News : Hankook RS-2 road legal track tyre reviewed

[paulwoodford]

Hi all

I posted this review on the British Rally forum, following our test of these tyres on a couple of rallies. I would honestly say that for the price you can't go wrong. I have personally tried Toyo R888s, Yokohama A048s, and a selection of moulded a cut slicks/intermediate rally tyres so am talking with a degree of research under my belt. However this is still personal opinion.

To say we were pleased with the performance of the tyres is an absolute understatement. So far on the Saxo we have been running Kumho moulded slicks which I couldn't complain about particularly but I'd go as far as saying that these 'track day' Hankooks were as good if not marginally better as a mixed surface option.

Grip was fantastic - the tyres didn't appear to go off, they simply got better the more heat we got in, they responded significantly to changes in psi too which allowed us to get the best out of them from early on. The team actually had the Kumhos lined up ready to fit after SS2 but I told them to leave them!

The grip was progressive, very predictable and a lot of feedback on both smooth tarmac, broken concrete and gravel. We found ourselves catching far quicker cars on the gravel sections and with third in class to show for our efforts without so much as the need to touch the pressures since the first couple of stages that has to be testament itself.

I was advised by Garry Muir to give these a go as a budget alternative following the mysterious air loss issue with our Kumhos so close to the rally and as always I'm really pleased I follwed this advice.

Looking at reviews on the internet, they are meant to be as good in the wet as the dry...anyone want to buy a set of nearly new Kumho Inters?? (lol)

One thing I will say is although we did around 30 miles 'spirited' driving on the road to 'scrub' these tyres in, they needed fair bit more, and we struggled for grip for the first stage. Something to bear in mind if you try them.

Wear rate - well what can I say? They hardly looked used after one mixed surface rally, front or back. After a second rally on them, which was all tarmac and obviously as a result more heat intensive, the front ones are showing signs of wear, particularly on the leading edges showing the effects of running without an anti-roll bar perhaps (?). But still plenty of life left in them, and at £60 tyre can you afford not to give these a go?

A lot of single venue rally competitors use R888s or A048s, and while you'll get some funny looks and comments perhaps like we did with tyres that look more like road rubber than either of the aforementioned alternatives, the price difference speaks for itself.

Hope that's helpful for some people on a budget, and comes as a direct response to some people asking me to feedback following my previous post. I'm no expert, and I'm not exactly Sebastian Loeb. These are simply my views based on my own experience.

If any of you try them on your Saxos, be sure to post up and let us know how you get on.

Cheers

Paul

[Mochachino]

Good review. Wish we had some more members on this forum like you lol

[paulwoodford]

Cheers mate

I guess people like me are good guinea pigs for those who use Saxos on the road, for things that wear out at least lol!

[Bickerton]

Seen a few reviews for these on various forums from many countries.

Seems the classic they are great for the money but can get better if paying alot more per tyre (which is a daft arguement)

I have read that they are prone to going "greasy" with extended use.

Seems they are a standard tyre on some makes and managed to kinda cross over to the track day market, mainly due to a stiff side wall?

[adamskiTNR]

The second thanks was an accident by the way lol. missed the scroll bar

[Bickerton]

Have you had any experience with Federal 595 rs-r as these seem in a similar vein

[paulwoodford]

Originally Posted by Bickerton

Seen a few reviews for these on various forums from many countries.

Seems the classic they are great for the money but can get better if paying alot more per tyre (which is a daft arguement)

I have read that they are prone to going "greasy" with extended use.

Seems they are a standard tyre on some makes and managed to kinda cross over to the track day market, mainly due to a stiff side wall?

Why is it a daft argument? That's always going to be the case, but if you're going to paraphrase me, you'll need to read more carefully; I said they are arguably better in certain conditions than more expensive options.

Any tyre is prone to going greasy, as you put it, with extended use - I have experienced these with Pirelli moulded slicks and it doesn't get much more expensive than those so that's not something confined to cheaper tyres.

The earlier design of RS2s was specified on some road cars, but this new design was specifically redesigned with track use in mind. The sidewalls, again were designed inline with track requirements.

These tyres respond very well to tyre pressure and temperature adjustments, so in once sense that is great, but you have to have someone in your service crew who knows how to get the best from a tyre to keep them on form from the start of an event to the end really.

As I say - this is a personal opinion, but it follows the use of a lot of track/motorsport tyres so while it was useful to people in rally circles, I thought the fact that I used them on a Saxo would be useful to some people on here. And, I'm sure it will

[paulwoodford]

Originally Posted by Bickerton

Have you had any experience with Federal 595 rs-r as these seem in a similar vein

Nope - haven't used these. As a rule, I wouldn't use track day tyres for competition use, but it was suggested to me by the current Scottish Tarmac Rally Champion (in a Pug 106) that these might be good on a budget, as I had a problem shortly before a rally with my tyre selection.

[Bickerton]

Originally Posted by paulwoodford

Why is it a daft argument? That's always going to be the case, but if you're going to paraphrase me, you'll need to read more carefully; I said they are arguably better in certain conditions than more expensive options.

You mis-understand me, i mean it's a case of people (not you )when they will say "they aren't as good as ..." and insert a tyre that is up to £100 more per corner.

EDIT - Also seems these are cheaper elsewhere than Camskill for once

[paulwoodford]

Gotcha.

Where did you find them cheaper? I bought them from Camskill at £55 a tyre, which compared to our usual £120+ a corner seemed very good!

Not sure if they do them in 14" though, and for some events next season we will be going down a size so we will have to rethink that one.

[Harv]

I've heard/seen mixed reviews on the Hankook RS-2 tyres. What is the sidewall like - reinforced? As Paul has said, I've read the Hankook's get quite greasy after 20-25mins on track which isn't really ideal, but then again for £55 a corner you can't really complain.

After using R888's and A048's in the past with the last set of A048's only lasting me 2.5 track days, I'm going to be trying the Federal 595 RS-R tyres, as these seem to be up and coming and have been tested in the Nippon challenge with very good reviews. They have a reinforced sidewall that is comparable to R888's and A048's which is what I'm after. The cheapest I have seen the Federals is £250 for a set of 4 delivered which isn't bad at all.

As with most track day tyres though, most people tend to go for the big names Dunlop, Toyo, Yokohama etc. The prices these companies charge now though is getting ridiculous, sod spending £450+ for a set of tyres that only last 2 or 3 days.. Another reason why I will be trying the Federals as reviews have said they will last 6-10 track days depending on car spec, how it is driven etc.

I'm glad to see someone trying out different tyres though seeing as though the big names dominate this market. Nice review too !

[Bickerton]

Originally Posted by paulwoodford

Gotcha.

Where did you find them cheaper? I bought them from Camskill at £55 a tyre, which compared to our usual £120+ a corner seemed very good!

Not sure if they do them in 14" though, and for some events next season we will be going down a size so we will have to rethink that one.

My tyre do em for £49 delivered i think it was,
Camskill seem to be getting beaten on price by alot of other places all of a sudden, seems the bubble may have finally burst

[paulwoodford]

Nice one - I'll bear that in mind when/if we buy some more - that's a £24 saving on a set of 4!

[jzink]

Just a quick question my Saxo is purely a track carand get many trackdays use out of r888 in your opinion would the Rs-2 give as good grip on trackday surface not gravel as are very good price