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Last updated 6/12/2024 - Originally published 6/12/2024
Written by SimpleTire
Just like for sedans, minivans, coupes, and crossovers, all-season tires make the most sense for most drivers of pickup trucks, crossovers, and SUVs. In the realm of truck tires, the HT designation stands for Highway Terrain, and they’re designed for much the same kind of performance as automotive all-season tires - except with a rubber formulation and internal construction that support a heavier weight rating along with the torque, horsepower, handling, center of gravity and vehicle weight of a light truck.
Aside from that, though, the expectations with highway tires are much the same as with all-season tires: dependable grip year-round, confident and predictable handling, a quiet and refined ride, good road manners on the highway, and lengthy limited manufacturer’s tread life coverage. That brings us to this comparison of the Thunderer Ranger R007 HT and Sumitomo Encounter HT2, a pair of affordable highway-terrain tires that deliver exceptional value and performance for their price point, punching far above their weight class.
Are you familiar with SimpleScore? SimpleScore is the system that the SimpleTire team developed to give you a quick at-a-glance idea of what a tire is all about, with all its strengths and weaknesses. We look at a lot of information and process it into a 1-10 numerical score for the categories of traction, handling, and longevity, as well as an overall numerical SimpleScore number. For the Thunderer Ranger R007 HT and Sumitomo Encounter HT2, the SimpleScore ratings are like this:
Thunderer Ranger R007 HT
- Traction: 7.8
- Handling: 7.9
- Longevity: 8.6
- Overall average SimpleScore: 8.1
Sumitomo Encounter HT2
- Traction: 7.8
- Handling: 8.0
- Longevity: 8.8
- Overall average SimpleScore: 8.2
As you can see, those are some pretty solid SimpleScore numbers for any tire. As handy as SimpleScore is, though, it’s still the 30,000 foot view that doesn’t get you into the details of a tire’s capabilities. Let’s go in for a closer look with this comparison.
Thunderer Ranger R007 HT tires
Thunderer tires are imported by American Omni Trading Company, a Katy, Texas-based distributor that handles brands like Americus, Deestone, Vercelli, and Venezia. With the Ranger R007 HT, its tread pitch, profile, and casing design are optimized to cancel certain frequencies and overtones, cutting down on road noise and vibrations at highway speed. Traction is a real strong point as well; the advanced tread compound is designed for good wear properties and is consistent, and predictable on wet or dry pavement, and its wide circumferential grooves route standing water through and behind the tire’s tread footprint to mitigate any tendency toward hydroplaning. A continuous center rib gives the Sumitomo great, solid straight-line stability and road manners, as well as improving steering response. Boosting traction even more, a dense network of sipes helps to deliver improved traction by multiplying the tread’s surface area with hundreds of edges to slice through snow, slush, and water. Handling is precise and confident, with a reinforced, closed shoulder that helps reduce tread squirm and deformation during hard maneuvers to enhance cornering ability. The Thunderer Ranger R007 HT is covered by a 60,000 mile limited manufacturer tread life warranty, with an initial tread depth of 10/32” for long wear and dependable traction. SimpleTire’s price on the Thunderer Ranger R007 HT starts at $68.99 per tire.
Sumitomo Encounter HT2 tires
The Sumitomo Encounter HT2 is a highway-terrain light truck tire that incorporates more than a couple of interesting innovations. The shoulder grooves of the Encounter HT2 are curved and smoothed out to enhance handling as well as helping to reduce vibrations, noise, and harshness from the road. The Encounter HT2 is designed with a system of wave-shaped sipes that help to boost traction on wet or snowy roads, along with circumferential and angled grooves that direct water away from under the tire’s footprint to mitigate hydroplaning. Like the Thunderer, the Sumitomo has an advanced tread compound that’s optimized for long wear and is covered by a 60,000 mile limited manufacturer tread life warranty. For durability and enhanced load rating, the Encounter HT2 is designed with twin high-tensile steel belts and a reinforced 2-ply sidewall design. SimpleTire’s price on the Sumitomo Encounter HT2 starts at $127.99 per tire.
