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.
 
ghost said:
Ozone attacks rubber. If you seal them in plastic bags, they should last longer.
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Yes, thank you, I am storing my tires in plastic bags.

revorg said:
I was very disappointed with the short life.
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I've never had tires that wear out as quickly as these Hankooks, but never having had summer performance tires before, I believed that was normal and accepted their short life. They're certainly a big step up in cornering from the special low-rolling resistance (low-traction) Bridgestones I had on my gen-1 Insights for 20 years. The Insight's 1,980-lb weight helped compensate for its hard tires.

I know there are stickier tires out there, but I've never had tires that grip as well as these Hankooks and I'm happy they offer good range despite being sticky. I particularly appreciate how quiet the Hankooks are when cornering quickly in town. I suspect that advantage and the SE's quiet acceleration may have saved me money and points on my license.
 
insightman said:
Yes, thank you, I am storing my tires in plastic bags.


I've never had tires that wear out as quickly as these Hankooks, but never having had summer performance tires before, I believed that was normal and accepted their short life. They're certainly a big step up in cornering from the special low-rolling resistance (low-traction) Bridgestones I had on my gen-1 Insights for 20 years. The Insight's 1,980-lb weight helped compensate for its hard tires.

I know there are stickier tires out there, but I've never had tires that grip as well as these Hankooks and I'm happy they offer good range despite being sticky. I particularly appreciate how quiet the Hankooks are when cornering quickly in town. I suspect that advantage and the SE's quiet acceleration may have saved me money and points on my license.
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I've thought about this fact if I ever get pulled over:

Officer, how could I have been cornering too fast if my tires didn't even squeak?
 
Lol OT: once I was pulled over for "aggressive maneuvering" in my little 2006 smart, at 2 AM on a nearly deserted freeway. I explained that it only looks like aggressive maneuvring because the car is so tiny, and because unlike most drivers on the road, I actually obey the law and signal and pull back into the right lane after completing my passes. The officer went back to his car for a minute or two, then came out and tried to suggest that I had an illegally-modified exhaust system; I told him to look under the car again, what he is seeing is just polished aluminum pieces on the unique de Dion rear suspension. He went back to his car for another couple of minutes, finally coming back, throwing my papers back at me and telling me that they estimated I had been driving at 140 km/h (87 mph) but couldn't cite me because they hadn't been pacing. I laughed and said that's impossible, because this car's 799 cc diesel has a governor at 135 and it would take a dog's age just to get up to that speed, never mind maintain it. He told me to be safe and get the hell out of there. LMAO

Post script: I actually did have a modified suspension, and the speed governor was eliminated when I had the chip tuned to give 50% more torque and horsepower lol (it could easily hit 100 miles an hour, while still getting 60 miles per US gallon when driven sedately).
 
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