This is a fairly new tire release from Hankook, I guess they debuted about 6 months ago: November 2013. News here: Welcome to Hankook Tire International Website

I've used Ventus V12 Evo K110s on my G and on my old cobalt ss and absolutely loved them - especially when you factor in the price and realize the bang for the buck you're getting. They always had great grip, and for the most part never struggled with the insane summer rains here in FL. Of course you gotta drive carefully but wet grip was definitely better than the 2 sets of OEM tires I experienced with both cars and dry grip is just fantastic. My cobalt got about 25k miles on that set before I started to notice loss of performance. I had them on my G for about 12k miles and there is still a good 30-40% of tread left on them.

So now I just got a nice upgrade to these new Evo2's (k120) due to a nice rebate special. There isn't too much info out there on these so I figured I'd share my initial impressions. ( Pictures and generic stats can be found here: Ventus V12 evo2 K120 - Outstanding Performance Tires | Hankook Tire Global )



Tire Wear
So the coolest feature right off the bat is the alignment indicators - there is 2 small holes on the outer top of the treads that are 2 different depths so as the tires wear, you can see if the wear patter is messed up. This is an awesome feature to see your tire wear if you're running camber that is out of spec, hell even if you're in spec it is a good indicator of any adjustments that need to be made and if you need to get an alignment. The design of the holes will be much more objective of an indicator than simply eyeballing it. These are on a few spots of the wheel, inside and outside. I think 2 or 3 per side if I recall, in various spots. (Two Blue Dots)



Traction
As always they sport the directional hook design to help water escape out to the channels. When I went driving this morning - I got caught in a flash downpour, and my neighborhood has some pretty old roads that flood extremely quickly due to proximity to the bay. I figured it would be fun to test out the grip and floor it from stop signs and street lights on wet roads while it was pouring. (streets are empty this morning b/c of 4th of july). With my last tires I would typically get traction control to light up if I floored in 1st and 2nd while driving in DS on dry roads. On wet roads I usually got some slippage here and there a little bit easier without having to floor it. This morning: NOTHING. Granted they are brand new, but I remember even when my k110s were brand new I got some slippage. I tried flooring it about 4 or 5 times and I couldnt get the tires to slip on wet roads, in deeper puddle areas (2 inch puddles) I did get a little slippage - and I got the back to kick out a little bit making some turns and slamming the gas.

I know, not very scientific - but from a dead stop on wet roads I couldn't get any slippage when flooring it. Puddles and corners obviously a little slippage. I was extremely impressed and now I feel pretty good about driving on the highways this rain season. Those of you who live in FL know what I'm talking about, and driving gets scary real quick when it pours. The wet traction here is very very impressive.

Dry traction I haven't gotten to test too much so far since its been raining on and off since I got the tires on - but it clearly couldn't be worse than wet conitions.

Noise
Road noise is about the same as the previous K110s Ive had, which I couldnt tell the difference between OEM tires either. The road is there, you do hear it - can't really comment hear without measuring the Db of noise in the car but it isn't loud or obnoxious by any means.

Cornering
Could be completely placebo effect, but corner seems really smooth and planted. Its hard to be accurate because I just came from tires that have seen some good amount of wear, but it feels like the car has less roll or give when cornering. Could be a mix of wider wheels and tires or just stronger sidewalls due to brand new tires, but it feels really good and mixed with the legit traction I've seen so far the handling feels really nice and makes you feel confident hitting corners quick for some fun spirited driving.

Price
TireRack.com prices for some standard sizes G owners use:
245/40/19 for $195 & 245/35/20 for $158 each
275/35/19 for $244 & 275/30/20 for $221 each

Tires for 19" Wheel Owners: $878/set
Tires for 20" Wheel Owners: $758/set
(before tax/shipping etc)

Amazing bang for the buck, in my opinion.

Lifespan
Based on my previous experience with k110's I would expect a good 20k miles from these at the minimum. If you like burnouts and chirping tires often obviously it will be less - the majority of my driving is city driving with minimal burnouts. From some info I've googled it looks like most reviews are saying they get about 18k-20k miles per set, but god knows what there driving habits are. In the past Hankook has left me satisfied and I expect good things for these too.

