Christmas in September!
 

My new Hankook Ventus V12's are scheduled to be delivered next week, replacing the totally worn out PS2's I had on my 18s. Can't wait to give this new-to-me brand a try.

The price is right. They were half the price of Michelins.

My Kumho Ecsta XS tires perform much better than the previous set of PS2's. I expect that you will have a similar experience with the V12's compared to the PS2's.

Let's hope so. I hear good things about them from the guys at the track. At half the price of Michelins, if they last nearly as long and are sticky I will be more than pleased.

I was not as impressed with Kumhos, but it could have been the model I was using, and it was nearly five years ago. I'm sure a lot has changed since then. They flat-spotted badly when I didn't drive the car for a few days.

Hi Randall,

I put on a brand new set of Hankook V12's before I drove the Boxster from Michigan to Texas this past weekend. I have the same tires on my Acura, going on 6K now. They're quiet and have good grip. And like you said, great price.

Flat Spots
 

I put Hankook V12 on my Boxster a few weeks ago.
My experience so far have been mixed. If they set for a more than a day they flat spot and it takes several miles to warm up and quit shaking. The grip is good but the sidewalls are much weaker than the PS2's i removed. Huge improvement in ride quarlity because of the softer side walls. Can't argue with the price but I am taking them back in to my indy (who installed them) to have them rebalanced. Still shaking the steering wheel. May have lost a weight, but does not look like it. I may actually may have seperated belts. I'll keep you posted.

Simple dynamic balancing doesn't always suffice. You should look into the benefits of road force balancing .

+1 on what JD wrote.

I road force balance all my tires and rims every time I have them balanced on a Hunter 9700 series machine. Most Discount Tire locations have them, but charge another ten bucks per wheel for it, but it's worth it.

Matches the heaviest part of the tire to the lightest part of the rim for the best balance possible. Much better than stick-on weights alone.

Just remember that if you track your car or do some serious high-speed braking from time to time, the rubber can actually creep around the rim a 32nd of an inch at a time without breaking the bead. I've had tires move as much as 6-8 inches after being mounted a year before.

The Discount Tire boys always argue with me that I don't need RFB after the tires are initially mounted, but when I press them to do it and they see how far they've shifted, they say, "Oh, I didn't realize that could happen."

I hate the fact that I have to argue and educate these newbies all the time, but they're a lot closer and a LOT cheaper than the performance shops in town who understand these things.

BTW, it's great to hear the sidewalls are softer than the Michelins. With my coilovers and adjustable control arms, my ride quality has suffered terribly and this should help a little. It's not so great to hear about the flat spotting... my Michelins didn't flat spot at all, or if they did it was not noticeable. I just didn't have the money to buy French again, so I went Korean.

Randall, didn't you get those PS2's for our TOD run a few years ago? They did you well.

Man your mind is like a steel trap! You are correct. Truth be told, I have not driven the car much at all since the TOD trip years ago, and I ran the last DE on a set of 17's given to me that had a decent amount of tread on a set of Kumhos.

BTW, I am still quite envious of you owing that beautiful turbo. I dream of owning one all the time now, although I am dreaming of a 997TT with a PDK :)

Randall, I'm on the second set of Michelins with the Boxster. The first set were Pilot Sports and lasted 20,000 miles. The second set (need to be replaced very soon) are PS2's and are over 20,000 miles. They have been excellent tires. My 3rd set (early next driving season) will also be PS2's unless Michelin starts making the new Super Sports in my 19" sizes. They currently do not.

I actually have Kumhos (2 sets during my ownership) on the Turbo. They have been excellent, and the price is better than excellent. Rears last about 8-10,000 miles. I am not capable of out-driving these tires. But, I'm tempted to buy "a better tire" in the future, but it's so hard to beat the Kumho value proposition.

I don't drive in the rain. And tire noise in not an issue for me.