All-season tires remain the most popular choice for most drivers, and for good reason. All-season tires deliver long wear, a refined ride, capable handling, year-round traction, low noise, and civilized road manners and stability on the highway. While all-season tires are great, they might be lacking in the performance department, especially if you’re looking to push your vehicle. That’s where performance tires come in.

The Hankook Ventus Prime2 (K115B) is a performance tire that checks all the aforementioned boxes but is also packed with features and innovations that most all-season tires just do not offer. Along with great wet-weather or dry-weather traction, the Ventus Prime2 (K115B) nudges right up against the kind of handling, cornering, and braking performance you’d expect from an ultra-high-performance (UHP) tire. According to our SimpleScore rating system, the Ventus Prime2 (K115B) gets numerical ratings of 8.0 for traction, 8.6 for handling, and 6.6 for longevity, with an overall average SimpleScore of 7.4.

But is this the right tire for your ride and budget? Let’s take a look in this Hankook Ventus Prime2 (K115B) review.

Features and Benefits

Here are just a few of the features that make the Hankook Ventus Prime2 (K115B) such a great performer and a great value:

• Advanced rubber formulation is designed for long wear and enhanced wet-weather traction
• Asymmetric all-season tread pattern features zones of the tread that are designed to deliver traction in wet or dry conditions
• Solid center rib aids in straight-line stability, steering response
• Wide circumferential grooves provide a pathway for standing water to be evacuated from the tire’s contact patch to resist hydroplaning in wet weather
• Innovative “jaguar tooth” groove design enhances grip on wet or dry surfaces
• Run-flat technology lets a driver go as far as another 50 miles at 50 mph even after tire failure and complete loss of inflation pressure
• A dense pattern of sipes multiplies the tire’s surface area and traction with hundreds of extra biting edges to slice through snow and slush
• Tread pitch is randomized and computer-tuned to keep road noise low
• Low rolling resistance design helps save money on fuel
• Rubber formulation is softer and stickier for good mechanical grip on road surfaces
• Durable construction with polyester casing, twin steel belt package, and nylon cap ply

Pros and Cons

This is a tire where the positives definitely outweigh the negatives:

PROS:

• Quiet and comfortable ride
• Great traction on wet or dry pavement with crisp handling, short braking distances
• Steering response is direct and immediate without being touchy
• Run-flat construction for peace of mind

CONS:

• No warranty coverage
• Summer tread compound – should be swapped for all-season tires when temperatures fall below 40-45 degrees F
• Ride comfort could be improved.

SimpleTire’s view on Hankook Ventus Prime2 (K115B) tires

For some time, our team at SimpleTire has been pretty impressed with just about everything from Hankook. That includes the Ventus Prime2 (K115B), a performance tire that S designed for excellent performance in wet or dry conditions. The run-flat technology of the Ventus Prime2 (K115B) includes a sidewall that’s reinforced and stiffened to support a vehicle’s entire weight even in the event of complete loss of inflation pressure, but that doesn’t mean a sacrifice in ride quality. The stiffer shoulder blocks of the Ventus Prime2 (K115B) help resist the inertia and momentum of cornering and keep tread deformation to a minimum when you push this tire through hard maneuvers.

Hankook engineers did a great job of noise suppression with this tire, as its tread pitch cancels certain frequencies and resonances to keep highway noise low. The Ventus Prime2 (K115B) is eager to be tossed around on twisty roads or onramps, with control that’s consistent and secure right up to the limits of your vehicle’s handling properties. It keeps its composure over rough and irregular pavement without getting jittery or transmitting too much roughness and vibration to passengers, and braking performance is sharp and direct with short stopping distances on wet or dry pavement.

No, the Ventus Prime2 (K115B) doesn’t have a mileage warranty – but many tires with run-flat construction aren’t covered with a mileage warranty. And yes, the Ventus Prime2 (K115B) features a summer tread formulation that will stiffen up and lose traction in temperatures below 40-45 degrees F, but it also comes in at a lower price point than many summer and UHP tires. Finally, the run-flat technology within the Ventus Prime2 (K115B) is great for extra protection but it does come at the expense of ride comfort, meaning that drivers should expect to feel more bumps in the road. Fortunately, this is an issue that’s common for run-flat tires in general.

If you’ve got your eye out for a high-performance tire for your sporty sedan, coupe, or crossover and don’t want to empty your bank account for the price of admission, the Hankook Ventus Prime2 (K115B) is worth a look.

Vehicles Hankook Ventus Prime2 (K115B) is a good replacement tire for

The Hankook Ventus Prime2 (K115B) is used as original equipment on select vehicles, but it’s also a great replacement tire for vehicles like the:

• Audi A6
• BMW 5 Series
• Chevrolet Camaro
• Dodge Charger
• Ford Fiesta
• Honda Civic
• Hyundai Veloster
• Kia K5
• Nissan Altima
• Subaru WRX
• Toyota Camry