For most drivers of sedans, coupes, minivans, and crossovers, all-season tires are the best all-around solution for many reasons. All-season tires are designed for long, even wear with generous limited manufacturer’s tread life coverage, solid and predictable road manners, year-round traction, capable and accurate handling, and a quiet, controlled, and refined ride. All-season tires dominate the tire market (accounting for 84% of all tire sales) for all those reasons, making them the hands-down biggest-selling category of tires year in and year out. It’s also no surprise that all-season tires can be found at every price point, from pricey premium brands to affordable lesser-known brands and sub-brands.

Today we’re going to go in for a closer look at this budget tire with this Ironman RB-12 tire review:

Features and Benefits

Here are some of the design features and innovations that make the Ironman RB-12 an outstanding value and great performer in an affordable all-season tire:

• Four wide grooves and slotted shoulders with a system of circumferential and angled grooves that quickly route water away from the tire’s contact patch for improved resistance to hydroplaning
• Tread pitch helps keep road noise low with computer-tuned angled tread blocks and a randomized pattern
• Advanced tread formulation is designed for long wear and enhanced grip on wet roads
• Solid center rib delivers good straight-line stability, road manners, and quick steering response
• A moderate pattern of sipes multiplies the tread’s surface area and traction with hundreds of hair-thin slits that dig in and chew through slush, snow, standing water
• Initial tread depth 10/32” for long wear, great traction
• Reinforced shoulder gives the tread the rigidity it needs to resist tread squirm for capable cornering ability

Pros and Cons

PROS:

• Very affordable price point
• Handling and cornering are accurate and consistent
• Good traction and control on wet or dry pavement
• Ride quality is quiet and comfortable

CONS:

• No limited manufacturer’s tread life coverage
• Not good in heavier snow
• It can be noisy on some pavement surfaces

SimpleTire’s view on Ironman RB-12 tires

Are you familiar with SimpleScore? SimpleScore is the ratings system developed by the SimpleTire team to give you a quick at-a-glance idea of a tire’s strengths and weaknesses. We look at the tire’s specs, manufacturer info, customer reviews and other data points, then process that information to a 1-10 numerical value for the categories of traction, handling, longevity, and an overall average SimpleScore. For the Ironman RB-12, the SimpleScore numbers look like this:

Ironman RB-12

• Traction: 7.9
• Handling: 7.8
• Longevity: 7.3
• Overall average SimpleScore: 7.6

There are so many all-season tires on the market at every conceivable price point.. In most cases, with the affordable all-season tires, it’s a caveat emptor, “you get what you pay for” kind of situation, but the Ironman RB-12 is a tire that’s capable of punching above its weight class.

On long interstate drives, the Ironman RB-12 exhibits few vices; you can expect solid straight-line stability and road manners, with good driver feedback. Noise levels are suppressed on most pavement surfaces, and the Ironman’s ’ ride quality is a little firm, but controlled and quiet; it’s a tire that keeps its composure and doesn’t get jittery on irregular or broken pavement surfaces. Steering response is light and quick, thanks to that solid center rib, and cornering and handling generally are predictable and consistent, if maybe without the athleticism you’d expect from a performance tire.

On wet pavement, the Ironman RB-12 is confident and is better than adequate at resisting any tendency toward hydroplaning. We’ll admit that the Ironman may fall short in heavier winter weather and deeper snow. Still, most all-season tires aren’t designed for winter traction unless they have the M+S rating for mud/snow or 3 Peak Mountain Snowflake certified for severe winter service.

The Ironman RB-12 starts at a very affordable price, making it a great candidate for a replacement tire for an older vehicle where you don’t want to empty a checking account for a set of tires.

Vehicles the Ironman RB-12 is a good replacement tire for

While the Ironman RB-12 isn’t featured as OEM on any vehicles, it would be a great replacement tire for sedans, coupes, minivans, and crossovers such as:

• Audi A4 Quattro
• Subaru Forester
• Subaru Impreza
• Subaru Outback
• Mitsubishi Lancer
• Kia Sportage
• Dodge Caravan
• Chrysler Pacifica
• Toyota Camry
• Toyota Corolla
• Toyota Sienna
• Honda Odyssey
• GMC Terrain
• Kia Rio
• Chevrolet Trailblazer
• GMC Acadian
• Buick Encore
• Ford Flex
• Ford Escape
• Ford Explorer
• Ford Focus
• Dodge Nitro
• Jeep Wagoneer
• Volvo S60
• Volkswagen Passat
• Mitsubishi Eclipse
• Mitsubishi Outlander