Martin S.

Tire Rack does not have any of their 245/40/18 Z 214 tires now....my Tire Rack called Hankook while I was on hold and they told him they are out and they have no plans to build any more of these tires. Damn...the 245 and 275 combo was such a great bargain for a UTQR 40 rated tire, same rating as a Hoosier R6.

Oh well...I have been having incredible luck with the Nitto NT-01 tires, a UTQR 100 tire. They are about $400 a set cheaper than Hoosiers and good for 15 to 20 heat cycles, with some of the tires best performance occurring just before cording. I am going to stick with Nittos, refuse to pay 40% more for Hoosier R6 tires that last about 50% less.

Veloce Raptor

Yep, I had been using the Z214's as well in 245-40-17. Can't get them either. Amazing in the modern era that a company like Hankook cannot keep its supply chain full of such a popular product.

333pg333

Still can't figure out why they don't sell the Z221 into the US either? They wouldn't be able to keep up with demand. It's faster than the Nitto.

Matt Romanowski

I would bet it's not a case of can't keep up with demand and more a case of don't care to. Just like Goodyear, I'm sure the profit margin on track tires is much less than passenger tires, so only a finite amount of resources is allocated to them.

mhm993

umm, Tire rack web page shows 245.40.18 C51 in stock and on special.

Hankook has incredibly unpredictable inventory. I buy 12 tires at a time when available.

67King

I don't think a company like Hankook thinks of an R-compound as a popular tire. The market base compared to street tires is minimal. What do you figure, maybe 10,000 road race cars compared to 300 million street cars?

Veloce Raptor

I dunno. It is the spec tire for the ITC Cayman series. Nearly every BMW racer I know uses them. They are ALWAYS backordered, so demant consistently exceeds supply. So gotta be more than 10,000 tires. And again, I am amazed that a modern company is unaware of one of its most demand-exceeding-supply (and highest margin) products.

67King

Sorry, I meant there may be 10,000 potential target customers in their market base, not 10,000 tires. Was unaware of the spec status, though. You'd think given that, and the publicity being a spec tire would bring, that they'd put more focus on it. But how many ITC Caymans are there? A few hundred at best? How many BMW racers are there, a couple thousand at best? Compared to 300,000,000 or so cars on the streets. You are looking at probably tenths to hundredths of a percent of their total volume.

Lemming

discounttiredirect had 12 in that size last week.

Lemming

I was under the impression that Hankook was a very popular race tire in Europe but has not really been successful in the US for some unknown reason. Like others, I prefer the Z214 to R6's, even taking out the price difference.

mhm993

Disount tires has lots of 17's available. Just ordered another set just in case their demise is true, 225 and 275, with a $25 coupon discount. Some 18 sizes, too. Get em while you can!

CornerCarver

Is the C 71 compound a good choice for 30 minute sprint race?

Martin S.

IMHO, Z 214 C 51 is a great value, IF, they have your size. These tires have been hard to get for some time.

philstireservice

Trust me Hankook is a crappy tire company to do business with.
Why not try BFG. Better price than Hoosier. Same lap times if not better. Better life too.

por944s2

Don't know anyone who runs BFG that agrees with your statement. Would love it to be true.