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Head-to-head Updated September 2026

Hankook Ventus ME01 K144 vs Hankook Ventus Prime 4 — Compared (September 2026)

Our Relative Score blends 60% objective test data with 40% owner-review signal — so any two tires can be compared even if they were never tested on the same day.

Tire A Hankook

Hankook Ventus ME01 K144

Summer High Performance tires

Hankook Ventus ME01 K144 tread pattern
Objective (60%)
–/100
No test data yet
User signal (40%)
57/100
9 owner reviews
Dry
60
Wet
45
Comfort
68
Noise
–
Treadwear
61
Handling
58

Prices change daily — check the retailer for your size.

VS
Tire B Hankook

Hankook Ventus Prime 4

Summer Premium Touring tires

Hankook Ventus Prime 4 tread pattern
Objective (60%)
91/100
14 professional tests
User signal (40%)
82/100
76 owner reviews
Dry
88
Wet
82
Comfort
86
Noise
85
Treadwear
78
Handling
83

Prices change daily — check the retailer for your size.

VerdictWinner: Hankook Ventus Prime 4 — better wet, dry and handling. It leads or ties in every category we score.
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Category breakdown

6 categories, side by side

Each bar is the Relative Score for that category. Expand a tile to see the test results and owner ratings behind it.

Dry

Weight: Neutral
Score (0–100) Ventus Prime 4 leads by 28
A — Hankook Ventus ME01 K144
60
B — Hankook Ventus Prime 4
88
Why this score
SourceVentus ME01 K144Ventus Prime 4
Professional tests (TWG score) – 88
Tyre Reviews owners 60 88

Wet

Weight: Important
Score (0–100) Ventus Prime 4 leads by 37
A — Hankook Ventus ME01 K144
45
B — Hankook Ventus Prime 4
82
Why this score
SourceVentus ME01 K144Ventus Prime 4
Professional tests (TWG score) – 81
Tyre Reviews owners 45 83

Comfort

Weight: Neutral
Score (0–100) Ventus Prime 4 leads by 18
A — Hankook Ventus ME01 K144
68
B — Hankook Ventus Prime 4
86
Why this score
SourceVentus ME01 K144Ventus Prime 4
Professional tests (TWG score) – 89
Tyre Reviews owners 68 82

Noise

Weight: Neutral
Score (0–100)
A — Hankook Ventus ME01 K144
–
B — Hankook Ventus Prime 4
85
Why this score
SourceVentus ME01 K144Ventus Prime 4
Professional tests (TWG score) – 85

Treadwear

Weight: Important
Score (0–100) Ventus Prime 4 leads by 17
A — Hankook Ventus ME01 K144
61
B — Hankook Ventus Prime 4
78
Why this score
SourceVentus ME01 K144Ventus Prime 4
Tyre Reviews owners 61 78

Handling

Weight: Neutral
Score (0–100) Ventus Prime 4 leads by 25
A — Hankook Ventus ME01 K144
58
B — Hankook Ventus Prime 4
83
Why this score
SourceVentus ME01 K144Ventus Prime 4
Tyre Reviews owners 58 83
DriverReviews owners – 80

Scores at a glance

Hankook Ventus ME01 K144 vs Hankook Ventus Prime 4: scores by category (0–100)
CategoryHankook Ventus ME01 K144Hankook Ventus Prime 4
Relative Score 57 83
Dry 60 88
Wet 45 82
Comfort 68 86
Noise – 85
Treadwear 61 78
Handling 58 83

Higher is better. The Relative Score follows your weights below; category scores do not change.

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Wet grip and treadwear start at “Important” — the two things buyers rank highest. Move the sliders and the scores update instantly.

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Recomputed
Headline score

Tire A

Tire B

Only categories both tires have data for count toward the headline score.

From owners

Pros, cons & observations

Themes extracted from owner reviews across retailers and review sites — not the opinion of TireWheelGuide.

Tire A Hankook Ventus ME01 K144

The Hankook Ventus ME01 K144 receives a predominantly negative reception from users, primarily due to significant concerns regarding its grip performance in both wet and dry conditions. While some owners appreciate the tire's quietness and comfort, these benefits are overshadowed by reports of compromised safety and structural fragility.

Pros

  • High levels of cabin comfort
  • Extremely quiet operation

Cons

  • Poor traction on both wet and dry surfaces
  • Increased braking distances required
  • Weak sidewall construction prone to damage
  • Unsatisfactory overall driving dynamics

Observations

  • Users report that the tire's soft sidewall design makes it susceptible to structural failure when encountering road hazards like potholes.
Tire B Hankook Ventus Prime 4

The Hankook Ventus Prime 4 is widely regarded as a high-value, premium-touring tire that excels in comfort, low noise, and wet-weather confidence. While most users praise its balanced performance and competitive pricing, a subset of drivers reports concerns regarding rapid tread wear and a noticeable decline in grip as the tires approach the end of their service life.

Pros

  • Excellent ride comfort and low road noise levels
  • Strong wet and dry grip performance for daily driving
  • High value-for-money proposition compared to premium competitors
  • Predictable handling and stable cornering characteristics

Cons

  • Reports of rapid tread wear and premature degradation
  • Noticeable decline in wet grip performance as tread depth decreases
  • Sidewalls perceived as fragile or prone to damage by some users
  • Performance drop-off in near-freezing temperatures

Observations

  • Some users of heavier vehicles, including EVs, reported faster-than-expected tread wear and stiff sidewalls.
  • Drivers of high-torque or turbocharged vehicles occasionally noted traction issues (wheel spin) during acceleration, suggesting the tire may struggle with aggressive power delivery.
  • Users who upsized their tire profile reported improved ride comfort and corrected speedometer accuracy.
Community buzz

What real owners are saying

From Reddit, forums and review threads. Not part of our score

Tire A

Hankook Ventus ME01 K144

We haven't collected enough community discussion about this tire yet.

