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.

[Mark D]

Great job on the photos with all the various angles and lighting. Much appreciated.

I'm not a huge fan of the textured side walls but overall they are good looking tires. The tire rack reviews seem very positive as well.

[DMCMW Dave]

I'm not a huge fan of the textured side walls but overall they are good looking tires. The tire rack reviews seem very positive as well.

My son's in the tire manufacturing business (Michelin) and apparently that textured sidewall pattern that looks "flat" was a difficult development and is currently the "hot" thing in tire design. So they are all doing it.

[mark w]

thanks Rich!

[Rich]

Here's a bonus post about blacking out the raised white letters on the Hankook Kinergy ST rears. The first photo shows the unpatterned RWL sidewall. Mounting that side inboard means the RWLs are hard to see from most angles. Black tire paint makes them go away.

1. Mount the rears with the RWL sidewalls inboard.
2. Buy a bottle of Miller Black Tire Paint https://www.millertire.com/products/...ck-tire-paint/
3. Clean the inboard sidewall with soapy water; rinse and dry completely.
4. Follow the directions. Use a bristle brush to paint against the raised edges of the letters.
5. Go a little heavy on painting the white letters.
6. Clean up with water.

I chose to paint the sidewalls between the outermost circular rib and the rib closest to the wheel. See photo 2 After drying it’s a pretty decent match to the uncoated rubber as in photo 3.

This procedure should work on any RWL tire. No info about how durable it is yet. No plans to wash or treat that side of those tires.

BEFORE
DSC03653.jpg

WET AFTER PAINT APPLICATION
DSC03654.jpg

DRY, FINISHED - good to go; the letters are still raised, of course, but now they're black
DSC03655.jpg