Topic: Hankook W300 vs W400

[pfdude]

I am not sure which one to get. I know lots of people have experience with the W300 but what about the W400? Reading this forum has proven that the W300 is well liked but does anyone know if the W400 is any better or worse?

Thanks

[ifurita143]

From what I understand, the W400 is an older design than the W300. The W400 also has a directional tread, while the W300 has an asymetrical tread. If you do a search on the forum for the W400 (which I did a few days ago), you should find one or two posts about it.  

I just bought a set of 185/55-15H W400s for my Corolla since I couldn't get the W300 in the size that I needed. I found that the dry and wet road handling was really good. The tires have quite a stiff sidewall and there is no tread squirm. As a result, the cornering and highway stability are the same as a summer tire. The only difference is that the W400 has a bit less grip. Also, these tires make a noticeable rumble noise at highway speeds, although it is not overpowering.

Unfortunately, I haven't had a chance to try them out on snow or ice yet, so I can't tell you how they perform in that respect.

[morty]

Ifurita143 has summed up the differences extremely well. It will also boil down to the size you are looking for. W400 is the older generation Hankook winter tire and it has been replaced by the W440 Ice Bear, W604 Ice Bear and W300 Ice Bear.




TireTrends - Get ready for winter!

[ifurita143]

Finally had a good snowfall today, so I got to try out the W400s on some snowy side streets. Overall, I'm quite happy with them. The traction when braking is very good - much better than an all season tire.  

The traction when accelerating from a standstill is so-so, about the same as an all season. That's fine with me, since I'm quite happy to sacrifice acceleration for braking in the winter!  

The cornering is also very good. The tire doesn't grip and then let go suddenly. I could feel the grip start to soften a bit before the tires lost lateral traction, giving me a chance to react before the car began to slide. As well, the rear end was not prone to fish tailing, even though I didn't have any additional weight in the trunk.

Overall, I'm quite happy with traction in the snow and slush.

[ktm525]

I have W400's on my Passat wagon, and have run them last winter and put them on a couple of weeks ago. They are a good snow/ice tire. Very quiet at speed, even more so than the stock Continental all seasons. The stiff sidewalls help dry road handling too.  They are wearing very slowly, I should be able to get four seasons out of them. No complaints here.