Hankook was founded in 1941, making them a relatively new entry in the tire industry. They are currently based in Seoul, South Korea but they also have headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee. According to Brand Finance, Hankook is currently the 7th largest tire manufacturer in the world – just behind Pirelli.
Despite Hankook entering the tire industry a half-century later than competing tire brands, they’ve still established a solid position in the market by providing affordable, high-performance tires with great tread life warranties. While not one of our top 5 best tire brands, they still offer a reasonable product line for most vehicles and road conditions.
The Hankook tire company mainly produces tires for passenger cars, light trucks, and SUVs. They also manufacture car batteries and equipment. They currently supply original equipment (OE) tires to brands like Hyundai, Toyota, Porsche, and Honda.
Design Innovation
The Korean tire brand has been at the forefront of tire innovation in the last couple of years. In 2020, Hankook partnered with the professors and students of the Department of Industrial Design at the University of Cincinnati to help achieve progress in “realizing the concept of mobility as a life space, not a simple means of transportation.”
To put this in simpler terms, Hankook is working on a project to create plans for future smart cities using artificial intelligence (AI) and environmentally-friendly autonomous driving.
Hankook believes that the “essence of mobility” is in tires. They recently proposed a movable modular platform, based on Hankook Electric Mobility Technology (H.E.M) – the Hankook Platform System-Cell (HPS). Now I’m sure you’ve had enough of all these fancy acronyms so we’ll try to explain what this means.
The HPS Cell is an airless tire that aims to guarantee safe driving in the city, regardless of the situation. One platform comprising 2 wheels can actually be expanded into 8 or 10 wheels, depending on the size/ shape of the pod.
Kontrol Technology
One of Hankook’s unique selling points is their Kontrol Technology. The ‘K’ of Kontrol stands for ‘Kinetic’. This technology is a philosophy based on being able to fully control the interaction between car, driver, and road using four basic principles:
Performance
Tire performance is designed with improved durability that provides the best handling even under severe weather conditions. This allows the driver to always move in the direction they want, despite the driving conditions.
Safety
Both the car and driver are guaranteed to be safe by maintaining the cars ability to perform while driving in any weather condition.
Comfort
Hankook tires are designed to limit noise, reduce vibrations, and limit harshness on the roads to provide an optimal driving experience.
Environment
Hankook tires are made to minimize impacts on the environment by increasing the fuel economy on each tire – resulting in a reduction in carbon emissions.
Major Sports Partnerships
Hankook is currently partnered with three major sports organizations that share the same passion for innovation as the Korean tire manufacturer. They currently have a sponsorship with Real Madrid C.F, and have been an official sponsor for the UEFA Europa League since 2012. Recently, they partnered with Hockey Canada to help build awareness and a positive reputation in the Canadian market.
How much do Hankook tires cost?
On average, Hankook tires are more budget-friendly than most of the big players on the market. Their affordable price tag paired with their long-lasting tread life warranties makes these tires a great bang for your buck.
The average price of a Hankook tire for a passenger vehicle is about $82 per tire. To put things in perspective, the average market price for the same sizes tires is about $102 per tire. You can still find cheaper tires on the market in Cooper & Nexen, but Hankook still offers great value overall.
The average price for a Hankook truck tire is about $181 per tire, about $22 under the market average. Although they offer a competitive price for truck tires, it’s still not as competitive as the truck tire prices of Continental Tires.
Best Selling Hankook Tires
Hankook Ventus RS4
Performance Ratings
The Hankook Ventus RS4 is an affordable, high performance summer tire that provides track like performance on the street! Ultra-high-performance tires are designed with technology inspired by motorsports with a stick track style tread. The Ventus RS4 takes the tread design and advanced silica compound right from a motorsport tire and makes it street legal. If you’re looking for a highly rated summer tire with excellent handling, look no further.
One of the best features on this tire is the aggressive directional tread design. This tire has extra-wide shoulders, a wide center block, and twin main grooves which helps improve traction when turning corners at high speeds. The Hankook Ventus RS4 is built with black carbon and silica to ensure the tires grip even when they get extremely hot.
This tire, unfortunately, does not come with a tread wear guarantee, however, the company does issue a workmanship warranty that covers any defect before the 2/3″ tread limit.
What We Like
- Motorsport style performance and traction
- Great tread wear
- Built with heat resistant compounds that manage heat cycles well
Hankook Ventus S1 noble2
Performance Ratings
The Ventus S1 noble 2 is Hankook’s latest ultra-high performance all-season tire. Developed for sports car owners seeking a comfortable driving experience, the noble2 is designed to provide year-round traction and cornering performance on wet, dry, and light snow road conditions.
This Hankook tire features a hybrid silica tread compound which provides increased wet traction, while also delivering a lower rolling resistance for increased fuel efficiency. The notched shoulders and tread design provide great dry traction and grip when cornering. Furthermore, the tire’s centre rib improves steering response, something that stated commonly in other driver reviews.
What We Like
- Excellent dry traction and responsive steering
- Great handling and grip on wet roads
- Good tread life
- Very smooth & comfortable ride
Hankook Dynapro AT2
Performance Ratings
A true successor, the Dynapro AT2 is the new and improved version of the Dynapro AT-M, but with huge improvements. This SUV tire is designed to give drivers of jeeps, SUVs, and light trucks the best on and off-road experience. The Dynapro AT2 is an all-season tire that performs extremely well on dry and wet roads, and just as good in winter conditions.
This highly rated tire features a unique tread compound designed to improve fuel mileage while improving cutting and chipping resistance on rough surfaces. The symmetric tread pattern has additional biting edges to provide extra grip on thin dirt and snow. This tire is also equipped with rigid tie bars that act as stabilizers for the tread blocks – which improves the handling and drive comfort.
This tire also features a M+S rating and 3PMSF (three-peak mountain snowflake) which means this tire can easily handle dry, wet and winter terrain. The warranty is pretty great as well, it comes with a 30-day free trial and a 6 year, or 60 000 mile tread life warranty.
What We Like
- Good manufacturer warranty
- Performs well on wet, dry, ice, and light snow terrain
- Excellent customer reviews & ratings
- Great winter performance for an all-season tire
Customer Reviews
Positive Hankook Tire Reviews
[Hankook Kinergy ST]
"Recently installed 4 of these on my Ford Ranger. I was a bit hesitant due to the lack of reviews I could find, but I'm glad I bought them now. The ride out of the tire shop was noticeably quieter. Compared to the tires I replaced, these are practically silent. They just repaved the roads around here so I had some nice smooth blacktop to test them out on. They also do fine on the older rough roads, they give a fairly smooth ride for being a higher mileage tire. They are pretty new still, so I cannot comment on tread life yet."
Negative Hankook Tire Reviews
[Hankook Kinergy ST]
"I drive over 100 miles for work each day, mostly highway. My commuter car had Hankook tires when I bought it, so when I replaced the tires last July I ordered these 70,000 mile tires. Traction and handling were good new, but literally 12 months and 22,000 miles later I am faced with replacing these. Can't claim the mileage warranty, and honestly don't know if I'd want to. Price is good, but durability is no better than the cheapest no-name tire."
Final Thoughts
Overall, the Korean tire company provides affordable, high-performance, and touring tires for passenger sedans, trucks, and SUVs. They received great reviews from customers, sport a strong industry reputation and have a wide variety of tires. Hankook offers an excellent tread life warranty, technological innovation and great customer satisfaction scores. If you’re looking for a cost-effective, high-performance tire for your sedan – Hankook is the way to go.
Other Hankook Tire Reviews