The Hankook Winter i pike RS2 is a studded winter tire with useful snow braking, wet handling and aquaplaning resistance. Owners generally like its ice grip, but tests find weaker ice braking and erratic behavior near the limit, while dry steering can feel vague.
The quick answer
Owners say83%from 5 owner reviews100% would buy againRead the reviews
Strengths & weaknessesValue, ComfortSnow, DryRelative to its rivals across every test we hold
Built from every independent test result and vetted owner review we hold for this tire - the evidence is all further down the page. Data updated October 2025.
The South Korean tire is one of the oldest in the group. In previous tests, Hankook had prioritized winter road conditions, but this time we find that wet grip has been improved since the last test. It stops better than any other tire on wet roads and handles hydroplaning well. However, Hankook lags behind in the ice rounds.
Under pressure, Hankook easily breaks into a skid with an erratic behavior that is consistent across all surfaces.
On dry roads, the steering feel is vague and also lacks straight-line stability. However, it rolls more easily than the new tires and has an acceptable noise level.
At the right price, this is a reasonable option for those who prioritize economy.
Strong: Wet Braking, Snow Braking, Subj. Comfort, Noise, Rolling Resistance ·Weak: Dry Braking, Snow Traction ·Winner: Nokian Hakkapeliitta 10
Every independent test of the Hankook Winter i pike RS2, newest first
How good is the Hankook Winter i pike RS2 in the wet?
Across the 5 wet-braking tests it has featured in, the Hankook Winter i pike RS2 stops 0.7% shorter than premium rivals, 1.3% shorter than mid-range rivals and 0.5% longer than budget rivals. It has a Tire Reviews wet score of 64/100, and owners rate it 8.2/10 in the wet from 5 reviews.
How good is the Hankook Winter i pike RS2 in the dry?
Across the 5 dry-braking tests it has featured in, the Hankook Winter i pike RS2 stops 2.4% longer than premium rivals, 1.4% longer than mid-range rivals and 3.2% longer than budget rivals. It has a Tire Reviews dry score of 25/100, and owners rate it 7/10 in the dry from 5 reviews.
How good is the Hankook Winter i pike RS2 in the snow?
Across the 5 snow-braking tests it has featured in, the Hankook Winter i pike RS2 stops 0.1% shorter than premium rivals, 0.8% shorter than mid-range rivals and 3.4% shorter than budget rivals. Across the 5 snow-traction tests, it is 1.9% worse than premium rivals, 0.1% worse than mid-range rivals and 3.1% better than budget rivals. It has a Tire Reviews snow score of 47/100, and owners rate it 9.5/10 in the snow from 5 reviews.
How good is the Hankook Winter i pike RS2 on ice?
Across the 5 ice-braking tests it has featured in, the Hankook Winter i pike RS2 stops 4.1% longer than premium rivals, 1.9% longer than mid-range rivals and 14.9% shorter than budget rivals. Across the 5 ice-traction tests, it is 6.7% better than premium rivals, 11.4% better than mid-range rivals and 23.7% better than budget rivals. It has a Tire Reviews ice score of 53/100, and owners rate it 8.8/10 on ice from 5 reviews.
How fuel efficient is the Hankook Winter i pike RS2?
Across the 1 test measuring rolling resistance, the Hankook Winter i pike RS2's rolling resistance is 6.9% lower than premium rivals, 2.2% lower than mid-range rivals and 2.8% lower than budget rivals.
More questions about the Hankook Winter i pike RS2(4)
What do owners say about the Hankook Winter i pike RS2?
Across 5 owner ratings the Hankook Winter i pike RS2 averages 83%. Owners rate Snow Grip highest at 9.5 out of 10 and Road Feedback lowest at 6.8. 3 of those reviews come from owners past 10,000 miles. 80% of owners score it 70% or better.
How comfortable and quiet are the Hankook Winter i pike RS2?
Owners rate the Hankook Winter i pike RS2 7.6 out of 10 for comfort and noise across 5 reviews.
How well do the Hankook Winter i pike RS2 wear, according to owners?
Owners rate the Hankook Winter i pike RS2 9 out of 10 for wear across 5 reviews. 3 of those reviews come from owners past 10,000 miles, and the typical review covers 15,000 miles.
Would owners buy the Hankook Winter i pike RS2 again?
100% of owners say they would buy the Hankook Winter i pike RS2 again, based on the 5 owner reviews that answered the question. 80% of them gave it the highest possible answer.
Questions and Answers for the Hankook Winter i pike RS2
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The Hankook Winter i pike RS2 earns its clearest owner praise for ice grip, mentioned positively by four of five drivers. Two also praise snow braking and two snow handling, while two longer-use accounts describe retained tread or firmly attached studs. Steering is the main recurring complaint, with two owners finding it vague or requiring corrections on dry roads. Noise is evenly divided between praise and criticism. Three of the five reviews were written at the initial stage, so the small sample is stronger on winter first impressions than on long-term behavior.
