This is a fantastic thread so far, and it's making me heavily consider these Hankooks once my stocks wear out. My car is at 20k and it seems that I still have a bit of usable tread left. I'm really liking the fact that the Hankooks offer a softer and quieter ride, 'cause I'd take that over a slight edge in grip since I'm just a regular daily driver.

Thanks to all who have been updating this thread. If I get these sooner or later, I will chip in with my impression of the versus the stock Potenzas. Keep us updated on how many miles you're getting out of these Kooks.

 

About 4k. I need tires that don't flex when pushed.
Theese are not the tires for me.

 

Wanted to share my experience: Put these tires on at about 27k and now at not quite 40k, I got a piece of ceramic or something in the sidewall of one of the rears, probably not repairable. Looking at the rears when I was taking it off, they are almost down to the wear bar already. I was hoping for more, if I rotated the rears side to side (dismounting and swapping so tread will face forward) I MIGHT be able to strech these to 20k if the sidewall hadn't been punctured. The fronts are ok for now. This is with some highway, some city and just a few spirited drives. I will not be using the hankooks again.

 

Did you rotate at all anytime during that 13k mile span? What's your alignment like as well?

 

It's the S coupe so no rotating possible. Haven't done anything to the car except hotchkis sway bars, and never had issues with the car tracking or anything like that so I haven't felt the need for an alignment. Tires wear slightly faster on the inside, just like the oem's did but i assume that's due to the natural negative camber of the car.

 

You can rotate these by dismounting/re-mounting to opposite sides. I'm on my 4th set of V12's in various sizes and have been very religious about alignment and rotations. They've all seen track duty as well. They wear very nicely and i've managed to get well over 25k on a set with a few mm still left.

Take note, i'm out of spec on camber with just toe constantly kept in check.

 

These tires have horrible grip! They are softer than the stock re050as, but grip no where as good as those do.

 

^ Try lowering your pressure. These tires are the most pressure-sensitive tires i've ever owned.

 

I have a 2008 G37S coupe with the Hankook Ventus V12 Evo 245/40/19 on the rear and am looking to replace the worn out OEMs tires in the front. Does it make a difference if I get Hankook 225/45/19 in the front versus the 225/40/19?




Hankook Ventus V12 Evo K110

 

Do you have a special shop where you get the side swap done? Just curious since I've also wanted to do that regularly, but I don't want to shell out $xx every xxxx miles to do so. What intervals do you side swap at? I've only done it once (yeah shame on me) so far. I figure paying to get it done ever couple oil changes isn't worth the extra tread life in terms of cost (although I could be severely wrong).

I bought my V12's in August 2010 and I am getting really low on the tread (except for one tire b/c I had to replace it after a nail went through my sidewall). I wouldn't mind getting these tires again since these are the best bang for the buck I can find by a long shot. The one thing going from my RE050's to these was the step down in performance. I noticed the soft sidewalls immediately when getting on the freeway and I told myself I would never push this car as much as I did with the old tires while the V12's were on. I miss the immediate steering response from the stocks and would like to get some of that feeling back. Right now I'm considering the RE760's and Yoko S Drives but it'll cost me at least $100 more for those.

Don't get me wrong, the V12's are still good tires, particularly when you factor in price. But if you can find another set of tires that are close to the price range, I'd consider the alternatives.

FYI, for those looking for tires, GM and Ford are having a nationwide deal where you can get $100 off certain brands of tires via rebate. This is SEPARATE from the manufacturer rebates that are also in play, so you could "double dip" if you will. My problem is that after factoring in tax, install, and recycling fees, the cost is about the same as a local shop I got quoted at. But still, possibly a good option for some of you who are looking for shoes.

 

So, here's the deal.

I'm getting a set of these next Wednesday after the coils get thrown on so I can get the alignment and new rubber at the same time.

Do I want to go with the 245/275 or stay with the stock dimensions? And does going up provide some benefit or is it just for looks?

 

I agree. As for the swap, i just go to my local Firestone Car Care Center. They seem to do a better job with taking care of the rims as well as balancing than any Discount Tire i've been to.

IMHO, there's no straight answer for that. For best performance out of the tires, they have to match up with the wheel in terms of width. Too narrow or too wide a tire mounted on the same wheel width will affect handling, traction and braking performance.

Then there's comparing different brands. If you've had V12's in narrower widths before, then you might gain a bit more performance with this wider set-up on the OEM S-coupe wheels. Otherwise, it may be a wash performance-wise if you had slightly narrower but better performing tires before.

 

I know the answer may be obvious, but if I went to a local America/Discount tire where they offer free tire rotations if you buy tires from them, that wouldn't include dismounting and switching them from side to side every xxxx miles, right? I imagine I'd still have to pay for that every time.

 

Probably

 

IIRC, their free rotation and balance covers basic F-R or X-rotations only, not mounting/dismounting.

I failed to answer your original question. I run a squared set-up and rotate F-R at the first 5k mark, flip the tires L-R at the next 5k mark, R-F next, then flip again. It cycles back from there.

I also rotate a little earlier depending on tread wear after hitting the track, or if i feel like alignment has wandered off-spec again.