Review: Hankook Ventus Sport K104

[riggaP]

Hi all,

I have recently put a new set of rims on my car and opted for a set of Hankook Ventus Sport K104 tyres. I would like to share my happiness with you all

I have put 255/35ZR18 94Y XL on the rear and 235/40ZR18 93Y XL on the front.

General Features

*These tyres are made from a silica compound that is renowned for high levels of grip.

* Y rating for speeds up to 300km/h

* Extra Loaded

* AA Traction rating

* A Heat rating

* 280 Wear rating

* EU stamp of approval

* Max load of 670kg @ 50psi

* Plies - Tread: 2 steel + 1 rayon + 1 nylon - Sidewall: 1 rayon

Brief History

I don’t really have much to compare the Hankooks to as my previous tyres were Jap spec Bridgestone Regno GR-5000 in 205/55R16 89V and they're the only tyre I've ever had on.

What I can say is that my car has 153rwkw and had absolutely no problems spinning those Bridgestones. Stalling up to about 2250rpm was enough to get them spinning and applying any more than about 60% throttle on boost in 1st gear sees the G forces back right off. This continued into second gear. Lots of revs going into 2nd and a heavy right foot once the clutch is engaged would see the arse end flick out (which was kinda fun ). Last time at the track I got them to chirp while changing into 4th at about 155km/h.

Hankook Performance

They SHIT on my old Bridgestones. I know, just reading the sizes makes that kinda obvious, however at first they were actually worse. The manufacturing process uses various oils/lubricants and these are still on the tyre you put them on. The guy at the tyre shop suggested that they be "scrubbed in" for the first 100-200km to allow these chemicals to "cook off". I found that it’s closer to 500-600km before they come good.

*General Comfort: These tyres are great to cruise on. At +100km/h the car feels much more stable, steering feels more responsive (most probably due to the fact that there is 16cm more rubber on the road), and aren’t all that much louder.

*Standing Start: I can now comfortably launch around 3000rpm and only encounter minor chirp. I can then flatten the foot and no trace of wheel slip can be felt or heard. Stalling up to about 4000 they will spin but I'm confident that I can make them stick at this rpm with a bit more practice. I'm confident that my 60' times will come down to sub 2 sec. I've found they need some heat in them for better launches.

*Handling: This is where these tyres shine. The turn in stability is terrific and very reassuring. On the SAU-VIC cruise last weekend we encountered some nice twisty sections of road. There were corners posted for 80km/h and felt confident in excess of 100km (sorry, this is a public forum). The car has never been so stable when entering/exiting corners either. With the Crapstones the car "wobbled" the whole way thru the corner and could lose it very easy without proper throttle management. The Hankooks just seem to want more. Stable entry into a corner and you can just feed more revs until it straightens up, then flatten the pedal for the exit. Nothing short of awesome!

So there you have it. I'm very happy with them. If you have any questions just ask

[Jay95R33]

Sounds good - I might try a pair soon.

Any idea on price from these puppies ??

J

[riggaP]

For the money I'm not sure anything could come close. The rears where $280 and fronts where $250.

I had a K104 and a Mich Pilot Sport side by side in the tyre shop and the ratings were the same. The Hankook's wear rating was actually better (280 vs 220). They wanted $480 for the fronts and $530 for the rears. I certainly could see a reason for $200 odd per corner.

[R32GTR]

Ahh.. another has seen the power of the K104

Here's another review I did some 4 months ago.

http://www.skylinesaustralia.com/forums/sh...ntus+Sport+K104

I'm still very happy with the Hankooks - about 3k km on them now.

Went for a run a month or so ago through the mountain ranges here in SE QLD (Mt Mee / Glorius) with some BMW boys. I wanted to see how the stocko GTR with the cheap rubber performed and was pleasantly surprised. In the dry I was following a E36 M3 with the Dunlop FM901's. The driver told me later he was pushing pretty hard, evening inducing understeer quite often. The GTR kept up no problem. The other fast car was a modified 325 with Dunlop Formula R's, huge harrop brakes, and a very experienced driver. Was able to keep up with out using my brakes very hard (they squeel so loud when pushed hard that I just didn't push them). K104's felt good the whole time.

In the wet it was a different but better story. The K104's / GTR was in a totally different league. I am sure the AWD helped here a fair bit. I don't think Formula R's are real good on wet, windy, debris laden, mountain roads. I was actually backing off a lot to let them get away so I could have some fun catching up.

Disclaimer - At no time was any speed limits broken. Sure we were doing 100kph around 40kph signposted corners but the speed limit 100kph on this road was never exceeded. Other rules we run by is to never leave your lane either (no short cuts).

Oh yeah and not much traffic at 5:00am. I think we saw one other car in two hours.

Back on track - The K104 is not the best tyre out there but it is the best value for money.

P.S. There are many different types of Hankook Ventus tyres. The K104 is the top of the range. I have heard different reports on the K102's and K105's. No where near as good.

