Cooper vs Hankook Tires
Cooper and Hankook are incredibly popular tire brands, especially among the off-road crowd that’s smitten with their all-terrain models. Cooper’s Discoverer AT3 and Hankook’s DynaPro RTF 10 are often the first two names on any off-roader’s list of reliable tires.
Cooper Rating: 4.7/5
Hankook Rating: 4.5/5
These brands’ tires could not only conquer rugged terrains. Drivers also vouch for Cooper’s and Hankook’s all-season tires to have excellent road manners. Plus, their winter tires come with self-cleaning abilities to keep your vehicle stable in incredibly difficult and harsh conditions.
Treadlife warranty is another area where their tires excel. It isn’t uncommon for Cooper’s all-season models to be backed with 80,000-mile treadwear warranties. Likewise, Hankook’s Ventus Concept V2, one of the best AT tires, comes with a class-leading 40,000-mile warranty.
Notwithstanding their similarities, these two tire manufacturers also have their fair share of differences. These differences are what we’re going to highlight in our Cooper Vs Hankook tires comparison. But first, let’s look at the respective histories as well as lineups of both these tire brands.
Cooper Tires History
Cooper was founded in 1914 in Akron, Ohio. The company was initially called M and M Manufacturing and its product lineup didn’t include tires back then. Things remained the same for the first 7 years of this brand’s life, in which its manufacturing facilities weren’t churning out tires.
All of that changed in 1921. It was in this year that Cooper’s founders acquired the Giant Tire & Rubber Company and shift the headquarters to Findlay. The coming together of the two companies was followed by the inclusion of tires in the new company’s lineup and, before long, a name change.
Cooper Tire & Rubber Company thus came into being. Then as now, Cooper’s mission was to produce high-quality tires and provide them to the customers at a budget asking price. The balance was difficult to achieve, as price and performance often come in packages, but Cooper managed to do it.
Had that not been the case, Cooper wouldn’t be where it is today. The US company is counted among the pantheons of tire giants, with its tire sales in 2021 topping the $2 billion mark. Mastercraft, Mickey Thompson, Roadmaster, Dick Cepek and many other smaller tire brands are parented by Cooper.
Cooper’s Tire Families
There are seven families in Cooper’s tire lineup. These include all-season, touring and ultra-touring (Endeavor, CS), performance, (Zeon and Discoverer), winter (WeatherMaster and WM) and summer (Evolution). Let’s discuss all Cooper tire families in detail.
Endeavor
Three tires complete Cooper’s Endeavor lineup. The first of them is the Cooper Endeavor, an all-season touring tire. This model comes with an eye-catching 65,000-mile (105,000 km) warranty. It can be fitted on almost all the different models of passenger cars.
Then comes the Endeavor Plus, another all-season touring tire for SUVs and CUVs. The Endeavor Tour, meanwhile, is also designed for passenger cars. All three tires in similar in that they are backed with a 65,000-mile treadlife warranty.
CS
All-season touring and ultra-touring tires populate Cooper’s CS lineup. None of the other tires in this family are as popular as the CS5 Ultra Touring, which is backed with a class-leading 70,000-mile warranty. Its excellent road manners and aquaplaning resistance further distinguish this tire.
However, if you’re in the market for a grand-touring tire, the CS5 Grand Touring might attract you more. This model comes with an eye-watering 80,000-mile warranty, a record for a GT tire.
Zeon
The Cooper Zeon family comprises performance and high-performance tires. What is surprising is that all the models are affordably priced – you don’t have to blow your budget to afford them. So, if you ever wanted to own a performance tire but were put off by the asking price, turn to Zeon.
Want our recommendation? We’re all in for the RS3-G1. This model’s straight-line tracking, high-speed stability and aggressive cornering performance won’t let anyone guess its true price. Or the fact that it is backed with a 45,000-mile warranty, an exceptional number for a performance tire.
Evolution
The Cooper Evolution family can be easily described with one word – diverse. This lineup includes all-season, all-weather, winter, touring, performance, and even off-road tires. Seems to us that there is no category of tires ever invented that you won’t find here.
Evolution Tour is the flagship tire of this family. Featuring an all-season tread compound, an M+S rating and 3D Micro-Gauge sipes, this model is as reliable on a hot summer day as it is when the weather gets unfavorable for driving.
WM and Weather Master
Tires belonging to both these families are meant to safely carry you from point A to point B in challenging wintry conditions. Multiple sipes on the tread area, flexible tread compounds and rugged construction – these are the defining features of both tire lineups.
Excluding a van model, all the WM tires are designed for passenger cars, a market the WeatherMaster family doesn’t care much about. For, all the WeatherMaster tires are for SUVs and/or light trucks.
Hankook History
Hankook is a much younger competitor of Cooper. Three decades after Cooper was founded in Akron, Ohio, and two decades after the Cooper Tire & Rubber Company was born, Hankook opened its eyes in a small South Korean town in 1941.
Over the subsequent decades, Hankook has predicated its reputation on two things. The South Korean brand has repeatedly entered into partnerships with premium car manufacturers, the latest of which is Audi, to prove that it could compete with its much pricier rivals.
