Hankook Ventus V2 concept2 

If you are confused by conflicting reviews about how well this tire handles wet weather, so was I. I can explain:

Wet "Traction", meaning specifically the tires' ability to grip the road when accelerating or braking in a straight line, is PHENOMENAL. I was very nervous on the junky tires my car came with (keep in mind it's a 1985 RX-7 and I got it with 250k miles) because its my first car without ABS. Well let me say that braking in even heavy rain feels nearly as confident and powerful as it does in the dry, and it's just about as hard to spin the tires under acceleration as it is when they are dry.

Wet cornering, however... well it's astonishingly bad considering how well the tire performs in a straight line. It is by no means unacceptable, but it isn't befitting of a "high performance tire", and it makes the tires capabilities feel unbalanced. I can't comment on ice/snow, as it doesn't freeze where I live.

Dry performance (traction and cornering) is quite good. Its not going to cut it for spirited driving in a sporty car with 300+ horsepower, but its right about in the sweet spot for your Z3 or Miata or similarly modest sports car for street (not track) driving. Grip is good and breakaway is super progressive. Ultimate traction isn't on par with more expensive all seasons or summer tires, but I don't find it at all disappointing. The tires roar near the limit of grip to let you know you're approaching it.

I'm fairly happy with the tires, the only reason I wouldn't buy them again is because I like to experiment with different tires. As long as you know they'll put a substantial damper on spirited twisty driving in the wet.

Keep in mind that, like almost any symmetric directional tire, it has a solid center rib which improves steering response, but it makes the tire feel jittery and nervous on grooved concrete as is on some highways. If you do a lot of driving on grooved concrete at speed, I recommend avoiding this tire or any symmetric directional tire.

its a great tire great grip the entire life of the tire. by no means are these snow tires. rain and wet ground no problems

I previously had the Hankook Noble S2 and thought I would give these a try since they were at a great price. Only had these for 2,000 miles, and my first impression is that they are as good as the Noble. Great steering response and doesn't have a lot of road noise. We get quite heavy rain in Dallas and the V2s provide adequate wet traction.

I was pleasantly suprised how well these tires stick. I have yet to get loose on these, and pushed as hard as i was comfortable with on the street. No noise yet that i can tell, even with the top down. Probably not a good auto-X tire, but for spirited daily driving id say there great so far.

These are the tires that came with my purchase of an 2002 S2000, and was willing to give them a shot given how great the car was taken care of by the previous owner. It was a good choice, and I would definitely suggest these to someone. Personally, I prefer dedicated tires for each season, but if I had to use all seasons, this would be my choice. Let me start here:

Dry traction -- Great. I've pushed the car to where I am comfortable on a public road and never lost any significant traction. However, on concrete, and brick these tires will give up quickly (which is normal). You hit a concrete strip, or brick crosswalk and you will feel the backend instantly start moving around on you when pushing the limit. When driving normally, these tires have never come close to letting go on me.

Wet Traction -- Amazing! Colorado has had some very furious rains recently, and I was SHOCKED at the way these tires literally just feel as if they were cutting straight through the water on the road. It quite literally feels like I am separating the water from the road as I drive, and going through puddles with these tires... lets just say I've never felt so confident in my life. I decided to really test the limit and took it to a wet parking lot. Was able to get them loose, and they did eventually give up as all tires would -- but it took A LOT of effort. NOTE: Do be careful on road paint as these tires will slip on wet road paint.

Snow Traction -- Not so great. You drive is light snow and slush they will be fine, but you get on a snow packed road and you better know how to countersteer. These aren't as remarkable in the slippery stuff, but I will say I was able to start from a standstill on a hill from a stop light. Granted I NEVER stopped wheelspinning, but the fact that I was able to get enough traction to get me going, and keep me going was really all I needed. The rest was all about me controlling the car which I was able to do.

