You are lucky. First time having Hankooks, about 5K miles and at 4-5/32nds already. I find them noisy and not terribly sticky although they are better than some OE tires I have had. I still prefer Michelins, quiet, sticky & much longer lasting.

Also not sure if anyone has noticed but the V12 is discontinued and replaced Ventus V12 EVO2. When I first looked at them they were in the mid $300 range but it appears they have dropped in price.

 

Yes, I read that, Thanks!

 

Real big fan of the Sumitomo HTRZIII's here as well. Ran them as rain tire on my STi a few years back when they first came out and they were SURPRISINGLY good. Fully intend to replace the Dunlop SP hockey pucks with these when the time comes and may also try a set on my Lotus. Can't go wrong with the price, and as well as Michelin's rate, they ALWAYS seem to get greasey after 2-3yrs esp in the rain no matter what model. Can't say that about PSS directly (maybe they finally found a way to get both mileage and wet weather grip as the tires age) but when you see it SEVERAL times over the years it makes you wonder......At least a Pirelli PZero wears quickly (esp second half of tire depth) but manages to maintain excellent all round grip till the very end, for counter example. To me , consistency is far more important than long wear which makes you curse the final 10K because you can't wait for the tires to wear out but .....(are too cheap to waste rubber)

 

Vredestein has been around a loooog time. They are a popular tire for my E-type. In fact, If I recall correctly, they are the only source for an OEM size for that car. I'm talking the mid 60s and earlier, as the later series were a little bigger and had flared fenders..

 

Very popular with Maserati owners too. They have one tire designed Guigaro or ItalDesign.

 

It's the Ultrac Sessantas that are designed by Guigaro Details - Vredestein

 

Tires come down to two things, locale and how you want to balance everything a tires does. Priorities are different on noise, grip, cost, wet weather, wear... I don't need ultimate performance, so wet weather and noise are high on my list.

 

Wet weather should be #1 on everybody's list because on a public road it should be the only time you actually find the limits of adhesion. Number #2 (IMHO) should relate to the climate you live in as far as temperature is concerned. Extreme performance tires drop off drastically below 60 degrees and are useless below 50 degrees. Max performance tires drop off below ~50 and as many of us (myself included) have found out, our Dunlop SP01's are pretty lousy below around ~45. (feels like driving on wet roads) So Northerners need tires that perform better in cooler temps (that doesn't mean all season--> they all stink). At 70 degrees an Ultra HP summer tire will outperform a Max or Extreme tire, but at 100 degrees the tables turn.

 

Not in full agreement with your numbers, but the gest is still on the proper path from my experiance.
Washington State is known for our rain, (but we get very little snow west of the Cascade range). The RE-11's (extreme performance) on past cars showed only one downside when temps hit the lower 40's. Mostly the flat spot as they set and cooled overnight, but after rolling for about a mile the temps came up enough for it to go away. Also once rolling at speed, tire temps quickly returned to their sticky and predictable glory. The most stunning part as you noted was that they still out-adheared an all season on very wet roads! About the only point of failure was standing water, where the minimalist tread pattern let the tire hydroplane.

V

 

The Bridgestone S03's were the most amazing wet weather tire I have ever used. It felt like I was using a full on wet weather F1 tire!

 

My Experience, 2009 XK w/ 19" OEM Wheels that were PVD Chrome'd

OEM Dunlops = Terrible - developed sidewall blister (walnut sized) at 15k miles

Michelin AS2 - OK, but wore fast and felt unsure in rain and below 32F

Continental DWS - Excellent, good (slow) tread ware, handle very well hot, cold, wet, all conditions.

(Note: PVD Chrome is Excellent - very high quality, great finish, lighter than dipped chrome)

 

I'll share my own experience and try and give a balanced view of 2 brands regularly mentioned on this whole tire topic namely the Sumitomo HTR Z III's and the Bridgestone S-04's.

I have an 07 XK with 20" sentas. I replaced the OEM Dunlops with the Sumitomo's 2 years ago based on their price and the fact I was very pleased with them on my old G35X . I have nothing but praise for them given their price point and they certainly outperformed the original Dunlops for grip, noise and ride. I put 20k miles on them and about 2 months ago decided it was time to replace them even though they still had plenty of tread left. I contemplated getting the sumos again but decided it was time to treat myself especially given that I had just shelled out over $1k to put a new set of Michelins on my wife's Lexus RX330. I looked at the usual contenders but it came down to only 2 options - the Michelin PSS or the Bridgestone S-04s. I went with the S-04s and have absolutely no regrets. Best decision I have made. I've put a 1,000 miles on them and waited to post my review until I had driven them in all conditions - especially the wet. A recent run of heavy storms here on the east coast completed the picture and I have to admit they out perform the sumos in every category. Grip - sharper turn in, and flatter through turns. Wet- total confidence. Noise - quieter than the sumos. Ride quality - this has been the most pleasing for me. Absorption of bumps and road defects is exceptional. No harshness or jarring tnrough the cockpit. I may be wrong but I put this down to the S-04s having supperior sidewall construction -especially given I have 20" rims. In summary the car feels taughter and the overall driving experience has improved. I probably drive more aggresively now the car behaves as it should and I suspect I'll pay the price in reduced tread life. Thats the one area I can't comment on yet.

I have to thank Vince (Clevername) for his recommendation and passion for these tires. And oh by the way I got them for a hair under $1k from Costco and a kind request to the manager made sure they treated my rims with kid gloves.

Steve

 

Thanks and appreciate the comparo with the Bridgestones and the Sumitomo's. 2 top choices on my list. Is it me or are the stock Dunlop SP01's communicating major harshness. Feels like tires are inflated to 50psi all the time. I have no experience with the Hankook brand so its hard for me to think of them when a Sumi works so well for much less. Icing on the cake would be a comparo of the Michelin PSS and Bridgestone S04's.

 

Nice comparison. One thing is to keep in mind, however, that you can never compare a new set of tires with a used set of tires. If you had the chance to compare both brands in brand new tires, that would be more realistic

Tires begin to age as soon as they leave the mold. The chemicals that keep the compound soft and sticky begin to evaporate and with age the tires become hard and brittle. Needless to say a 2 year old tire will have lost a LOT of its flexibility thus, would not ride or handle as well as a new one. In my experience every single time I put new tires of just about any brand on a car, the immediate impression is better ride and sharper handling.

Racers put new tires on their cars after only a few laps. That is because the extreme heat generated under racing conditions speeds up the evaporation process and in a matter of 10 racing laps the tires "age" enough to loose 0.5-1 second per lap.

 

Hi Steve,
It so happens, I bought the same brand( SO-4s) from my local Costco, and I like their warranty coverage the best. It covers bruising too.
Good to hear, your real life experiences. They were highly rated in a comparison test by Car & Driver.

 

Best price right now is (of all places) Jiffy Lube. 25% off two or more... I was told till the end of July....

V

 

I paid $1185 for 2 255X35X20s & 2 285X35X20s. Including mt'g and balancing. It's a given, I'd rather have road force balancing, but, that warranty clause is very valuable and worth the cost of having re-balanced in future.

 

I thought the rears were 285/30-20 . Was it different for different years.

 

No, you're correct. I thought 30 too low so I went with the 35s all around. The 35s are nothing but a couple rubber bands anyway, but least, there is an extra rubber band there. He, He!

 

Get the road force balancing done somewhere else. Keep note of what weights were where in case one false off; you won't have to go back for another balance.