Tire Review: Hankook Ventus V12 EVO

[InProgress2]

You all have been so helpful. Time to give back; hope this helps some of you make the tire decision.
The car: 2004 330i Sport with 54,000 miles. Stock rims and suspension.
I replaced my Continental ExtremeContacts with a set of the Hankook Ventus EVOs. I put 5,000 miles on the tires before writing this review to make sure I stayed happy with the tire. Bottom line, a great purchase I would make again. The Hankooks run really quiet and smooth. I find myself enjoying the sweet sound of an in-line six again! So much quieter and smoother than the Contis, wish I had made the switch sooner. Wet grip get is superb and dry handling is also great. Tires feel soft at first but bite and hold when you find the line. I paid $550 including tires, mounting, and tax. Discount Tire had a $100 rebate when I purchased and Hankook is still running a $50 rebate. $400 all in is tough to beat. The Hankooks are not everything my PS2s were (on an E36 M3), but really, really close and inexpensive to boot. If you are agonizing over this tire, do it. You will soon have new tires you’ll enjoy and the endless research (like I did) will end. Happy motoring.

[CakePie]

Thanks for the write up.

Please provide the tire size and a description of the amount of tramlining that you experience, dry weather handling and wet weather handling.

[Bimmer330i]

Are these all season or summer? Trying to figure out which to get with my new wheels im getting for summer set :D

[InProgress2]

Front=225/45 17
Rear=245/40 17

No trammeling to speak of. At least 50% quieter/smoother than old Contis

Wet handling (these things move water well) 9.0/10.0
Dry Handing (ya got trust tthem) 8.5/10

[danewilson77]

No kidding....hanks. I know Nathan is rollin these....but his review will be like 8 pages long and I won't ead it...lo....j/k.

I was thinking about putting a pair on in a few months...

[InProgress2]

Summer tire (I live in Atlanta). I think they have an all season tire, with some trade-offs. OK, I'll admit it... In Atlanta, I drive a summer tire year round... Used to live in the frozen north with snow tires!

[dabdibridgep]

superb write up, thank you.

[hooRAH]

Whats the treadwear rating on these?

Also, whats the starting tread depth?

[TJQMaster]

Hankook Ventus = Yokohama S.Drive?!?!? hmmmm

will have to take into consideration....thanks

[Benny Z]

how many miles were on your conti extreme contacts that they were noisy? after 10,000 miles mine were silent as could be... actually that was one of the reasons i initially bought them - noise rating was extremely low - important to me due to my insane audiophillia.

[nathancarter]

No kidding....hanks. I know Nathan is rollin these....but his review will be like 8 pages long and I won't ead it...lo....j/k.


:shifty

I'll post something on Sunday or Monday after my autocross. So far, noise and grip under normal street driving have been fantastic. Subjectively, treadwear looks to be pretty good; after 2500 highway miles (including a round-trip from Tampa to lower Alabama and back) I can still see traces of the "Hankook" logo that's molded into the center tread rib.

Managed to break wet traction a couple of times yesterday (wheeee) but those were definitely intentional. Highway wet traction seemed pretty stable and predictable; on the Alabama trip I drove through some sheeting downpours, and I reduced speed due to poor visibility, not because the car and tires felt unstable.

My fuel economy has suffered slightly (about 1-1.5mpg), though I attribute this to the added weight and increased rolling resistance that I incurred when changing from 17x7 wheels and 205-width tires, to 17x8 wheels and 235-width tires.



Whats the treadwear rating on these?
Also, whats the starting tread depth?

According to Tirerack, UTQG on the Hankooks is 280, which is middle-ground for summer tires. It's not as high as the General Exclaim UHPs that I had before (380) but it's better than the popular Dunlop Star Specs (200), and nearly as good as the Conti ExtremeContact DW (340).

Interesting, the tread blocks are beveled quite significantly at the top edges, so when the tread wears down there'll be MORE rubber on the road... couple that with less tread-block squirm (not that there's much to start with) and they'll probably be damn grippy when they get down to about half tread depth. You can see this in the Super-view on the Tirerack page:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Hankook&tireModel=Ventus+V12+evo+K110&partnum=245YR7K110XL&vehicleSearch=true&fromCompare1=yes&autoMake=BMW&autoYear=2001&autoModel=330Ci&autoModClar=

I got about 22k mostly-highway miles out of my Generals but that included about 100 miles around Sebring and four autocross days. Without those events I probably could have gotten 30k highway miles, but I usually drive very conservatively on the street.

[danewilson77]

Great writeup Nathan. Do you think they would suck in the VA winter?

I will end up getting 60k outta my Khumos...lol

[M0nK3y]

I WAS suppose to have V12s on my CSLs, but a mis-order and we never discovered it until the V4s (all seasons) were mounted and drove on

:(

[PsychoCemia]

Thanks for this. Was actually just looking at these today after reading Car&Driver's review (http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/comparisons/09q2/tire_test_nine_affordable_summer_tires_take_on_the _michelin_ps2-comparison_tests/hankook_ventus_v12_evo_page_10) of them from last year.

