First Impressions Report – October 3, 2014
The Geolander H/T G056 is Yokohama’s long lasting all-season tire designed for small trucks and SUVs. With a 70,000 mile treadwear warranty, this highway terrain tire is engineered to provide years of trouble free driving, as well as exceptional all-weather handling. eBay Motors will be conducting an extended test of the all-season version of the Geolander H/T G056 tires with reports posted at three, six, and 12 month intervals. Our test mule for this exercise is a trusty 2009 Ford Escape Hybrid.
Out With the Old
The old tires being replaced are the class-leading Michelin Latitude, which came as OEM spec on the Ford Escape Hybrid. After almost 84,000 miles of trouble free driving, the Michelins had worn down to the wear bars, and performance was starting to suffer. When new, the dry performance of the Michelins was quite good, although wet weather performance has been merely adequate. Drive too fast during a rainstorm and the Latitude would start to hydroplane fairly easily. The Michelins always provided a reasonably quiet and comfortable ride, although ride quality did start to suffer as the tread wore down to the final few millimeters.
The Michelin Latitude is one of the best-selling tires for crossovers and SUVs, and even though overall performance isn’t especially impressive, the long life combined with the Michelin reputation for quality make it a worthy competitor. We look forward to seeing if the Geolander H/T G056 can equal or even surpass the Latitude in both performance and tread life.
First Impressions
Dinan Service Center in Campbell, California mounted/balanced the Yokohama Geolander H/T G056 tires on the stock 16-inch alloy wheels. We decided to mount the tires with the raised white letters facing outwards, which works well with the Escape’s more traditional SUV styling.
After several hundred miles of casual driving, including commuting to work and a short weekend trip down to Monterey, California, our initial impression is that these tires are every bit as good as the Michelins they replaced, and noticeably better in one area. The improvement in ride comfort was noticeable from the very first mile, with uneven pavement creating far less impact harshness. It feels almost like someone swapped out the suspension for something from a luxury car. Even when new, the Latitude did not give the kind of supple ride that the Geolander H/T G056 provides.
We have yet to experience a major storm here in California, so we haven’t been able to evaluate the wet weather performance of the tires. This coming winter should give us ample opportunity to see how the Geolander H/T G056 fares in a variety of weather conditions. Check back with us in three months for our next update.
About the Yokohama Geolander H/T G056 Tires
The GEOLANDAR H/T G056™ is the latest product to sport the tire maker’s advanced technology featuring an innovative compound that provides longer treadlife and all-season traction. It is available in 38 sizes and in 15-20 inch in both P-metric and LT-metric offerings, fitting a variety of today’s most popular light trucks and SUVs.
“Thanks to its completely new design, which includes Yokohama’s own orange oil compound technology, the GEOLANDAR H/T G056 is made to stay on the road thousands of miles longer and provide exceptional all-weather handling,” said Andrew Briggs, Yokohama director, marketing and product planning. “It outlasts conventional highway terrain tires without sacrificing its all-season capabilities.”
The GEOLANDAR H/T G056 features a 70,000-mile limited treadwear warranty on P-metric sizes and 50,000 miles on LT-metric sizes. Starting September 1, 2014, Yokohama’s next generation tire, the GEOLANDAR H/T G056, became available.
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