Another winter tyre with a strange name, but what’s it like? Lets start with the basics.
Sizes available: 15″, 16″, 17″ & 18″, click here to see a full range.
Speed ratings: T (118mph), H (136mph) & V (149mph)
So why put these on your car, surely you only put winter tyres on big 4X4’s? No, everyone can benefit from winter tyres, and Hankook have realised that and produced the W310 in lots of sizes.
The range will fit smaller family cars, great for the ‘hot hatch’ and then to medium sized saloons and tourers, such as the BMW 3 Series
Hankook are one of few suppliers that makes the split 18″ sizes 225/40R18 & 255/35R18, appealing yet further to more vehicles.
Is this the first time you’ve heard of Hankook? Or you may well have seen them supporting football on TV, well, they are a great manufacturer that now make tyres that are fitted on new vehicles in the factory for BMW, Ford, Audi and many more.
They class themselves as a premium manufacturer but we use them as a mid-range option as they tend to be cheaper than the more familiar brands out there.
So, What are the advantages of the W310:
1. It comes in a vast range of sizes, including some unusual ones that no one else makes a winter tyre in
2. The tread design and pattern looks and feels like a summer tyre, which is particularly unusual in smaller sizes such as 15″ and 16″ diameter. This type of design is quieter so if road noise is an issue this tyre should be considered
3. Price – as we said, they are pitched a bit cheaper than the well known brands, but winter performance is still very good.
Feedback on these is really good, we have a number of repeat customers up in the Highlands who swear by them, and if they perform well in the Highlands, then we may just have a very good tyre on our hands!
We also spoke with a taxi driver who used them on a Mondeo in Lincolnshire and got in excess of 20,000 miles from a set – more than his summer tyres!
In terms of tyre tests there isn’t that much data out there, on the odd occasion that Hankook have put them forward they achieved mid-table results. The W310 is described as displaying great handling on snow and short braking distances on dry roads.
So let’s be honest, it’s not a premium tyre, and that’s reflected in the price, but it is good, performs well in the snow and because of it’s good dry performance and standard pattern is well suited to UK winter conditions. Add to this that it will last well, is nice and quiet and it’s reasonably priced, then the W310 i-cept evo seems like a good bet.
Looking to buy? Tyremen are major Hankook winter stockists and offer great prices on the W310 i-cept evo.
Over to you for your comments if you have used this tyre.
Thanks, The Winter Tyre Reviews Team
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Been running these tyres in 215/60 R16 size on a Yeti TDI 4×4 for two winter seasons now and would agree with the comments in the main review, particularly their suitability for the type of winter conditions often found in the UK and summer tyre like handling characteristics. Actually rate them far more highly than the summer Continental PremiumContact 2 tyres the car came with, in both dry and wet conditions. Not recorded my mileage on them but I think the wear rate is pretty good; should get another two seasons to the winter 4mm mark at least. Therefore unlike the Continental I’d be happy to buy them again.
I use them on my MX5 in 195/50/15 during the Winter – have had 3 Winters so far.
I’ve not driven an MX5 with any other Winter tyre – the only comparative experience I have is that my Skoda Octavia VRS is shod with Vredestein Wintrac XTreme during the Winter, in can’t remember, maybe 225/60/16, as well as having the Hankooks on a previous car, see below.
The snow/ice grip from the Hankooks seems much poorer than the Vredesteins. I’m not talking about things where the drivetrain difference would matter. I’m talking about pulling away and stopping, and climbing hills at low speed.
The Vred’s give me confidence. The Hankooks do not. I would not buy them again for the MX5. The Vred’s are able to do things I would have considered impossible until I did it for myself, like climb steep hills covered in hard packed snow several days old. The Hankooks will not do this, and not just on the MX5, but on my previous car.
I also had the Hankooks on a previous car during the Winter – a Honda Civic (195/60/15?). And I was able to peform a fairly scientific experiment by measuring stopping distances repeatedly from 30mph with both the Hankooks and Summer tyres (Goodyear Excellence) in a safe environment. I did this because I was not convinced that the Hankooks were that much better. But they were – I was measuring about 1/3 of the stopping distance of the Summers.
So, in summary, certainly better than Summer tyres, but there are better Winter tyres out there. They do wear much more slowly than the Vred’s, though.