Comfort
My car is a little stiff as is, with eibach sways & springs and I feel the road more than stock (which is great IMO), but I definitely notice that small bumps and road imperfections are less noticeable than a few days ago with the K110s. Subjective and biased a little due to new tires vs worn tires but feel a little more forgiving of road imperfections than I would have expected. Feels soft and smooth on good roads, kind of airy and agile I guess.


If you liked Hankooks in the past, or are looking to try out a new tire that is priced really well you should give these a shot. I'm really happy with what Ive seen driving on wet roads, and mixed with my past experiences with hankooks I have some high expectations for these too.

 

Very well put together review, always nice to have reasonable priced options for our Gs.
Post some updates w/ the dry performance and tread wear when you get some miles on them.

 

Did some testing today in a not so perfect parking lot, as you can see the ground directly in front of my phone. Tried a few times and couldn't spin tires when flooring it in DS from a dead stop. Traction light didn't pop up either, but I'm sure it still did its job a little bit. With the old Evo 1s, which were 245 and these are 275, I used to get traction light and hear chirps. I tried to kick out the back in a tight turn while in manual 1st gear, and it limited me I think when i floored it? you can hear the engine start and stop?? and then I got a little chirp. I used to get traction to pop up shifting into 2nd at around 5500-6000 rpms with pedal on the floor and this time it didnt do it either .

Pleased with this tire for sure.

 

I got the Evo2s put on last month (265/35/19f and 295/30/19r), the grip is just ok. Taking a medium turn at 70mph I can feel the grip losing and the sidewall being a little soft. I can easily spin into 2nd and 3rd gear. The grip is predictable though - at least for now while the tread is new. I only got the tires because of the low price and I didn't expect to be doing anything more than daily driving for the next year or so. If I had more whp or planned on going to any events I wouldn't have gotten these tires.

 

Good to know and to expect some give at higher speed turns, I haven't gotten time or opportunity to get on any highways yet. This fall once the weather cools a little I'm going to start taking my car to the track (1/4 & 1/8 are both close by), hopefully once a month maybe twice. From a stand still I'm pretty happy right now, but its good to know to expect some give at higher speed turns.


I did go back out this morning real quick for a few launches with VDC turned off and brake-revving to 1200rpms and launching and just plain flooring it. Flooring it = no spin, launching after holding breaks to rev a little bit gave me a little wheel spin, consistently for about 10 feet (according to the rubber marks on pavement).

If I had a M/T and could dump the clutch at 2-3k rpms I'm sure tires would spin for a little, but my A/T pretty much wont let me.

 

Well I bought some Evo2's about a year ago and went with 245/40 19's on the front and 285/35 19's on rear. I just went in to have the tires balanced and was shocked to have them say my tires were completely bald on the rear tires. My car is lowered and I dont really get a clear view just walking around it every day. The outside edge of the tire (which is all i really can see), had decent wear on it. I got maybe 12k (maybe closer to 10k) on those tires... I had the Evo's on my stock rims when I bought the car used and they were slightly worn. I got another 20k from those. However, I live in the desert in Cali right now and when I drive, I drive 100+ most of the time. Never thought much about increased tire wear from that kind of driving since I never drove that fast with any car (except in rare instances).

I needed new tires ASAP and could only find Evo2's in stock so I just went with those. I wonder if the PSS tires would serve me better in the future. With my driving style, I would think they would wear almost as fast and cost me quite a bit more. Any thoughts on that?

 

I got these and my rear tires are slicks now. Didn't even get 15,000 miles out of them. I was able to get more miles out of the older model that these replaced and the V2's are suppose to have better tread wear?

Kind of weird to say the least. My fronts still have a lot of tread life but my camber wear is pretty bad. I do swap my tires from left to right to avoid too much uneven wear. I don't think I'll be getting these again. Got to look for something will last me 20k+m because this is my daily.

Thanks for the writeup tho.

 

Try BF Goodrich Comp 2 heard plenty of good reviews about them and supposedly they have better tread wear than these hankook Evo 2

 

After I go through this next set of Hankook's Im moving on to something else. I dont like how loose my car feels with these tires when they are new. If I remember right, it took a while for them to break in and give me confidence in the corners. Funny, even as worn as the old set was, they handled great on dry pavement around corners. I have to take it easy until these new ones tighten up a bit.

 

Thanks for the great info! My customers have had great luck with this new generation as well. Super bang for the buck.

 

Just put these on mine on Thursday. So far so good, but I obviously cannot comment on the treadlife.