Hankook Ventus Z214

[Trevor McNeill]

Has anyone taken the plunge and given these track tires a try? I'm very curious to know if they might present an alternative to either R6's or BFG R-1's, as they currently sell at quite a discount to both those models. I believe Hankook just came out with them last year.
Thanks,
Trevor

[cjbcpa]

I think the Brey-Krause car, the orange 911 ran Hankook's last year. The guys at Casey Automotive built & maintained the car and had high praise for Hankook's. Not sure if they ran this model.  In fact, I think the car ran nearly the whole DE season on one set of tires. I'm sure they'd share their impressions.

[Trevor McNeill]

Thanks Chris. Wasn't aware of that. Just sent an email to Russ Ehrman.

[Brian Minkin]

When I had the red 911 I ran a set of them. They do not quite have the grip of Hoosiers but they are close.  They wore like iron.  At that time they did not make any 18" sizes so when I moved to the 993 I went back to Hoosiers.

[Bill Lehman]

I've talked to a few people that were very happy with them. However, when I tried to buy a set, there were no rear tires in the USA to fit a Cayman in medium compound. Went with BFG R1s.

[geza]

When I was in the business, I sold some to some club members and raffled some off at our charity event. They seemed to like them and particularly the price point. I personally bought some of their UHP street tires and was pleased with the ride and noise quality. I was told (can't verify) they make some of the low end tires for Michelin, which speaks to their build quality.

That being said, Brian gave a good assessment: not as good as R6's but last a long time and are very cost effective.

[Trevor McNeill]

Thanks everyone. Sounds like they'd make a great DE/Value play. Think I'll give them a try this year.

[Marty Kocse]

Trevor McNeill wrote:

Thanks everyone. Sounds like they'd make a great DE/Value play. Think I'll give them a try this year.

Unfortunately, according to TireRack, it appears that they don't make a 285/30/18 or even a 265/35/18 which are both OEM sizes. However, they do make a 275/35/18 which would work but are not entirely correct.
Marty

[Brian Minkin]

Need to be careful in tire sizing if your car has ABS. Tires not close in diameter can do bad things to ABS.  For the Hankook as long as you can fit the 245/40/18 on the front with the 275/35/18 on the rear your diameter is basically the same.  However I would not run the 225/40/18 on the front.

[Marty Kocse]

Brian Minkin wrote:

Need to be careful in tire sizing if your car has ABS. Tires not close in diameter can do bad things to ABS. For the Hankook as long as you can fit the 245/40/18 on the front with the 275/35/18 on the rear your diameter is basically the same. However I would not run the 225/40/18 on the front.

So you're saying you would not run the 225/40/18 in front with the 275/35/18 in the rear, together?