Thoughts on Hankook Ventus V12 EVO2

I read reviews on line and they are pretty positive. I will be driving on 99% dry flattish roads and do t track the car. I would appreciate everyone's thoughts.

I have them on my E55. I have no complaints about the tires. They are now almost 6 years old and still perform well. I have a replacement set laying around in the garage (no, not V12s; Nankang NS-20....because I got a smoking deal), just waiting for rear V12s to completely wear out.

I have been trying various makes and models on both Porsches and my Corvette for years, and the Ventus V12 Evo2's are currently my go-to tire for the 996. I'm on my second set of rears and on a new set of fronts as soon as the truck pulls up. I currently have a pair of Mud and Snow Ditchfinder 5000's on my front wheels, but that's a different thread.

I have them on my 135i and love the tires - zero complaints.

I have them on a car I own. I think it's a fair price for a decent tire. It isn't a great tire though.

I put a set on the 2008 and 2010 Mazda3s we own. My daughter drives one and my wife drives the other. They are both kind of hard on the cars. My daughter has a bit of a lead foot, as evidenced by the five speeding tickets she has gotten, that I know of. I drove both of the cars a little too. I thought the V12s performed very well. My only complaint is that my wife got less than 20k miles on hers and my daughter got about 12k miles. The compound is fairly soft. I went with Michelins on the last set because I am hoping they will last long enough to make up the price difference.

Thanks for the replies. I went ahead and pulled the trigger on these on 295/30/19 and 235/35/19. I will let you know my thoughts!

Have them on the Porsche. No real complaints, but will be trying something else when they are worn out. They definitely get their grip by being of soft compound and as such don't last too long, especially with the way the 996 seems to go through rear tires.

I'll be the contrarian and say that I hated the evo v12. I bought a set (205-55-16) for my mazda 3 and they were very slippery in any wetness, there was an intersection with a slight incline near my old house that my car would spin its front wheel instead of climbing the hill if the road was wet. In dry they were OK. I also had a set in a 996 (225-40-18, 265-35-18), they were pretty good even in spirited driving, but once you go slightly over the limit they are very hard to control. My first autocross with them I spun 4 times in 5 runs. I have no experience with this set in the wet, and got rid of them after a couple of autocrosses.

For the record, the ventus v12 Evo and Evo2 are drastically different.

The ones I ordered are the EVO2's. Are they the better option over the EVO's I hope 😲

The v12 Evos were great, but the sidewall collapsed under moderate load once the tires got track hot, and the tire would roll and scrub speed. This was my only complaint about the Ventus V12 Evo, and I found it corrected when Hankook released the Ventus V12 Evo 2. And no, I don't get paid by Hankook. On those occasions I get paid, it's by me.

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argh... I looked up the old receipts, both my two sets were v12 evo k110, not evo2. Hopefully evo2 will be better.

for that type of driving, probably good. they fall apart with any sort of aggresive driving though. ymmv

I was a big fan of Ventus 2's when I had my 996. Went thru 2 sets of fronts and rears and liked the tire (and price) a lot. For the 997, I replaced my worn Pilot Super Sports with Hankook's and noticed a big difference in ride quality and sound (in a bad way). The 996 ran 18's and the 997 has 19's. Could be the difference. I am a few months away from another set and I think I'll go back to Michilin's.

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Comparing Michelin's to Hankook's is like comparing the best French champagne's to California sparkling wines. It's not really fair. Hankook makes a pretty good tire for the price. For the price, I really like Bridgestones offerings too the RE-71R and S04. If price is no object, then Michelin Super Sports are the far and away best tire you can get.

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Agreed, but I thought the Hankooks were really good on the 996. Couldn't tell a big difference (I don't track). Just saying that the 19's were no bueno.

I've had the Evo 1 and 2's on other cars and they're good for their price point. They have really good traction and tire life but the thing that I didn't like was the really soft sidewalls. On a non performance car I think they would be great tires but on a sports car I would spend a bit more. The Evo 2's are slightly less squishy sidewall wise but otherwise everything else felt the same with the same tire life.

^ Exactly. It was the sidewall flex, especially when hot, that made me dump the original Ventus V12 Evo's; I found the EVO2 addresses the concern (well, I first read the TireRack review that confirmed it before I bought in).

