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  July 17, 2009 9:50 a.m. Adrian_Thompson Reader

  Has anyone tried the new 'Hankook Ventus V12 evo K110's? Other than having possibly the most ridiculous name ever applied to a tire, how does it work? I ASSume this replaces the older well regarded Ventus V1's, correct?
  

  I've picked up a massive bolt in one of the OEM Pirelli 215/45 18 Pzero Rosso's on my C30. Two of the tires are already basically worn out at 14k miles, but by putting them on the rear I was hoping to make them last 3-4 more months when I could put on snow tires and push the summer tire decision until next March or April. This bolt has put paid to that thought.
  

  At the very least I need to put on two tires as the tread difference would make one tire unsafe, having said that I would rather do all 4 at once, but tires weren't in this weeks budget. IF I were to do two tires they would have to be the same Pzero Rosso's as are on there as I won't put on mismatched tires. Even at tire rack the OEM tires are $230 each, that would be $460 for two, and that's in the OEM 215/45 18 size. With the Kook's The 215's are only $121 each, that means a full set would only be $484, basically a wash with two of the fancy shmancy Piurelli's, if I were to step up to 225/45's or 235/40 for $134 each or $536 which is still barely more than two of the Pirelli's.

  The thing is, are these decent summer and street tire autocross tires? I may not be a frequent or super competitive autocrosser, but I'd like to think I'm getting at the very least the same performance as the old tires and preferably an increase when I change.

  Other 'budget' tires in these sizes seem to be Kuhmo Ecsta MX's ($139) or Kuhmo Ecsta XS's ($151), but I thought that these were a little older and not as well thought of these days.

  The GRM tire tests are all done with itty bitty roller skate tires (205 15's) on a civic which weighs about as much as one of the Volvo's tires, so I'm not convinced that they are a fair comparison.

  Thoughts?

  P.S. Oh and a quick gripe, if the search function on this site was even 1/100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 as good as any other forum software then looking for answers to frequent questions would be approx 100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 times easier.

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  July 17, 2009 10:13 a.m. dyintorace Dork

  The current Car and Driver issue has a 'budget' tire comparison. They loved the Ventus V12 and it came in 2nd out of 9 tires.

  http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/comparisons/09q2/tire_test_nine_affordable_sum...

  Gainesville, FL

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  July 17, 2009 10:23 a.m. Adrian_Thompson Reader

  dyintorace wrote: The current Car and Driver issue has a 'budget' tire comparison. They loved the Ventus V12 and it came in 2nd out of 9 tires. http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/comparisons/09q2/tire_test_nine_affordable_sum...

  Wow, thanks. Having completly given up on C&D some time ago as being a poor poor shadow of it's former self they finaly come up with somthing worth reading. I'm going to print off and read the whole test.

  United States Citizen since 10/06/2008

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  July 17, 2009 10:28 a.m. dyintorace Dork

  Happy to help. I'm searching for tires right now too, so the topic is of interest to me. I need them for my BMW wagon, which is nothing more than a daily driver and highway plodder so I do not need ultra high performance summer tires. But, by the same token, I live in Florida, so I really don't need "all season" tires either.

  It is hard to find comparison tests that test non-high performance tires but don't focus on snow and ice handling. No risk of that here!

  Gainesville, FL

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  July 17, 2009 10:33 a.m. amg_rx7 Reader

  Ever noticed that the advertisers with the biggest ads do the best in comparison tests at C&D? :)

  The Kumho XS is the replacement to the MX and is a great tire - especially for the price. I'd go for that one. I had the previous MX and loved that tire. Now running the Dunlop on the RX7 which sees track duty. I run the Kumho SPT on the Mini and I think its a great tire for DD and spirited street driving. Good wear out of it also.

  The new Ventus VS3 seems like a decent competitor to the XS and Star Spec but its "not as good" overall" and "not in the same class" according to the guys I spoke with at Tire Rack.

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  July 17, 2009 10:42 a.m. Josh HalfDork

  And if you read the tire test in this other little magazine, I think it's called Grassroots Enginesports or something, you might have noticed that the Kumho Ecsta XS is not an old tire, it's their newest, and also the fastest of the current bunch of hot street tires ;).

  Formerly known as SoloSE-R, now with less SR20DE

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  July 17, 2009 11:53 a.m. Adrian_Thompson Reader

  Josh wrote: And if you read the tire test in this other little magazine, I think it's called Grassroots Enginesports or something, you might have noticed that the Kumho Ecsta XS is not an old tire, it's their newest, and also the fastest of the current bunch of hot street tires ;).

  True but remember my coment about roller skate tires on flyweight dedicated STS car Vs steam roll tires on a Swedish tank for daily driving and occasional autocross work.

  Apples to oranges

  United States Citizen since 10/06/2008

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  July 17, 2009 2:04 p.m. vladha New Reader

  I was actually happy to see a tire test using a lighter fwd vehicle. Most the test that are done, either on line or in other mags, use some middling heavy sport rwd sedan/coupe... i.e. BMW 330 or any of its brethren.