Thunderer Ranger R007 HT vs Sumitomo Encounter HT2 tires on traction
How do the Thunderer and the Sumitomo look when it comes to traction? This one’s a toughie; both tires have similar tread designs, similar rubber formulations, and both tires are designed to perform well in wet, dry, or light wintry conditions. Both tires have similar designs of sipes and grooves for improved traction in wet or snowy weather. We should probably point out here that neither tire is designed for off-road traction or heavier snow; usually, highway-terrain and all-season tires don’t do well in those conditions anyway since that’s not what they’re set up for. Taking all that into account, it’s not often that we have a dead heat in these comparisons, but both tires come out with a SimpleScore of 7.8 in the traction category. Our decision:
ADVANTAGE: Tie
Thunderer Ranger R007 HT vs Sumitomo Encounter HT2 tires on handling
In the handling category, it’s also a close one, with the Sumitomo tire registering a SimpleScore of 8.0 vs 7.9 for the Thunderer. While handling and steering response are capable and predictable with the Thunderer, the Sumitomo’s shoulder design and solid center rib give it a slight edge in cornering ability, braking, steering response, and maneuverability. That said, you shouldn’t expect either the Thunderer or the Sumitomo tire to deliver the kind of nimble, quick steering and sharp cornering ability that you’d expect from a performance tire, but both tires are very capable and confident within the limits of a light truck or SUV’s handling and driving dynamics. It’s a squeaker, but our decision:
ADVANTAGE: Sumitomo Encounter HT2
Thunderer Ranger R007 HT vs Sumitomo Encounter HT2 tires on longevity
This one is a challenge for us here at the SimpleTire team. Both the Sumitomo and the Thunderer tires have identical limited 60,000 mile warranties, and usually tread life warranty tells the whole story in these instances and determines the SimpleScore rating. However, the Sumitomo gets a SimpleScore of 8.8 vs 8.6 for the Thunderer. In instances like this, we usually defer to the customer reviews to sort out that difference in SimpleScore ratings, and we’d chalk it up to the reinforced construction and steel belt package that gives the Sumitomo a bit more durability to go with that tread life warranty. Our decision:
ADVANTAGE: Sumitomo Encounter HT2
When to use each
The question here is, what are your expectations from your light truck or SUV? If you do a lot of off-roading, if you need to negotiate tough winter weather with several inches of snow that lingers on the roads for days on end, or if you need a tire that can do commercial duty such as hauling excessive loads or traversing job sites or logging roads, the Thunderer or the Sumitomo tires are probably not what you’re looking for. If, on the other hand, you just need a highway-terrain tire that can deliver great road manners, a quiet and comfortable ride, dependable traction, and consistent handling (along with a 60,000 mile limited tread life warranty), these would both be great tires for you and your truck. They’re an even better value when you consider the price point, and they can deliver traction and performance that rival premium brands that cost much more, making them a great option for an older truck that has plenty of miles left, but you don’t want to empty a bank account to put rubber under it again.
Which one should you choose?
So let’s get a look at the big picture here. The Thunderer and the Sumitomo tires are pretty closely matched down the line, with the Sumitomo turning in a SimpleScore average of 8.2 vs 8.1 for the Thunderer. At one time (not that long ago), the kind of performance, warranty coverage, and value that these tires offer would have cost a driver far, far more money but both tires are exceptionally capable and look even better when you consider the price point. Yes, the Sumitomo is out in front a bit overall, but it’s got a price tag that starts at $127.99 vs $68.99 for the Thunderer. Considering how similar these tires are in most respects, we’d break it down this way: if you can afford the Sumitomo, go for that tire. That said, if you want better value without sacrificing performance, then go with the Thunderer. Here at the SimpleTire team, we’re confident that you’ll be making the right call either way and won’t regret either decision.
Still not sure which tire to buy? Fortunately, SimpleTire is here to help as our helpful agents are more than happy to assist you in selecting the right tire for your ride and budget.