I had them on my GT3 - Zero complaints. Good tires at a reasonable price. Good for DE as well as around town. Would have liked a tad bit more stickiness when hitting the brake pedal. That being said, I would have gone with another set had I not stumbled across a smoking deal on P-Zeros

Thanks for all the feedback everyone. I guess we will see. The only thing that worries me is the comment about the heat as we routinely see 115+ for a couple months straight here.

they are pretty good street tires at a giood price not meant for or good on the track. when they get really hot from track driving, they get greasy and wont last long. another good street tire is the Sumotomo HTR ZIII and even less $$ than the V12's

HawkFan, I regularly push these tires to what I would consider "high-ish" speed, sometimes in temps in excess of 100 degrees, for sessions of an hour or more. Unless you're actually tracking these on a hot day, you are not going to cause them to get slippery.

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Z3s have a stiffer sidewall, so on track they feel better but expansion joint/road noise is pretty severe with these. I know someone who went through a set of hankooks and Z3 within 2 seasons, and recommended the Z3 for a cheap autox tire. Beware, the Z3 will chunk if you get it hot and beat on it, especially when the tread gets low. Mine are chunking and (the rears) about done after 6k street miles/3 seasons of autox.

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Like I said, "Street" tires

Just went all 4 corners with Evo2's to replace my 4.5 year old Evo's. 235/35R19 Front, 295/30R19 Rear. Going for a PCA tour event tomorrow morning and will report back. Already they are quieter, smoother, more responsive than the old model but I feel a lot of that has to do with the age. We'll see especially after some spirited driving next week. D.

My recommendation: https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...t&autoModClar=

So, reporting back... The Ventus Evo2's that I just put on are a huge improvement over the Evo's that I took off. How much of it was better tire design and how much of it was new rubber vs. 4.5 year old rubber, I have no idea. But I can tell you the new tires are quieter, make the car smoother, and are MUCH more responsive on turn-in. I was able to test both wet and dry thanks to our typical rapidly changing weather here in Texas. Started out on the wet driving through a thunderstorm. I actually drove that route faster in the wet with these tires than I normally do dry with the old ones (driver confidence?). When I got to my destination, some nice uninhabited twisties, the rain stopped and then sun came bearing down again. Within minutes the roads were dry again and that held for the rest of the outing. In the corners, the tires had good grip that I can better describe as "predictable". I could hear them squealing with the cabriolet top and windows up but they never let go suddenly or when I didn't expect it. Even when I turned the PCM off for a few minutes. This was the same reaction I got when they were wet. I felt like I knew where they could stick and where they wouldn't stick and could easily keep it right there. I can't say the same about the previous set of the Gen I EVO's. I was always nervous with the old ones that I would sail past that threshold and end up in the Juniper trees. Maybe I was feeling the sidewall characteristics that others had voiced? Anyhow, these were totally different. I was a little nervous about getting directional tires but the last set lasted pretty well so we'll see how these do. I apologize for not being able to be more descriptive but with my relatively recent acquisition of an actual sportscar I am still learning and finding my words. I don't want to talk out of my *** about stuff in which I am not an expert. All of my performance driving prior to this car has been high speed tactical driving in LEO and Passenger vehicles, not purpose built sportscars. But that is my honest impression and I can say that I am happy with their performance and the purchase so far. Hope this helps. Cheers, D.

For those of you running Hankooks on 18" rims, what sizes are you running? I can see the 225/40 fronts, but I'm not seeing 285/30 rears. Thanks.

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i have 265/35-18 on mine. They were on the car when I bought it.

I am running 235 fronts and 275 rears, good balance & traction (RS-4).

Thanks for the input, all. I just drove back from my tire dealer with a new set of these on my 2003 996. I'm running the stock 18" lightweight wheels. Stock tire sizes are 225/40 and 285/30. Since this tire doesn't come in the stock rear size, I went with Hankook's recommendation, 275/35. I only drove about 4 miles on them, including a short freeway stretch. I'm replacing a Dunlop Direzza StarSpec 2 tires, in stock sizes. My initial impressions of these is as follows. 1. Much quieter ride - my wife and I literally wore earplugs for long freeway trips with the Starspecs. 2. Cushier over bumps. No surprise here, given the higher sidewall on the rear, with all that weight back there. The Starspecs produced a very harsh jolt going over anything in the road, to the point where I would swerve to avoid manhole covers on residential streets. No more with these 'Kooks. 3. A little more body roll on hard corners. I have a wonderful set of test corners leading up to my house - a steep uphill, with a decreasing radius hard left, exiting off the main road, and then 2nd gear assault on tight uphill with a short-radius right. Again, no surprise here given the higher rear sidewall. Front felt planted enough, though, although more testing at different speeds will tell that tale. Overall, I'm happy with my choice. I initially bought the car for DE, and did several on the Starspecs - loved them in that environment. The price point on these Hankook's is so good compared any other viable alternatives, it's hard to not like them unless you're aiming to do DE/trackday stuff, or AX. Then I think the body roll would definitely become a hindrance.