  To me, the handling requirements are dynamically different between fwd and rwd. And the response and need are quite different, too. Does me absolutely no good to read about this or that tire being tested on a heavy european sportsmobile... doesn't meet my requirements.

  I like reading about how I can now relate to a tire that is geared towards my front biased, ill handling, fwd, and understeering european wannabe sports whatchamacallit.

  That being said, the Kumho XS is the replacement for the MX and even the other mags and sites out there have given it a thumbs up for performance, heat cycling and wear... on heavy rwd spankmobiles.

  I have no idea what I just wrote, but it looks good and the spelling is mostly right.

  Mark

  No Daddy... it tastes like butt!

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  July 21, 2009 4:19 p.m. Adrian_Thompson Reader

  HHHmmmmm well I was all set to (finally) order the Khumo XS's, but I just finished reading the C&D article, they make them sound like greased slicks when it rains. Leaning back towards the Kook V12 EVO's and giving up a little on the autocross course. The car is a daily driver that doesn't sit in the garage when it rains.

  Thoughts?

  United States Citizen since 10/06/2008

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  July 21, 2009 4:35 p.m. Bobzilla HalfDork

  One of the guys here runs on his XS every day and he hasn't had an issue with rain at all....

  Remember it's C&D.... they are about as dependable for quality testing as I am for being objective ob all things toyoduh,,,

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  July 21, 2009 6:01 p.m. Tom_Spangler Reader

  I skimmed the C&D article again. I think some of their conclusions have validity. Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if the Kuhmos are less than great in the wet, they (along with the Azenis) had the least tread depth. Sounds like the Star Specs are the way to go for an all-rounder tire, but they are quite a bit more money than the Kooks and the Kooks have a higher treadwear rating (for what that's worth). I guess I'd go with the Kooks if it were my money being spent. But since it's Adrian's, I say the Star Specs!

  05 330i - 00 F-150 - 08 Taurus X

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  July 21, 2009 9:17 p.m. Adrian_Thompson Reader

  In reply to Tom_Spangler:

  With Tom's say so I'm now 99% sure ont he Kook's, OK I'm 99% without his blessing. They seem to be the best bet for an all round daily driver with 5-6 autocrosses a year thrown in. The car is so far off the pace it could do with the extra help of the Khumo's, but I do drive in rain a lot so I'll have to sacrifice something.

  An added benifit although not the decider, that's the rain performance, is that not only are the Kook's stunningly cheap to start with Tire Rack has $50 a set of four right now!

  Adrian

  United States Citizen since 10/06/2008

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  July 21, 2009 10:39 p.m. DILYSI Dave SuperDork

  I'm not sure I'd be real bothered by mixing tires. Keep like tires on the same end of the car (both on front / both on back) but I'd have zero problem only buying a pair. Especially for a sedate daily driver.

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  July 22, 2009 9:28 a.m. Adrian_Thompson Reader

  DILYSI Dave wrote: I'm not sure I'd be real bothered by mixing tires. Keep like tires on the same end of the car (both on front / both on back) but I'd have zero problem only buying a pair.

  No, I really don't like mixing tires, especially for autocross. I want both ends of the car acting the same. Maybe if I had an unlimited tire budget, testing and autocross experience I could practice mixing and matching front to rear, but for my current level of participation I'll have all 4 the same.

  I did try that back when I was autocrossing every weekend mixing sizes (not brands) front to rear to trim the handling on a stock class Miata. I don't do that now, I just pop out and have fun 4-6 times a year.
  The car isn't vey competitive either, I thought it was me, but jumping in to a friends car last weekend I pax'd in the top 20% having never driven it before where I had been paxing in the 30-40% in the Volvo. That made me happy about myself, but a little disappointed in the car.

  DILYSI Dave wrote: Especially for a sedate daily driver.

  Daily driver yes, Sedate!!!! I think not!!!

  United States Citizen since 10/06/2008

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  July 22, 2009 9:57 a.m. Gotsol New Reader

  I have the XS's on my 3,500lbs R32 daily driver/autocrosser.

  They got loose at a wet event but daily driving in the rain is a non-issue. Don't drve over 7/10th in the wet and you'll be fine.

  In the dry they are fantastic and my car is no lightweight. I run 245/35-18's. The price was good too.

  I won the Street Tire class over a two day event at the Black Lake (Michellin Prooving Grounds.) I beat 19 others cars or so. Get the XS's

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  July 22, 2009 10:10 a.m. 93celicaGT2 Dork

  I'm going with the XS in 265/45-16 next season. Not only because they're a badass tire, but also because they're one of the few that makes that size. Now if they could make a 265/40-16, i'd be in heaven.

  1992 Celica GT (FSP), 1993 Ford Escort GT (HS), 1990 Mazda MX6 GT Turbo

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