My new Hankook MTs

Chris2 · Tue May 25, 2010 5:43 pm

I made the following changes to my Pajero:

I purhased 6 x new 16" Pajero rims and took off the std 17" rims
I tested Hankook MT RT03 tyres

The arrangement with the tyre dealer was that I would test the tyres and if unhappy (or not), I could return it. Well, I am now the proud owner of 4 new Hankooks 265x70x16 MT RT3s

To try and explain to you why I think these are the best, will not do justice - most people tend to defend their choice as "the best", therefore I dont expect you to believe this...

Suffice to say that I could go with these tyres where my Michelin AT2s struggled.

This past weekend we went to Atlantis Dunes to test these tyres . All the other vehicles were fitted with standard All Terrain tyres:

2 x Prado's (1 x diesel and 1 x petrol 4l)
1 x Discovery 3 (also diesel)
1 x Hilux D/C 4l
2 x Pajero 3.2 DiD SWB

My Paj performed extremely well.

In one instance, besides my Pajero it was only the 4l Prado that managed to clear a specific obstacle (after his 4th attempt)

. My Pajero succeeded after the 1st attempt. Note that prior to fitting these tyres, there was no chance in my Paj clearing that dune - there was simply not enough space to pick up enough momentum; the Hankooks surely did the trick

Not only am I extremely impressed with these tyres' performance, but it also look the part.

Now I still need to test these tyres in some mud and rocky terrain...

Here are some pictures:
https://www.pajeroclub.co.za/gallery/di ... at=0&pos=1

LowRange · Tue May 25, 2010 9:05 pm

Looks great!

What's the road noise like? Price?

Chris2 · Tue May 25, 2010 11:54 pm

LowRange wrote:Looks great!

What's the road noise like? Price?

Hi LowRange,
Slightly noisier than my previous Michelin AT2s (which were VERY soft and quiet)
Two days since I fitted the tyres and I am already used to it. Difficult to compare the noise level differences, but on a scale between 1 to 10 to indicate how much noisier the Hankooks are to the Michelins, I rate the RT03s at approx 0,5 (that is compared to the Michelins which I put at 0 on this scale)..

Hope I am making sense....

I paid R1800 fitted, etc.

Wed May 26, 2010 9:34 am

Looks good.

I never really considered muds because of the noise factor and the unknown quantity that is shorter lifespan. Would love to dive in someones v6 with muds on just to see (hear). Would hate the lovely growl of the v6 to be drowned out by road noise.

Chris2 · Wed May 26, 2010 4:15 pm

SimonB wrote:Looks good.

I never really considered muds because of the noise factor and the unknown quantity that is shorter lifespan. Would love to dive in someones v6 with muds on just to see (hear). Would hate the lovely growl of the v6 to be drowned out by road noise.

Hi Simon

I had the same issues with muds, or should I say perceived issues, as I never had any first hand experience with
muds...
WRT noise levels, I can really not complain. Although I drive a diesel, there has not been a significant change in noise lvls.

ghost_traffic · Wed May 26, 2010 11:13 pm

I know of all the advantages of MT over AT Hankooks, but one of my friends had a very bad experience with BFG muds on a wet tarred surface, ie. wheels locked up under braking.

I would just like to know how the Hankook MTs handle rainy conditions on tar, since I have 31" Hankook ATs at the moment. I was thinking about going over to MTs due to their superior grip in offroad conditions, but I do not want to compromise road safety.

Nico.

Chris2 · Thu May 27, 2010 2:24 pm

ghost_traffic

By looks of things, we might get some rain here in CPT very soon...
I will feed back what my experience was

4ePajero · Thu May 27, 2010 3:13 pm

When evaluating AT & MT tyres for grip on wet tar, it's not a matter of which is worse, but rather which is "less bad".

All off road biased tyres are dongy at best on wet smooth surfaces such as asphalt or bitumen seals.

(PS Tar is very, very seldom used an road building

)

Chris2 · Fri May 28, 2010 9:25 am

ghost_traffic wrote:I know of all the advantages of MT over AT Hankooks, but one of my friends had a very bad experience with BFG muds on a wet tarred surface, ie. wheels locked up under braking. I would just like to know how the Hankook MTs handle rainy conditions on tar, since I have 31" Hankook ATs at the moment. I was thinking about going over to MTs due to their superior grip in offroad conditions, but I do not want to compromise road safety.

Nico.

Hi ghost_traffic,

Here is my response I quoted on a similar question asked to me in another 4x4 forum - hope it answers your questions?

Vossie, George & Fluffy

Yesterday I had a chance to see how the MTs perform on wet tar roads (or should I say bitumen as apparently there are no / very few tar roads...).

Well, I dont know if there are specific tests to conduct, but I could not manage to get any wheel lockup, hydroplaning, skidding, etc when driving hard on super-wet roads while raining

I guess its still too early to make any judgements, but at this stage I have two right marks:

one for sand driving

another for wet tar handling
If there are any specific tests to do, please advise as I am not sure if my car's ABS is responsible for the good road handling in wet conditions?

Read all about this also here: https://www.4x4community.co.za/forum/sh ... stcount=32