Hankook Ventus Prime 3 K125 Reviews - Page 6

Given 100% while driving a Toyota MK3 MR2 Roaster (185/55 R15) on mostly town for 400 spirited miles
So I have these tires on my MR2, 185/55/15 front and 215/45/16 rear and I have nothing but good things to say about these tires, only had them since January so can't comment on the dry grip (because England) or wear yet but in the Wet they have definitely surprised me, car has yet to step out on me when pushed 👍 can't rate comfort as I went for the XL version for the stiffer sideways which increases the handling and feedback but will decrease ride comfort, If thats your preference. All in all a very good tire and for the price I'll definitely buy these again👌 (my ratings are based against tires in this price range)
Helpful 24 - tire reviewed on February 19, 2019
Given 87% while driving a Mercedes Benz C180 (205/55 R16 T) on a combination of roads for 16,000 average miles
First time buying and using Hankook tires, I was initially very doubtful but I listened to the tire-dealers advice who strongly recommended these tires above anything els including so-called premium brands.
I have nothing bad to say about these tires, it's very good tires in both wet and dry, always good grip and braking both wet and dry, very good and safe handling, good and controllable feel, very good direction stability, good comfort and low noise-level.
These Hankook tires can match any premium brand and in my opinion they are better, very satisfied with these tires.
The only downside is the wear rate which is average at the best, they did not last very long, unfortunately a very typical problem with modern tires these days.
Although this is the only car I have driven with these Hankook tires, I think I can strongly recommend them except if wear is the most important issue.
Their performance lasted until the very last mm of tread, actually until somebody decided to shred all four tires on a public parking lot........fortunately.....(suspiciously?)..... there was a tire dealer next to this parking lot and he sold me some Michelin Primacy 4 tires which I have made another review about.
Helpful 141 - tire reviewed on November 23, 2018
Given 90% while driving a Volkswagen Passat 2.0TDI (205/55 R16 V) on a combination of roads for 6,500 average miles
I bought them in March this year with about 52 euro / piece and I made about 10,000 km. From the comfort point of view, silent, good adhesion on both wet and dry. I am very pleased with them, I recommend them and I would buy them again.
Helpful 30 - tire reviewed on October 30, 2018
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Given 91% while driving a Ford Fusion 1.4 TDci (225/45 R15) on mostly town for 1,000 average miles
I've been through various brands of tires on the car which were OK but the difference with these is amazing. With emergency stops the ABS hardly switches on (wet and dry) with super short stopping distances. They have a solid feeling with excellent road feedback but without being uncomfortable and the road sound is OK and not a problem. I didn't know that tires could be this good and make so much difference to a car.
Helpful 25 - tire reviewed on October 27, 2018
Given 78% while driving a Volvo 240 estate (195/65 R15 H) on mostly motorways for 200 easy going miles
Recently, I went from ContiPremiumContact 5 (CPC5) on all four corners to Hankook Ventus Prime 3 (HVP3) on the rear axle. I have done a couple of hundred miles in the dry, and under those circumstances, the HVP3 seems to be on par with the CPC5. Cornering feels fine, comfort is okay and they actually seem a little quieter that the CPC5s.

