Hamkook Tires

[Archie]

I mentioned earlier that I bought, Hankook tires, model Ventus ES H105 At the price installed of $600 I felt that it was worth a shot.This is my wife's car and I rarely drive it. Most women prefer good ride and low noise from the tire. They have little interest in handling etc. The LS 460 imho is a bit of a barge anyway, not so hot in sport type driving according to most reviews and I concur. In congested urban driving I find that the poor rear visibility is down right dangerous and the slow steering response requires one to pick a lane and stay in it. For long distance running it can't be beat. We just put 3000 miles with 12 hour days , Just like sitting in your living room. Total comfort.

Before I bought the new tires I pulled up the reviews form Tire Rack and a couple of other sources. The numbers were as follows using Michelin Pilot Sport As as a comp. I mentioned the Michelin Pilot Sports AS as they were suggested as a good replacement.

Noise- Michelin 7.9 , Hankook 9.0. The Ventus tires are super quiet. Probably the best I have ever bought.

Ride- Michelin 8.3, Hankook 8.8. Wife is happy.

Tire Wear- Michelin 7.8, Hankook 8.2. OEM Dunlops wore out at about 20K Time will only tell how far these go. Couldn't be worse however.

Steering- Michelin 8.8, Hankook 8.4 Car is so sloppy what difference does .4 make?

Dry traction Michelin 9.0, Hankook 8.8. Traction and tread wear are as a rule of thumb inversely proportional. I'll take the tread wear.

Cornering Stability Michelin 9.0, Hankook 8.2. Trade off with ride comfort. Wifely likes comfort and hates my rides.

Wet or snow the Lexus stays home so I won't go there. We did hit snow and sleet but I found no problems with the Hankooks. I slow way down when inclement weather hits.

The way I type I might have made some number errors so be nice.

Bottom line- Hankook Ventus looks like a decent low cost replacement tire for typical driving. I'm cheap and skipped the built in Nav and Levinson systems. So that describes my style.

[2007ls460]

You should have looked at the Michelin Pilot Sports AS Plus!

[Archie]

You should have looked at the Michelin Pilot Sports AS Plus!

I agree, the Plus is a better tire. The Continental Extreme Contact DWS is even a better tire. That is if you believe Tire Racks published numbers. Hankooks down fall is snow and ice. . That's not a problem were we live and I tossed out those numbers which moved their rating way up the chart.

The only comment I can make on TR's numbers is a long time ago I bought snow tires several time based on their numbers. As I remember I liked the Bridgestone Blizzaks . I bought these because at the time they were sold by the Firestone Dealers and Firestone was in a world of hurt from some really bad PR with tire failure causing some deaths Every body was sold out of snow tires but Firestone stores, so I bought the Blizzaks from theme.. Driving in snow with these was like having tire chains on. However they wore like an eraser on a cheap pencil. So I switched to a Michelin snow tire on the next buy. Also rated very high by TR. Absolutely terrible in the snow/ice and no better then an all seasons tire in my opinion.. I called them on it and was" So What? as an answer."

However I just bought the Hankko0k Ventus based on TR's numbers and my wife is happy with them. I have paid top $ in the past for super tires but in the real word due to road hazards /wheel alignment, Murphy's Law etc never couldd get my money back out of them. So I buy cheap tires and toss them as needed.

[2007ls460]

You should have looked at the Michelin Pilot Sports AS Plus!

I agree, the Plus is a better tire. The Continental Extreme Contact DWS is even a better tire. That is if you believe Tire Racks published numbers. Hankooks down fall is snow and ice. . That's not a problem were we live and I tossed out those numbers which moved their rating way up the chart.

The only comment I can make on TR's numbers is a long time ago I bought snow tires several time based on their numbers. As I remember I liked the Bridgestone Blizzaks . I bought these because at the time they were sold by the Firestone Dealers and Firestone was in a world of hurt from some really bad PR with tire failure causing some deaths Every body was sold out of snow tires but Firestone stores, so I bought the Blizzaks from theme.. Driving in snow with these was like having tire chains on. However they wore like an eraser on a cheap pencil. So I switched to a Michelin snow tire on the next buy. Also rated very high by TR. Absolutely terrible in the snow/ice and no better then an all seasons tire in my opinion.. I called them on it and was" So What? as an answer."

However I just bought the Hankko0k Ventus based on TR's numbers and my wife is happy with them. I have paid top $ in the past for super tires but in the real word due to road hazards /wheel alignment, Murphy's Law etc never couldd get my money back out of them. So I buy cheap tires and toss them as needed.

