trstnhn

I had the Michelin Sport 4S on my previous car ('13 Infiniti G37S) but I realized the tire was unnecessarily too high performance for me. I'm mostly a commuter who drives normally, with a quick jolt here and there.

So, I started looking at cheaper tires and found Hankook Ventus V12 Evo2. A full set of them are about $150~$200 cheaper than a full set of Michelin, with the Costco -$130 deal that comes around here and there, so the difference isn't that much. However, the Evo2s are performance tires as well and have a lot of really good reviews to justify the $600~ price.

I got quoted by several tire shops $700~$730 for the 4 Evos, Installation, Disposal, Tax AND Allignment.
The Michellin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ comes out to $933 on costco's website. With the -$130 deal, it would be $800. Add in an alignment and it comes to about $900.

So the price difference is only $170~$200. Which one would you choose?

I also need new tires and alignment right now but the current tires might be able to wait until the costco deal comes around again (fingers crossed).

I forgot to mention that Hankook currently has a $60 rebate. At $230~$260 price difference, is the Evo2 a no brainer?

Flash5

Unless you've mitigated the front inner tire wear issue with stiffer LCA bushings, I would go with the Evos. The issue here is you're debating a summer tire vs an all season tire. The Firehawk Indy 500's would be the best choice if you want a cheaper summer tire, it really is an amazing tire for the price almost every person recommends it. I run the Pilot Sport A/S 3+'s right now and they are awesome, but that's because I needed something for the winter asap and didn't want winter tires. I play on running Firehawk Indy 500's next.

itsx

I've had tires installed by my local costco before (South San Francisco) and they've managed nick my wheels with their tire irons.

The reason Costco can be cheap is because they charge like $16 a tire for mount+balance+disposal, whereas other places range from $20 - $35
I usually buy the tires either online or in person and get them mounted + balanced at a good shop. I pay $20 per tire at my local shop.

If you were looking at just tires, I'd suggest considering the Firehawk Indy 500's, or the V12 evo2s. Both are great commuter tires.
The Firehawks can be purchased at Firestone, Wheelworks, or TireRack. Wheelworks and Firestone both offer military discounts.
If I had to pick between those two, I'd get the Firehawk indy 500's. If budget is an issue then whichever is cheaper as they're both great commuter tires.

Just to note, Firestone/wheel works charges extra for mounting "low profile" tires, whereas other shops I've been to charge a flat rate

E46CT

Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 (see my old posts from over a year ago)

I'm a 3x former Michelin Pilot Super Sport owner

Switched to the Firehawks. Considering the IS eats tires, the Firehawks are THE ONLY choice for this car.

They are very very high performance. I used to do amazingly aggressive maneuvers with them. And they happen to be the cheapest!. can't ask for more.

Forget V12s. those tires are so 2005. great back in the day but today anything out of china is better.

Go Firehawks. The ultmate Japanese tire

trstnhn

Thanks for the recommendation!

I tried to look up pricing for these tires but I'm having some difficulties.

- Tireplus says to enter a valid zipcode (I live in San Diego, 91915)
- Firestone says the tire does not fit my vehicle (2016 Lexus IS 200T F-Sport)
- Nothing happens when I press calculate out the door price on Wheelworks

Only TireRack works and I can get the set for $561.97 with the tax included.

I already have 2 shops that are willing to install the Hankook Ventus V12 Evo2 and perform an alignment for $700 OTD.

After spending $561.97 on the Firehawks, I doubt I can get it installed and an alignment performed for $140.

What do you guys think? Just go for the Hankooks? Pay a little more for the Firehawks?

Flash5

Have you tried calling to get a quote?

logix1229

Michelin pilot super sport!

Miintt

I would skip the hankooks if I were you. I’m on my second set of V12s currently but I’ll be switching to pilot sport 4S. The hankooks have too soft of a sidewall in my opinion and it makes the turn-in feel very sloppy. I’ve been able to get about 12k miles on each set of the hankooks so im also curious to find out how long the michelins will last

trstnhn

Do you have the V12 Evo2? I've heard people complaining about the soft sidewalls about the previous gen but not the Evo2. Do Evo2's have soft sidewall as well?

Miintt

Yes I have the Evo2s and it does feel like the sidewalls are still pretty soft. It's the most obvious when going into a turn.

itsx

Have you tried looking up the tires based on the sizes?
Assuming you have a RWD with stock wheels, the stock tire size is:

225/40/18
255/35/18

I've found them on the firestone website:
https://www.firestonetire.com/catalo...ue&country=US#
https://www.firestonetire.com/catalo...rue&country=US

You can ust call and have them shipped to the stores. I've done this a few times before and told them I just needed tires. I'd get them mounted elsewhere.

I typically pay $20/tire and $120 ish for an alignment

Miintt

So I had the pilot sport 4s mounted today and its a night and day difference from the hankooks. My car used to be really bouncy before and I always suspected it was the soft sidewalls of the hankooks but now that I have the new tires on I know for sure thats exactly what it was. Honestly its worth the price difference

HOMER350

I'm in San Diego too. Evans Tire has them...not in stock but they can get in 1-2 days.
They just did a sell but the next one I'm probably getting tires...which I've decided they will be the Firehawk Indy.

They do the buy 2 get 2. Also Firestone does a $60 rebate. Evan's makes you buy the tire protection plan with the BOGO which for those I believe came out to $109 for all 4.

HOMER350

Ah yeah, also at Evans I recall my total for the staggered OEM size setup was under $600 installed. Unbeatable for a tire of that performance.

They do a free "alignment check" for what it's worth. Btw don't let Evans do anything but tires on your car haha.

GoodSmile

me im running uniroyal tigerpaws on my 350, quite, comfortable, sticks on the road well, best budget tires