Wet grip and wear are yet to be determinded and the overall picture will become clearer once my car has the HVP3 on all wheels. The initial impressions seem promising.
Helpful 33 - tire reviewed on October 12, 2018
Given 79% while driving a Honda CIVIC 1.6 VTEC (205/50 R16) on for 12 average miles
Very good tires for very good price, recommended!
Helpful 34 - tire reviewed on September 17, 2018
Given 91% while driving a Volkswagen Beetle 1.4tsi Sport (215/60 R16 V) on mostly motorways for 0 spirited miles
Hankook Ventus Prime 3 is one of the best tires i've ever use, considering te price and maybe the best cosidering price=quality. I am very pleased with the handling after my Pirelli Cinturato P6 215/65r16. and next time , i think ill buy them again. Already drove almost 30000 kilometers and the tires have like 75-80% thread to wear
Helpful 56 - tire reviewed on May 2, 2018
Given 90% while driving a Volkswagen Passat 2.0TDI (225/45 R17 V) on mostly country roads for 10,000 easy going miles
I am very pleased with the Ventus Prime 3. I had many tires that was fine from new and then just got decent and the last 1/3 of their life they where terrible. The Prime 3 keeps performing all its way until it is worn down in respect to comfort, handling and fuel economy. Also a tire where noise is almost independent of the temperature.
Helpful 57 - tire reviewed on April 23, 2018
Given 71% while driving a Mercedes Benz C class 230 kompressor, TModel (225/50 R16 V) on a combination of roads for 5,000 average miles
Exelent tires except noise, after 4000 km they started making rumbling noise.
And no it's not my wheel bearing it's the tires.
I would buy again.
Helpful 34 - tire reviewed on April 12, 2018
Given 81% while driving a Subaru Legacy IV (BP) 2.0i wagon (205/55 R16 V) on mostly country roads for 19,000 average miles
I have them on my Subaru Legacy 2004 wagon and it is actually the only tire to have used with that car as I fitted them directly when bought it 1,5 year ago. They are now 30000km and have a lot of thread to wear. I suspect they will last easily another 20000km. They are not used in an enthusiastic way as this is a heavy family car but the limits on the bends are huge. I have had a problem with them from the beginning with the braking. I am not very satisfied with them as I think is more to the tires issue and not the car's. They block easily. I will not buy them again as I need to experiment with other tires and maybe I am wrong about the feel and braking.
Helpful 15 - tire reviewed on April 12, 2018
Given 84% while driving a Mercedes Benz C180 (205/55 R16 V) on a combination of roads for 7,000 average miles
Mercedes C 180, 2013 Model, 205/55/16.
Michelin and Hankook review.

I have always been very careful and aware/educated when I bought new tires, I used to be a huge Michelin fan and held my nose when low-cost tires like Hankook etc was mentioned, it was unthinkable for me to use anything ells other than premium brands like Michelin.

After my original good Dunlop SP Sport FastResponse MO tires were worn out on my MB C180 I bought 4 new Michelin Primacy 3, actually against the recommendation from my tire-dealer who warned me about the Michelin's, for once I did not listen to good advice.

I have never been so surprised and disappointed about tires before, with the exception of some lethal LingLong tires on a rental car.

As I recently wrote about Michelin Pilot Sport 3 PS3 on my other car, a MB SLK 350, the Michelin Primacy 3 has basically the same slightly "weird" unsafe feeling under all circumstances.

In the dry the Primacy 3 have this somewhat strange "heavy" and "clumsy" feeling, a slightly unstable "wandering" feeling in straight driving and curvy country roads, it's like constantly driving on slippery pebble roads, it is not much or a big problem but enough to be very irritating especially on long journeys.

With the Dunlops my C180 was 100% stable at all speeds both on straight and curvy roads, a "light" and "agile" safe feeling with the Dunlops, never with the Primacy 3.

I have previously noted with other Michelin tires on other cars that they could have a slightly "heavier" feeling than other brands but more solid planted on the road, I always liked it before and it was never a problem like with the Primacy 3.

With Primacy 3 I also noted that braking in both wet and dry is slightly worse than the Dunlops, not a huge difference but absolutely noticeable.

In dry corners/turns the grip is often pretty good with the Primacy 3 but it is not consequent, I have never before experienced tires with so surprising unequal irregular qualities on the limits and in sharp turns as the Primacy 3 and it's basically that same slightly shaky/wobbly feeling as PS3 on the limits.

There is also a somewhat "weird" noise from the tires at all speeds, a "course" and "rough" noise, almost as if there were small pieces of metal in the tires. (spikes)

The comfort with the Primacy 3 in general is mediocre at the best, a huge negative surprise from what I expected, I never had perfect comfort with Michelin's before but I never had any complaints either.

