Just like with drivers of sedans, minivans and crossovers, all-season tires make the most sense for most drivers of light trucks, vans, and SUVs due to year-round traction and performance. Even for drivers of 4WD-equipped pickups, most of their time is spent on pavement with little off-road hijinks going on, and that’s where such tires deliver the best balance of year-round grip, a quiet and refined ride, great wear properties, and capable handling. The latest in truck and SUV technology must take into account the weight, braking properties, center of gravity, ride quality and overall handling of today’s trucks and SUVs, and a tire like the Sumitomo Encounter HT was designed around all of those considerations.

At SimpleTire, it offers buyers a great deal as an all-season tire, light truck tire, but don’t just take us at our word on that. Let’s go in for a closer look with this Sumitomo Encounter HT review:

Features and Benefits

Here are some of the features and innovations that make the Sumitomo Encounter HT a strong performer and a great value in a light truck all-season tire:

• Non-directional all-season 5-rib tread pattern
• Circumferential and angled grooves work as a system to remove water from the tire’s contact patch and resist hydroplaning on wet roads
• Long-wearing advanced tread formulation helps boost wet-weather traction
• The dense network of sipes multiplies surface area for better traction and hundreds of biting edges slice through water and slush
• High tread depth for dependable traction and long wear
• 60,000 mile limited manufacturer’s tread life warranty
• The tread pitch has been randomized and computer-tuned to suppress certain frequencies and resonances, keeping road noise to a minimum
• Curved shoulder grooves also help quieten the ride and enhance handling and road manners
• Internal construction includes a polyester casing with twin steel belts, full-width nylon overlay ply, 2-ply sidewall design and reinforced bead apex for improved stability at high speeds

Pros and Cons

PROS:

• Long-lasting wear
• Quiet and refined ride quality
• Great stability and road manners at highway speed
• Backed by a 60,000 mile limited manufacturer tread life warranty
• Handling is capable and predictable
• Great wet traction

CONS:

• Not good off-road
• Can be noisy on some pavement surfaces
• Not good in heavier snow or slush

SimpleTire’s view on Sumitomo Encounter HT tires

When it comes to mid-priced all-season tires for light trucks, vans and SUVs, there are so many choices on the market that it’s hard to know where to start. The Sumitomo Encounter HT is a great value and a great performer, though – a standout tire for its price point, offering features and value that you’d expect from other premium tires.

The all-season tread pattern of the T-rated Encounter HT does a great job of delivering confident traction on dry pavement, with short braking distances and minimum hydroplaning on wet roads as the groove system effectively cuts through standing water on pavement. In light snow, the Encounter HT’s sipe network digs in for dependable and consistent grip (although, like most all-season tires, it does fall short in several inches of snow). Ride quality is composed even on broken or irregular pavement, with the kind of refinement you’d expect from an automotive Grand Touring tire, and the Encounter HT’s internal construction does a great job of soaking up vibrations and irregularities before they can make their way to the passenger compartment or driver.

Handling with the Sumitomo Encounter HT is predictable and accurate, with a light and quick steering response that’s neither overly sensitive nor touchy. A 60,000 mile limited manufacturer’s tread life warranty is value-added for the Sumitomo; it’s warranty coverage that’s about right for a tire in this price range, but considerably more than what some light truck tires offer.

Are you familiar with SimpleTire’s SimpleScore system? It’s the ratings method that the SimpleTire team developed to give you an at-a-glance idea of a tire’s strengths and weaknesses. We look at the tire’s spec sheet, reviews and other data points, then take that information and distill it to a 1-10 numerical value for the categories of traction, handling and longevity for any given tire, along with an overall average SimpleScore rating. For the Sumitomo Encounter HT, the SimpleScore numbers shake out like this:

Traction: 8.1 Handling: 8.0 Longevity: 8.0 Overall average SimpleScore: 7.7

With its combination of ride quality, wet or dry traction, confident handling, low noise and great, stable road manners, we feel that the Sumitomo Encounter HT would make a great choice in an all-season tire for a wide range of light trucks and SUVs.

Vehicles the Sumitomo Encounter HT is a good replacement tire for

• Chevrolet Tahoe
• Dodge Durango
• Ford Excursion
• GMC Sierra
• Honda Ridgeline
• Jeep Gladiator
• Kia Telluride
• Nissan Titan
• RAM 2500
• Toyota Tundra
• Volkswagen Atlas
• RAM 1500
• Ford Explorer
• Ford Expedition
• GMC Yukon
• Chevrolet Equinox
• Chevrolet Trailblazer