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Hankook Winter I cept iZ2 W616 vs Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 2 — Compared

Relative Score (0–100): the weighted average of the categories below, each 60% road tests and 40% owner reviews (comfort 40/60). Based on 5 + 6 road tests and 37 + 9 owner reviews. How we score

UltraGrip Ice 2 is ahead, 77–65

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Hankook Winter I cept iZ2 W616
Tire AHankook

Winter I cept iZ2 W616

Winter

± 6

Tests 65 · 5 tests Owners 64 · 37 reviews

Best test result: #1 of 17 in 2023 UTAC Large Winter Tire Test R16 (exterior noise)

Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 2
Tire BGoodyear

UltraGrip Ice 2

Winter

± 5

Tests 77 · 6 tests Owners 77 · 9 reviews

Best test result: #1 of 17 in 2023 UTAC Large Winter Tire Test R16 (exterior noise)

Category by category

Relative Score per category, 0–100. Open “Why this score” for the tests and owner ratings behind it.

Key facts

  • In 3 tests that measured dry braking for both, Winter I cept iZ2 W616 won 2 and UltraGrip Ice 2 won 0 (average 90% vs 89% of the best).
  • In 3 tests that measured wet braking for both, Winter I cept iZ2 W616 won 0 and UltraGrip Ice 2 won 3 (average 74% vs 83% of the best).
  • In 3 tests that measured wet handling for both, Winter I cept iZ2 W616 won 0 and UltraGrip Ice 2 won 3 (average 87% vs 91% of the best).
  • In 3 tests that measured ice braking for both, Winter I cept iZ2 W616 won 0 and UltraGrip Ice 2 won 3 (average 69% vs 75% of the best).
  • In 3 tests that measured ice handling for both, Winter I cept iZ2 W616 won 1 and UltraGrip Ice 2 won 2 (average 79% vs 77% of the best).
  1. 66

    Dry

    UltraGrip Ice 2 +10
    76
    Why this score
    SourceWinter I cept iZ2 W616UltraGrip Ice 2
    Professional tests (TWG score) · 5 / 6 tests7177
    Reviews found online5975
    Dry Braking (% of best) · 3 shared tests · wins 2–090%89%
    Dry Handling (tester's mark) (% of best) · 1 shared test · wins 0–170%80%

    Winter I cept iZ2 W616: 60% × 71 + 40% × 59.4 = 66

    UltraGrip Ice 2: 60% × 77.1 + 40% × 74.9 = 76

  2. 63

    Wet

    UltraGrip Ice 2 +19
    82
    Why this score
    SourceWinter I cept iZ2 W616UltraGrip Ice 2
    Professional tests (TWG score) · 5 / 6 tests6083
    Reviews found online6781
    Wet Handling (tester's mark) (% of best) · 1 shared test · wins 0–070%70%
    Wet Braking (% of best) · 3 shared tests · wins 0–374%83%
    Wet Handling (% of best) · 3 shared tests · wins 0–387%91%

    Winter I cept iZ2 W616: 60% × 60.2 + 40% × 66.7 = 63

    UltraGrip Ice 2: 60% × 82.8 + 40% × 81.1 = 82

  3. 66

    Snow

    UltraGrip Ice 2 +6
    72
    Why this score
    SourceWinter I cept iZ2 W616UltraGrip Ice 2
    Professional tests (TWG score) · 5 / 6 tests5871
    Reviews found online7872
    Ice Braking (% of best) · 3 shared tests · wins 0–369%75%
    Ice Handling (% of best) · 3 shared tests · wins 1–279%77%
    Ice Traction (% of best) · 3 shared tests · wins 0–258%61%
    Snow Braking (% of best) · 3 shared tests · wins 0–388%93%
    Snow Handling (% of best) · 3 shared tests · wins 1–195%95%
    Snow Traction (% of best) · 3 shared tests · wins 0–191%92%

    Winter I cept iZ2 W616: 60% × 58 + 40% × 78.4 = 66

    UltraGrip Ice 2: 60% × 71.1 + 40% × 72.3 = 72

  4. 65

    Comfort

    UltraGrip Ice 2 +9
    74
    Why this score
    SourceWinter I cept iZ2 W616UltraGrip Ice 2
    Professional tests (TWG score) · – / 1 tests≈ 68 (est.)70
    Reviews found online6476

    Winter I cept iZ2 W616: 40% × 67.6 (est.) + 60% × 63.5 = 65

    UltraGrip Ice 2: 40% × 70 + 60% × 76.3 = 74

    No road tests of comfort for Winter I cept iZ2 W616. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.20).