Tire B

Hankook Ventus Prime 4

Positive

Community opinion on the Hankook Ventus Prime 4 is largely positive, with users praising it as a strong, high-value touring tire that often rivals more expensive premium brands like Michelin. Reviewers and owners highlight its good performance in both dry and wet conditions, though longevity estimates in professional tests show some variation. Overall, it is seen as a significant upgrade over budget or stock tires and a great choice for everyday driving.

r/TyreReviews ·6 upvotes ·2024-03-16

“Hankook Ventus Prime 4 vs Kumho Ecsta HS52? Hey there! Went to this reddit after reading a lot of reviews on the website, a bit of a newbie in general. I have read about many models and settled on 2 possible ones due to pricing and availability in my country (not looking for any other options). In my price range and requirements I've settled on Ventus Prime 4 initially (50% cheaper than Primacy that my car came stock with), but have also seen some good stuff said about HS52. I was quite settled on the first one since it scored very well in 2022 Autobild review, but now that 2024 came out a lot of numbers are completely different (predicted tread life alone took a huge dive) and Hankook is now 4 positions lower than Kumho. To add to this, Hankook was only 10% more expensive thank Kumho in my country, but now there was a price drop and and now there is 20% price difference, so set of Kumhos comes out noticeable cheaper. Spec wise they seems very similar with some trade-offs in different departments. I'm not really looking to save as much money as possible, but with latest reviews I'm not sure if there is any improvement worth paying for. Any thoughts? Thanks. Read more”

r/TyreReviews ·4 upvotes ·2024-03-19

“Are there any Hankook Ventus Prime 4 longevity reviews (perhaps personal experience?) The only info I was able to find is Autobild 2022 and 2024, and ADAC 2024 reviews. In the first one they expect 39k km, in the second 26k and in ADAC - 50k. I'm not sure what to believe. I'm a fairly moderate user and will be replacing stock Primacy 3s which lasted around 45k km. I would like to have something that will last around 4-5 years, which at my current usage would be around 30-35k km. If they consistently fall short of it I would probably pay a premium for a more expensive brand, but reviews give very different figures. If ADAC figures is to be trusted I would surely get them, because I would probably replace the car before I have to put on new tires. But 26k km in the latest Autobild review falls short of my expectations a bit. Are those figures typically less than real life due to more extensive testing and usage? I'm driving a compact SUV with 50/50 city highway driving and no sporty aspirations, very default usage scenario. I could pay more and get goodyear efficientgrip performance 2, but at their longevity they will probably need to be replaced out of age before I wear them down realistically, so that's why I was initially settling in more midrange priced Hankook offering. Would love any help, and appreciate the help I received in my previous post! Read more”

r/AutomobileRO ·2 upvotes ·2025-03-23

“Simbolul cu mașina și fulgerul de pe Hankook Ventus Prime 4 arată că anvelopa e compatibilă și cu mașini electrice (EV), nu că e destinată exclusiv lor. Poate fi folosită fără probleme și pe mașini cu motor termic.”

r/CartalkHungary ·2 upvotes ·2024-09-20

“Becsapós ez, nagyon kevés csapadék volt a nyáron, és nagyon könnyű megszokni a száraz tapadást. Aztan meglepődik az ember az esőben. Nekem is volt ilyen gumi az autón, előtte meg az volt rajta amivel vettem (valami noname), hát a Hankook egy nagyságrenddel jobb volt annál. Most VP4 van rajta, es rendben van az is szerintem.”

Top themes
#wet and dry grip#touring tire characteristics#price and value comparison#longevity and mileage#EV compatibility symbols#comparison with Michelin Primacy

Based on 13 community posts

Specifications

Specs side by side

Attribute A · Hankook Ventus ME01 K144 B · Hankook Ventus Prime 4
CategorySummer High Performance tiresSummer Premium Touring tires
Vehicle typePassenger Car / Crossover—
Final verdict

Which one should you actually buy?

Hankook

Hankook

Winner: Hankook Ventus Prime 4 — better wet, dry and handling. It leads or ties in every category we score.

Pick tire B Your priority is wet-weather safety

Hankook Ventus Prime 4 scores 82 vs 45 on wet.

Pick tire B You want the most grip on dry roads

Hankook Ventus Prime 4 scores 88 vs 60 on dry.

Pick tire B You enjoy sharp, responsive handling

Hankook Ventus Prime 4 scores 83 vs 58 on handling.

Pick tire B You want the most comfortable ride

Hankook Ventus Prime 4 scores 86 vs 68 on comfort.

Tire A · Hankook Ventus ME01 K144
Tire B · Hankook Ventus Prime 4

How do we compare tires?

Every category score blends two independent signals. 60% comes from professional tire tests (braking distances, lap times, noise measurements) normalized against the best tire in each test and weighted toward recent tests. 40% comes from thousands of owner reviews collected from retailers and review sites. When a tire has only one of the two, we use what exists and say so.

Community buzz from Reddit and forums is shown for context only — it never changes the score.