Review - Hankook Kinergy ST tires in factory front/rear sizes

[Rich]

Hankook recently released a new line of tires in North America and perhaps elsewhere. As many owners now know, Hankook Kinergy ST H735 tires are available in both 195/60-14 and 235/60-15 sizes, the factory setup for our cars. After many years without this option the Kinergy ST looks like the only F/R OE-size-matched tire set available for the DeLorean. It's a new solution for owners running on way-too-old tires.

I'm quite pleased with my new set. Some owners have shared info about Kinergy STs elsewhere in this forum. After several DeLorean runs on these tires in the past 3 weeks I'm sharing specs, impressions and photos in this Product Review thread. A short report about their design, performance and pricing is below, followed by detailed photos:

Design:

- All-season touring tires
- Speed rating: T (118mph), Temp:A Traction:A Treadwear:680
- Fronts: blackwall both sides
- Rears: blackwall one side, raised white letters on other side (easily blacked out - I may post up about that later)
- Sidewalls and tread patterns match front-rear, neglecting raised white letter side
- Non-directional tread pattern

Subjective performance – dry pavement:

- Cornering performance is good. Very little tire squeal. Normal understeer.
- Good braking performance.

Interior noise vs. aged-out Michelin Pilots on same sections of level roads:

- Overall impression is noise is no worse than on the old tires
- Measured via phone app with mike facing forward on console armrest, windows closed, A/C-vent off.
- Hankooks are ~3dBA quieter (avg. 70dBA) vs the old Michelins with car coasting from 40mph to 30mph with engine idling in neutral.
- No difference vs Michelins at steady 50mph in 4th or 65mph in 5th on level road.

Pricing in SF Bay Area (Calif.) at a reputable General Tire shop – w/o promos or discounts:

- Tires were in the shop within 1 day of quotation – no shipping charge
- Fronts: 195/60-14 $79.50 ea
- Rears: 235/60-15 $109.20 ea
- Total price for the set - $377.40 excl. tax, mount/balance, disposal - $535 out the door
- tirerack.com also shows full availability while discounttiresdirect.com shows the fronts only

Photos:
Self-explanatory subjects and views. Our car has early-VIN gray wheels with Eibach springs and DMCH shocks all around with rear ride height set to match the front.

In order: The overall look, the treads and the sidewalls

[DMC-Ron]

Rich,
Nice report. Did the photos not make it? I'd like to see the tires.

Thanks,
Ron

[Mark D]

Thanks for the detailed review.

Here's a link to the two sizes and pricing on Tire Rack for anyone who is interested.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/TireS...SortCode=40100

I may be looking at a set of these next spring. My Cooper cobras still have plenty of tread but the date codes on the fronts are 2009 and the rears are 2014.

[Rich]

Re-posting the Kinergy ST tire review - this time with photos linked in, I hope.

Hankook recently released a new line of tires in North America and perhaps elsewhere. As many owners now know, Hankook Kinergy ST H735 tires are available in both 195/60-14 and 235/60-15 sizes, the factory setup for our cars. After many years without this option the Kinergy ST looks like the only F/R OE-size-matched tire set available for the DeLorean. It's a new solution for owners running on way-too-old tires.

I'm quite pleased with my new set. Some owners have shared info about Kinergy STs elsewhere in this forum. After several DeLorean runs on these tires in the past 3 weeks I'm sharing specs, impressions and photos in this Product Review thread. A short report about their design, performance and pricing is below, followed by detailed photos:

Design:

- All-season touring tires
- Speed rating: T (118mph), Temp:A Traction:A Treadwear:680
- Fronts: blackwall both sides
- Rears: blackwall one side, raised white letters on other side (easily blacked out - I may post up about that later)
- Sidewalls and tread patterns match front-rear, neglecting raised white letter side
- Non-directional tread pattern

Subjective performance – dry pavement:

- Cornering performance is good. Very little tire squeal. Normal understeer.
- Good braking performance.
- No issue with the wheel balancing (some off-brand tires reportedly do not always balance well) - drives as smooth as it should

Interior noise vs. aged-out Michelin Pilots on same sections of level roads:

- Overall impression is noise is no worse than on the old tires
- Measured via phone app with mike facing forward on console armrest, windows closed, A/C-vent off.
- Hankooks are ~3dBA quieter (avg. 70dBA) vs the old Michelins with car coasting from 40mph to 30mph with engine idling in neutral.
- No difference vs Michelins at steady 50mph in 4th or 65mph in 5th on level road.

Pricing in SF Bay Area (Calif.) at a reputable General Tire shop – w/o promos or discounts:

- Tires were in the shop within 1 day of quotation – no shipping charge
- Fronts: 195/60-14 $79.50 ea
- Rears: 235/60-15 $109.20 ea
- Total price for the set - $377.40 excl. tax, mount/balance, disposal - $535 out the door
- tirerack.com also shows full availability while discounttiresdirect.com shows the fronts only

Photos:
Self-explanatory subjects and views. Our car has early-VIN gray wheels with Eibach springs and DMCH shocks all around with rear ride height set to match the front.

In order: The overall look, the treads and the sidewalls

[Rich]

And another attempt at the photos:

[Michael]

Sold!

I will put a set on next spring.

[WHO1DMC]

Had my new hankook tires mounted today.
All in all not to bad. Had to post some pics of the weights. I was a little worried about how many they would take. I think one of my rims probably broke the record with absolutely no weights. I never seen a perfect wheel balance.
The wheels were perfectly clean so you can probably tell they had a little struggle.




Dave B.

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