Hankook Kinergy 4S 2 X vs Michelin CrossClimate SUV: All season tires have always been the go to tires for the American market and this segment has been well established across the years. However things were only starting to take off in Europe after the launch of Cross Climate in 2015 revolutionizing the whole all season market. The first 2022 all season test is out and we took the top 2 place finishers and put them in a head to head comparison. On the left we have a new rising challenger in the form of Hankook’s Kinergy 4S 2 X, while on the right we have the reigning champion in the all season segment…. introducing Michelin’s CrossClimate SUV. This would be a specific shown down on a SUV tire size with a standard SUV vehicle. Without further ado, let’s start the duel !
Table of Contents
Results
Results below were taken from the 2022 Auto Bild SUV All Season Tyre Test. A total of 13 tires were tested this time around including a reference summer & winter tire to gauge the compromises of an all season tire. The winter testing was done in the New Zealand Alps (Southern Hemisphere Proving Ground). The graph below shows the comparison between Hankook Kinergy 4S 2 X vs Michelin CrossClimate SUV based on the relevant performance category. The Kinergy 4S 2 X was set as a reference hence at the 100% mark.
As both tires are categorized as all season tires with a 3 peak mountain logo on it, an extensive snow testing was conducted. However ice testing was left out which was quite disappointing to our dismay. The tire size of interest is 225/50 R18 which is a common tire size for Toyota Corolla Cross 1.8V and the Honda Hr-V 1.8 while the test vehicle is the BMW X2. You can check out our latest tire size table for more information.
Wet
The friction of coefficient of the tire/road dramatically decreases in wet roads compared to dry roads. Hence it is more likely to get into a road accident during wet conditions rather than on a sunny day. It was so important that the EU label has wet braking as one of its three criteria. CrossClimate SUV took first blood by out braking Kinergy 4S 2 X by 1m. Michelin once again shows its class by topping the charts in wet braking.
While in wet handling, both tires are equally matched in terms of lap time as CrossClimate SUV was slower than Kinergy 4S 2 X by having a 0.4km/h deficit in average lap time speed. As we have seen with many Michelin tires across various press tests, CrossClimate SUV’s aquaplaning performance is the best among the competition as it claims the top spot once again. It managed a straight aquaplaning slip speed of 85.1 km/h while Kinergy 4S 2 X only had a 82.5 km/h slip speed.
Things were different in curve aquaplaning as Kinergy 4S 2 X has a deficit of -0.16m/s2 advantage. Overall in the wet category, CrossClimate SUV has an edge in wet braking & wet handling while Kinergy 4S 2 X has better curve aquaplaning. Both of them were very similar in terms of wet handling.
CrossClimate SUV :
- +2.3% in wet braking
- -0.5% in wet handling (lap time)
- -0.8% in wet Circle
- +3.2% in straight aquaplaning
- -4.4% in curve aquaplaning
Dry
As for dry, safety is usually not an issue as the braking distance is much longer than wet. However this is the default daily usage and the tires have to perform at a very consistent level. CrossClimate SUV dominated the dry braking competition by being the best in competition by out braking Kinergy 4S 2 X by 2 meters. Both tires were inseparable in dry handling as they finished with the same average lap time speed. Overall on dry surfaces, CrossClimate SUV has the edge especially on dry braking. i
CrossClimate SUV :
- +5.6% in dry braking
- 0% in dry handling (lap time)
Noise
In the exterior noise test, CrossClimate SUV has a pass by noise value of 71.9 dB which is 0.6 dB quieter than Kinergy 4S 2 X. CrossClimate SUV was crowned joint 1st as they once again showed incredible trade off management by being the best in wet braking, dry braking & now exterior noise.
CrossClimate SUV :
- +0.8% in exterior noise (-0.6 dB)
Rolling Resistance
When it comes to all season tires, rolling resistance is definitely not at the highest priority as the engineer has to handle the most important winter vs summer target conflict. However with the sustainability topic being more prevalent, rolling resistance has been widely used as a competitive marketing tool as it could be easily seen in the label values.
Both CrossClimate SUV & Kinergy 4S 2 X are labeled “C”. In terms of results, they were almost nothing in between them as CrossClimate SUV just have a slightly lower rolling resistance coefficient of 7.97N/kN compared to the 8.02 N/kN value of Kinergy 4S 2 X.
CrossClimate SUV :
- +0.6% in rolling resistance
Snow
As with most all season tires in the European market, both tires here come with a 3 peak mountain symbol to legally certified them as a winter tire. In layman terms, CrossClimate SUV & Kinergy 4S 2 X have to pass a legal snow test in order to certify themselves as a 3 peak mountain tire.
Kinergy 4S 2 X took back some pride by being better in snow as it managed to out brake 1.8m earlier than CrossClimate SUV. Same story in snow traction as Kinergy 4S 2 X has an extra 160N in it compared to CrossClimate SUV. However in snow handling, Michelin managed to exert a much higher average lap time speed of 56.3 km/h compared to the 55.6 km/h that Kinergy 4S 2 X obtained. Overall, Kinergy 4S 2 X clearly outshine CrossClimate SUV in snow.
CrossClimate SUV :
- -6.7% in snow braking
- -5.9% in snow traction
- +1.3% in snow handling (lap times)
- -1.5% in snow slalom
Price
Being the undisputed technology leader, we would expect Michelin to command the highest priced tire in the market. This was proven to be true as Michelin’s CrossClimate SUV proved to be more expensive compared to Hankook’s Kinergy 4S 2 X.
Tire size: 225/65 R17
CrossClimate SUV : €154
Kinergy 4S 2 X: €109
Difference: +29% more expensive for CrossClimate SUV.
Summary
Overall, CrossClimate SUV shows great masterclass performance in wet, dry & noise while Kinergy 4S 2 X was better in snow. Taking into consideration the overall picture, we think that CrossClimate SUV with its well balanced attribute did just enough to beat out Kinergy 4S 2 X and it is the winner of this duel !