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Kumho KU39s VS Hankook V12 evo VS Rainsport 2s?

Joe R26

Joe R26

Car  LY R26 #288
What to go for?. I need new front tyres and I think I've narrowed it down to these 3.

I got Kumhos before and they lasted 10k miles under hard driving conditions and I thought they gripped really well.

Help? :p
 
I love the Rainsport 2, great everyday tyre and once a few mill have been worn off good on track for road tyre.
 
I have Rainsport 2's mate. Top tyres, grip ridiculous amounts in the wet but noticed very soft side walls under cornering in the dry (not necessarily a bad thing?!).

No experience of the hankooks and the only time I've tried the Kumho's is on the gf's MX5 which overall I've been pretty impressed with!
 
I have some Hankooks V12's on the front and i can say to me they seem on par with the michelins i replaced them with, theyre pretty good in the wet too and are quick to warm up.
 
Have you had a look at the Vredisteins? Sessantas?

Still a decent price but their stock is rising fast.
 
I have rainsport 2's and they are great. the grip in the dry and especially the wet is unbelieveable. Never tried the hankook's but my dad has got kumho ecstas on his car and likes them. he says they aint no worse than michelin's he has had before
 
What´s the difference between the Hankook V12 and the S1 evo? I have the S1 on my clios and i think they are pretty decent (cheap aswell).
 
mr.pink87 said:
What´s the difference between the Hankook V12 and the S1 evo? I have the S1 on my clios and i think they are pretty decent (cheap aswell).
Click to expand...

I've gone for the Hankook S1 Evo's from Blackcircles and getting them fitted on Monday, I looked on www.tyrereviews.co.uk and they are getting some really good feedback and only £78 per tyre in 195/45/16. Was hoping to get the V12's but you can only get them in 205 width by the looks of it.
 
gally said:
Have you had a look at the Vredisteins? Sessantas?

Still a decent price but their stock is rising fast.
Click to expand...

I had the Vredestein Sessanta on my mazda 3 mps, brilliant tyre. Do they make these in 205/45 or 195/45 for the clio?
 
Scattle said:
I've gone for the Hankook S1 Evo's from Blackcircles and getting them fitted on Monday, I looked on www.tyrereviews.co.uk and they are getting some really good feedback and only £78 per tyre in 195/45/16. Was hoping to get the V12's but you can only get them in 205 width by the looks of it.
Click to expand...

78? I paid about 58... Rubber is getting expensive!
 
I've got V12s all round on my 197, they are great for the money. They need warming up to be great in the dry, but are half decent from cold anyway. In the wet they are superb.
 
next time were out have a drive in mine to see if you like the v12s if you like.

they seem slightly louder than my toyos, give a great amount of grip as the parada spec 2s and are much better in the wet than both of them.

saying that, the rainsports have high reviews too, although ive never had them to comment on.
 
Will do mate. Although yours will feel totally different to mine anyway.

I'm pretty sure I'm gonna go with the V12s.
 
I'm always tempted by the non-premium brands because they stack up well in the tests against the big names and yet are much cheaper.

I had the hankook v12 evo's on my old 205 GTi in 195/50/15 when I sold it. Really liked them, melted a bit on track but very consistent handling on the road. Strange that folk say they work really well in wet, because I felt that was their weakness. For perspective, before this tyre I ran Toyo T1R on the 205 (which lasted 8k miles) and the V12 was significantly better in the dry and no real difference in the wet, in my opinion. If you search for "auto zeitung tyre test" you will see that the german mags really rate this tyre as an alrounder but EVO, who put more emphasis on the subjective, rate it low down against the premium conti/michelin/bridgestone... and, yep, Uniroyal rainsport2's!

I had the Khumo KU39's predecessor, the KU31 fitted to an MGZS180 a few years back as I had read good reviews of the Khumo's top performance tyre. It dulled everything down and although it gripped consistently it had no edge to the steering and was a big step down from the Michelin (PE2) and Bridgestones (RE050a) that I had before... It made me think that the big names do give sharper dry dynamics whilst still giving acceptable wet grip. To back this up, from what I hear of the newer KU39 it has little to recommend it over the Hankook, and down on the big names.

In my opinion, depending on the size you need, for normal hooning around I would go for these (in order of budget):

205/45/16
Dunlop SportMaxx TT (about £100-105 fully-fitted) --- NOTE THIS IS THE TT VARIENT.
Pirreli PZero (about £90-£95 fully-fitted)
Hankook k110 v12 evo (about £80-85 fully-fitted)

195/45/16:
Continental ContiSport 3 (about £80-£85 fully-fitted)
Uniroyal Rainsport2 (about £70-£75 fully-fitted)

I don't think it is worth going for Michelins' PS3 (I have, PE2 on front and PS3 on rear of my 182) as they are costing serious money now. If ultimate dry grip for fast-road is important I would go for Yokohama AD08 in 205/45/16 (about £120 fitted) and if trackdays then 195/50/16 Toyo R888. IMO

Kev
 
had kumho ecsta, parada spec 2s, hankook v12 evos and uniroyal rainsport 2s and i would say the uniroyals are the worst performing and i think the hankooks are great value. (experienced a majority of premium brands not just the ones stated)
 
jengis said:
I'm always tempted by the non-premium brands because they stack up well in the tests against the big names and yet are much cheaper.

