I have the Ventus S1 on my company car, and at 45000km (1.5mm thread left) they are unbelievably noisy so thanks for the review, will consider another brand for sure now

 

I'm interested to hear about rain grip (if it ever rains here), as I'm debating between those two very tires.

 

I am staying with the Hankooks for the track. Cheaper and last longer.

 

Dedicated track set or daily??

 

Dual duty. I will use these as a dedicated track set when I get my tires for my 18s mounted and balanced.

 

Have run the RS3 (scrubbed) in the rain. Good grip, progressive loss of grip, easy to recover. Finished second fastest in Irene's downpour three weeks back. They seem like they will wear forever, very pleased that after twenty some odd autocross runs and two days on track they are only about half done.

As mentioned, a couple days on the track and they pick up some rolling noise. A good autocross seems to solve that problem. http://s1.e46fanatics.com/forum/images/smilies/thumb.gif

 

Good to hear about the wet grip. I guess noise is the Achilles heel.

Yes...my tread seems like it's not even wearing.

 

which would be best for daily nt-05, re11, rs3, ss z1, r888, azenis?

 

SS Z1 is better than the RS3 because its not as noisy. Not sure about the others.

 

Update. I've noticed that these tires tramline pretty bad. Didn't notice an issue on the track but its noticeable on the street. Especially when there is a dip/uneven pavement. I was driving on a crappy country road here where the pavement is pretty lumpy. My car almost did a right turn into the woods. Luckily I wasn't steering with my knees or doing something silly.

Which...doesn't surprise me. Anything Korean made reminds me of the movie Multiplicity with Michael Keaton where each successive clone was goofier and goofier. Well, I'm sure Hankook copied...I meant reverse engineered something. They got 95% of it right...the other 5% wrong.

So the 95% right is:

1. Dry Grip
2. Treadwear
3. Progressive/controlled breakaway at the limits

The 5% wrong:

1. Road noise
2. Tramlining

Not sure yet...wet grip. Not conclusive but when I go through any water runoff on the street, I can slide the car REALLY easily...too easy. Never had an issue with the Star Specs.

 

^ Excellent. Sounds like they are the perfect street tire for me to run at the track only. I'm not ready for R-compounds skill wise so I don't care about the tramlining and road noise for track-only street tires!

 

Exactly...IMO. In fact, I think these are a better deal than a $500 set of scrubs. Looks like these tires can take some serious track abuse.

I could have done a good wet grip review last night...finally got some rain. 3rd time its rained since I returned to TX in Jun. Alas, I took my wife's car. I should mention that I had was doing 120mph in the rain on Texas World Speedway and did a lot of hard braking on the track in Korea in the Star Specs and they felt planted. To add on to my earlier statement, I am not getting a great feeling about these tires in the wet.

 

Ran the RS-3 in the pouring rain at Watkins Glen two weeks back. Really progressive loss of traction, it was easy to stay just this side of wild and crazy and still go fast. It was fun chasing down the track/race cars. Guess really hard suspension is not the fast setup when it's that wet.

Negative - in standing water I was seeing wheel spin at 100+ on the Nascar straight in the rain. Really interesting each time I got to that point on the track. :excited:

Other than the tramline problems and the noise they are great for the price. Going to try adjusting the toe to see if the tramlining goes away. Going to put 900 miles on them this weekend on a trip. Let's see if I still like them when I get back.

Update:
Just about 2K miles of highway travel to Ofest and back. The road noise seemed to lessen after about 500 miles the first day. Suppose it was the raised edges wearing from track abuse wearing down. Tramlining got no better, still need to try some different alignment settings. Overall wear after 2K on the highway is almost negligible. Took first place in the autocross so the two day drive does not seem to have effected the grip too much.

 

What are the offsets on your wheels?

What mods to make 255 fit on all corners?

 

I have Apex ARC 8 17x9s. No mods for me with my PSS. You might have some backside clearance issues with the strut body if you have KWs or other coilovers with a helper spring.

 

In addition to the potential strut clearance issues already mentioned, sedans may have some fender liner rubbing issues up front and fender lip and liner rubbing in the rear depending on the exact tire, wheel, ride height, and alignment settings. I've got 18x9 ARC-8s with 255s. If I go much below 13.25" up front with -2.0 deg camber I start getting some rubbing of the fender liner. In the rear, it took some trimming of the fender liner as well as a mild roll of the fender lip to eliminate rubbing with as much as -1.8 deg camber even with the rear ride height jacked up to over 13" (currently running a little under 13" without rubbing). Never had any rubbing with 255s on the stock 18x8.5 M135 wheels out back.

 

Bigjae can you post pictures of your car with the 17s on?

 

you need to dial in some extra front camber as well...forgot to add that. Otherwise you rub the liner. I rolled my fenders a long time ago...not sure if that is necessary for the 17x9 ARC8s.

 

Your car looks good. Thanks for posting the pictures.

 

What wheels and tires are you using in the picture in your sig? Did you notice a difference when you changed to the Apex Arc 8s?

 

Its been getting a little colder. The steering wheel shakes from 60-80mph when the car sits and the tires cool, like the tire is out of balance. I've had the fronts road force balanced twice so I'm sure that is not the issue. Never had this issue with the Dunlops.

