Terminated Tyres: Hankook Ventus Prime 3

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insightman

insightman

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Today, I went to Discount Tire to order another set of my favorite Hankook Ventus Prime 3 195 55r16 87W NOT run-flat tires for my MINI Cooper SE. I was shocked, shocked! when the Discount Tire rep told me Hankook no longer makes Prime 3 tires.

Fortunately, the rep searched and was able to locate a set for me. The $780 was a couple hundred more than the last time I bought 'em, but this time I couldn't flash ads with other dealers' sale prices to get Discount Tire to match. I like the Prime 3s too much to try another brand. They're grippy enough me and, more importantly for city hooning, they're reluctant to squeal.

I briefly thought about ordering TWO sets, but my wife is already unhappy I have a winter set of wheels/tires, a summer set of wheels/tires, and the original 17" Power Spoke wheels/tires that came with the car (I mount them only for Drive Electric week events because I'm so paranoid of curbing the Energetic Yellow stripes on their circumference). Instead, I decided I'll drive a couple more months on my current Prime 3s before mounting the near-unobtanium new ones.
 
I couldn't help myself. Even though I have 4 of these tires hidden from my wife in the attic of our garage, I called Discount Tire and ordered 4 more. They're coming from PA and I was told there were only 53 left for sale in the US. I paid $667.
 
brianc35 said:
Won't they deteriorate just sitting there in the attic?
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I'm hoping sitting in my garage's attic isn't as stressful as being subjected to the roundabout abuse I'll be putting them through after they're mounted on my MINI's wheels. I've been getting 2 summers out of a set of these Hankook summer performance tires, so I should get 4 years of fun from these 8 tires. I believe they should be good for that long.

I could be wrong and I'd be interested to hear other opinions.

However, you've touched upon an aging tire situation that I AM worried about. I ordered my MINI Cooper SE with the special, aerodynamic "Power Spoke" (originally named "Corona Spoke" before the COVID corona virus hit) wheels. When I saw the Energetic Yellow stripes around the circumference of those wheels, I decided I never want to see that color transferred to an unworthy concrete curb. Those wheels and tires have been sitting in my basement since 2020. I take them out only to show off at Drive Electric Week events. Those tires are probably 7 years old, which is definitely getting to the end of their lifetime even though they have less than 500 miles on them. I'm certainly not going to buy new tires for those wheels. I'll just drive slowly to Drive Electric Week events. Those seldom-used wheels are part of the reason I have to hide the new tires in the attic of my garage :)
 
My two cents. One of my five Minis came to me with Hankook tires. Wonderful fun driving, but I was very disappointed with the short life.
 
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