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.
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.