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Head-to-head Updated

Hankook Winter i*Pike RS2 (W429) vs Kumho WinterCraft Ice Wi51 — 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 1 + 1 road tests and 5 + 0 owner reviews. How we score

WinterCraft Ice Wi51 is ahead, 69–58

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Hankook Winter i*Pike RS2 (W429)
Tire AHankook

Winter i*Pike RS2 (W429)

Winter tire

± 9Provisional

Tests 69 · 1 test Owners 42 · 5 reviews

Best test result: #1 of 19 in 2023 UTAC Large Winter Tire Test R16 (ice traction)

Kumho WinterCraft Ice Wi51
Tire BKumho

WinterCraft Ice Wi51

Winter

± 10Provisional

Tests 69 · 1 test Owners – · none yet

Best test result: #7 of 16 in 2021 Studless and Studded Winter Tyre Test (wet braking)

Category by category

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

  1. 54

    Dry

    WinterCraft Ice Wi51 +16
    70
    Why this score
    SourceWinter i*Pike RS2 (W429)WinterCraft Ice Wi51
    Professional tests (TWG score) · 1 / 1 tests6570
    Reviews found online38≈ 69 (est.)

    Winter i*Pike RS2 (W429): 60% × 64.8 + 40% × 38.4 = 54

    WinterCraft Ice Wi51: 60% × 70.5 + 40% × 69 (est.) = 70

    No owner ratings of dry for WinterCraft Ice Wi51. The owner half is estimated from its road-test score, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.41).

  2. 57

    Wet

    WinterCraft Ice Wi51 +13
    70
    Why this score
    SourceWinter i*Pike RS2 (W429)WinterCraft Ice Wi51
    Professional tests (TWG score) · 1 / 1 tests6570
    Reviews found online44≈ 70 (est.)

    Winter i*Pike RS2 (W429): 60% × 64.9 + 40% × 44.2 = 57

    WinterCraft Ice Wi51: 60% × 69.6 + 40% × 70.1 (est.) = 70

    No owner ratings of wet for WinterCraft Ice Wi51. The owner half is estimated from its road-test score, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.55).

  3. 66

    Snow

    Level
    66
    Why this score
    SourceWinter i*Pike RS2 (W429)WinterCraft Ice Wi51
    Professional tests (TWG score) · 1 / 1 tests7865
    Reviews found online48≈ 69 (est.)

    Winter i*Pike RS2 (W429): 60% × 78 + 40% × 48.2 = 66

    WinterCraft Ice Wi51: 60% × 64.6 + 40% × 68.6 (est.) = 66

    No owner ratings of snow for WinterCraft Ice Wi51. The owner half is estimated from its road-test score, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.32).

  4. 44

    Comfort

    No comparison
    –
    Why this score
    SourceWinter i*Pike RS2 (W429)WinterCraft Ice Wi51
    Professional tests (TWG score)≈ 61 (est.)–
    Reviews found online32–

    Winter i*Pike RS2 (W429): 40% × 61.3 (est.) + 60% × 31.8 = 44

    No road tests of comfort for Winter i*Pike RS2 (W429). The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.20).

  5. 49

    Noise

    WinterCraft Ice Wi51 +21
    70
    Why this score
    SourceWinter i*Pike RS2 (W429)WinterCraft Ice Wi51
    Professional tests (TWG score) · 1 / 1 tests6272
    Reviews found online29≈ 66 (est.)

    Winter i*Pike RS2 (W429): 60% × 62.1 + 40% × 29.2 = 49

    WinterCraft Ice Wi51: 60% × 72 + 40% × 66.5 (est.) = 70

    No owner ratings of noise for WinterCraft Ice Wi51. 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. 52

    Treadwear

    No comparison
    –
    Why this score
    SourceWinter i*Pike RS2 (W429)WinterCraft Ice Wi51
    Professional tests (TWG score)≈ 58 (est.)–
    Reviews found online44–

    Winter i*Pike RS2 (W429): 60% × 58.3 (est.) + 40% × 43.6 = 52

    No road tests of treadwear for Winter i*Pike RS2 (W429). The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.36).

  7. 74

    Efficiency

    No comparison
    –
    Why this score
    SourceWinter i*Pike RS2 (W429)WinterCraft Ice Wi51
    Professional tests (TWG score) · 1 / – tests74–
Scores at a glance
CategoryHankook Winter i*Pike RS2 (W429)Kumho WinterCraft Ice Wi51
Relative Score 58 69
Dry 54 70
Wet 57 70
Snow 66 66
Comfort 44 –
Noise 49 70
Treadwear 52 –
Efficiency 74 –

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
Important
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Important
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Less important
NotLessNeutralImportantMost

Only one of the two tires has a score here, so this weight changes nothing in the head-to-head.

