Gshopper

I bought 5 Hankook R-S4 in June from Tire Rack to replace my old Falken 615K tires. I loved the Falkens but wanted to try the Hankooks, as they have a reputation for being extremely durable. I used them on my BRZ and had them to the track for a total of 5 track days. They performed well, but I noticed that they were starting to chunk after a brief time. See pictures below. Pressure was 33 PSI hot, car weighs about 2800 pounds, . I had them at Summit Point, Lime Rock, and NJMP - Thunderbolt. I drive relatively conservatively, as I do not have a trailer/ tow vehicle and have to be mindful of getting home safely after events.I do not think that I overdrove the tires, although the tires did allow me to throttle steer through some corners. I wrote to both Tire Rack and to Hankook. Tire Rack said it was because of abrasive road surfaces, aggressive driving, or misalignment. Hankook said they were 'unable to assist with orders that were not placed directly with us'.

I understand that this is track driving, and we shouldn't expect normal tire wear, but I'm very disappointed with the Hankooks. Won't be buying again. Never had this problem with Falkens, and I've gone through multiple sets. Anybody had similar experience, or am I an outlier?

gbuff

That looks like the left front which always gets the worst of it....assuming you have stock front camber (i.e. very little) I'd say that you need more air, the tread is moving around too much and the sidewall isn't stiff enough. I'd shoot for 38-40 hot on a stock suspension.

Actually I think you did pretty well with 5 track days on those, here are some of mine on their third track day. Different car (stock suspension and camber) and tires but same idea...the worn/torn areas are the outsides of the tires.

Gshopper

Thanks for the input. I added -1.5 degrees negative camber in the fronts. I tried higher pressures, but the sweet spot for grip seemed to happen at about 33

gbuff

If you don't add more camber you're going to have to put more air in at the expense of grip level to save that outside edge, or adjust your driving so you're not overdriving the front tires. Good luck!

jdistefa

In our experience running literally hundreds of hours on rental BMW race cars (weight around 2900).... RS4 is the most durable 200TW tire. Better than Falken, Dunlop, Bridgestone. The Hankooks have the stiffest sidewall of the lot. What you give up in ultimate grip (compared to RE71-RS) you gain in longevity.

We run them at 35 hot.

If you buy direct from Hankook Motorsport (TX) you'll get excellent service and setup advice.

I would agree with Gary (hi Gary!) that five days is pretty damn good!

gbuff

Hi Matt!

dgrobs

Goodnight Johnboy…

sf_c63

Had similar chunking as well. Decided to drive on the tires anyway and the sidewall burst (unsure if it was due to the chunking). I had a good number of track days on them but am much happier using a much faster less durable Nankang CRS.

Many race teams have a lot of success using the RS4 s an endurance tire .

dgrobs

Glad you're ok. You got lucky. Seen too many bad things happen with blowouts at speed. (not to me thankfully)

Maybe make better decisions going forward? Glad you weren't hurt (or worse, hurt someone else).

Last pic looks scary....

Olemiss540

I know Imma get flamed for this because I always do, but this is why I preach NT01s. They are sooooo hard to screw up, heat proof, fast enough for DE use, and last for a very long time.

Shield up.

docwyte

I run NT01's for DE days, have for years. They just work.

ANGST

I'm on my 3rd set of RS4s , first set on my S550 Mustang , other 2 on my 718. I have never seen or heard about this happening ..... I have also never seen RS4s wear down to the bars and not be completely heat cycled out.

dgrobs

Drive faster….

gbuff

You can wreck tires without being fast, I do it all the time

dgrobs

Lol…