  5. 70

    Noise

    UltraGrip Ice 2 +10
    80
    Why this score
    SourceWinter I cept iZ2 W616UltraGrip Ice 2
    Professional tests (TWG score) · 4 / 5 tests8289
    Reviews found online52≈ 66 (est.)
    Exterior Noise (% of best) · 1 shared test · wins 0–0100%100%
    Noise (tester's mark) (% of best) · 2 shared tests · wins 0–089%89%

    Winter I cept iZ2 W616: 60% × 82.1 + 40% × 52.3 = 70

    UltraGrip Ice 2: 60% × 88.8 + 40% × 66.4 (est.) = 80

    No owner ratings of noise for UltraGrip Ice 2. The owner half is the owners’ average (66): owners’ noise ratings barely follow the road tests, so the tests say nothing about how owners would rate it.

  6. 59

    Treadwear

    UltraGrip Ice 2 +17
    76
    Why this score
    SourceWinter I cept iZ2 W616UltraGrip Ice 2
    Professional tests (TWG score)≈ 62 (est.)≈ 72 (est.)
    Reviews found online5482

    Winter I cept iZ2 W616: 60% × 62.1 (est.) + 40% × 54.2 = 59

    UltraGrip Ice 2: 60% × 72.1 (est.) + 40% × 82 = 76

    No road tests of treadwear for Winter I cept iZ2 W616. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.36).

    No road tests of treadwear for UltraGrip Ice 2. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.36).

  7. 67

    Handling (owners)

    UltraGrip Ice 2 +10
    77
    Why this score
    SourceWinter I cept iZ2 W616UltraGrip Ice 2
    Reviews found online6777
  8. 76

    Efficiency

    Winter I cept iZ2 W616 +4
    72
    Why this score
    SourceWinter I cept iZ2 W616UltraGrip Ice 2
    Professional tests (TWG score) · 3 / 3 tests7672
    Rolling Resistance (% of best) · 1 shared test · wins 1–090%80%
Scores at a glance
CategoryHankook Winter I cept iZ2 W616Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 2
Relative Score 65 77
Dry 66 76
Wet 63 82
Snow 66 72
Comfort 65 74
Noise 70 80
Treadwear 59 76
Handling (owners) 67 77
Efficiency 76 72

Higher is better. The Relative Score follows your weights below; category scores do not change.

Weight the categories that matter to you

Wet grip starts at “Important”. Treadwear starts at “Neutral” here: road tests measured it for at most one of the two tires, so it rests on owner reviews. Move the sliders and the scores update instantly.

Important
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
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Important
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Less important
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Neutral
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Less important
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Recomputed
Headline score
± 6

Winter I cept iZ2 W616

± 5

UltraGrip Ice 2

The professional test results behind the scores

Per discipline: the average % of the best tire over every test both tires were in, and how many of those tests each one won. “Different tests” rows compare results from separate tests.

In the overall rankings of 7 tests that ran both, Hankook Winter I cept iZ2 W616 finished ahead 0 times and Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 2 7 times.

DisciplineCategoryWinter I cept iZ2 W616UltraGrip Ice 2ΔHead-to-head
Dry Braking Dry 90% 89% +0.7 2–0 in 3 shared tests Newest: 2023 UTAC Large Winter Tire Test R16 · 205/55R16
Dry Handling (tester's mark) Dry 70% 80% −10.0 0–1 in 1 shared test Newest: 2023 UTAC Large Winter Tire Test R16 · 205/55R16
Wet Braking Wet 74% 83% −8.8 0–3 in 3 shared tests Newest: 2023 UTAC Large Winter Tire Test R16 · 205/55R16
Wet Handling Wet 87% 91% −3.8 0–3 in 3 shared tests Newest: 2023 UTAC Large Winter Tire Test R16 · 205/55R16
Wet Handling (tester's mark) Wet 70% 70% 0.0 0–0 in 1 shared test Newest: 2023 UTAC Large Winter Tire Test R16 · 205/55R16
Ice Braking Snow 69% 75% −6.2 0–3 in 3 shared tests Newest: 2023 UTAC Large Winter Tire Test R16 · 205/55R16
Ice Handling Snow 79% 77% +1.6 1–2 in 3 shared tests Newest: 2023 UTAC Large Winter Tire Test R16 · 205/55R16
Ice Traction Snow 58% 61% −3.7 0–2 in 3 shared tests Newest: 2023 UTAC Large Winter Tire Test R16 · 205/55R16
Snow Braking Snow 88% 93% −4.2 0–3 in 3 shared tests Newest: 2023 UTAC Large Winter Tire Test R16 · 205/55R16
Snow Handling Snow 95% 95% +0.1 1–1 in 3 shared tests Newest: 2023 UTAC Large Winter Tire Test R16 · 205/55R16
Snow Traction Snow 91% 92% −1.1 0–1 in 3 shared tests Newest: 2023 UTAC Large Winter Tire Test R16 · 205/55R16
Exterior Noise Noise 100% 100% 0.0 0–0 in 1 shared test Newest: 2023 UTAC Large Winter Tire Test R16 · 205/55R16
Noise (tester's mark) Noise 89% 89% 0.0 0–0 in 2 shared tests Newest: 2021 Studless and Studded Winter Tyre Test · 205/55 R16
Rolling Resistance Efficiency 90% 80% +10.0 1–0 in 1 shared test Newest: 2023 UTAC Large Winter Tire Test R16 · 205/55R16
Also published by the testers (not in the score)
Price Cost 67% 60% +6.7 1–0 in 1 shared test Newest: 2021 Studless and Studded Winter Tyre Test · 205/55 R16
Overall Ranking Overall #13/17 #11/17 – 0–7 in 7 shared tests Newest: 2023 UTAC Large Winter Tire Test R16 · 205/55R16

