There has been allot of discussion about Hankook tires here on the Jaguar forum.

Many thought these were cheap tires and not very good.

Well.....

Mercedes Benz and BMW have announced that Hankook will become the OEM brand tire supplier for their automobiles. Hankook will supply the Ventus tires.

I think this is a big "testimonial" for the Hankook brand and the Ventus line.

Those who are searching for new rubber for their Jaguars, may want to reconsider the Hankook Ventus tire line.

Here's the story:

Hankook Tires | MotorWeek

 

They must've got a sweetheart deal from Hankook and have the Euro tire marques fuming.

 

Probably. I still wouldn't touch'm with a ten foot pole. The rave reviews were the reason I purchased them in the first place. They turned out the be the worst tires I've tried in more than 25 years of driving...and that was on a BMW

 

This test was enough for me to switch from my Hankooks to Sumitomos when it came time to change tires. I have noticed a marked improvement in grip! I can pretty much floor it in my XKR from a stoplight in warm weather without the traction control kicking on. In my Hankooks, the traction control would cut off the throttle and really reduce the overall acceleration because of a lack of grip!

Of course, my Hankooks may have been older and worn out. But I replaced them not because of wear, but because one of the tires had a bulge in the sidewall (probably from a pothole) and figured it was time to try something else. Plus the Sumitomos have a great reputation for HPDE/track use!

 

So true...
Its all about profit margins, not tire quality...

 

I've had Hankook tires on a few vehicles and I've been very satisfied with them. Great value for money.

 

Alan, if you had purchase those tires from Costco (if available) and the insurance, as well, Costco would have replaced that "bulgy" tire for the cost of disposal ($1) I've been down this road with our XJR tires.

 

HAS ANYONE TRIED Nito Motivo Tires. 60k warranty.

 

If buying an Asian brand tire, I am big fan of Bridgestone. The S0* Pole Positions are hard to beat at any price for a performance tire. They don't break the bank either. Amazing wet weather handling to boot.

 

In my case, "thought" didn't even enter the equation. My opinions are based on first hand experience. 3 months of constant balancing, re-balancing, car/wheel/suspension inspections, tire replacements, road force balancing, more tire swaps, more inspections etc. The inspections and constant balancing etc. cost more than the tires.

And as far as I can see, they are still cheap tires....and still, not very good.

 

I just put a set on my BMW. They were highly recommended by the tire place and replaced Continental Extreme Contact. I've only had them for 700km but overall they are on par with the Contis. Ride comfort is about the same, dry traction is better but wet traction is worse. Hwy noise is about the same as is gas mileage .

 

I've used the Ventus V12s on 3 Jags, my '05XK, '08XK and on my present '12 XJL where I replaced the stock Pirellis that had only 2K miles on them. I did this replacement because of the ride quality issues with the XJL.

The Ventus is a perfectly good performance tire. It should meet the performance demands from any street driver, except, perhaps from those who do banzai racing on public roads and prefer an R rated set.

When I had the Jaguar factory rep looking at my XJL's ride issues, he quickly declared that the problems were caused by me using "cheap" tires, like the Ventus. I told him that he had absolutely no idea what he was talking about as the Ventus had far stronger thread and sidewall construction, far higher speed ratings when compared to the "H" rated stock Pirelli tires.

I'm not a brand-faithful and personally don't care what others think or believe of various products. If they meet my expectations I will use them and recommend them. Thus, I will not hesitate to purchase them in the future, as well that I would not hesitate to purchase the Sumitomos that are also recommended in this thread by amcdonal86. Those are also inexpensive tires that I have used to easily outrun cars/people with their latest and greatest sets of tires.

More often than not driving skills will always trump the small differences between individual tire performances. So, if you aspire to be able to tap the full performance of you Jaguars you better off taking some track driving courses than spending top dollars on tires.

As to amcdonal86 - you can NEVER compare used tire performance to a new tire. Tires start loosing their effective performances the minute they leave the factory molds. The chemicals that keep them soft and pliable begin to evaporate immediately (new tire smell). The harder you use them, the hotter they get, the quicker their performance levels drop. That is because as the chemicals evaporate the rubber compound "dries out" becomes harder, more brittle, providing for a much less satisfying ride and performance. You could have tires on some garage queens that have only 2K miles on them, yet the rubber is all cracked and useless.

 

Agreed about comparing an old tire to a new one. I once had a 944 with 15 year old tires. They were hard as hockey pucks!

However, I wonder why people just jump to the Hankooks without even considering the competition in that price range. Sumitomos are even cheaper than the Hankooks and from my research on other car websites are even more highly regarded.

 

Sumitomo owns NTB, so they should know a thing or two about tires...

 

I'm pretty sure they own Dunlop and Falken as well. I've had good luck with Falken tires before. They felt pretty solid for a rather inexpensive tire

 

According to the article they will be used on sedans and suv's only. I would have been very surprised if they used them on amg or m's. Hankooks are way inferior to Michelin pilot super sports and other top tires. I had a bad experience with them previously and would not put them on any car

 

Just turned 27K mi on my Hankooks and have 4/32 left. Time for a new set. IMO this is a great tire for the price.