[T2] Hankook Vantra LT RA18

[The Bus Depot]

> It is time to replace my tires, they have served well. 
> My local Hankook dealer claims
> the RA08 has been superseded by the Vantra LT RA18.


I just posted about this on the Samba so I might as well copy it here...

OK so I have the skinny on the new (to the USA) Hankook RA18. It is largely similar to the RA08 we all know and love, with one notable difference. While the RA08 is solidly an All Season tire, the RA18 may be slightly less "all season." Let me explain. Both tires carry the M&S rating, meaning that they meet U.S. industry standards for "mud and snow" driving. But not all M&S tires are equal because the standards are fairly broad. The actual tread pattern on the RA08 is a bit more aggressive and probably better suited for winter driving (although still not comparable to an actual snow tire).

Hankook themselves seem to recognize this difference, in that they sold the RA08 as an All Season tire but are waffling on the RA18 - In a press release they promoted it as All Season (and they put the M&S logo on the sidewall) but online they call it a Summer tire. That being said, it is still an M&S tire and therefore a better choice for winter weather than most competing tires that are strictly summer-only such as the Conti's, Yoko's, etc.. (It bears mentioning that no all-season tire is as good in snow as an actual snow tire.)

Further comparing the two tires, they seem to be relatively evenly matched and both at the top of the pack. Several years ago the German publication Promobil gave the RA08 top honors in a head-to-head braking and handling testing against Michelins and other tires, using Mercedes Sprinter sized vans. In a subsequent version of the same test, the RA18 got the top slot. The magazine concluded, "The best tyre under wet conditions and not impeded in the dry, the new Hankook is clearly the winner." It was the only tire that they awarded their "Very Good" rating to, while the Conti and Michelin got "satisfactory." On Hankook's part, their promotional literature claims that the RA18 has slightly better treadwear and rolling resistance than the RA08, albeit with no specifications to back it up.

So where does this leave you? Short-term, while we still have RA08's (http://www.busdepot.com/ra08), you have a choice. If you anticipate any driving in winter weather I'd definitely snag some RA08's while you still can, as they would appear to be better suited for that with no real downside. However, once they're gone, it seems that the RA18's will still be the best of the remaining highway tires, given their excellent test performance and the fact that they are M&S rated unlike most of the competition. We will have RA18's in both 185R14 and 195R14 sizes in a few weeks.
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Ron Salmon
The Bus Depot, Inc.
www.busdepot.com