Hankook K425 Tyres

[wass]

I have just had a local mobile tyre fitter replace all 4 tyres on our gen 2 prius with Hankook K425 low rolling resistance tyres. I had read a "tire" ( obviously american)review which indicated that although the name implies cheap and cheerful, Hankook are actually pitching their product onto the market in direct competition with the bigger established names and in comparison tests they are showing up as at least equal to the likes of Bridgestone, Pirelli and Michelin in terms of wet and dry weather grip. AT £344 including vat, fitting, ballancing, valves, mobile service, I thought that price was very competative indeed. I will keep an eye on the rate of wear, weather performance and the running economics and will post updates on our progress. Oh , by the way, the gen 2 spirit tyre spec we are using is 195/55 R16 H 87.

[cootuk]

http://www.rezulteo-tyres.co.uk/hankook-tyres/kinergy-eco-k425-tyre/test-review-119506

Wear life doesn't seem that good, but other scores seem pretty good compared to premium brands.

Hankook do have a good reputation for some tyres once you get over the non-premium brand image (which is based on advertising and some pretty dire hedgefinders sold by major chains).

[Joseph D]

I'll be following this post, as I'll soon be buying new tyres for the fronts of my Gen II. Also be keen to hear of your experience with the Hankooks.

I've been looking at various lesser named brands, too. I was thinking of some Yokohama C.Drive 2's which are about £3.50 more per tyre fully fitted than the Hankook Kinergy Eco K425's.

Hopefully you'll notice an immediate difference in fuel economy. :D

2 questions:

1) What pressures did the installer set the front and backs?

2) What tyres did you have previously fitted?

[wass]

1) What pressures did the installer set the font and backs?

2) What tyres did you have previously fitted?

1) interesting question. The installer set the tyre pressures to 35/33 f/r.

I reset them to 38/36 f/r since I found that 35/33 tends to wear off the tyre edges in preference to a more uniform wear pattern created by the higher pressure.

2)Tyres which were previously fitted were Bridgestone Turanza non eco. These tyres werent worn out, they had 3.5 to 4mm tread left on them and had been fitted to the car from new. They had covered 43,000 miles and had recently developed small circumferential cracks along the edges of the tread but not serious enough to have failed a ministry of transport test. Given the quantity of water they had been asked to deal with recently, they had done remarkably well but the cracks along with the promise of more potential to aquaplane persuaded me to invest in more tread which is more securely attached to the tyre carcass.

Initial impressions of the Hankook are that hey are quieter and give a more smooth ride. The tyres will need to be properly worn in before I am able to comment on wet/dry grip and road holding. Since I dont really pay much attention to the on board computer fuel consumption claims I will await the next fuel fill before i can really make any judgement on fuel economy.

[Joseph D]

... snip> I've been looking at various lesser named brands, too. ... <snip>

I came across these: Fulda EcoControl HP (unfortunately they do not do these in the Gen III size)

Reasonably priced, safe and economical - there doesn't seem to be a downside. Although they are rated as summer tyres, the wet braking figures seems impressive.

Has anyone fitted them to their Prius Gen II to give a real world comment?

[wass]

Having completed 500 miles I can make the following observations.

The new Hankook K425 kinergy eco tyres use about 5% less fuel than the 5 year old turanzas which were removed form the car,

The Hankook tyres were significantly cheaper than replacing the turanzas like for like and way cheaper than fitting eco turanzas.

Dificult to judge braking performance since I have yet to encounter an emergency braking scenario with elther the old or new tyres.

Handling is very good and definitely better than the 5 year old tyres.

Ride quality is better and more quiet than the old tyres.

There is no scuffing on the edges of the tyres from exhuberant cornering unlike the old tyres, however this may be just due the the comparative ages of the respective tyres.

[Joseph D]

<snip> tyres use about 5% less fuel <snip>

Thanks for the follow up Wass, most helpful.

If it is not too much trouble can you provide the before and after data (mpg??) you used to calculate the above percentage improvement in consumption as I would be interested in that too. Mainly was it 45 mpg improving to 48 mpg or more like 62 mpg improving to 65 mpg?

Thanks again.

[wass]

<snip> tyres use about 5% less fuel <snip>

Thanks for the follow up Wass, most helpful.

If it is not too much trouble can you provide the before and after data (mpg??) you used to calculate the above percentage improvement in consumption as I would be interested in that too. Mainly was it 45 mpg improving to 48 mpg or more like 62 mpg improving to 65 mpg?

Thanks again.

It was about 50 improving to 53 mpg nder pretty much the same driving conditions and journey speeds. Even the test driver (wife) was the same!