[timbar32]

I bought a set of ventus HR 2's, as my tyres were almost bald and I had very little money at the time. Very cheap tyres ($120 each for 225/50 16's) and the y perform very cheaply too. Dry is ok, but in the wet you don't want to hit boost, or you're all over the road. Might splurge next time and buy the sports if I have the cash....

[Bleck]

This thread is related to a previous thread I posted about lack of traction in my R33. I have these Hankooks on my car (265/35-18) on the rear and can't get any grip in 1st or 2nd. I have over 210rwkw though, so that's defintely a factor.

From my experience they are a good cheap tyre, but absolutely terrible for anything rwd >210kw.

[Bleck]

In addition to my last post, just to be sure I'm gonna have my car's rear camber checked today just to make sure that's not causing the problems. If it is and I get my grip back, I'll eat my words and remove the foot from my mouth....

[ferni]

i think you'll have trouble keeping traction on anything less than warmed up semi-slicks on 210rwkw rwd

[ferni]

ok, I put some of these hankook k104 tyres about a month ago...

I went for 255/35/18 on my 18x9 (r34 gtr rims), since i was adviced by a few people 265 will have too much sidewall flex... maybe good for rwd gtst, but for gtr where you need same tyre size all way around, i need more handling than launching performance

So far so good, they are a lot better than my old falken ZE326s (came with car)... heaps quieter, feel better in general, more solid on the road, i feel more confident with them, in the falkens my car would step sideways quite a bit... now with the same driving it doesn't happen nearly as much.

I paid about 1250 fitted for the 255/35/18 (about $50 more expensive than the 265/35/18, supply and demand hey)

I took them on the track last week, not the best on there, but they held ok considering they are a road tyre, i wasn't expecting much out of them.

For street use i don't think its worth paying the 2000+ for piolot sport pro, or S03/2's.... I'd prefer to keep my money and put it into some semi slicks for track work on a 2nd set of rims.

Recommended tyre worth a try

[Jimbo2000]

hey ferni and others.

any update on how the tyres are going, thinking of getting a set within the next few weeks, but everyplace i contact they're like eeewwww why would you want them??

it pisses me off cause i actually have k102's and know they are a pretty decent tyre (not as good as the 4's)

i have 220rwkw+ and rising would that be alright for these bad boys

Cheers

[Busky2k]

I just put a set of these on the rear of my 200, in the 255/40/17 size. I havent really given them a real test yet as a few mentioned, they need a good few hundred ks to be run in. However I did give it a good squirt in first gear and wow this time I actually have grip and the car gooeess. With the shitty "Ultra HPR" junk on there before it was just wheelspin a plenty.

Before a good clutch dump at 3k sent the car sideways, did it again and the car chirped and lauched very well.

Ive only done like 50ks on these tyres, so hopefully things will get better. Recommended! Oh and they're alot quieter than the previous tires too!

[Jimbo2000]

i'll be getting 235's

are they ok? i've noticed all reviews on here are for s55s or bigger

[Jimbo2000]

just called my supplier and was quoted 195 for the k104's 235's

he said that federal in the same size are a better tyre and $165 each,.... i heard federals are not so good and also that sounds a little cheap for a good performance tyre, says the hankooks are a softer tyre so wont last as long as the federals either which i am aware as the hankooks got the silica compound...

sure the hankooks are cheap as well though but meh what do you guys think?

[rd-runr]

Got 235/45 K104s on my 17's!

Top tyre m8!

Don't know bout Federals though.

[riggaP]

Jimbo, bottom line with the Hankooks is you wont find a better tyre for the price. Like I said earlier in this thread, I had a K104 and a Pilot Sport side by side in the tyre shop and the ratings were almost identical... the K104s were almost half the price.

If the Federals have a better wear rating they'll (obviously) last longer but wont have the same level of grip.

[ferni]

federals are the cheapo tyre.... saying that my mate had some kind of federals on his 220rwkw gtst and could launch pretty good.. but we think its more than just the tyres on his car...

the hankooks i think are great for the price, and i'm happy with them for road use... i just need some semi slicks now for track

[clarkey]

ok, I put some of these hankook k104 tyres about a month ago...

I went for 255/35/18 on my 18x9 (r34 gtr rims), since i was adviced by a few people 265 will have too much sidewall flex... maybe good for rwd gtst, but for gtr where you need same tyre size all way around, i need more handling than launching performance

Hi Ferni, Who did you get your tyres from?

[ferni]

clarkey: My mechanic ordered them from his supplier (sorry don't know)

I called: Theo @ Mag Wheel and Tyre, Chifley Drv Preston. like RiggaP said to, he gave me pretty much the same price...

[Jay95R33]

I just got four 104's today (235/45/17), still scrubbing them in, but I'll let you know how they are in a few weeks.

For the 4 fitted and balanced they cost me $700 ($175 a piece).

J

[Jimbo2000]

where was that price from jay?

one of the big boys or a friendly small shop???