Hankook Ventus RS3 *Merged*
Dec 27, 2010, 10:53 AM
#18
This is from PERSONAL experience, I have driven a lot of tires in my day.
#1 Hankook RS-3, far and away the best tire in terms of grip AND wear of the bunch. Repeatedly faster than Nitto NT01s on track!!
#2 Dunlop Direzza Star Spec, a great tire, very solid grip and wear, but not close to the RS-3, no contest.
#3 Bridgestone RE11, I have had limited experience on these tires, but the grip was good, but not amazing.
#4 Kumho XS, Good grip, seemed to wear faster than expected.
#5 Old Falken Azenis RT615, seemed very similar to the Kumho XS, maybe a little less grip, but a little less wear too, I'd like to try the new compound.
#6 Hankook RS-2, not really that bad for a street tire, again, similar to the two above with even less grip, but a little less wear as well.
#7 Nitto NT-05, really disappointing tire. We raced on these last year and they wore extremely quickly and the grip was subpar. Nitto in general doesn't shine that much to me.
I have not driven on the Yokohamas or new Federals, but since switching to the Hankook's there has been no tire in our class that can compete with it from personal experience. These are all opinions, but I have had track days/autocross and dd experience on all of them except the Bridgestone which was just autocross. That car switched to Hankook's halfway through the autocross season and was consistently faster though.
Dan
#1 Hankook RS-3, far and away the best tire in terms of grip AND wear of the bunch. Repeatedly faster than Nitto NT01s on track!!
#2 Dunlop Direzza Star Spec, a great tire, very solid grip and wear, but not close to the RS-3, no contest.
#3 Bridgestone RE11, I have had limited experience on these tires, but the grip was good, but not amazing.
#4 Kumho XS, Good grip, seemed to wear faster than expected.
#5 Old Falken Azenis RT615, seemed very similar to the Kumho XS, maybe a little less grip, but a little less wear too, I'd like to try the new compound.
#6 Hankook RS-2, not really that bad for a street tire, again, similar to the two above with even less grip, but a little less wear as well.
#7 Nitto NT-05, really disappointing tire. We raced on these last year and they wore extremely quickly and the grip was subpar. Nitto in general doesn't shine that much to me.
I have not driven on the Yokohamas or new Federals, but since switching to the Hankook's there has been no tire in our class that can compete with it from personal experience. These are all opinions, but I have had track days/autocross and dd experience on all of them except the Bridgestone which was just autocross. That car switched to Hankook's halfway through the autocross season and was consistently faster though.
Dan
Dec 27, 2010, 11:17 AM
#21
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I have them on my DD.
I loved them in the summer and tread wear for a 140 was better than I was expecting. I went to them right after my A046 were done. The RS3 sidewall is not as stiff as the A046 but it's capable of higher tire pressures so I compinsated by adding more pressure.
I will tell you that they are dangerous when cold. I had planned to run them all year long until I spun my car trying to make a yellow light on cold tires, just as winter started. After that some crappy Proxies 4s went back on for the winter.
I still love them and will be switching back in Spring though
I loved them in the summer and tread wear for a 140 was better than I was expecting. I went to them right after my A046 were done. The RS3 sidewall is not as stiff as the A046 but it's capable of higher tire pressures so I compinsated by adding more pressure.
I will tell you that they are dangerous when cold. I had planned to run them all year long until I spun my car trying to make a yellow light on cold tires, just as winter started. After that some crappy Proxies 4s went back on for the winter.
I still love them and will be switching back in Spring though
Last edited by evodood; Dec 27, 2010 at 11:29 AM.
Dec 27, 2010, 11:30 AM
#23
We don't carry the NT05's so I can't comment on those. But in dry rankings for the others.... RE-11, RS3 (very similar those two), then the Z1's. Z1's work plenty for street use but if you're on a track the RE's and RS3's have a little more dry advantage.
Dec 27, 2010, 11:45 AM
#24
hmmm that's actually surprising. I thought the RS3 would have had the most grip. espeically since the RS3 has a 140 TWR compared to 180 on the RE-11...but as some have said, there's no standard for those numbers, so ... lol. I thought the RE-11 was more closely related to the Z1 and NT05. from what I've seen, the NT05 seems to be better in terms of all out dry grip than the Z1, but I haven't been able to find anything showing how it stacks up against the RE-11. thanks for the info.
Last edited by ODUB; Dec 27, 2010 at 11:47 AM.
Dec 27, 2010, 02:03 PM
#26
hmmm that's actually surprising. I thought the RS3 would have had the most grip. espeically since the RS3 has a 140 TWR compared to 180 on the RE-11...but as some have said, there's no standard for those numbers, so ... lol. I thought the RE-11 was more closely related to the Z1 and NT05. from what I've seen, the NT05 seems to be better in terms of all out dry grip than the Z1, but I haven't been able to find anything showing how it stacks up against the RE-11. thanks for the info.
And yes, at all tracks we do our testing on NT01's as they handle abuse well and are consistant, but the Hankook RS-3's have been faster each and every time in a heads up comparison, not by much, but always faster.
Dan
Dec 27, 2010, 04:20 PM
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Yo guys, NT01's are not R comps. At least according to Nitto's website.
They are under the "Competition" Tire category but they don't have an "R" in the model
Last edited by evodood; Dec 27, 2010 at 04:22 PM.