Hankook i’cept RS3 review
The Hankook performed impressively in the snow, but it was only so-so in the dry
Impressive in the snow, decent in the wet and okay in the dry, the Hankook finished in a worthy third place. It set the pace around the snow circuit, demonstrating good bite on turn-in, plus strong grip and traction. It also had subtle but effective adjustability that helped create a lovely flow. Add a close second in braking and a third in traction, and you have a very effective and exploitable snow tyre.
To its winning performance in snow handling you can add table-topping performances in both of the deep-water aquaplaning tests, well ahead of its rivals. It was third on the wet circle and fourth in wet braking, only a metre off the best.
Around the wet handling track it was fourth again, and although it lacked the sense of strong grip and turn-in bite of the top-rated tyres, it was stable and predictable around the tight turns and fast curves.
Its weakest result was sixth in dry braking, taking almost 2.5m longer to stop than the best. It finished fifth in dry handling but wasn’t far off the pace, just 0.5sec off the lead, delivering a reassuringly stable and accurate performance on the first lap, but became quite loose on lap two. Great economy rounds out an impressive overall performance.
We say…
“A great snow tyre but also effective in the wet and fair in the dry. Economical, too.”
Blackcircles.com says…
“Rated 4.4/5 by customers. Reviews mention great feedback from the surface, good grip and low wear.”
| Hankook i’cept RS3 | ||
| Overall | 99.2% | |
| Price | £109 | |
| Snow braking | 99.2% | 2nd |
| Snow traction | 98.0% | 3rd |
| Snow handling | 100% | 1st |
| Straight aquaplaning | 100% | 1st |
| Curved aquaplaning | 100% | 1st |
| Wet braking | 96.9% | 4th |
| Wet handling | 98.5% | 4th |
| Wet circle | 97.7% | 3rd |
| Dry braking | 94.7% | 6th |
| Dry handling | 99.1% | 5th |
| Cabin noise | 99.0% | =4th |
| Rolling resistance | 98.3% | 2nd |
