Hankook- VENTUS RS-2 Z212


Holy cow, I'm not buying S-02s anymore...

I bought a set of the Z212s specifically because I needed a street tire with deep grooves for rain that I could use for rain tires at the track, and when I saw this tread pattern I fell in love with the huge outside shoulder tread blocks. I mounted them on a used set of AP1 wheels I got from ebay and powdercoated. I figured because my S-02s were nearly bald on the rear I would get the car inspected on the RS-2s and get some miles on them before they become dedicated wet track tires.

I have about 350 miles on them by now, and things are getting warm here in Upstate so I'm able to give the tires a fair evaluation.
1st- price, $389 all 4 tires delivered to my door, wow.
2nd- vendor, www.edgeracing.com their price was the best I could find and they have been great to deal with, I got Toyo T1-Rs for my CRX-SiR from them last year.
3rd- performance, to-date I'm impressed. I track my car a lot and I run Toyo RA-1 r-compounds, but I don't drive that hard on the streets, but I am known to push it a bit. I once had Kumho 712s on my S, and let me just say, this low cost tire option is nothing like them, they sucked, the Hankooks are impressive.
4th- rain, Well if we would get some, and the car is dirty, I'll find out how they do for the real reason I bought them.

Originally I was just going to buy new S-02 rears this spring as I have 1 more season left in the fronts. Tire Rack wants $149.00 per rear tire + shipping and handling. Edge Racing wants $93 per tire + shipping and handling. So $300 for just 2 rear S-02s, or $340 for a compete set of 4 Hankooks? Based upon how much money I go through at the track I just do not see the value in spending money for S-02s anymore, plus, I can't help but think, eventually Bridgestone will stop making the special S2000 S-02, and then I'll have to find something else anyways.

 

I measured the two 205/55-16 RS-2 mounted on AP1 wheels as a stack, and then did the same to the S-02s which are mounted on the same wheels, I found the Hankooks to be ever so slightly wider than the S-02s. I then did the same thing for the backs and found the 245/45-16 RS-2 to be ever so slightly narrower than the weird Bridgestone size 225/50ZR16. Overall small differences, I'll remember to bring the dimensions in and add them to this thread. Originally I was concerned this might make the backend real loose, but I have to say, I'm not finding any big difference.

Also of note- I find it interesting people sometimes complain about the sidewall stiffness of this tire, but if I recall those are tires that are being put to dry tracks and autox circuits. I suspect because I'm using these on the streets I'm not experiencing this characteristic at all, in fact I'm finding them to be nice and stiff and the car seems to ride slightly firmer.

 

This is one of the replacement tires I'm considering. I'll be interested to hear your impressions over time ... especially with the wet traction. Thanks.

 

The wet traction reviews I read prior to purchase were all over the map, some said good, some said downright nasty. And those were the same reviewers who were all giving the tire nothing but great dry traction opinions.

I walked away from those rain reviews deciding I could not gather any results from them. The cars were a big mix and I have no idea how well these people can even drive. A dolt behind the wheel may think they are gifted in the dry, but then in the rain where their lack of smoothness manifests they concludes the tires suck, when in reality the weak link is the driver, not the tires.

I love the rain on the track, thus I suspect my review of wet traction may be different than many of the negative ones I read. I have learned the benefits of smooth, even, gentle car controls in the rain, this comes from the days of passing nearly everything in sight n the CRX-SiR whenever it rained.

 

RS2's seem to supposidly have a softer sidewall than the S02's, but we ran 2 sets of the 225/245 variety and liked them especially for the price. We did just go to the RE-01R which with a rebate is around the same price 401 shipped for a set after rebate. The only downside is they only offer 205/225 but they run almost as wide as the 225/245 RS2's.

 

i love rs2's... im on my 2nd set now..

 

Not that I'm expecting a lot of miles out of them, but what kind of mileage did you get from the fronts, from the rears, and was it street driving only or some combo of street/track/autox?

The fact that you bought another set speaks volumes to me, thanks!

 

I have a set of these, and in the rain they are leagues ahead of the Bridgestone S-02. I haven't driven them on the track in the rain but on the street in the recent downpours and thunderstorms we had over the Memorial Day weekend they were great. I would definitely recommend this as a street tire rain or shine.

I have 2 autox on my set and they are a bit shy of the Bridgestone in the dry but neither one can run with an R-compound. As I said I haven't driven them on a wet track yet.

 

I've got them now and they are my third set. They suck. Sure, they're fine for going to the liquour store and back but if you like to hit a twisty mountain road or auto-x, you'll be disappointed after owning the S02s. I actually just ordered a full set of S02s to replace my RS-2s since I no longer have any of the auto-x parts on the car and I want the stock tire stagger back.

The RS-2 sidewalls are so mushy that you have to be ahead of the tire in all transitions. The Bridgestones are like lasers... point and shoot.

In the rain the RS-2 destroys the Bridgestone. Even with hardly any visable tread, the RS-2 doesn't hydroplane like the S02.

 

I'm pretty satisfied with the Z212 RS2's. I'm running 205/50-16 fronts on 16x7", and 245/45-16s in back on 16x8"s.

No, they're not as stiff as the Kumho VR's I drove to and from Watkins Glen on, which as far as I'm concerned is a MAJOR plus on the street. They really seem to me to have plenty adequate lateral stiffness, while having a commendable amount of uppie/downie compliance. Very smooth over bumps and road irregularities, but still provide good lateral responsiveness.

My impression anyway...