Hankook Ventus RS4 Review

skitch · 09-10-2017, 08:19 PM

In my search for a dedicated track tire and wheel set, and after a ton of help from members on this site, I ended up going with a 245/40-17 square set up on my bone stock 2014 M235i RWD. This set up featured TR Racing 17x8 ET40 wheels in matte black and Hankook RS4 rubber.
I bought everything from Tire Rack (including TPMS) for just under $1500 delivered to ABQ, NM. Took about 48 hours from order to delivery.
After looking at specs on Tire Rack and hearing concerns from members here, I was worried about the width of the tire and the potential for rubbing (up front). I am happy to report that the spacing between the rubber and the strut is very close to OEM (which is surprisingly tight...about 5 mm). No spacers required, and tires sit nicely in the wheel wells a few MM within the fenders.
After getting them on the car, I decided on an alignment from a decent shop here in town (Chet's Wheel Alignment) and had everything set to OEM specs.
I've been driving them around town with pressures set to 33F and 35R. Road noise is no worse than the Michelin AS 3+s they replaced.
This weekend, I took them to an HPDE. I had to drive about 350 miles from ABQ to Pueblo, CO. The HPDE was held by the RM BMW CCA at Pueblo Motorsports (great club and fun track). I'm a novice driver, but pushed the car hard and put in four 20 minute sessions on a day with a high temp of 95 degrees. I set the cold pressure to 30 all around, which resulted in 36-37 PSI for hot pressure. That seemed about perfect, as the fronts wore to just about the tip of the triangles around the tires circumference. At the end of the day, the wear seemed pretty even across the entire tread (none of the dreaded outer front wear I'm used to on the OEM PSS tires). Grip on the track was fine for me, and even when my instructor did a few laps with my car, he too was impressed with the handling and traction.
I reset pressures for the trip home to 34F and 35R, and after 5 hours/350 miles of highway, they never got higher than 39 hot. Road noise and handling were still very civil.
I inspected the fronts tonight in the garage, and still, no sign of any rubbing.
Overall, I'm very happy with this setup and think this is a no brainer for anyone looking to track their car.
I plan to run this as my summer/track set up. I'll swap back over to my AS3+s when the temps dip regularly into the 50's. But until then, I plan on putting a few more miles on the RS4s.

evannever · 09-11-2017, 10:10 PM

Nice write up. Any pics of the setup?

skitch · 09-12-2017, 09:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by evannever

Nice write up. Any pics of the setup?

I put this same review in the wheels and tires section with pics.

skitch · 10-29-2017, 06:53 PM

Just did my second HPDE on these tires. I joined the local PCA chapter for a day on the track at Arroyo Seco in southern NM. Ambient temps this time were between a low of 40 and a high of about 65F. This track has older pavement (rough) and is pretty technical. I pushed the car hard in six 20 minute sessions and the tires held up nicely, though slid more than my past time out (I suspect the lower temps contributed to this). I still think 36 hot is the sweet spot for this set up and I'm still happy with the tires. I have about 180 miles of track time, plus about 3k miles of street miles on them and they are holding up pretty well. I'll try to post some pics.

skitch · 10-29-2017, 07:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skitch

Just did my second HPDE on these tires. I joined the local PCA chapter for a day on the track at Arroyo Seco in southern NM. Ambient temps this time were between a low of 40 and a high of about 65F. This track has older pavement (rough) and is pretty technical. I pushed the car hard in six 20 minute sessions and the tires held up nicely, though slid more than my past time out (I suspect the lower temps contributed to this). I still think 36 hot is the sweet spot for this set up and I'm still happy with the tires. I have about 180 miles of track time, plus about 3k miles of street miles on them and they are holding up pretty well. I'll try to post some pics.