It's acceptable performance in the wet, I never had problems in heavy rain in straight driving but again inconsequent surprising and "weird" behavior in sharp turns and corner, it is simply not possible to trust these tires.

I really don't have anything good to say about Michelin Primacy 3, I do not like them at all and I do not trust them, I am extremely surprised and disappointed about that.

I owned a 2000 Model VW Bora (Jetta) since new for many years, I have had Dunlop SP 8000, Uniroyal MS Plus 55, Michelin HP, Michelin Pilot Exalto on this car, all of them were good tires with no problems, very stable with good grip and acceptable/good comfort.

The current owner of this VW Bora bought Michelin Primacy 3, I have driven that car with the Primacy 3 and it's basically the same experience as I have with my MB C180, a good car reduced by bad tires, in addition to the similar problems with my C180 the VW Bora easily loses grip on the rear and wobbles side to side with the rear when pushed near the limits in turns, I have never previously experienced this with the VW Bora and any other tire-brands, this car is normally very stable in any situation, believe me, I have pushed that car to every limit.

I have driven a VW Golf TSI 2016 Model and a BMW 320i 2016 Model with Michelin Primacy 3 tires with basically the same negatives regarding "heavy/clumsy" feeling, stability problems and mediocre comfort/noise, although I did not push these cars to the limits in curves/turns so I can not comment on that.

After ca 2000 km and a long journey in my C180 I had enough, no more Primacy 3, I got rid of them.

After recommendation from a tire-dealer, who was aware of the "problems" with the obviously very overrated Michelin Primacy 3, I decided to change and buy the Hankook Ventus Prime 3 K125 which I would never had considered before.

As my tire dealer predicted, I was very positively surprised with the Hankook tires on my C180, much cheaper, much better than the Primacy 3, back to the "light" and "agile" feeling as with the Dunlops, very stable and planted in dry and wet, good braking, good comfort/noise, the wear is about average, nothing bad to say about the Hankook, good tires, very similar to my good Dunlop tires even at very high speeds.

I never had anything bad at all to say about Michelin tires on my own previous cars and other cars I previously have driven with Michelin tires, it was for a long time my absolute favorite tire-brand, it was good to drive on and they lasted long.

Nowadays my own experience with both new and older cars with the newest Michelin tires is always disappointing regardless of car and tire-size and based on comments from both tire dealers and consumers with different cars I can only agree that Michelin's now are widely overrated, and very overpriced, and even some budget tire-brands are superior in basically every way.

One explanation to the Michelin fail might be manufacturing process in different countries, I do not know, but the tires I tried lately were all manufactured in France except for one tire that was manufactured in Spain.

I always had correct alignment and tire-pressure, no mechanical problems with the cars, I can only conclude that Michelin for me is now a fallen "hero".
Helpful 48 - tire reviewed on February 20, 2018
Given 83% while driving a Renault Fluence (215/55 R17 V) on mostly town for 2,000 spirited miles
These replaced a set of Bridgestone Turanza ER300s which were wearing unevenly, getting noisy, and worst of all not gripping properly. Initial observations are positive:
- very precise steering with no "dead zone", especially at expressway speeds, compared to the ER300 - the difference is refreshing indeed!
- very good grip, definitely more confidence-inspiring than the ER300 when cornering near the limit
- low noise levels
And now for the negatives:
- they don't appear as efficient at clearing water and resisting aquaplaning as the Bridgestones, but it could have just been the crazy rains in Singapore of late
- I seem to be losing a bit in fuel economy; the average is down about 1km/litre
- at 215/55 the sidewalls look rather rounded and fat, but this is just nitpicking
But overall Hankook still have a happy customer, at SGD137 a donut they're cheaper than most "premium ST" tires here, even more so than Bridgestone's Ecopia EP300 model which is an "eco" tire.
Now let's see if the noise and grip levels hold...
Helpful 46 - tire reviewed on February 19, 2018