Actually, I find TR to be an excellent and accurate evaluator of tires. I have 5 cars and buy a lot of tires. I have used the info at TR for many years and found my experience, with various tires that I had purchased, to be consistent with what TR had documented.

As I recall, the miles logged at TR for the Ventus are minimal and probably statistically not significant. For that matter the data for AS Plus is not much better.

The tires I really wanted to get for our LS460 were the Michelin Hydroedge, but unfortunately they don't make that size tire for the LS. These are the best tires I have ever owned. I have a set on our van and my daughter's sedan. So far we put on 60K on the tires on the van and they look like they will last another 30K ( the rep at America's Tire where I go for my rotations says they are good for another 50-60K). The ones on the Sedan have about 30K and look new. TR has ranked these tires as top performers for a long time and just recently Cunsumer Reports has come on board and ranked them very highly. By the way, these are priced very reasonably - $600 for a set of 4 for the van.

I believe tires are the most critical safety and performance component on a car. You could have the best car money can buy, but without good tires - good luck. I remember having some pretty lousy tires some 40 years ago when I was going to college - I had some new Firestones on my VW that popped like cheap balloons when you drove the freeway.

[amcdonal86]

You may also consider Yokohama Avid Touring S tires. I have them on my LS400 and they are incredibly quiet, and won't break the bank!

[kimseongjae62]

My LS OEM tire was Dunlop. Currently, I am running on Kumho, Ecsta Platinum LX after extensive research about 35K miles ago in terms of customer review, survey, but more importantly how it was compared to oem tire specifications. I Highly recommended tire at $100 per tire less.

Firmer yet same smooth ride

60K warranty

good handling on dry and wet with good cornering.

Had it installed for $165/ea. +tax ( incl. disposal, mount and balance)

Can't beat it when the OEMs were going for $280 +tax w/o mount and balance at Tirerack and even higher at the dealer. Even at the same price, I would chose Kumho due to better wear.

Considering he Dunlops were replaced at 30K with little tread left, I still have about 1/2 the tread left on the tires. I believe the tire had 80K Warr. when it came out new about 3 years ago. Now, they have adjusted it to 60K. However, depending on where you live, road and riving condition, one can expect to get over 60K easily.

[kimseongjae62]

My LS OEM tire was Dunlop. Currently, I am running on Kumho, Ecsta Platinum LX after extensive research about 35K miles ago in terms of customer review, survey, but more importantly how it was compared to oem tire specifications. I Highly recommended tire at $100 per tire less.

Firmer yet same smooth ride

60K warranty

good handling on dry and wet with good cornering.

Had it installed for $165/ea. +tax ( incl. disposal, mount and balance)

Can't beat it when the OEMs were going for $280 +tax w/o mount and balance at Tirerack and even higher at the dealer. Even at the same price, I would chose Kumho due to better wear.

Considering he Dunlops were replaced at 30K with little tread left, I still have about 1/2 the tread left on the tires. I believe the tire had 80K Warr. when it came out new about 3 years ago. Now, they have adjusted it to 60K. However, depending on where you live, road and riving condition, one can expect to get over 60K easily.

[kimseongjae62]

My LS OEM tire was Dunlop. Currently, I am running on Kumho, Ecsta Platinum LX after extensive research about 35K miles ago in terms of customer review, survey, but more importantly how it was compared to oem tire specifications. I Highly recommended tire at $100 per tire less.

Firmer yet same smooth ride

60K warranty

good handling on dry and wet with good cornering.

Had it installed for $165/ea. +tax ( incl. disposal, mount and balance)

Can't beat it when the OEMs were going for $280 +tax w/o mount and balance at Tirerack and even higher at the dealer. Even at the same price, I would chose Kumho due to better wear.

Considering he Dunlops were replaced at 30K with little tread left, I still have about 1/2 the tread left on the tires. I believe the tire had 80K Warr. when it came out new about 3 years ago. Now, they have adjusted it to 60K. However, depending on where you live, road and riving condition, one can expect to get over 60K easily.

[Archie]

I am back. Very humble and embarrased. The great Hankook tires I bought and raved about 2 years ago, I take it all back. Tire Rack totally mislead me on wear. They gave it a good number of 8.2 and the Mich a 7.8.Can you really trust those numbers? So the Hankooks are bald at about the same millage the OEM Dunlops did. 25K So scratch this brand off your buy list. However I'm reading that the LS460 is a tire !Removed! and eats any tire alive in just a few miles. I'm trying Continetal to see what happens. That will put me at 75K and time to dump the car anyway.