankook Winter i*Pike W409
Size: 195/65 R15

Image

Overall: 4
Dry Pavement Performance: 3
Highway Performance: 4
Snow Performance: 5
Comfort: 4
Looks: 5
Price: 5

After purchasing a 2008 Mazda3 and driving with the standard Goodyear Eagle RS/A all-seasons in the snow, I decided that it was time to purchase some snow tires. I had to face it, the all-season sucked, and I live in a place where we get 250-400 inches of snow per year.

Dry Pavement
Surprisingly, these tire do pretty well in dry pavement. They have plenty of grip while accelerating, and the same can be said about braking. They do break loose a bit easier while cornering under acceleration, but they are very predictable and you can tell when they are about to let go. Because of the softer compound for the rubber and the higher aspect ratio of the tire, there is a bit of a squishy feeling when driving the car around the city. Quick maneuvers side-to-side don't feel quite as stable as with the all-seasons. Regardless of how they feel, they still have decent amounts of grip (I had one maneuver where I had to avoid an accident, and they performed great).

Highway Driving
These tires are definitely louder at speed than all-seasons, but it is by no means terrible. I would describe it as more of a dull humming rather that a roar that I've heard some snow tires described as. They are smooth and stable on the highway and I just drove 7 hours on them with no problems.

Snow Performance
The day I left for school we got a slight dusting of snow (about 1/2"). These tires did great! I could stomp on the brakes, and the ABS would never engage. I could also launch like I would with all-seasons on dry pavement, and the tires would not spin. Cornering performance in light snow is also excellent. Corners where I had understeer with all-season could be taken at regular (or higher) speeds with no problem. The tires just bit into the snow and pulled me around the corner. When I got up to school we have quite a bit more snow, but the performance of the tires was just as good. On hard packed snow, there is obviously less grip, and I was able to get the ABS to kick in and spin the tires, but only if I was trying to. Under normal driving, there was plenty of grip for whatever I was trying to do. No longer will the slight uphill exit out of my apartment give me trouble (there's always slush/snow/powder built up right where you launch from). With the all-season I would just sit there and spin the tires with barely any gas (which sucked trying to pull out into traffic). Now, I can launch normally and I have great grip, and can pull into traffic with much more confidence that I will actually move somewhere.

I haven't really gotten to drive on any ice yet, so I can't comment on that aspect of their performance. They are studable, which I'm sure would help. I don't have studs in them because they are illegal in MN and MI.

Comfort
As I said, the highway ride is not too loud. I did notice that the ride seems a bit more smooth around the city. I would venture a guess that it's because of the softer tread, but I could be wrong. I just don't seem to notice as many bumps as before.

Looks
Some snow tires have mundane looking tread, so have aggressive looking tread. This tire is more on the aggressive side. It's subjective, but I think they look cool.

Image

Image

Price
At $70/ tire, they were by far the cheapest tire that I found. The combination of low price and high performance made them a winner in my book. I'm glad I bought them.
Last edited by camera_man on Mon Dec 29, 2008 1:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Hankook Winter i*Pike W409 Winter Tires

Post by Werty »

Congrats on the winter setup, I've read enough stories about the stock tires to be glad they're packed away until it's warm again. Now get some hubcaps :)
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Re: Hankook Winter i*Pike W409 Winter Tires

Post by camera_man »

I don't know, I kind of like the steel wheels...
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Re: Hankook Winter i*Pike W409 Winter Tires

Post by watkins »

Walmart spinners!
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Re: Hankook Winter i*Pike W409 Winter Tires

Post by camera_man »

watkins wrote:Walmart spinners!
Ummm.... no. :lol:
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Re: Hankook Winter i*Pike W409 Winter Tires

Post by AHTOXA »

The tread looks much like my Arctics, which are in the review below. Have you noticed?
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Re: Hankook Winter i*Pike W409 Winter Tires

Post by camera_man »

I was actually looking at the Generals on www.tirerack.com when I was doing my initial research. I ended up going with the Hankooks simply because they were in stock at Discount Tire, and I could have the snow tires installed on my car before I had to head back to school. Otherwise I would have had to wait for TireRack to deliver them, and that was going to be about a week. They are remarkably similar, and I would presume that they perform very similarly.
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Re: Hankook Winter i*Pike W409 Winter Tires

Post by AHTOXA »

I would assume yes, they would perform similarly. It appears that the compound mix of silica and natural rubber will be close as well. I'm sort of a tire nut and I was comparing how soft my winter tires are compared to all-seasons on cars parked by me. The difference is extreme.

P.S. I ordered my tires through tirerack on Sunday and got them on Tuesday. Regular shipping.

Then again, you are in MN and I'm in Chicago. Their warehouse is in Indiana, about 2 hours from where I am.
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Re: Hankook Winter i*Pike W409 Winter Tires

Post by AHTOXA »

Question: how's wet performance on those? I found that once I broke mine in, they are exceptional. The directional tread helps with hydroplaning resistance as well.
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Re: Hankook Winter i*Pike W409 Winter Tires

Post by camera_man »

I had called TireRack last Monday or Tuesday and they said that they were really backed up with the mounting/balancing and it would be well over a week before they shipped. Did you order just rubber, or wheels as well. I needed both tires and wheels...

Honestly, I haven't gotten a chance to drive in the wet because it went right into snow the day after I installed the tires. I have driven through slush, which the tires cleared out like a champ. I can only assume that rain would be similar.
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Re: Hankook Winter i*Pike W409 Winter Tires

Post by AHTOXA »

I ordered just the rubber. Using stock alloys for winter with intention of different wheels for summer. That could be why mine were shipped so fast. Also, this was a month ago, before the "snow tire rush" really started.
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Re: Hankook Winter i*Pike W409 Winter Tires

Post by permabanned »

those steelies are hurting my eyes to look at. get some rims dawg, stock rims are pretty cheap on craigslist. i guarantee you there are a bunch of random stock 5x114 rims around MSP
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