I'm thinking the tire kind of flat spots when it gets cold or sits? The shake goes away when the tires warm up. My suspension is almost new...Meyle HD control arms are 40k, FCABs and tie rods are new. Wheel bearings are good as well.

Not sure if the heat cycles from the track have caused this.

Again, a great tire for the track. A marginal tire for the street. I'm fine with it though. Still happy with these tires.



Sorry for not responding...I used M68s and Dunlop Star Specs in OEM sizes (225/245). I went to the ARCs with the same tires except 255/40R17 square. At a small track in Korea, it was good for a 3 second/lap improvement. I'm sure some if it was from some marginal driving improvement but the car had a lot more front end grip.

 

Thanks and no problem.

Back to the tires. One thing I've noticed is that when the tires are cold, they feel like I am riding in Fred Flinstone's dinomobile...or whatever its called. My car is bouncy, rough, and loud. At least more than normal. Once the car and tires warm up, it goes away.

 

Just came back from a wet day at Motorsport Ranch in Cresson...it was raining and cold (as low as 38 degrees). You'd think it was freezing rain out the track was so slick.

The RS3s are not great wet track tires. I got to ride in JerryK's M3 with new Dunlop SS Z1s...he just had so much more grip. I'm sure it was a combo of skill and new tires. I had to feather my car around the slicker areas. But, when the car slid it was controllable (wasn't going that fast) and broke away progressively.

The first day was somewhat warm - low 60s/high 50's so the tires did better when you got some heat in them. The second day was cold, ~40 all day. Two sessions I couldn't even get enough heat and they tires never really stuck. To be fair, the RS3s were a worn, especially on the inner part of the tread. But even coming out of the hot pit, these tires never inspired confidence. Unlike the Dunlop SS Z1s which did still felt great and had lots of grip when worn down in cold, wet conditions.

Will I ever buy these again? Definitely not my first choice. I would if I needed a cheap tire for dry conditions, especially the summer.

My tire plan for the future is drive to the track in the Dunlop SS Z1s. Run R-Comps in the dry, the Dunlops in the wet.

 

Good Updates!

Have you always had trouble getting the tires up to temps in sub 60 weather? In their defense, I talked with a Hankook Rep awhile ago and they specifically said V12s and RS3s should be unmounted in sub 50 weather. As the rubber hardens and you lose grip

 

The RS3s have been OK in the 50's. The difference is the Dunlops still feel good down to the low 40's. I even drove on them in the 30's...no snow or rain.

I know summer tires are not great in low temps but I need them to be decent for the winter time HPDEs here in TX. Since I plan to move up to R-Comps soon, I need my summer tires to be good in lower temp ranges.

Again, the RS3s would be a great dry dedicated track tire.

 

Final input on these. Started about 4/32nds...they are done after this weekend at the track. Finally, 5 weekends at the track, 2 really hot, 2 mild, and 1 wet. These tires did hold up very well. I also got about 8000 street miles.

This has been a love/hate relationship. These tires do some things superbly and other things really poorly as you have read above.

In the dry, warm weather, I do feel I have a traction advantage. I can continue to brake later and later and really work the tires...yet the don't fall off. In fact, this last weekend was the first time I've ever really heard the squeal in protest...but they still gripped. I might post a comparison vrs R-Comps if I get my tires in time for my Feb event.

 

I've got 255/40R17s in a square setup on Apex ARC8s. They've seen highway, stop and go, and track use. These replaced Dunlop SS Z1s (same size)

Overall...very happy. Very comparable to the Dunlops in everyway. Excellent cold/hot grip and noisy.

The Z1s gripped great. They would get a little greasy after 15-20 minutes of use. The Z1s had EXCELLENT wet grip, never had an issue. My last set did not last very long and they get noisy.

In fact, I think the Hankooks have more dry grip and they don't fall off when they get hot like the Z1s. In fact, they gripped very well throughout all of my sessions. They are even noisier than the Z1s. I have not had these in the rain either (Texas...no rain). The best part is the tires still have a ton of tread even after 2 full track weekends with ambient temps between 95 - 105 degrees. I'm astonished! The R-S3s are getting very noisy though. All in all, a perfect auto-x or HPDE tire for dry conditions. I wouldn't want to take long road trips in these tires.

I'm not sure about wet grip. With anything Korean-made, there is a tradeoff compared to other mainstream brands. One is noise. I am thinking the other trade off is wet grip.

Recommendation: Buy these for the track. Or buy these for ftycdserrrereerdrre road if you can stand massive amounts of tire noise.[/QUOTErttreerr]
freesdtf.5


Sent from my ADR6400L using Bimmer

 

Just bought my 2nd set of these for dry, summer track days! The part that sucks is there is a nationwide backorder for 255/40R17s...

 

I appreciate the review! Being the tire probably will be a track only tire, this review has put the hankooks as a serious contender for track duty. I'm planning to get 17x9 arc8 to replace my 18s since tires are getting pricey with more and more track days. Thanks for sharing!

 

I think the 255/40R17s...although a tight fit...worked REALLY well. Too bad they are out of stock everywhere until 5/4.