Pros, cons & observations

Themes extracted from owner reviews found online — not the opinion of TireWheelGuide.

Tire A Winter I cept iZ2 W616

Pros

  • Exceptional grip and traction in deep snow, slush, and severe winter conditions
  • Low road noise, offering a much quieter ride than typical winter tires
  • High comfort levels and stable, predictable handling on cold dry or wet roads

Cons

  • Subpar performance or reduced traction on wet roads and heavy rain
  • Faster tread wear, particularly during aggressive driving or when used in warmer weather
  • Softer sidewalls can feel slightly edgy or less precise when pushed to the limit
All owner themes in the Winter I cept iZ2 W616 review

Tire B UltraGrip Ice 2

Pros

  • Excellent traction and reliability in deep snow conditions
  • High level of ride comfort and low cabin noise
  • Impressive tread life and durability over multiple seasons

Cons

  • Limited grip on polished ice compared to studded tires
  • Lack of steering feedback and informative handling
  • Potential for aquaplaning in heavy slush or deep water
All owner themes in the UltraGrip Ice 2 review

Specs side by side

Attribute A · Hankook Winter I cept iZ2 W616 B · Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 2
CategoryWinterWinter
Vehicle typePassenger Car / CrossoverPassenger Car / Crossover
Sizes available239
Rim diameters16″ – 18″13″ – 19″
Tread depth10.5/32″—
Treadwear warranty40,000 mi—
SidewallBlackwall—
Max pressure50 psi—

Which one should you actually buy?

Hankook Winter I cept iZ2 W616

Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 2

Winner: Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 2 — better wet, treadwear and dry. Pick the Hankook Winter I cept iZ2 W616 if efficiency matters most to you.

Pick tire B Your priority is wet-weather safety

Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 2 scores 82 vs 63 on wet.

Pick tire B You want the longest tread life

Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 2 scores 76 vs 59 on treadwear.

Pick tire B You want the most grip on dry roads

Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 2 scores 76 vs 66 on dry.

Pick tire B You want a quieter cabin

Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 2 scores 80 vs 70 on noise.

Pick tire A Your priority is dry braking

Hankook Winter I cept iZ2 W616 won 2 of 3 shared dry braking tests.

Tire A · Hankook Winter I cept iZ2 W616
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Tire B · Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 2
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Winter I cept iZ2 W616 or UltraGrip Ice 2?

Which is better in the wet, Winter I cept iZ2 W616 or UltraGrip Ice 2?

Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 2, 82 vs 63 on our wet score.

Which grips better on dry roads, Winter I cept iZ2 W616 or UltraGrip Ice 2?

Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 2, 76 vs 66 on our dry score.

Which is better in snow, Winter I cept iZ2 W616 or UltraGrip Ice 2?

Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 2, 72 vs 66 on our snow score.

Which is quieter, Winter I cept iZ2 W616 or UltraGrip Ice 2?

Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 2, 80 vs 70 on our noise score.

Which is more comfortable, Winter I cept iZ2 W616 or UltraGrip Ice 2?

Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 2, 74 vs 65 on our comfort score.

Which lasts longer, Winter I cept iZ2 W616 or UltraGrip Ice 2?

Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 2, 76 vs 59 on our treadwear score.

Which rolls more easily, Winter I cept iZ2 W616 or UltraGrip Ice 2?

Hankook Winter I cept iZ2 W616, 76 vs 72 on our efficiency score.

How do we compare tires?

Every category score blends two independent signals. 60% comes from professional tire tests (braking distances, lap times, noise measurements), each result compared with every other tire in the same test and newer tests counting more. 40% comes from owner reviews found online, adjusted for how generously each site rates. Both use one scale: the average tested tire gets 70, the best 100. When a tire has only one of the two, the missing half is estimated from the other and the score stays closer to average; with no road test and fewer than five owner reviews it gets no score yet.

Handling is the exception: road tests measure it inside the dry and wet scores, so its own row comes from owner ratings only and starts as less important.

Community buzz from Reddit and forums is shown for context only — it never changes the score. Full methodology