Owners rate the Hankook Ventus Prime 3 K125 as a strong-value summer touring tire, with most reporting confident dry grip and a comfortable, refined ride for the money. Wet performance is usually described as decent rather than standout, and around one in ten owners specifically call out weaker aquaplaning resistance, particularly once the tread gets lower. Noise is generally seen as acceptable to quiet when new, but a smaller group mention it getting louder with mileage. Tread life feedback is mixed but leans positive overall, with some high mileages reported and others finding wear only average on heavier cars or with more spirited use.
What owners mention most counted across 103 reviews
Great balanced tires for a great price. They are mostly silent, I've always got precise feedback from them and they have been a joy to drive on. I'll buy again, and getting Hankook for my winter tires too.
I drove this tires nearly 25000km only in summer mostly on motorways for 3 years. Aquaplaning is serious on wet surfaces especially when there are heavy rains. I'm satisfied on dry motorway. But I think they warn of too quickly. Currently tire treads are at 3,5mm
I'm buying pirelli or goodyear
Check out how the BEST all seasons tires perform against premium summer and winter tires!
91%
Member
205/55 R16
Superb dry grip!
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I heard those were good tires, but I didn't expect to get so much.
Excellent dry lateral grip and great feedback while staying comfortable. Perfect steering response on uneven pavement.
I'm impressed by the fact that the unimportant things (gravel, potholes) are well filtered, but the feedback stays excellent and let you feel the sidewall slowly flexing with tons of safety margin.
Not used under extreme rain so far, but it did well and felt safe in light rain.
I only got two fitted at the front and kept Goodyear Vector gen3 at the back. It seems to be a good balance on a light car. No oversteer unless you really want it.
Good fuel economy, quiet at highway speeds. Good value for the money and available in many sizes.
I have heard the performance degrades after a few years, we'll see.
I was hesitating with the Falken ZE310 that have similar test results and reviews, I just got the ones that were in stock.
Bought this to replace turanza er33 that came stock with yaris. I'm always willing to try new tires and this is my first hankook.
Positive:
Excellent on dry. The grip is just excellent. No problem pushing the corner at excessive speeds.
Very comfortable tires. Softer sidewall. It turns my car ride quality.
Cheap. One of the cheapest premium tires on the market.
Stability is just amazing for highway.
Negative:
Wet grip and braking is actually very good. But it just float over the water puddle. Very dangerous for me. This is the main reason I'll skip this tire for the future.
If you're looking for stiffer sidewall then never consider this tire. Its soft and the feedback is just very dull.
Conclusion:
If you're looking for a cheap tires with superb dry grip. This is just the beat choice.
As long you didn't need to drive a lot through water puddle.
Definitely get a good impression about hankook. Except the scary aquaplanning part
The Hankook K125 tires replaced a set of Bridgestone RE003s. Initial impressions - really quite compared to the Bridgestone tires. Now after 9000miles, the road noise is similarly loud when compared to the Bridgestone but still better than the OE GY tires.
Dry grip is really good (even when driving spiritedly), but when the surface is damp or wet, there is a lack of confidence in the tires. The feedback from the tires to the steering can become vague especially in the wet. It can go from talkative to a lack of feedback. You will need to slow down to get comfortable again.
Wear rate is still good, but noticed that the tire can wear away really quick if the alignment is not sufficiently good enough. It took only about 100km from new to wear away the alignment marks on one of the tires due to a by the shop initially giving it a tad more toe on one side (but still inside specifications).
By far, the Ventus Prime 3 is the most comfortable tires put on the car yet. It absolutely loves tire pressures that are around 28-32psi, and absolutely hates higher tire pressures. There is a tendency to bounce the occupants around if you even dare to inflate beyond 34psi.
Was told by the tire shop, that this tire was suppose to help with the fuel economy when compared to the Bridgestone. Yes and no is an answer that I have. If you travel long distances (over 100kms in a single trip) then yes, fuel economy is realised. Otherwise, there is no differences.
Used two sizes: 215/55 R17 and 195/50 R15. Very satisfied with both. Great all around tire with high level of comfort, low noise and more than average thread life. Downside: not the best aquaplaning resistance and wet grip. Wet braking is good though. Overall, great value for money. Recommended.
I've been driving Prime 3 for 8.000 miles replaycing Dunlop Sport Maxx RT.It's a good tire allround.Great grip,great handling (dry and wet).
I live in Corfu (Greece) with slipery and shiny roads and these tires are excellent everywhere.I can't understand why Prime 3 its not one of the top tires in all test.
I'll buy them again.
General:
Decent summer tire. Probably works best if you live in a relatively warm climate
Pros:
- Good grip in the dry
- Wearing well. Still have around 7mm remaining after approx 16k Km (10k miles).
- Good road feedback / feel through the steering.
- Generally progressive / predictable tire.
- Pretty good wet braking.
Cons:
- Quiet when new but have become noisy over time. Especially at highway speeds. Most noticeable when the weather is cooler (i.e. 10-15C).
- Poor wet grip in the corners. Progressively / predictably understeers at low speeds in wet conditions.
- Fuel consumption OK but not the best (I get better fuel figures on my winter tires).
Had these on my crappy Yaris Mk2 for nearly a year now (Damn you Sadiq Khan! I miss my Mk1 D4D so much!), racked up something like 15000 miles at a guess, and they're still pretty good. Compared to my previous review, I'd still give similar ratings for everything across the board except for the wet handling, which has become noticeably worse - Not bad, but noticeably more slippy in the wet than it was when new, but given how much punishment they've had over the year I can't complain too much!
It's still good under brakes and dry cornering, but the limit before understeering in the wet is noticeably smaller, but it gives a lot of feedback that this is happening rather than suddenly dumping me in a verge.
Still hovering in the mid-£60's fully fitted, but supposedly the VP4 is on the horizon so I'm hoping these will last until they arrive - Reckon I can get another year out of them; Currently down to about 4-5mm from ~7mm new so the wear has not been bad; Not wearing quite as well as the old Goodyear Efficient Grip Compacts, Cooper CS2's or Conti PC2e's but a lot better than the Conti PC5's!
With the price of tires creeping up, I still consider this a great tire for the money!
66%
Member
195/55 R16 V
15,000 miles
A Combination of Roads
Average
Very good in the dry, not good in the wet, I will try goodyear performance 2 soon