I just replaced my Contis with new Hankooks. The Contis had 16000 miles and the rears failed the penny test. The fronts were ok. I could have replaced the 2 rears with new Contis for about $800. A full set of Hankooks is about $800. The Hankooks are great tires. Very good grip in the turns. Quiet at freeway speed. And the tread pattern is nice looking. I just hope I can get 15k miles.

 

I have them on my BMW (Hankook Ventus V12). I replaced the Michelin Pilots after 20K Car & Driver rates them up with the Michelin PS2 in their last spring tire test. Love em on the Bimmer..when the Carrera is due, that's what I'll shoe her up with. Mileage will be about the same but at half the cost

 

Good Choice,

We sell Hankooks more often than all other brands put together because of their price and performance, most sets will run between $775-850 installed. Just important to use a good installer with the right equipment...

 

996 Turbo here. After going through two sets of Sumitomo rears and one of fronts I opted to jump into a full set of Hankook. The Sumitomos offered a generally coarse ride, never could balance them exactly right (even with a Hunter road-force machine), flatspotted like crazy at night, pulled to the side (yes, it was the front tires, not alignment) and both sets of rears were invariably shot at 9000 miles (mostly fast highway riding). I mean, they had lots of tread left but they scalloped right in the center of each tire and became unbearably noisy.


The Hankooks I’ve had for the past 4000 miles on the other hand are deadly quiet, glide like driving on glass, balanced to perfection, negligible overnight flatspotting, and surefooted at triple-digit speed. Keep in mind that they also provide greater comfort over bumps etc. but not at the expense of cornering prowess (compared to the Sumitomos).


Based on my personal experience I highly recommend the Hankooks over the Sumitomos.

 

Glad to hear the great review on the Ventus V-12's. I just ordered a set for my 996. Does anyone know of a shop in Atlanta that uses Hunter Road Force unit?

 

Make the drive out to Cali , we can assist you, we literally have the best equipment available for installation and balancing...

Start here for a list of balance locations near you: http://www.gsp9700.com/ most shops who can afford one of these usually can afford a decent mounting machine too.

-Eli

 

my rear pirellis are almost toast after 11k miles. Would it be bad to replace the rears with hankooks and leave the pirellis on the front?

 

I have always replaced my tires with the same make/model (usually all 4). I just don't think it is a good idea to have tires with different tread designs and comounds on a car that is capable of the speed of ours. Just my two cents.

 

Lots will tell you yes but I've seen plenty of cars with moxed front and rears. I even get rental cars with mixed front and rears and they drive fine. However if you are going to push your car and/or drive it rather sporty then I'd stick to the same grip (tire) all around.

Your tires should really last you longer than 11k for normal street driving. I'd suggest you take your car either over to Vortex up by the airport and have Ralph do an alignment on it...or request Carlos at Bert Smith to do your alignment. Carlos can reset you Steering Position Sensor..this is importmant for an alignment. These cars come from the factory out of alignment I've found and they usually have way too much toe in the rear.

I suggest have your stock supension PASM car aligned to something like this:

Front
-.5 or -1 if you can get it...this is usually max on stock PASM for Camber
.02 toe

Rear
-1.3 camber
.14 degrees toe in.

This will all be with in Porsche specs but you will find that the car handles better and much reduced tire wear. Also have the Steering Position Sensor set to ZERO....my 3- 997S cars were all way off from the factory.

I have GT3 lower control arms and track my car a lot but I have 17k miles on it and my stock tires still have another 10-15k to go...easy. It's not so much the camber that kills the tires it is the toe that really scrubs off the rubber.

My specs are set at:

Front
-2.3 degrees camber
0 toe

Rear
-1.9 degrees camber
.16 degrees toe

 

I have a set of 19" V12's on my 535 wagon and they're excellent. Much better than the 18" run flats I had on there.

 

I have PS2's on the front and V12's on the rear. My car is squiley at speed. I still have to get an alingment so see it that fixes the squirley tendencies.

I have always run mixed tires and never had a problem but some tires just dont like others.

 

The temptation to try a set of these may just be overwhelming...

 

What does the steering position center do? Or rather, why does the car have one?
Thx,
V

 

You could try it and if it does not work then change the fronts to hankooks.
In my case I had slick rears and good tread on the fronts. Also the front right tire had been patched to fix a flat. It made sense to replace all 4.

 

Hankooks over Sumi's for me