I had the hankook v12 evo's on my old 205 GTi in 195/50/15 when I sold it. Really liked them, melted a bit on track but very consistent handling on the road. Strange that folk say they work really well in wet, because I felt that was their weakness. For perspective, before this tyre I ran Toyo T1R on the 205 (which lasted 8k miles) and the V12 was significantly better in the dry and no real difference in the wet, in my opinion.
Click to expand...

No doubt some of the cheaper tyres are just as good as some of the big name brands, but I still find myself buying the better makes i.e Goodyear (old style Eagle F1's). With the Mrs driving ect I like to make sure the car is as safe as possible. Not that the cheaper tyres aren't in any way safe. I liken them to break pads ect, I will allways try and put the best in for the same reasons. As for the T1R's I didn't think they were that good to be honest, worse when it was wet. Have you tried the Hankook RS2?, I've heard mixed reviews about them......

Got to buy some tyres for the Mini soon so I'm searching for any info.
 
I've had PE2's, Rainsports and Hankook's on the cup and I've found them all excellent. I certainly wouldn't pay the extra money for the Michelin's over either of the other two....

I ran 195/45/16 in the Rainsport and the Hankook in 195/50/15 so I can't really give a direct comparison between them, but they're both great tyres on the road and I'd buy either again.
 
.Kev. said:
No doubt some of the cheaper tyres are just as good as some of the big name brands, but I still find myself buying the better makes i.e Goodyear (old style Eagle F1's).

As for the T1R's I didn't think they were that good to be honest, worse when it was wet. Have you tried the Hankook RS2?.
Click to expand...

Gotta agree. ^ ^ As I said, the top makes do feel better to me and they tend to top out the mag tests. I don't rate T1-R, I used it as a direct comparison to the v12 evo which I ran back-to-back on a 205 gti.

I owned a classic scooby sti before the 182 and I chose to fit Hankook rs-2 all round in 205/45/16. Now that is a great dry tyre! The only car I have taken to the ring and I'm glad it was on those tyres as they really soaked up the hot weather punishment and felt perfect from the moment I had them fitted. They gripped well in normal uk conditions on the road, too, and I rate them highly. But I can't find them in clio sizes...? anyone? I think they are phased out now.

The most difficult choice is 195's or 205's... for me anyway!
 
NorthloopCup said:
I run Hankook S1 evo's and they are brilliant. They got me a 8:46 lap of the 'Ring as well with traffic, so not bad at all for a road tyre.
Click to expand...

In what size? 15's? Just ordered a set of these for the wifes puma - a good tyre and bargain in 195/50/15 but no clio sizes, as far as I can tell?
 
Holy 2012 bumpage, Batman.

Torn between V12s which I know and really like, or £15 a corner CHEAPER for the Kumho KU39s...

Looking for a full set.

215/40/17 if it makes a smuttering of difference ?!

Thoughts, anyone ?

:coffee:
 
I swapped my wheels round today so the hankooks are on the rear and some budgets are now up front.. And i can honestly say the budgets are so much better than them crap hankooks!!

Shall not be buying hankook v12's again! the walls are too soft and just don't fill me with confidence when cornering at speed, feels like the tyre is folding over! no thanks
 
TheEvilGiraffe said:
Holy 2012 bumpage, Batman.

Torn between V12s which I know and really like, or £15 a corner CHEAPER for the Kumho KU39s...

Looking for a full set.

215/40/17 if it makes a smuttering of difference ?!

Thoughts, anyone ?

:coffee:
Click to expand...

Kumhos will last longer but Hankooks will offer more grip but they are way softer than Kumhos.
 
martin182 said:
I swapped my wheels round today so the hankooks are on the rear and some budgets are now up front.. And i can honestly say the budgets are so much better than them crap hankooks!!

Shall not be buying hankook v12's again! the walls are too soft and just don't fill me with confidence when cornering at speed, feels like the tyre is folding over! no thanks
Click to expand...

Budgets probably seem better in the dry due to the rock hard compound, in the wet I bet they are not a patch on the Hankooks.
 
Lal B3N said:
Budgets probably seem better in the dry due to the rock hard compound, in the wet I bet they are not a patch on the Hankooks.
Click to expand...

Hankooks are really bad in the wet and thats not driving like a tool either. and the budgets are also better in the wet!!
 
Uniroyal Rainsport 2
Total: 28 / Dry: 6 / Wet: 9 / Rolling Resistance: 6 / Wear: 7
Positive: Very good aquaplaning result, good wet handling.
Negative: Poor steering feel, heavy understeer in the dry.

Kumho Ecsta KU39
Total: 19 / Dry: 5 / Wet: 4 / Rolling Resistance: 5 / Wear: 5
Positive: Good comfort.
Negative: Poor steering feel, long wet and dry braking, high fuel consumption, poor wear.
Overall: Poor steering feel, long wet and dry braking, high fuel consumption, poor wear.
 
I went with the V12s after speaking to someone who had them.. said they were great to start with but wore fast.

For the sake of £60, I know I'm going to be happy with the V12s !
 
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