TireRack has them for the ZHPs (225/40ZR18 & 255/35ZR18) at $574 for a full set. My big question (since I'm in Atlanta, too) is whether to jump for a set of these & a cheapo set of winter wheels/tires for those 5 or 6 weeks of subfreezing temps, or just drop for PS2s all around and tough it out all year.


I put 5,000 miles on the tires before writing this review to make sure I stayed happy with the tire.

So I'm guessing you had a little play time with them in the snow we had earlier this year? How did they fare? I'm just dreading winter, because I got the car a couple months ago, and it came with Michelin Pilot Sports -- which on all accounts are abysmal in snow/ice...and they've been pretty dicey at times with all the rain recently, too.

[kpro]

I too have these tires and LOVE THEM, sizes 225/45/17 and 245/40/17. I've only had them for a couple of monthsand auto crossed with these twice. Im very happy with the price: performance ratio. I almost like these better than the Dunlop Direzza Starspecs I have on my prelude. I would buy these again, and will most likely put them on my Accord later this summer.

[White Knuckles2]

Hankook Ventus = Yokohama S.Drive?!?!? hmmmm

will have to take into consideration....thanks


I went with the Yoko S-drives and am in the second summer season with them. Nice tire. They are similar in description as the OP's Hankook review. They seem soft but bite well. I'm guessing for those looking for high-mileage tires both of these will be toast at 40K. Soft, quiet and sticky at a reasonable price never makes for long miles.

I like the S-drives so well, I'm putting them on my Wife's MINI Cooper and flinging those heavy run-flats. S-drives do however seem to "track" any road anomalies. Our highway lanes are "tire gouged" from winter studs. The tires (225) seem to "hook" while crossing lanes, creating grab spots you feel in the steering wheel. Not sure if it's the tire compound, width, tread design or what, but they are much more road sensitive than my (205) winter rubber. I'd say unless you're Ricky-Racer or demanding high-mileage tires these mid-line tires are not a compromise.

[KAR15]

[QUOTE=PsychoCemia;19485950]Thanks for this. Was actually just looking at these today after reading Car&Driver's review (http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/comparisons/09q2/tire_test_nine_affordable_summer_tires_take_on_the _michelin_ps2-comparison_tests/hankook_ventus_v12_evo_page_10) of them from last year.

TireRack has them for the ZHPs (225/40ZR18 & 255/35ZR18) at $574 for a full set. My big question (since I'm in Atlanta, too) is whether to jump for a set of these & a cheapo set of winter wheels/tires for those 5 or 6 weeks of subfreezing temps, or just drop for PS2s all around and tough it out all year.



I have a set of each of the Hankooks v12 and PS2 on M3's. PS2 is a better tire all around. I would recommend the PS2 for the Zhp with 18's cause it'll be a smoother ride, you won't be disappointed with performance, just alittle poorer since it costs alittle more. I think it's worth it! Just my 02.

[InProgress2]

PsychoCemia,

I did have some limited run time on the tires in the cold/slush thus winter, and while not ideal, tires were ok. Nothing scary. Sounds like others have had good experiences with these tires too.

[1988 325ix]

I've put about 8K on these tires. Absolutely love them, nothing better out there for the price. And they have a cool tread pattern.



http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs472.snc3/25877_409200750743_759320743_5247853_5938893_n.jpg

[Butler]

Old thread I know, but I'm about to buy a set and thought I should bump it to the top.

I'm going to order from Discounttiredirect.com. I have order lots of tires from them and they always seem to have the best price. Current pricing is $504 shipped plus the local $50 I'll pay to have them balanced. Not bad imo.

I've heard good things about the V12 Evos so I'm going to give them a try.

Thanks for the review.

[auto_pilot]

Hankook Ventus = Yokohama S.Drive?!?!? hmmmm

will have to take into consideration....thanks

Ventus >>>>> S.Drive

I've owned both...and the Hankook is the best tire out there for the money. Quiet, grips nice, and great in the rain. I love these tires. I hate my slippery S.Drives...waste of money IMO.

On my car,my fronts are just fine after about 20K miles...the rears are showing some camber wear. I should of rotated them (square fitment) but I killed a tire when i hit a bolt, and replaced one of the rears w/a used one.

Funny thing is, now my one replacement tire howls like a banshee, and doesn't grip as well as the Hankook. The replacement tire = BF Goodrich KDWs...It is hella loud.

The only other tire I think is worth the money is the BF Goodrich G Force Sports...great tire for the money as well.

[barkmancosmosm3]

I totaly agree with what everyone is saying. I have had them on my m3 for probably atleast 5-7000 miles and love them. I was really suprised with the wet weather grip. I dive pretty hard on them and the dry weather grip is awesome as well, definetly would buy them again.
Whats your guys opinion on something thats even grippier?
I don't really care too much how many miles I get out of it either, long as a set lasts a summer or two thats fine by me

[ezbmr]

They are great in wet weather at first...after 50% they go down. Soft Sidewall, not as soft as my dws, but soft. I prefer Sumi HTRIII, stiffer sidewall, great grip

[turb0mike]

good street tire for the money but meh for performance.