Another thing that distinguishes Hankook tires is their price. Or, to be more precise, budget-friendly price. Vehicle owners the world over know that if you want a decent set of tires but cannot afford to pay over the odds, Hankook tires have got your back.
Hankook Tire Families
Hankook doesn’t categorize its tire families based on weather suitability. Instead, all its tires have been differentiated on the basis of their performance.
Hankook iON
Hankook iON is the first tire family in the world that fully caters to the needs of electric vehicles. There are three tires in this family, with the Ventus iON S the premier. This model is a summer-performance tire designed for the highway and paved roads.
Then comes the Ventus iON SX, the successor of the iON S. This tire has a reduced rolling resistance vis-à-vis its predecessor, meaning it will deliver improved fuel economy. The Winter i*CEPT iON, meanwhile, comes with all the bells and whistles you expect in a dedicated winter tire.
Hankook Ventus
There are seven members in the Hankook Ventus family. All seven are designed to offer extreme performance in dry and wet conditions. This makes the Ventus tires a household name for motorsport drivers as well as enthusiasts willing to test their car to its limits.
Take the example of Ventus S1 Evo 3. This tire is extremely easy to control at high speeds. Its braking distances are among the shortest in class and the price among the most affordable. Similar is the case with the Ventus RS4, a dry performance tire that gives plenty of feedback to the driver.
Hankook Optimo
Touring tires populate the Hankook Optimo family. Extended treadlife warranties, exceptional hydroplaning resistance and comfortable and refined driving – these are features that one can use to describe what the Optimo tires are all about.
That is not to say that these models don’t have any drawbacks. Just like any other tire from any other brand, the Optimo tires do have their fair share of shortcomings. The most glaring of which is that their single-ply construction prevents them from withstanding the weight of EVs.
Hankook DynaPro
The Hankook DynaPro family proves that you don’t have to break the bank to afford high-quality all-terrain and mud-terrain tires. Take, for instance, the DynaPro AT2. This all-terrain tire isn’t as costly as its rivals from premium brands. Yet its performance on challenging terrains is similarly surefooted.
Next comes the DynaPro MT2, a reliable mud-terrain tire that offers decent levels of comfort on the most challenging of terrains. What this model lacks for in road performance, though, is made up by the DynaPro AT-M, an all-season, all-terrain tire from Hankook.
Hankook Kinergy
The Hankook Kinergy lineup is so diverse that it is impossible to define it with a single term. Its lineup ranges from premium touring (Kinergy PT H737 and Kinergy ST) to fuel efficient (Kinergy eco2) and from affordable grand touring (Kinergy GT) and more.
Yet, despite their differences, all the members of the Kinergy family have one thing in common. All these tires are incredibly fuel efficient. So much so that their premium asking prices seem to be justified by their excellent fuel mileage.
Hankook I*Cept and I*Pike
Hankook I*Cept and I*Pike are dedicated winter tires. Yet they have one major difference. All five members of the I*Cept lineup are capable of withstanding mild-to-moderate wintry conditions. The I*{ile family, on the contrary, is designed for much harsher weather.
Cooper Vs Hankook Tires: Differences
Here are the major differences between Cooper and Hankook tires:
Performance
Both these brands’ tires go toe to toe on the performance department.
While Cooper has dedicated the Zeon family for enthusiasts and motorsport drivers, Hankook woos street and track racers with the Ventus lineup. Both these families are the reason why, when picking performance tires, drivers find it difficult to choose between Cooper and Hankook.
Availability of Options
Hankook ekes it out on this front.
Unlike Cooper, which has focused its attention on meeting the demands of the traditional driver, Hankook’s iON lineup helps the brand cast its net for EVs. Furthermore, unlike Cooper, Hankook has an entire lineup (Kinergy) dedicated to fuel-efficient tires.
Price and Warranty
Cooper and Hankook are both mid-tier brands.
This means that while they are not as cheap as the likes of Mastercraft, Toyo, and other cheap brands. Cooper and Hankook models aren’t as expensive as those belonging to Michelin, Bridgestone, or Continental. You can afford these tires without breaking the bank.
However, despite costing less than premium tires, Cooper and Hankook models are backed with generous warranties. For, while Cooper backs the CS5 Grand Touring with an 80,000-mile warranty, Hankook’s backing for the Optimo H727 goes all the way to 100,000 miles.
Advantages of Cooper
- Backed with bigger warranties
- Offer dedicated winter tires
- Are also affordably priced
Advantages of Hankook
- Weigh less heavy on the pocket
- Touring tires reduce emissions
- Come with respectable warranties
Cooper Vs Hankook Tires: Which Brand to Choose?
Cooper tires deserve your attention (and money) if you belong to the everyday driving crowd. These tires are also worth a shot if you’re a frequent off-roader. In the Discoverer AT3, Cooper has produced one of the best all-terrain tires of all time.
Hankook tires are worth a shot if you are looking for a budget-friendly, fuel-efficient set for your vehicle. Or if you’re driving an electric vehicle and looking for a set of tires that could carry the extra weight (EVs weigh more than standard cars) without buckling under it.C
