jdmcbride

I want to hear from fellow S197 mf'ers that have purchased Hankook Ventus V12 evo K110 tires or Sumitomo HTR Z III tires.

If you have had/or still have either one of these tires, please post your review of them. I will need tires soon and are looking at a few options.

Thanks in advance...
JD

thewarmachine

I have the Hankooks in 255/45/18. As far as I can tell, they are great. They seem to have plenty of traction with no noticeable road noise. Great tread pattern. I haven't put more than a couple of thousand miles on them yet so I have no idea of their longevity. I believe I got them from Tirerack for $147 apiece. Hope this helps.

jdmcbride

Thanks warmachine, anyone else?

05xrunner

I got the hankooks 245/45/19 front and 275/40/19 rear..I have no issue with them. they do not make alot of noise..they dont seem bouncy and ride well, traction seems pretty good they feel better in the corner and I can def feel alot less flex from the stock tires.

gburke1

I had the Sumitomo HTR Z II Tires (Not HTR Z III) and was happy with them. They seemed to hook up pretty good, definitely way better than the Continental Extreme Contact DWS All Season tires I have on the car now.

mph07alloy

I've had both brands in the 255/35ZR20 size. The Sumi's are pretty good for the price. Good wet and dry traction. Ok on road noise. Seem to lose their stickiness as the miles start to build up but I would own them again. Currently I have Hankook Ventus V12 and only have a few thousand miles on them. The Hankook tires seem to maybe not corner quite as well as the Sumi's, but seem to make less road noise. And we've been in a drought where I live so I can't really comment on wet traction. I would say I am a mildly aggressive driver and the Sumi's if i recall lasted me about 20,000 miles and I drive about 10,000 miles a year.

DPE

I have experience with both tires on a couple different cars, but currently have HTRZ IIIs on my 2010 in 275/40/18 at all four corners. The Sumis are a solid, 'good' summer tire. Not the grippiest, and not the most direct, but they work well, you get decent mileage out of them, and they ride fine and are quiet and such. The key for me is I needed tires that would also work on track in a pinch, and the Sumis seem to hold up fine on track where the Hankooks (on other cars) did not.

That said, the Hankook is a better tire for everything but track use; they feel better as far as steering response, more grip, more direct, ride and noise are about the same as the Sumis, etc. But on track they start chunking sooner and generally seem more bothered by heat.

So in my world, if you aren't going to a road course or you are going to a road course but are a novice, go Hankook. If you plan on tracking the car a few times and have some experience doing so, the Sumi is the better choice. I don't think you could go wrong with either tire, really.

As a side note, I know good and well neither tire is meant for 'advanced group' track use, but I didn't have the cash for yet another set of wheels and tires (having just bought the car 6 months ago) with NT05s or R-comps so I had to find the best compromise to get me through this year. The Sumis do a pretty darn good job if you need one tire for everything.

jdmcbride

Sounds like both tires are decent. I don't track my car, so I'm sure either would be fine for me. The Hankook's are less expensive with the rebate on Tire Rack...

More opinions are welcome...