When we purchased our 2005 S-Type 3.0 a week before Christmas, the Jaguar dealership had just put a new set of 235/50/ZR17 Hankook Ventus V4 ES H105 tires on the car as part of their certification process. This is not a tire choice I would have made because I've always thought of Hankook as a cheap Korean brand and used my impression to lower my offer price for the car. Never had Hankook tires before so I don't know what to expect. Contacted Hankook's corporate office in New Jersey a couple of days after we bought the car and learned that if I register with them, my tires will carry a 50,000-mile treadwear warranty (they are rated 420/A/A). Never expected that from a Z-rated tire so you can bet that I filled out the registration card that Hankook mailed to me and returned it pronto. We've now put nearly 5,000 miles on the car since we bought it and I have to admit that these tires are holding up far better than I expected. I certainly don't expect to get 50,000 miles but 40,000 would be great. We'll see....

Do any of you S-Type 3.0 owners out there have any experience with these Hankook tires? They are supposedly Hankook's top-of-the-line "ultra-high performance all-season" tires but who really knows what that means. "Ultra-high performance" and "all-season" are two different phrases that I don't think I would ever assign to any one tire - that's almost a contradiction in terms....

For our driving purposes, this S-Type doesn't come close to needing Z-rated tires. V-rated or perhaps even H-rated would probably do just fine. When tire replacement time rolls around, unless these Hankook tires really do go the distance with no problems I think I've narrowed it down to either the Dunlop SP Sport Signature (V-rated, 460/AA/A, with a 60,000-mile treadwear warranty) at about $121 right now from TireRack.com or the Bridgestone Potenza G019 Grid (V-rated, 460/A/A, with a 50,000-mile treadwear warranty) at about $157 right now from TireRack.com. I'll stay with the 235/50/R17 stock size since it rides and handles just fine for our purposes....

 

Hi Jon,

I've got Hankook 245/45 17s on my 2005 S-Type. They seem to be OK, but I would like more time to judge them. Seem to work good in snow or ice so far. They seem to the tire of choice of the dealerships probably due to cost. They maybe a little harsh, but since I went from an XJ6 to the S-Type I don't have a good frame of reference.

Mike

 

Mike,

Thanks for your reply. Glad to hear that I'm not guinea-pigging these Hankook tires all by myself. Yep, I knew it was a pure cost-savings decision causing the dealerships to slap these Hankooks onto the freshly-off-lease S-Types. I reprimanded my dealer for it and told them up-front that I would factor the cheap tires into my offer. The sales guy acted as if he didn't know what I was talking about and said more than once "but they're new tires so they have to be good." I told him that he needed to learn a bit more about the differences in tires and who builds them....

How many miles on your Hankooks now? And I assume you're logging in from the UK so how's life across the pond thus far?

 

Hi Jon,

I would guess less than 1000 miles since I've had the car. I bought it in mid Jan. So far, life in the UK is OK. Weather has been better than expected. I actually was able to see the sun.

Finished up watching the Carling Cup game in a local pub. Manchester United won 4-1 in penalty kicks.

Jaguars are somewhat more scarcer in the UK than in the US. Model of choice has been the X-Type since the UK streets and roads are a lot narrower and winding than you would see stateside.

Mike

 

I've got an 08 Saturn Aura that came with Hankooks on it. I've put 21K on them so far, and, they seem to be holding up well. Surprised me because, like you, I thought they were really bargain basement tires. Unfortunately, on my 06 CPO S-Type 4.2, the Michelins that were on it had just enough tread left to squeek through inspection. I'll probably replace them at the end of this Summer, and, am still debating on what tires to get. I'm looking for a decent all-season tire. I quickly found out this winter that the Michelins weren't much good in snow.

 

Had a set of Hankook on my 03 Accord-the white one in my gallery-that didn't make it a season. I was not impressed with them at all, but I was running a 18" high performance tire and that was years ago. Things may have improved since then. The best performing tire on my Accord was a set of Kumho's that were on the silver '04. As for my tire purchase, I went with a set of General Altimax HP's @ 245/45/17. These are H rated with a load rating of 95. The load rating is less than I wanted but the tires were very highly rated in the performance all season class at tire rack. These are user ratings since tire rack has not tested them. But a ranking of 2nd is pretty darn good. The fact that they were 100 each from tire rack made them even better. The tire rack site also has a neat feature where they tell you in the spec. section where the tire is made. The Generals I got are listed as being made in Germany. Just put them on but am very impressed with the improved performance without hurting ride or noise.

 

Thanks to all who've chimed in on their experiences with Hankook tires. I hope they turn out to be better than we each initially thought they would be....

Jeff, it sounds like you got a great deal on your General tires. I've never had a set of Generals. Keep us posted on how they hold up for you. I'm impressed that you actually found a set of H-rated tires in a 245/45/R17 configuration....

 

I bought my 2003 S- with 52,250 miles on it. It has Kuhmos in the back and Continentals in the front. Kinda weird. Since the car is governed to 121 mph, there is no danger in exceeding the tires limits. So far, so good. Minimum road noise so far. I don't like buying tires made in Korea, but as long as they are on the rear, I'm okay with it.

 

I got the General Altimax HPs for my Honda Prelude. I like them alot. My last tires, BFGoodrich Traction TAs were terrible in the snow. A few days after getting the Generals and putting some miles on them, we got 6" of snow and ice that stuck around over a week. I even found some space to induce some slides to see how they behaved and how quickly they got grip back. I was very pleased with the way they handled. I've had the BFGs and the Bridgestone Potenza RE92s that came with the car (horrible, horrible tire. I owe someone at Bridgestone a slap in the face for those tires).

My Jag has Kumho Ecsta ASXs on the fronts, and I'm replacing the same BFGs as above on the back with the Generals. The Kumhos are okay, but not great. I don't have a problem with them being made in Korea. I autocross my Prelude, and Kumho makes competition tires that are pretty good. Both R compound and street tire classes. I have no experience with Hankook though.

 

I've read that the Bridgestone Potenza RE92 is a very marginal yet way-overpriced tire. Your experience seems to confirm that. The G019 Grid gets far better reviews and is less expensive. It may be a better choice, but I've found Bridgestone to be hit-or-miss over the years. The set of Alenzas that we have on my wife's 2004 Lexus RX330 AWD right now have been fantastic, now pushing 47,000 miles and still running strong while never hydroplaning at all. But the original set of Duelers was nothing more than average on that vehicle.

The Dunlop SP Sport Signature has a better treadwear warranty than the Bridgestone G019 Grid and is cheaper as well. I've had good experiences with Dunlop across multiple vehicles since the early 1990s and would probably put this tire on our S-Type if it needed tires now. But I'm still hoping that these Hankooks will surprise me and last a long time. The ride is great and the handling is as well. Perhaps their 50,000-mle treadwear warranty is deserved. We'll see....