Any MCS owners of these tires have any comments to share with everyone ?

Both priced almost the same; your likes and dis-likes . . . . . . .

 

No personal experience with the Yokohama's. But I love my Hankooks.

See this review from Car and Driver. The S Drives didn't fare that well.

http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/...mparison_tests

 

I thought the S.Drives were very good. Nice and grippy in both wet and drive conditions, resisted hydroplaning down to about 2/32nds. Replaced them at 25k miles. Biggest complaint (and this was common to every one I know who had them) was the noise that started to develop around 18k miles. So bad that passengers thought something was wrong with the MINI.

 

I was concerned about that review as well, but went with S.drives anyway. because they have a higher tread wear and traction ratings. Just got 'em put on yesterday and only 50 miles so far so I can't really tell much yet, but there was an immediate improvement over the RTF's that came with the Mini. The road dots are smoother and they're quietier.

 

I ran through 2 sets of the S-drives on my former Miata and loved them. I have them on the front of my Mini now, and they are working out much better than the tires on it when I got it (cheap Barum Bravuris tires)... I've never had any noise issue with them during normal life, they just got a bit louder when they got pretty bald.

I'll be getting 2 more for the back end soon when the remaining Barums wear out, which will be any day now.

 

I'm on #3 set of S-drives on my MCS and love it, great price for use on street and some track.

 

I currently have the EVO V12 but have no experience with the s-drives. The EVO V12s replaced Toyo T1Rs. I think the T1Rs had a little better traction the the V12s. The V12s do ride smooth and quiet. The V12s are very good tires for street and a little track use.
I did have Yokohama Parada Spec-2 on my previous MCS. The Paradas got noisy as they wore, I think they did not like the rear negative camber.
The EVO V12 are much better than the Parada Spec-2.

 

The S Drives are a good tire, but the Hankooks are a great tire. The reviews are pretty much spot on. The Hankooks are the best bang for the buck out there right now. You can't go wrong.

 

I've had both and the Hankooks are head and shoulders above the S.Drives. I live near the Dragon, so my tires get a very good work out. I find I'm able to corner at higher speeds with MUCH less squeeling that the Yokos. I also find that the Hankooks ride better. I will say that the Yokos have a better feeling on initial turn-in, the Hankooks a little more mushy, but you get used to it rather quickly, and frankly the vastly better grip and ride are more important to me.

 

I also have the EVO V12's as DD, and I am very happy with them. One track day as well, I thought they handled good.

 

We ran both tires over the coarse of the ABF road tours and during MTTS, These are auto x formats in which it seemed both tires held up about the same.

On my MCS I use the Evos for dailies and have had them on a few road courses too. Daily the tires performed pretty well. Wet and dry traction is decent. On the track however they are not that fantastic. Right away they felt a little sketchy and neither Dez or I could push them all that hard. The tires were pretty much done up front too after one day. I didn't expect that much from them though so it wasn't a surprise. Judging by what i have seen I don't expect the S-drives to do much better either.

In the end i think one would be happy with either one as daily tire. For track use i would get some Star Specs or RE11's.

 

Thanks for all the great information !

I don't track any of my cars, so it sounds like both tire brands will work.

All of the NAM members reviews are very positive for the Hankooks and

- the Yokohamas.

Thanks for all of your replies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

 

Got out of my factory Conti run flats a few days ago. replaced with Hankook Evo 12's in 215/45/17. What a difference. Super quiet with no "gravel road" sound anymore. Very smooth on bumps. Can't emphasis what a major diffrence this makes to the ride. Highly recomend them for just over $100 ea.

 

Running S.Drives for a few months now, grippy and good turn in, a bit loud over some surfaces, nice ride.. overall I am pretty happy with them. I will probably try out Conti ExtremeContact DW or the EVO next time just to see what else is out there, but The S.Drives are nice.

 

I just replaced the run flats with the Hankook V-12's in 215x45x17.
All I can say is WOW! the ride is sooooo much better. The little reflectors in the road dont make any more noise than they do in my SUV now. (I used to drive around them) Very happy with this desision. I made Tire Kingdom match the online price from Discount tire direct so out the door was just over $400
This is a lot of tire for $100 installed.
I am running Ride-on in them for flat protection and balance.

I considered the S-drives but went withthe Hankooks due to excellent reviews here (which also saved me around $60)

 

I too have had V12's and loved them. I got them when they first came out, got them free from Hankook at SEMA. I wasn't expecting them to be as good as they were, drove the crap out of them for 20k and was very impressed by them. For as cheap as they are, there is no better street tire.

I have Conti Extreme Contact DWS now (the all-seasons), which make me reaaaaallly miss the hankook's. Won't complain though, got the Conti's for free too

 

On my second set of sdrives and i would recomend them, great tire dry and greatt wet- main reason i have them it rains a good amount where im at

 

Wait until you try the Evo V12's.

 

Just ordered the Evo V12's today. I went with 215/45/17... Discount Tire said that they would fit... was a couple $ more so I thought it would be worth it. $60 rebate on a set right now too!

Any thoughts on those replacement warranties? Are they worth it? $16 for each tire in this case.

 

IMHO of course, This is how I approch all insurance. (extended warrenties are insurance)
If I can afford to either, live without it, or replace it, out of pocket, then I do not buy insurance on it.

Asking if a warrenty is "worth it" is not a valid question unless you can predict the future. It's only worth it if you use it.

No one who just crashed their car complains about how much their insurance costs ....... but everyone else does.

 

Great points. Thanks for the advice

 

I generally avoid extra warranties. Though there are some items I've bought them for. Generally, for things that are either very complicated (like a video camera) or refrigerators (which don't seem to last very long nowadays. In both those cases, my gamble paid off.

For tires, I've usually shopped at places that include the hazard warranty with the cost of the tires. And in the case of my Mini, it paid for itself as well. I blew two tires on a trip once hitting a pothole. The extra cost was worth it.

Let us know what you think of the Hankook's after you've scrubbed them in.

 

I just ordered my 4th set of S drives. For the money, these are great tires, decent wear and great handling characteristics.

I’ve had far better tires but not for this kind of money. If you’re a beginner at the track, you could potentially use them but if you have any kind of experience, they’re weak at best but then again, they’re street tires, not trackers.

Mark

 

I went with the Hankook Ventus V12 evo K110 for $513 installed w/lifetime balance/roadhazard @ DiscountTire (didn't go for the full warranty certificate). Price matched against DiscountTireDirect.com. $60 mail-in rebate on top.

They don't make any sound, such a difference from Run Flats!!

 

Put the Yokos on my '05 MCS last September and have just turned 4K miles on them, so far they are everything I expected, and a lot better in the rain than I hoped.Great tires for the money.

Excellent predictable dry traction and progressive in the twisites, better than expected grip and behavior in one of the wettest winters I've seen in Nor Cal in a long time.I am running 205-50-16's,very happy with them.

I did go out in the snow just once, on a run I know very well just to see what would happen ...won't do that again! These are not all season tires.

Just today I got to try out my new 15% pulley on my favorite fast uphill canyon carving route...all I can say is wow!The car pulls great, the tires were perfect and many bugs were smashed, a good day.

Mad Geppeto