Hankook Kinergy PT Tire Review

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‍About the Hankook Kinergy PT

The Hankook Kinergy PT is an all-season touring performance tire, released to replace the Hankook Optimo 727. And while the Optimo 727 was a highly reliable tire, Hankook promises that the Kinergy PT will be even better.

It’s specifically engineered to deliver reliable all-year-around traction, combined with decent handling and top-notch steering responses. Apart from delivering outstanding all-season traction, this tire is also engineered to provide a comfortable ride, enhanced fuel economy as well as longer tread life.

Also, it’s built to deliver better handling and grip than the previous iteration, combined with stronger braking and lesser road noise. From this information, it’s easy to conclude that this tire will be an ideal choice for small sedans, compacts, and various types of sports coupes.

Design Features and Technologies

The Hankook Kinergy PT is a premium all-season touring tire designed for high-mileage driving.

As a touring tire, it should provide a refined, smooth, and comfortable ride. To achieve these objectives, Hankook outfitted this tire with several key features like:

All-Season Tread Compound

The Hankook Kinergy PT comes with the company’s all-season tread compound. This specially formulated tread compound is designed to enhance the tire’s traction, handling, and responsiveness in different road conditions.

Also, this all-season tread compound is engineered to reduce the tire’s rolling resistance, to ensure better fuel efficiency.

Asymmetric Tread Pattern

Hankook has also outfitted the Kinergy PT with an asymmetric tread design, featuring stiff outer shoulder blocks. The stiff outer shoulder blocks are designed to enhance the tire’s dry performance, handling, and steering.

Wide Circumferential Grooves

The Hankook Kinergy PT’s tread also features four wide and deep circumferential grooves.

These grooves play a vital role in evacuating water from the tire’s surface, thus helping to minimize the risk of hydroplaning.

Lateral Tread Grooves

Besides the circumferential grooves, Hankook has also equipped this tire with several lateral grooves on its tread. The lateral tread grooves work together with water-slant sipes, resulting in enhanced handling and traction in dry and wet roads.

Visual Alignment Indicators

Hankook has also equipped this premium all-season touring tire with visual alignment indicators. As the name suggests, these indicators allow you to monitor your vehicle’s tire and suspension alignment.

By comparing the level of wear on the tire’s outer and inner shoulders, you can easily determine whether your vehicle requires an alignment.

Thanks to this handy feature, you can always ensure your vehicle is properly aligned while helping to prevent the tires’ premature wear and tear.

Performance in Different Conditions

According to the manufacturer, the Hankook Kinergy PT will tackle all the shortcomings experienced with the previous iteration. The manufacturer promises that the Kinergy PT will deliver enhanced traction in wet conditions, which was quite an issue with the 727.

Hankook also promises that the Hankook Kinergy PT will deliver improved high-speed stability and handling. The question is, does this tire deliver according to these promises?

Well, there’s only one way to figure that out. And that’s by giving it a test ride. I installed a set of this tire on a Nissan Maxima and gave it a test run in different conditions. And from that test ride, I made the following observations:

Dry Performance

The Hankook Kinergy PT performed extremely well on dry pavement. It delivered a sporty feeling, making it feel as if the Nissan Maxima is a sports car.

During my test ride, I was impressed by this tire’s ability to deliver a precise and fast steering response. Its high-speed stability was equally impressive, while its cornering grip was more than adequate.

If you frequently drive in areas that experience dry and warm weather throughout the year, then the Hankook Kinergy PT will be a perfect fit for your vehicle.

However, it’s also important to mention that the Hankook Kinergy PT is not a high-performance tire by any measure.

So, if you are driving a fast sedan or a sports car, the throttle pressure and the steering inputs can easily overwhelm it. Therefore, make sure you stay within the recommended speed limits if you opt to use this tire with such vehicles.

Wet Performance

As a premium all-season touring tire, you expect the Hankook Kinergy PT to provide a safe and reliable driving performance in wet conditions. So, does it live up to these expectations?

The Hankook Kinergy PT is undoubtedly one of the best all-season tires when it comes to wet performance.

Unlike the previous iteration that used to falter on wet and slippery surfaces, I didn’t experience such issues with the Kinergy PT.

The traction was adequate, braking was solid, and the acceleration remained on point. Compared to most of the other all-touring tires that I’ve assessed, their wet performance, I can say that the Kinergy PT is a step above the rest. And I’m not exaggerating.

Its four wide and deep circumferential grooves channel water away from its surface via the lateral grooves. And this explains the secret behind its outstanding wet performance.

Overall, if your area experiences heavy rainy conditions occasionally, you can trust this tire to provide you with a safe, reliable, and confident ride to and fro.

Performance in Snowy Conditions

While Hankook has considerably improved this tire’s performance compared to the previous version, its performance on snow remains underwhelming.

Based on the accounts of different drivers who have driven with this tire in snowy conditions, it will only deliver some usable traction in light snowy conditions.

So, in case you encounter roads covered with heavy layers of snow or ice, you will have to drive extremely slow to get through safely.

In simple terms, if you live in one of the areas that experience prolonged and severe wintry conditions, you should replace a set of this tire with proper winter tires for the cold season.

Ride Quality

All-season touring tires are designed for daily driving. They are ideal for commuting to and from work, going to school, shopping, and running other daily errands. To this end, they should provide a comfortable and quiet ride.

And the Hankook Kinergy PT is no exception. Whether you are running errands around the city or you are on the highway going on a road trip with your family, you are assured of a cozy ride with this tire.

You will not experience excessive road noise or vibrations coming to the cabin, even when you push your car to higher speeds. It will remain calm and composed all through.

Hankook Kinergy PT Warranties and Guarantees

The Kinergy PT is covered by Hankook’s Patron Pledge Plan. The Patron Pledge Plan is a set of warranties and guarantees, featuring a limited workmanship and materials warranty, road hazard warranty, mileage warranty, and a 30-day customer satisfaction guarantee.

Workmanship and Materials Warranty

Under this warranty, Hankook promises to replace your Kinergy PT tire if it becomes unserviceable due to workmanship or materials warranty.

If the tire becomes unserviceable during its first 2/32 of its original usable tread or within 12 months from the purchase date, Hankook will replace it with a comparable new one, free of charge.

And if your tire is removed from service outside the free replacement window, Hankook will replace it with a comparable new one, but on a prorated basis.

Mileage Warranty

The Kinergy PT comes with a 90,000-mile tread life warranty. So, if your tire wears out uniformly across its tread without delivering these miles, then Hankook will replace it.

However, Hankook will replace it using a prorated adjustment, meaning you will contribute a certain fraction of its replacement costs.

Road Hazard Warranty

As noted above, the Hankook Kinergy PT also comes with a road hazard warranty. Under this warranty, if your tire is removed from service due to damage caused by non-repairable road hazards, then Hankook will replace it.

You should note that Hankook will only replace tires under this warranty if their tread is not worn by more than 2/32-inch and not older than 12 months from the purchase date.

Hankook Kinergy PT Pros

• Outstanding wet and dry traction
• Top-notch steering response
• Comfortable, smooth, and comfortable ride
• Great cornering stability
• 90,000-mile tread life warranty

Hankook Kinergy PT Cons

• Weak showing on snowy roads

Should You Buy the Hankook Kinergy PT?

You have plenty of options to choose from when it comes to all-season touring tires. However, if you own a compact, family sedan or a subcompact and you are looking for a reasonably priced all-season touring tire, then the Hankook Kinergy PT will be a great choice. A set of this tire will perform great in varying weather conditions without sacrificing ride quality.