Hankook 225/45/15 & Denver Tour Report
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Hankook 225/45/15 & Denver Tour Report
Well, new tires never hurt. The 225 hankook combined with stellar driving Saturday and good driving Sunday put me in the 4th STS trophy spot at the Denver Tour ahead of several cars (including one 89Si yeah baby!) that I'm usually 1+ seconds behind per day. All three cars ahead of me were fully prepped national level 89si's so I'm stoked. Here's what I think of the tires.
1. It's a wide tire, 8" of tread but also wide grooves. I have it on a 15x7 but it really needs 7.5" rims or better still 8" but that's STX only. Forget about a 6.5"
2. It's 22.6" tall shaved so it's shorter than a 205/50/15 and gives roughly 2.5% more torque across the rev range which is a big deal for me. Might cause EX's to hit the rev limiter too much, but a great choice for DX/LX/HX. Even if the grip is only equal to the 205 Azenis, I consider the gearing advantage to be the deciding factor for me.
3. Hankooks really like 3+ degrees of camber and mid 30psi, I'm at 2.6 and running 38-39 hot to get proper rollover on the narrow rims. But the wear on the inside of the tire looks really good at 2.6 so I'm not going higher for now.
4. Hankooks grip well and howl at high slip angles and seem to be sloppier than Azenis. On my fastest run Saturday I was aiming at the cones in high speed offsets and doing huge, wide slides around them; noisy but fast.
5. I'm running the 195/50/15 Hankooks on a 6.5" rim in the rear, which is also 22.6" tall shaved. Looks funky, but works fine for me and keeps the cg down, saves $ and weight but my setup is more neutral than loose, might not be enough rear grip for a loose setup.
6. Hankooks really need to be shaved for autocross but unshaved it's a surprisingly comfortable street tire and would survive occassional autocross use. I got 95+ runs out of my 205/50/15 'kooks but they were probably heat cycled out at 80. They definitely need to be cooled after every run on hot days.
This is the tire I've been waiting for to get some kind of advantage over other mid-pack STS cars. And two days of good driving just rocks!!
Chris
http://www.printroom.com/ViewGallery...1&image_id=106
1. It's a wide tire, 8" of tread but also wide grooves. I have it on a 15x7 but it really needs 7.5" rims or better still 8" but that's STX only. Forget about a 6.5"
2. It's 22.6" tall shaved so it's shorter than a 205/50/15 and gives roughly 2.5% more torque across the rev range which is a big deal for me. Might cause EX's to hit the rev limiter too much, but a great choice for DX/LX/HX. Even if the grip is only equal to the 205 Azenis, I consider the gearing advantage to be the deciding factor for me.
3. Hankooks really like 3+ degrees of camber and mid 30psi, I'm at 2.6 and running 38-39 hot to get proper rollover on the narrow rims. But the wear on the inside of the tire looks really good at 2.6 so I'm not going higher for now.
4. Hankooks grip well and howl at high slip angles and seem to be sloppier than Azenis. On my fastest run Saturday I was aiming at the cones in high speed offsets and doing huge, wide slides around them; noisy but fast.
5. I'm running the 195/50/15 Hankooks on a 6.5" rim in the rear, which is also 22.6" tall shaved. Looks funky, but works fine for me and keeps the cg down, saves $ and weight but my setup is more neutral than loose, might not be enough rear grip for a loose setup.
6. Hankooks really need to be shaved for autocross but unshaved it's a surprisingly comfortable street tire and would survive occassional autocross use. I got 95+ runs out of my 205/50/15 'kooks but they were probably heat cycled out at 80. They definitely need to be cooled after every run on hot days.
This is the tire I've been waiting for to get some kind of advantage over other mid-pack STS cars. And two days of good driving just rocks!!
Chris
http://www.printroom.com/ViewGallery...1&image_id=106
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