Pics:

rich8566 · 11-12-2017, 07:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skitch

Quote:

Originally Posted by skitch

Just did my second HPDE on these tires. I joined the local PCA chapter for a day on the track at Arroyo Seco in southern NM. Ambient temps this time were between a low of 40 and a high of about 65F. This track has older pavement (rough) and is pretty technical. I pushed the car hard in six 20 minute sessions and the tires held up nicely, though slid more than my past time out (I suspect the lower temps contributed to this). I still think 36 hot is the sweet spot for this set up and I'm still happy with the tires. I have about 180 miles of track time, plus about 3k miles of street miles on them and they are holding up pretty well. I'll try to post some pics.

Pics:

I used the R-S3s on my 14' 235i with lots of success. I ran a square setup with a 17' wheel all around with 245-40-17 R-S3s. I am hoping to use the R-S4s this coming season on my M2.

09-10-2017, 08:19 PM	#1
skitch Private 32 Rep 53 Posts Drives: 2014 M235i Coupe Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: ABQ, NM iTrader: (0)	Hankook Ventus RS4 Review In my search for a dedicated track tire and wheel set, and after a ton of help from members on this site, I ended up going with a 245/40-17 square set up on my bone stock 2014 M235i RWD. This set up featured TR Racing 17x8 ET40 wheels in matte black and Hankook RS4 rubber. I bought everything from Tire Rack (including TPMS) for just under $1500 delivered to ABQ, NM. Took about 48 hours from order to delivery. After looking at specs on Tire Rack and hearing concerns from members here, I was worried about the width of the tire and the potential for rubbing (up front). I am happy to report that the spacing between the rubber and the strut is very close to OEM (which is surprisingly tight...about 5 mm). No spacers required, and tires sit nicely in the wheel wells a few MM within the fenders. After getting them on the car, I decided on an alignment from a decent shop here in town (Chet's Wheel Alignment) and had everything set to OEM specs. I've been driving them around town with pressures set to 33F and 35R. Road noise is no worse than the Michelin AS 3+s they replaced. This weekend, I took them to an HPDE. I had to drive about 350 miles from ABQ to Pueblo, CO. The HPDE was held by the RM BMW CCA at Pueblo Motorsports (great club and fun track). I'm a novice driver, but pushed the car hard and put in four 20 minute sessions on a day with a high temp of 95 degrees. I set the cold pressure to 30 all around, which resulted in 36-37 PSI for hot pressure. That seemed about perfect, as the fronts wore to just about the tip of the triangles around the tires circumference. At the end of the day, the wear seemed pretty even across the entire tread (none of the dreaded outer front wear I'm used to on the OEM PSS tires). Grip on the track was fine for me, and even when my instructor did a few laps with my car, he too was impressed with the handling and traction. I reset pressures for the trip home to 34F and 35R, and after 5 hours/350 miles of highway, they never got higher than 39 hot. Road noise and handling were still very civil. I inspected the fronts tonight in the garage, and still, no sign of any rubbing. Overall, I'm very happy with this setup and think this is a no brainer for anyone looking to track their car. I plan to run this as my summer/track set up. I'll swap back over to my AS3+s when the temps dip regularly into the 50's. But until then, I plan on putting a few more miles on the RS4s.
	Appreciate 3 MadOzodi53.00 Dylan861330.00 rich8566608.50 Tweet Quote

09-11-2017, 10:10 PM	#2
evannever Registered 1 Rep 2 Posts Drives: soon Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Texas iTrader: (0)	Nice write up. Any pics of the setup?
	Appreciate 0 Quote

10-29-2017, 06:53 PM	#4
skitch Private 32 Rep 53 Posts Drives: 2014 M235i Coupe Join Date: Mar 2016 Location: ABQ, NM iTrader: (0)	Just did my second HPDE on these tires. I joined the local PCA chapter for a day on the track at Arroyo Seco in southern NM. Ambient temps this time were between a low of 40 and a high of about 65F. This track has older pavement (rough) and is pretty technical. I pushed the car hard in six 20 minute sessions and the tires held up nicely, though slid more than my past time out (I suspect the lower temps contributed to this). I still think 36 hot is the sweet spot for this set up and I'm still happy with the tires. I have about 180 miles of track time, plus about 3k miles of street miles on them and they are holding up pretty well. I'll try to post some pics.
	Appreciate 1 rich8566608.50 Quote