Hankook Ventus V12 Evo K110 Review

Much like the Japanese companies have done in decades past, the Koreans… more specifically, Hankook has been making serious progress with performance and competition tires. When it comes to price-to-performance ratio, Hankook has ranked high in recent years with offerings like the Ventus R-S2. Now, a new product takes the spotlight, the Ventus V12 Evo, a tire with all the grip a street car could need in many different conditions…snow excluded of-course.

The crew over at Hankook Canada teamed up with Hankook USA to roll out the red carpet for journalists to get a feel for the new Hankook tire versus the competition. A pair of Mustang GTs were fitted with the latest Hankook UHP tire and its closest competitor considering UTQG rating and price on the other Mustang. An autocross course was set up with a variety of tight turns, sweepers, slaloms and braking zones. The Mustangs are definitely heavy cars that tend to understeer if you don’t get the back end involved, so we were eager to see how the V12 Evo would counteract that.

DESIGN / PERFORMANCE

The distinctive design of the V12 Evo offers optimal handling and braking performance and even features the company logo embossed in the centerline. The wide circumferential tread grooves allow this directional tire to channel water away from the tread and keep your car connected when water piles up on the road making this tire a solid 3-season performer.

The Ventus V12 Evo has a UTQG rating of 280-AA-A, which places it in the same category as many ultra high performance tires. Primarily for sport sedans, sports cars and exotics, the V12 Evo will provide decent wear characteristics for those that would like to get some life out of their tire. The extended life is usually at the expense of performance, yet Hankook is still able to maintain the ‘AA’ traction rating for loads of grip. During our test, the V12 Evo did cure the inherent plow of the Mustang by providing added grip up front under load. The Mustang had plenty of torque, more than enough to break the rear loose so we could get around corners faster by applying added throttle to get the rear tires involved. In the dry stuff, the V12 Evo turns in well and doesn’t roll over like an all season would on less than perfect surfaces.

THE VERDICT

A fairly quiet tire while rolling the streets, the V12 Evo is suitable for a sport sedan where road noise is a real concern. As a rule, the more aggressive the tread pattern or compound, you can bank on more noise. The stiff sidewall meant more of the road would be felt but not to the point of distraction. The V12 Evo is balanced in this area, since the engineers knew this tire would primarily be doing city driving with the occasional spirited drive. When, it comes to high speed action, Hankook has that covered with a Y-speed rating of 300km/h (186mph). It is available in 17-inch to 20 inch sizes making it an ideal OEM replacement. It even comes in supercar sizing up to 305/25R20!

Canada - www.hankooktire.ca

USA - www.hankooktireusa.com