Hankook Tire Problems

[shark715]

I bought the Hankook Ventus V12 tires for my '04 C4S Cab because of the all the positive reviews and bargain price. Initially I was positively impressed, but after only 11,000 miles of non-aggressive driving I had to replace the rears. There was plenty of tread left, but they had become very noisy and were vibrating pretty severely. There's a private garage nearby that does top notch work and has a Hunter 9700 Road Force balancing machine. He said the tires were shot and could not be balanced because the belts had slipped on both of them. I replaced them with the same Hankooks again so they would match the tires on my front axle, but now I'm not so sure about these tires. Is this a case of "you get what you pay for"? What have others experienced as these tires have accumulated miles? I'm wondering if it's perhaps an issue limited to the very low profile sizes? Thanks in advance for your input.

[mffarrell]

I haven't used Hanook on my 996, but I had them on my BMW 530i. They were pretty crappy tires, very noisy and wore out <15K miles. Never again...

[fpb111]

I am @ 10k, not as noisey as the Michelins were at this tread depth. Prob ~15% tread left on inner rears. 6 speed 2003 C2s Cab. No track no autoX on the tires.

Maybe it is the C4?

Edited February 8, 2012 by fpb111

[ericinboca]

I have the Hankooks on my C4S street car. I killed the rears at about 15K, and I did have a few light track days on them. The race shop that does work on my race car, also works on my C4S and said he sees rears go 15 - 20 only.

I expected them to be noisy considering the price, but i haven't found the noise to be too bad.

I replaced the rears only. Now I find the rears have way more grip than the older fronts, and the PSM comes on more often because of understeer!

I guess in total, I am OK with them - way cheaper than the Michelins, and I didn't have very high expectations.

[mikebonn]

I got a great deal on a set of Hancooks from Tirerack.com a few years ago ($85 fronts, $140 rears) for my 2000 C2. I have had similar issues - they were VERY noisy from day one, especially compared to the Continentals they replaced, and after about 12K miles, I have belts visible on the inner part of the rear tires.

Depends on you you look at it. A new set of Continentals were 3x the cost and I don't think would have lasted 3x the miles. I hate the road noise, so I am biting the bullet and switching back to the Continentals...other suggestions welcomed.

[ghitchco924S]

I had a set on my 2004-996TT for the summer and got about 10k on the rear tires - inside worn out due to alignment issues, would have lasted much longer. Alignment done and I now have winter Continentals on. Plan to get new rears to go with summer set of Hancooks for this coming summer. I thought they had great traction wet and dry and were not to noisey

[HalM]

I have the Hankooks on my C4S street car. . . did have a few light track days on them.

Reading lots of forums before I bought R-S3's, numerous people reported the the V12 was a poor choice for the track. As I recall, chunks would come out of tread and belts slip.

And BTW, R-S3's are great on the track.

Edited February 8, 2012 by HalM

[phillipj]

I think it's funny that 911 owners (especially C4 owners) expect to get mote than 10k miles out of their rear tires. I'm on my fourth Porsche and they have all been the same. 10k on the rears and maybe around 15k on the fronts. I just replaced my RE-11 Brigestones on the rear of my Turbo after 9k miles and they were COMPLETELY bald.. That's just the way it is..(unless you drive like a wuss) you're going to spend money on tires.. Hankook, Michelin, Bridgestone, Pirelli whatever....I'm talking steet use only..

I drive the S*** out of my car (everyday) by the way...

Edited February 10, 2012 by phillipj

[jimmy3530]

Great topic and maybe i'm hijacking a bit...but I'm in the need for 4 new tires (2000 C4 6spd) and want to replace my Pirelli's as they at the end of their useful life. I'm looking at Tirerack and there are several options with the major manufacturers at below $1000 for the four. Michelin, Pirelli, Bridgestone, BF Goodrich and Continental are what I am considering (all season or summer).

I'm partial to the Pirelli's but they have a pretty low rating at Tirerack. Michelin seems like the best choice. I hated the Continentals on my BMW but people seem to like them on the 911. No experience with the others.

Thoughts?

[biopsea]

have had nothing but pirellis on my 997, but wouldn't object to trying some michelins or bridgestones. recently went from pirelli to the michelin ltx m/s 2 on my f-150 and couldn't be happier. all around fantastic tires. were they a bit more expensive? absolutely. worth it? u better believe it.

my logic; skip the starbucks a few days a week and put the best tire available on all your cars. increase safety, decrease NVH and maximize your "fun time" behind the wheel.

[Dennis C]

I've tried lower-priced tires on both the Cayenne and the C4S, and I'm done with it. I'm going back to Porsche recommended tires. Cheaper tires always seem to get noisy, and at the end of their life, I always seem to regret buying them.

For the C4S, the exception I would make is the Michelin Pilot SuperSport. Unfortunately, they don't make the proper sizes for my C4S. For a regular C2 or C4, I think this would be a good choice. I'll be going back to PS2s, which I prefer over Pirelli P-Zero Rossos. I'm also back to Michelins (winter) and Contintntals (summer) for the Cayenne.

Edited February 14, 2012 by Dennis C

[phillipj]

You may want to look into the Bridgestone RE-11's. They are quiet, have great grip in dry and wet (street) and are relatively inexpensive (compared to the Pilots). Here is a pic of the fronts on my Turbo. I would buy them again and I have had the Michelins.

[Jetskied]

Belts slipped?????? I don't see how can a belt of steel in a vulcanized tire slip. That sounds like some tire store BS to me. If a belt was slipping that would mean the tire belts were seperating from the rubber and would be sticking out somewhere shreeding the tire. Yes there is a point when a tire can be properly balanced and tires can be shot. I never had problems with the V12 tires and I used them on DE and auto X. Are they the best? No but for the price what can you expect. Any way I got 12K out of them which is the same amount I got from Continentals or the OE Dunlops. As far as noise they were about the same IMO. I'm doing more track stuff so I changed to the Nitto NT05 which would be more noisy.

[byprodriver]

Belts slipped?????? I don't see how can a belt of steel in a vulcanized tire slip. That sounds like some tire store BS to me. If a belt was slipping that would mean the tire belts were seperating from the rubber and would be sticking out somewhere shreeding the tire. Yes there is a point when a tire can be properly balanced and tires can be shot. I never had problems with the V12 tires and I used them on DE and auto X. Are they the best? No but for the price what can you expect. Any way I got 12K out of them which is the same amount I got from Continentals or the OE Dunlops. As far as noise they were about the same IMO. I'm doing more track stuff so I changed to the Nitto NT05 which would be more noisy.

You are right belts do not "slip" but tire belts can seperate from road hazards: punctures, impact breaks, cuts, improper alignment, overheating etc.