Car and Driver Tire Test

[lowkey]

C&D August 09 issue compares some summer tires against a benchmark tire, the Michelin PS2, with help from Tire Rack.

Overall Rank:
1) Dunlop Star Spec
2) Hankook Ventus V12 Evo
3) Kumho Ecsta XS
4) Bridgestone Potenza Re760
5) BFGoodrich G-force KDW
6) Yokohama S.Drive
7) Falken Azenis RT-615
8) Nitto Invo
9) Ling Long L688

They tested these for: Autocross, Skidpad, Braking, Sound Level and Price.

They ended up in the order listed above but each had different strengths in each category, for example the Kumho was ranked best in Autocross, had a good price but was not so good in the wet.

The PS2 was not ranked against the others overall but had a rating in each category as can be seen below.
-------------------------------------------------
Update... rankings by category, first to last using first letter of each brand :

Autocross, dry: K, D, B, F, H, BFG, PS2, Y, N, L
Braking, dry: BFG, D, K, H, B, PS2, Y, F, N, L
Autocross, wet: PS2, D, H, BFG, Y, N, B, F, K, L
Braking, wet: H, D, BFG, B, PS2, Y, N, K, F, L
Sound level: B, H, Y, F, K, PS2, N, D, L, BFG
Skidpad Gs, Dry : K 0.94, H 0.93, D 0.92, PS2 0.92, BFG 0.91, F 0.91, N 0.91, B 0.90, L 0.88, Y 0.88
Skidpad Gs, Wet: PS2 0.88, H 0.87, D 0.86, BFG 0.85, Y 0.84, N 0.82, B 0.80, F 0.80, K 0.77, L 0.73

[wongck]

Where do the PS2s fall in this ranking?

[boostsaves]

I would assume the ps2 won, if not came very close. There are alot of budget tires in this test with 300+ tw.

[lowkey]

The PS2 was not ranked overall but it came in middle of the pack in most categories except it was 1st in wet autocross.

[lowkey]

updated 1st post with rankings by category

[DVDee]

And to think I didn't get the hankooks because I didn't know if I could trust the 5 star rating it has on tires.com.

[XRims]

Kudos to Hankook and Dunlop for being in the top ranks in both wet & dry skidpad!

[heavyD]

I ran the Star Specs on my MR2. Grippy but noisy. Looks like the Hankooks offer just as much performance without the noise.

[lowkey]

I looked up diameter, weight and price for a few tires of the OEM size (245/40/18) at Tirerack. The Hankook Ventus V12 is not listed at Tirerack, but it's replacement the R-S3 is.

OEM ADVAN A13C 25.6" 26 lbs $330
Dunlop Star Spec 25.7" 27 lbs. $202
Kumho XS 25.7" 26 lbs. $164
Hankook Ventus R-S3 25.7" 26 lbs. $211
Michelin PS2 25.7" 24 lbs $278

The Kumho looks very good to me...

[slonez]

Originally Posted by lowkey

I looked up diameter, weight and price for a few tires of the OEM size (245/40/18) at Tirerack. The Hankook Ventus V12 is not listed at Tirerack, but it's replacement the R-S3 is.

OEM ADVAN A13C 25.6" 26 lbs $330
Dunlop Star Spec 25.7" 27 lbs. $202
Kumho XS 25.7" 26 lbs. $164
Hankook Ventus R-S3 25.7" 26 lbs. $211
Michelin PS2 25.7" 24 lbs $278

The Kumho looks very good to me...

Hankook RS3 is a replacement for RS2 (track orientated).
The V12 is in a different category.

[kanyonkid]

DUNLOP FTW! they helped me with FTD yesterday during my autox event

[gizmotoy]

My Star Specs have been pretty amazing tires. They are a little on the loud side, but given what I paid and how well they perform, I can overlook that.

[DVDee]

The hankooks v12 are pretty cheap. a 265 can be had for 160+ on tires dot com.

[WAM]

Apples and oranges selection of tires. Since they had the Star Spec and XS, they should have had the Yok AD08, The BS RE-11 and maybe the Toyo R1R. Birds of a feather. Instead they ran a couple of street/comp tires against a bunch of high performance tires. Gee, I wonder who won?

According to TireRack tests, the AD08 is probably top dog for dry performance. Dunlop's pretty good, and the BS is best wet.

[lowkey]

They had set a price limit and the objective was to test budget priced summer tires only. Dumbasses like me are just grateful someone was willing to spend the time and money to have done a thorough and unbiased test. There is an old saying, “don’t look a gift horse in the mouth”.