What owners mention most counted across 5 reviews
Tap one to read only the reviews that mention it.
Owner ratings averaged from 5 ratings
Owner score83%
Snow Grip95%
Wear90%
Ice Grip88%
Wet Grip82%
Handling80%
Comfort76%
Dry Grip70%
Road Feedback68%
Featured reviews
Most helpful 86%
“One of my favorite parts of the tire is its side grip. I think it handles good in all conditions and is reliable on unexpected black ice and ice in general. I haven't measured the rubber tear but I can say that the...”
“I bought the Hankooks a couple of months ago and are now driving them through their first winter. Can’t comment on tire wear yet, but we had a fair bit of snowy and icy roads, slush, dry and wet roads with temperatures...”
“I have driven these tires for 3 winters now in northern Finland. They came with the car one season driven so they've been through 4 proper nordic winters. There is still plenty of tread left and all studs, albeit well...”
I have driven these tires for 3 winters now in northern Finland. They came with the car one season driven so they've been through 4 proper nordic winters. There is still plenty of tread left and all studs, albeit well rounded at this point, are in place and intact. Rubber still feels malleable and soft so I am expecting to get another winter or two from these tires.
Biggest weakness according to my observation is poor steering feedback on dry tarmac and noticeable understeer in dry. Of course tall sidewall, deep tread and soft compound do that to handling. Wide grooves on pattern also tend to pick up pebbles and fling them out hitting fender liner more than most other tires I have driven. To my ear Hankooks are noisy especially on dry. You can also hear studs gripping very clearly when approaching limits.
I don't have much to say about wet handling since I tend not to push winter tires too much on tarmac but it seems at least adequate and I never felt like tires weren't doing their job. Snow handling is downright excellent and easily my favorite part of this tire. On unploughed backroads and smaller county roads these grip amazingly well and provide solid ride. At limits they lose grip gradually and as opposed to dry, I can feel what is going on with the tires. These make even low powered AWD such a blast to drive in snow. Ice grip is good too, and on ice tires give logical feedback and recover from slides easily. As a bonus mud performance is good, this isn't A/T tire but large tread blocks can claw quite a way in October mud.
Honestly Hankooks are really impressive considering the price point and I have no hesitation in recommending them if you are looking for tire that can handle near arctic conditions and shine in snow. From our family's other cars I have experience from Hakka 8's and X-Ice North 3's and I Pike RS2 is on par with these when it comes to winter performance.
Amazing tires for the money, exelent grip on Ice, great handling, quiet and compfy with great wear. Nothing not to like.... Next to Michelin, GoodYear and Pirelli.
Check out how the BEST all seasons tires perform against premium summer and winter tires!
One of my favorite parts of the tire is its side grip. I think it handles good in all conditions and is reliable on unexpected black ice and ice in general.
I haven't measured the rubber tear but I can say that the studs are very firmly attached even after 2-3 years of driving.
This is my 3rd set on 3 different cars :)
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I bought the Hankooks a couple of months ago and are now driving them through their first winter. Can’t comment on tire wear yet, but we had a fair bit of snowy and icy roads, slush, dry and wet roads with temperatures from +5 down to -18. I’ve driven them for almost 2 months now.
So this is an initial ”first impression”.
Snowy and icy roads:
They are actually quite good for the price. Good braking and traction on ice and snow, I would say they are exemplary on snow and good on ice but not exemplary.
But if you drive calmy on ice, no problem. Even soft and big lumps of snow are no problem. Have driven through heavy snowfall on unplowed roads and they feel secure and safe. I would recommend them for winter roads.
Dry or wet roads: They are not sensitive to heavy rain fall, no aquaplaning. Feels secure in the wet. However, I’m not happy about how they drives on dry road. They wanders on the road so I have to correct and compensate with the steering. They feels squishy, unprecise and are very noisy. Driving on them for some hours is tiresome.
Rolling resistance is low, can’t say I notice any difference from driving on my summer tires there (GoodYear Effecientgrip 2 SUV). Similar fuel consumption.
-The best winter tire I've driven so far (and there is plenty), pretty huge improvement on ice handling compared to iPike RS due to the added studs and a new pattern, you can really push your limits in corners before it start to lose side grip, but even then it corrects so fast and easy, losing the rear end is almost impossible even with a little help from the handbrake.
-Day to day driving in at normal conditions, feels pretty much the same as driving at summer. Even while having 250 horses front the front wheels, I don't really find any trouble on accelerating harder. Braking distance feels as good as it can feel with an older car ABS only.
-Tire noise was quite surprising, inside the car, can't really tell if I'm running studs or not. Comfort, well its there as the 55 profile suggest.
-Can't really say about the wear yet, but if these have anything in common with the previous iPikes, they will last you for few years easily.
I was so happy for these tires that I bought a new set for my fiancee too, and even she was impressed. At its price point I can only recommend these.