In the end, I'd buy these again

I delivered pizzas on these tires for almost two years (in Ohio) in every single condition you could imagine ... 90 degree summers, -10 degree ice storm winters, rainy springtime and leafy fall, you name it. It's definitely preferable to drive in dry, smooth conditions. Dry traction is fantastic for a cheap tire and the limit is very easy to discover and teeter on. Wet traction is weak, but very manageable as long as you keep common sense about you. I've never hydroplaned on these tires suddenly or by accident. Icey and snowy traction is, as you could imagine, very poor but much better than a serious UHP summer tire. Overall I'm very, very happy with these tires. I've put over 30,000 miles on them and they're not even half way worm yet. They're very responsive for the price and perfect for a daily driven car in mixed conditions. I will try other tires soley to broaden my horizons, but would strongly recommend these to anyone who needs a compromise between all out performance, mixed driving and weather conditions and tire life/cost effectiveness.

I was looking for a budget performance all season tire for my 23 WRX and these have not disappointed yet. Living in OKC, the weather can change at anytime during early spring, and these tires have been trustworthy and comfortable in warm and stormy rainy days. Tire Rack also made the tire and fitment size search easy. I'm not one to leave comments or reviews, but I've been pretty happy with my purchase and will be coming back in the future.

Great tires..perfect for a daily driver but still grip when you want them to. Ride nice and smooth no noise at all

Had these tires for 75k miles. Worn tires down to just at the wear line. These tires are great.... price is okay ($360 four tires & includes install). Wears even and excellent traction we or dry. Ride noise is excellent (low, cabin level of 63db) but these tires do get very noise (75db, cabin sound level) if you don't rotate then after 15-20k. Overall great tire.

Last 4 months of tire life was most rain SoCal every experience in many decades. During rain storm mild hydro planning (regain traction with light lift of gas pedal) was experienced past 70mph during 3-4in rain. Please note this was experienced at the end of these tires life.

Getting another set now (same tires). As mentioned before tires are worn down to the beginning of the wear line. Even tho there is still some life left in them I opted to change these out because the tread was separating from the tire. The separation is pretty server (both fronts at 75k miles). Not only thread separation you also see tears in the rubber (and your see separated steel belt) where contact patch meets the tire wall. Kudos to Strong tire construction and design because the tires kept together. I noticed this during DIY break pad change. Early warning signs are high road noise and vibration. Good tires.

For a cheap tire it's worth the money in my opinion. Has great traction the ride comfort is nice only downfall with these tires is that in heavy rain at speeds above 70 mph is a little iffy. It's hard to break traction with these and tread wear is awesome. I would buy these agian in a heartbeat. Also when taking a hard corner the tires stick to the road good and don't make a sound. The tread is a kind of soft which is good for traction and they wear really slowly.

I put these tires on my car because I live in Chicago and it was the end of October and I still had summer tires on my car. I needed something cheap and came across these. The only reason I bought them was because treadwear is rated 500. I've had them on for 5 months and i drive every day, and they've only worn down to 8/32. But other than the treadwear these tires ----. They are absolute garbage in the rain and snow. But I expected that. In dry conditions they're better but they're not the greatest. If you're looking for a cheap tire that will last a long time and you don't care about performance or traction, then this is the best bang for your buck. If you at all want a tire that handles well or gets any sort of traction look elsewhere.

Overall good tires. Very good in summer, eh in Minnesotan winter. Good on gravel and dirt roads. One big let down is how poorly they handle grooved pavement, they do shimmy on grooved pavement. Decent traction in snow but can get loose if you want. Very competitive pricing. Tread wear isn’t the best but isn’t terrible.

My wife was driving today and was caught in a light snowstorm. Fortunately, a young man helped her get home as she had a lot of trouble climbing a hilly road near our home and she could not get any traction and was moving sideways with low speed. I drove the car home later when conditions were better but wet and slushy in spots. Poor choice for winter driving in upstate New York rural area.

I've owned my 2007 Miata for 6 years and have driven in all conditions. Recently I purchased these tires and continued to drive as I always have. One morning in a light rain when I finished a cloverleaf onto a highway the car spun out of control. I did a 360 and thankfully didn't hit anything. Since that time I've driven very carefully whenever the roads are wet. There is a noticeable slipping and sliding on the road regardless of speed. These tires are worthless on wet roads. More accurately, they are dangerous. For 6 years my car had no slipping problems. Regardless of cost, I have to consider replacing these tires.