Hankook RS3 change treadwear to meet new "Street" class rules.
 

Hankook RS3's recently changed their treadwear rating from 140 to 200 in order to meet with the compliance of the street class change in 2015. Question is, Did their compound actually change or did they just decide to stamp a new treadwear rating on the side? Any input on this? Since the rule for the 200 TW doesnt go into effect until 2015, I may pick up a set of 140 TW for the '13-'14 season. For the 285/35R18 RS3's, tire rack even has them listed twice. One for 140 and one for 200.



Changes for Solo

http://scca.cdn.racersites.com/prod/...april-solo.pdf

You probably know about this already

Tire Review - UTQG: Is it the Beginning of the End for the Regs No One Wa...

Plus a couple other Internet pages echoing the same thing, seems like the UTQG rating has wiggle room as long as manufacturer can justify it. My understanding is that there isn't a direct mathematic translation between UTQG rating and mileage (although one can estimate)

So my question is what's the difference in life expectancy of 140 vs 200 really?

Sry a bit off topic.....I do not know whether hankook changed the compound however.

I've been telling members at Costco for years that the Treadwear rating is pointless and that an actual given and verified mileage warranty is what they should be looking for. They want a Bridgestone tire with a 450 Treadwear rating but no mileage warranty over a 400 rating with a 40k warranty. I am constantly hearing "Oh well this tire has a higher rating so its going to last longer, right?" Well whatever. I always try to tell them treadwear guarantees nothing and if they listen, good for them. Most of them don't care for what we have to say though. It's always fun when they come back and complain about the mileage they got on them and ask about a warranty and it states on our sales sheet whether it has a warranty or not and how long.

Sorry for the rant but yes, a lot of people just assume for every 100 rating, is a 10k guarantee. You can only really compare in the same brand when comparing the number as each manufacturer has their own way of rating it.

How are you enjoying your vacation by the way? lol

from people who i know that have tried them on track, no difference from their previous rating

Good to know!

Hawaii is great, even the more crowded wakiki beach area, with all the buses and tourists, is still a heaven compared to where I live lol.

Also note that with the staggered setup most manufacturers chop the warranty in half. For instance the Michelin PSS has a rating of UTQG 300. 30k mile warranty. But with a staggered setup they cut it to 15k. That is what Tire Rack told me when I was purchasing tires today.

Tirerack has a note in the product description for the RS3's that they have not changed the compound, but that real world results show that the tire should have a treadwear rating of 200. So the tire has not changed, only the rating.

Lol I'm from Dallas too. Frisco/Plano area to be more exact. I live in Hawaii now since my wife is in the Navy. I've only been here for 7 months now. 3 more years to go! lol


Speedfreak- That is true. Michelin states it on their website also and it is the rule we follow at Costco.

We think Hankook is a leader in qualifications and is an industry leader for race tires ...

From my experience trearwear has nothing to do with grip. for example bridgestone turanza have 140 trearwear and completly suck at the track. comapred to the re-11s with 180 treadwear which are great performing tires

That's also because the Turanza is classified as a touring tire......The potenzas are bridge stones performance line.....