Date: Sat, 7 May 2016 07:23:01 -0700
Reply-To: Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: hankook ra-08 copies
In-Reply-To: <4a2a01d1a866$26bee3f0$743cabd0$@busdepot.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
I, too, was skeptical when I bought a pair of these to make it home from
the desert one spring...being short of cash, though, I had no choice.
They've surprised me by consistently performing just as well as the
higher priced tires they claim to have copied... Thanks to Ron for taking
the time to look up the back round info.
On Sat, May 7, 2016 at 6:41 AM, The Bus Depot <vanagon@busdepot.com> wrote:
> > what is the name and where can you
> > get the chinese copies of the hankook tires?
>
> > Go Form
>
> I looked into this claim after it was repeated here several times (by the
> same individual, I believe). I also spoke to Hankook about it. The GoForms
> come from a company called Qingdao Gloryred International Trade Company,
> whose advertising headline is trade publications is (not kidding) "Sell
> cheap tyre." Qingdao Gloryred has no affiliation whatsoever with Hankook.
> Hankook has not shared any technology with them or licensed any technology
> to them. Their claim of using "Hankook technology" is based solely on the
> fact that their technical engineer used to work for Hankook. Given that
> employees often change jobs, by that standard almost any company could
> claim a connection to any other company. It is not uncommon for off-brand
> Chinese companies to make false claims of affiliation with or endorsement
> by name brands in order to lend legitimacy to their products. For example
> there are several other off-brand Chinese companies that claim to use
> "Michelin technology" but have no actual connection with Michelin. Laws
> against false advertising are not the same in China. Interestingly, these
> companies don't make those claims in the U.S., where they would be forced
> to retract them immediately.
>
> Consumer Reports tested several off-brand Chinese tires (although not
> GoForms) a couple of years ago and found that they all performed at the
> absolute bottom of the pack for safety and for lifespan, even though some
> had copied the tread pattern of better known tires. They interviewed
> Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the Center for Auto Safety, who
> explained this disparity by pointing out that “the composition of the tire
> is more important than the mold.” In other words you can make the tread
> look the same cosmetically, but if the rubber compound is different, it's a
> different tire. The tires they checked were also "iffy" in other ways, such
> as using counterfeit date codes on the sidewall. Consumer Reports - whose
> goal is to find bargains and "best buys" - concluded by advising its
> readers to stick with the name brands, which were actually better bargains
> in the long run even just based on treadwear alone.
>
> I have not tried the GoForm tire so I can't comment on it specifically.
> For all I know it may be a decent cheap tire on its own merits. But it has
> no more connection to a Hankook RA08 than any other cheap Chinese tires
> does, except perhaps skin-deep.
>
> Ron Salmon
> The Bus Depot, Inc.
> www.busdepot.com
>
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