Hankook snow tires

[Jibles]

I'm having some 185/60/14 Hankook Ipike snow tires put on this Friday and I was wondering if anyone else had experience with hankook snow tires.

I would also be interested in people experience with other brand snow tires. And also what size you went for.

[Mark]

Skinner the better! A skinny snow tire will outperform a wide one when climbing winter ridge roads where I live. A wide tire on a light car will not perform as well.

I would only consider 155-165 wide tires. 165/65r14 Nokian, Dunlop, & Federal would be my snow tire picks. I would also give 165/65r14 Vredestein a try.

I would use my very light 1990 Ford Festiva with 145SR12 all-season tires to get the tire chains so our 1997 VW Golf with snow tires so it could climb the same hill. Skinny tires are amazing in snow!!!!! I drove the Festival for 14 winters. It never got stuck & always got me home. Can't say that about all of my vehicles.

[Fummins]

We run 185/60 14 on our cars. Except for the ones that still have the dunlop winters that came with the car new. They seem like a decent tire but I don't like that they're directional so they never wear evenly rotating front to back...

I prefer to run narrower tires in the winter. I have 175/65 14 on mine. Some cheap rottella tires I believe. They work. They balanced out perfect and didn't require much weight. They don't work on ice like a studded tire would don't wear down in 3-4 seasons like a blizzak would. These cars are light enough you don't need an expensive brand name set of winter tires to get around, in my opinion.

[Jibles]

I would have preferred the stock size for a skinnier tire but my local discount tire is my go to and they didn't have any. They treat me right so i went with what they had in a close size. I'd have to image either way I'll be better off with a dedicated snow tire, even if it's a bit wider.

[Fummins]

For sure, any snow tire will be better than the stocker dunlops.

[Mark]

We run 185/60 14 on our cars. Except for the ones that still have the dunlop winters that came with the car new. They seem like a decent tire but I don't like that they're directional so they never wear evenly rotating front to back...

I prefer to run narrower tires in the winter. I have 175/65 14 on mine. Some cheap rottella tires I believe. They work. They balanced out perfect and didn't require much weight. They don't work on ice like a studded tire would don't wear down in 3-4 seasons like a blizzak would. These cars are light enough you don't need an expensive brand name set of winter tires to get around, in my opinion.

I don't care for directional tires, but many snow tires these days are designed that way.

These are 165/65r14 snow tires options for the States.

Nokian Nordman 7 non-studded are $75.99 @ Walmart
Nokian Nordman 7 studded are also $75.99 @ Walmart

Dunlop Winter Maxx 2 are $84.14 @ Tire Rack

Federal Himalaya All season Kattura are $53.35 @ Tires Easy

[foama]

In these parts where snow tyres are mandatory, I have never seen a non-directional snow tyre yet!

Hankook are a popular brand in Europe.

[Mark]

In these parts where snow tyres are mandatory, I have never seen a non-directional snow tyre yet!

Hankook are a popular brand in Europe.

The Dunlop Winter Maxx 2 is not a directional tire.

My older Cooper Weather-Master S/T2 snow tires on my Forester are not directional, which makes rotating them easy to do for an AWD vehicle.

[Mark]

I would have preferred the stock size for a skinnier tire but my local discount tire is my go to and they didn't have any. They treat me right so i went with what they had in a close size. I'd have to image either way I'll be better off with a dedicated snow tire, even if it's a bit wider.

They could have used the same tire in a 175/65r14 size, which is slightly taller & narrower than a 185/60r14 tire. 175/65r14 will offer more winter tire choices than a 185/60r14. 165/65r14 = 22.4", 185/60r14 = 22.7", 175/65r14 = 23". Anything 23" or under is a pretty good match.

175/65r14 tires would also fit narrow 14"x4.5" factory rims better.

[Subcompact Culture]

I've run the iPikes for years and years on both on a Honda Civic, and the past several years, my Toyota Yaris. I don't have anything bad to say about them at all. They've done everything I want a snow tire to do.