Less important
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Neutral
NotLessNeutralImportantMost

Only one of the two tires has a score here, so this weight changes nothing in the head-to-head.

Not important
NotLessNeutralImportantMost

Only one of the two tires has a score here, so this weight changes nothing in the head-to-head.

Recomputed
Headline score
± 9

Winter i*Pike RS2 (W429)

± 10

WinterCraft Ice Wi51

Only categories both tires have data for count toward the headline score.

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.

DisciplineCategoryWinter i*Pike RS2 (W429)WinterCraft Ice Wi51ΔHead-to-head
Dry Braking Dry 70% #12/17 · 2023 UTAC Large Winter Tire Test R16 93% #10/16 · 2021 Studless and Studded Winter Tyre Test – Different tests
Wet Braking Wet 70% #9/17 · 2023 UTAC Large Winter Tire Test R16 86% #7/16 · 2021 Studless and Studded Winter Tyre Test – Different tests
Wet Handling Wet 70% #7/17 · 2023 UTAC Large Winter Tire Test R16 94% #13/16 · 2021 Studless and Studded Winter Tyre Test – Different tests
Ice Braking Snow 90% #3/17 · 2023 UTAC Large Winter Tire Test R16 75% #13/16 · 2021 Studless and Studded Winter Tyre Test – Different tests
Ice Handling Snow 90% #3/17 · 2023 UTAC Large Winter Tire Test R16 77% #15/16 · 2021 Studless and Studded Winter Tyre Test – Different tests
Ice Traction Snow 100% #1/17 · 2023 UTAC Large Winter Tire Test R16 65% #13/16 · 2021 Studless and Studded Winter Tyre Test – Different tests
Snow Braking Snow 80% #8/17 · 2023 UTAC Large Winter Tire Test R16 97% #12/16 · 2021 Studless and Studded Winter Tyre Test – Different tests
Snow Handling Snow 100% #1/17 · 2023 UTAC Large Winter Tire Test R16 98% #10/16 · 2021 Studless and Studded Winter Tyre Test – Different tests
Snow Traction Snow 90% #2/17 · 2023 UTAC Large Winter Tire Test R16 97% #15/16 · 2021 Studless and Studded Winter Tyre Test – Different tests
Also published by the testers (not in the score)
Overall Ranking Overall #6/10 2025 UTAC Ivalo Studded Winter Tire Test R16 #12/16 2021 Studless and Studded Winter Tyre Test – Different tests

Specs side by side

Attribute A · Hankook Winter i*Pike RS2 (W429) B · Kumho WinterCraft Ice Wi51
CategoryWinter tireWinter
Vehicle typePassenger Car / Crossover—
Sizes available3651
Rim diameters13″ – 18″14″ – 20″
Tread depth11/32″—
SidewallBlackwall—
Max pressure51 psi—
Sizes in common2727

Which one should you actually buy?

Hankook Winter i*Pike RS2 (W429)

Kumho WinterCraft Ice Wi51

Winner: Kumho WinterCraft Ice Wi51 — better noise, dry and wet. It leads or ties in every category we score. Hankook Winter i*Pike RS2 (W429) rests on little evidence so far (1 test, 5 reviews), so read this result as provisional. Kumho WinterCraft Ice Wi51 rests on little evidence so far (1 test, 0 reviews), so read this result as provisional.

Pick tire B You want a quieter cabin

Kumho WinterCraft Ice Wi51 scores 70 vs 49 on noise.

Pick tire B You want the most grip on dry roads

Kumho WinterCraft Ice Wi51 scores 70 vs 54 on dry.

Pick tire B Your priority is wet-weather safety

Kumho WinterCraft Ice Wi51 scores 70 vs 57 on wet.

Tire A · Hankook Winter i*Pike RS2 (W429)
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Tire B · Kumho WinterCraft Ice Wi51
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Winter i*Pike RS2 (W429) or WinterCraft Ice Wi51?

Which is better in the wet, Winter i*Pike RS2 (W429) or WinterCraft Ice Wi51?

Kumho WinterCraft Ice Wi51, 70 vs 57 on our wet score.

Which grips better on dry roads, Winter i*Pike RS2 (W429) or WinterCraft Ice Wi51?

Kumho WinterCraft Ice Wi51, 70 vs 54 on our dry score.

Which is better in snow, Winter i*Pike RS2 (W429) or WinterCraft Ice Wi51?

Neither, by our numbers: 66 vs 66 on the snow score, within 3 points.

Which is quieter, Winter i*Pike RS2 (W429) or WinterCraft Ice Wi51?

Kumho WinterCraft Ice Wi51, 70 vs 49 on our noise 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