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Last updated 5/13/2024 - Originally published 5/13/2024
Written by SimpleTire
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A subsidiary of the world’s largest tire manufacturer Bridgestone, Firestone is a century-old American brand with a legacy of rolling out high-quality tires. Established in 1941, Hankook is a South Korean tire brand producing tires in several categories for different vehicles. Both tire makers offer reliable tirelines under all-season, mud-terrain, all-terrain, winter, and UHP categories for passenger cars, minivans, CUVs, SUVs, and light trucks. The Firehawk A/S and Ventus S1 Noble2 (H452) are their most sold ultra-high-performance tirelines in the US.
Designed for sports cars, luxury sedans, and coupes, the Firestone Firehawk A/S and Hankook Ventus S1 Noble2 (H452) are UHP all-season tires that offer fantastic handling, traction, stability, grip, and durability. Whether Firestone or Hankook, both provide adequate performance and tread life. So which one should you go for? Let’s compare Firestone FireHawk A/S vs Hankook Ventus S1 Noble2 (H452) based on our SimpleScore to know which is the best tire between the two.
Introduced in 2016, the FireHawk A/S combines the spirited drives of a UHP tire with the longevity of the all-season one. With an innovative tread pattern, the Firestone features increased biting edges and longitudinal grooves for quick water evacuation to avoid the risk of hydroplaning and boost wet performance. While the special rubber compound promotes even wear for a longer service life, the optimized tread design resists soundwaves from entering the cabin, so you enjoy a quiet and comfortable ride quality. The FireHawk A/S also gets a 50,000 mile limited manufacturer tread life warranty.
Boasting an overall SimpleScore of 8.8 out of 10, the Firestone returns great traction, grip, handling, and longevity.
Launched a decade back, the Ventus S1 Noble2 (H452) is a UHP, all-season tire featuring an advanced symmetric tread pattern with a triple-radius profile that not only helps in delivering solid grip and traction but also enhanced handling performance during high-speed rides. While the 3D kerfs maintain their shape during acceleration, cornering, and braking, the outer block semi-rib design of the Hankook tire boosts steering response and stability. Using a 5-pitch tread block design the UHP tire disperses noise optimally and returns a comfortable ride. Enhancing durability is the new structure technology that resists separation in the tire’s belt edge with a side-filling tape. It also offers a 50,000 mile limited manufacturer tread life warranty.
With a decent overall score of 8.2, the Hankook UHP all-season tire delivers confident cornering, great grip and traction, and a longer service life.
The basic function of a tire is to provide grip and not let it skid. Traction allows the tire to hold the ground without slipping away, even at high speeds. The Firestone and Hankook promise great traction during high-speed driving.
Boasting an 8.7 traction score, the Firestone FireHawk A/S features an asymmetric tread design for enhanced grip and traction at high speed. The circumferential and lateral grooves allow quick water evacuation to mitigate the risk of hydroplaning and boost wet performance. The multiple sipes further increase traction by providing extra biting edges.
Scoring 8.7 in traction, the Hankook Ventus S1 Noble2 (H452) features an advanced asymmetric tread pattern with a positive aqua hydro block for quick dispersal of water to avoid hydroplaning and a straight rib block on shoulders that dampens noise levels and boosts cornering abilities.
With the scores leveled at 8.7 out of 10, there’s no clear winner in traction, and hence, it’s a tie.
ADVANTAGE: Tie
When it comes to ultra-high-performance, the control and steering response become the most vital aspect. Both the UHP all-season tires claim to offer great handling and stability at high speed.
With a fantastic handling score of 8.7, the Firestone’s unique tread pattern with multiple biting edges allows increased control and accurate steering response in dry, wet, and light snow. The deep grooves and solid shoulder design promote better stability and boost handling performance.
On the other hand, the Hankook scores 8.9 in handling thanks to the multiple 3D sipes that ensure the shape remains stable during acceleration, braking, and cornering, leading to improved steering response. The triple-radius profile allows maximum grip during high-speed runs.
ADVANTAGE: Hankook Ventus S1 Noble2 (H452)
The downside of a UHP tire is its longevity; however, with an all-season compound, this shortcoming is ironed out, and you get a long-lasting tire in UHP all-season tires.
Thanks to its asymmetric tread pattern promoting uniform wear, the Firestone FireHawk A/S bags an excellent longevity score of 9 out of 10. With a sleek design and full-depth sipes, the Firestone tire wears evenly throughout its lifespan and gets a 50,000 mile limited manufacturer tread life warranty.
Boasting an adequate longevity score of 7.8, the Hankook Ventus S1 Noble2 (H452) is laced with new structure technology and Stiffness Control Contour Theory Technology (SCCT Technology) that ensure optimal dispersion of internal force on the carcass to boost durability. It, too, comes with a 50,000 mile limited manufacturer tread life warranty.
With an excellent performance in longevity, the FireHawk A/S opens its winning account and beats the Ventus S1 Noble2 (H452).
ADVANTAGE: Firestone FireHawk A/S
UHP all-season tires are engineered to offer superior traction, grip, stability, and handling at high speeds in dry, wet, and light wintry conditions. They offer a longer service life and come with a limited manufacturer warranty (mostly). Similarly, UHP summer tires are the best if you need performance tires for warmer conditions.
If your region experiences more than just light snow with temperatures falling below 45 degrees Fahrenheit, you need winter tires to combat the freezing conditions. Their tread remains flexible and provides the necessary grip and steering response in extreme cold. These tires offer enhanced grip, traction, and control on slippery surfaces with their deep and wide grooves and dense sipes.
While the SimpleScore of Firestone FireHawk A/S (8.6 vs 8.2) puts it in a commanding position, the story is interesting when we look at its individual section scores. The scores are leveled (1-1) when it comes to winning traction, handling, and longevity as each wins a section and one ends in a tie. Let’s compare their prices to see which one offers the best value.
For a 225/55R17 tire size, the FireHawk A/S costs $156 per tire and $624 for four of these tires, while the Ventus S1 Noble2 (H452) is available at $177 per tire and four tires cost $708. The difference between them is $84.
Based on the SimpleScore, you can choose Firestone FireHawk A/S if you:
You can go for Hankook Ventus S1 Noble2 (H452) if you:
Still not sure which tire to buy? Fortunately, SimpleTire is here to help as our helpful agents are more than happy to assist you in selecting the right tire for your ride and budget.
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