Head-to-head Updated

Dunlop Sport Maxx RT2 vs Hankook Ventus Prime 4 — Compared

Relative Score (0–100): 60% professional tests, 40% owner reviews.

Ventus Prime 4 leads, 75–73 Narrow edge

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Tire ADunlop

Sport Maxx RT2

Summer

Tests 75 · 32 tests Owners 70 · 3,504 reviews

Best test result: #1 of 10 in 2021 Auto Zeitung Summer UHP Tyre Test (rolling resistance)

“For what it's worth, I put a full new set of 18inch Sport Maxx RT2's on my E85 a couple of years ago and found them more than adequate/good when your a looking for a value/capability compromise. Like B21 mentions, if you want a really upto date tyre, you pick a newer release from the manufacturer provided that pushing on a couple of hundred quid extra can be justified. (When you don't need to tell the wife) I just put a set of 19inch Continental Conti Sport 7's on my E89 but wouldn't have had an issue fitting 19inch Sport Maxx RT2's.”

Tire BHankook

Ventus Prime 4

Summer

Tests 77 · 13 tests Owners 74 · 2,495 reviews

Best test result: #1 of 16 in 2026 ADAC Summer Tyre Test (fuel consumption)

“Az enyémen Ventus Prime4 van, 23 májusi dottal, 23 május végén véve. Két nyár és 20.000km alatt sosem tapasztaltam hogy picit is gond lenne vele, pedig voltam bőven esőben vele. Az esp nekem akkor villogott nagyon mikor eltört a rugó, de az is inkább kanyarban, nem kigyorsításnál. Lengéscsillapítók rendben vannak?”

Category by category

Relative Score per category, 0–100. Open “Why this score” for the tests and owner ratings behind it.

  1. 75

    Dry

    Ventus Prime 4 +5
    80
    Why this score
    SourceSport Maxx RT2Ventus Prime 4
    Professional tests (TWG score)7883
    Reviews found online7076
    Dry Braking (% of best)99%96%
    Dry Handling (% of best)98%99%
  2. 78

    Wet

    Level
    78
    Why this score
    SourceSport Maxx RT2Ventus Prime 4
    Professional tests (TWG score)8380
    Reviews found online7276
    Wet Braking (% of best)90%96%
    Wet Braking - Concrete (% of best)90%77%
    Wet Circle (% of best)99%98%
    Wet Handling (% of best)94%99%
  3. 70

    Comfort

    Level
    70
    Why this score
    SourceSport Maxx RT2Ventus Prime 4
    Professional tests (TWG score)7070
    Reviews found online7071
  4. 67

    Noise

    Sport Maxx RT2 +4
    63
    Why this score
    SourceSport Maxx RT2Ventus Prime 4
    Professional tests (TWG score)6461
    Reviews found online72–
  5. 69

    Treadwear

    Ventus Prime 4 +4
    73
    Why this score
    SourceSport Maxx RT2Ventus Prime 4
    Professional tests (TWG score)7076
    Reviews found online6669
  6. 70

    Handling

    Ventus Prime 4 +4
    74
    Why this score
    SourceSport Maxx RT2Ventus Prime 4
    Reviews found online7074
Scores at a glance
Dunlop Sport Maxx RT2 vs Hankook Ventus Prime 4: scores by category (0–100)
CategoryDunlop Sport Maxx RT2Hankook Ventus Prime 4
Relative Score 73 75
Dry 75 80
Wet 78 78
Comfort 70 70
Noise 67 63
Treadwear 69 73
Handling 70 74

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

Weight the categories that matter to you

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

Important
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Important
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Less important
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Less important
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Important
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Neutral
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Recomputed
Headline score

Sport Maxx RT2

Ventus Prime 4

The professional test results behind the scores

Each result is shown as % of the best tire in that test. “Same test” rows are the strictest comparison: both tires were measured side by side.

DisciplineCategorySport Maxx RT2Ventus Prime 4ΔBoth?
Curved Aquaplaning Curved 90% #9/21 · 2022 Auto Bild Summer Tyre Test 82% #17/21 · 2022 Auto Bild Summer Tyre Test +8.0 Same test
Dry Braking Dry 99% #3/9 · 2017 Auto Bild UHP Tyre Test 96% #4/7 · 2025 Die ReifenTester Summer Touring Tyre Test +2.4 Different tests
Dry Handling Dry 98% #4/6 · 2024 Sport Auto Summer Tyre Test 99% #6/20 · 2024 AutoBild Summer Tyre Test −1.5 Different tests
Rolling Resistance Efficiency 100% #1/10 · 2021 Auto Zeitung Summer UHP Tyre Test 82% #6/8 · 2023 Motor Summer Tyre Test +18.3 Different tests
Fuel Consumption Fuel 95% #12/18 · 2025 ADAC Summer Tyre Test 100% #1/16 · 2026 ADAC Summer Tyre Test −5.4 Different tests
Abrasion Other 48% #16/18 · 2025 ADAC Summer Tyre Test 82% #4/16 · 2024 ADAC Summer Tyre Test −33.7 Different tests
Noise Other 98% #16/20 · 2023 AutoBild UHP Summer Tyre Test 99% #9/20 · 2024 AutoBild Summer Tyre Test −1.0 Different tests
Price Other 87% #4/10 · 2019 Gute Fahrt Summer 18 Inch Tyre Test 69% #9/16 · 2024 ADAC Summer Tyre Test +17.8 Different tests
Value Other 78% #14/21 · 2022 Auto Bild Summer Tyre Test 90% #4/21 · 2022 Auto Bild Summer Tyre Test −11.3 Same test
Wear Other 70% #16/20 · 2026 Autobild Summer Tyre Test 59% #13/50 · 2023 ADAC Summer Tyre Test +11.2 Different tests
Overall Ranking Overall 25% #4/9 · 2017 Auto Bild UHP Tyre Test 11% #9/50 · 2023 ADAC Summer Tyre Test +13.9 Different tests
Straight Aqua Straight 100% #1/15 · 2021 Auto Bild 19 inch Summer Tyre Test 99% #4/10 · 2024 Motorhome Summer Tyre Test +1.0 Different tests
Subj. Comfort Subj 90% #4/7 · 2020 EVO UHP Summer Tyre Test 95% #4/7 · 2025 Die ReifenTester Summer Touring Tyre Test −5.1 Different tests
Subj. Dry Handling Subj 88% #3/9 · 2021 EVO Summer Tyre Test 95% #4/7 · 2025 Die ReifenTester Summer Touring Tyre Test −7.3 Different tests
Subj. Wet Handling Subj 80% #10/16 · 2018 Test World Summer Tyre Test 85% #6/7 · 2025 Die ReifenTester Summer Touring Tyre Test −4.5 Different tests
Total Cost of Ownership Total 0% #12/20 · 2025 Auto Bild Summer Performance Tyre Test 0% #4/21 · 2022 Auto Bild Summer Tyre Test 0.0 Different tests
Wet Braking Wet 90% #11/20 · 2017 Auto Bild Summer Tyre Test 96% #4/50 · 2023 ADAC Summer Tyre Test −5.8 Different tests
Wet Braking - Concrete Wet 90% #11/18 · 2025 ADAC Summer Tyre Test 77% #15/16 · 2026 ADAC Summer Tyre Test +13.0 Different tests
Wet Circle Wet 99% #4/7 · 2020 EVO UHP Summer Tyre Test 98% #4/21 · 2022 Auto Bild Summer Tyre Test +1.0 Different tests
Wet Handling Wet 94% #18/20 · 2019 Auto Bild Summer Tyre Test 99% #2/8 · 2025 Moottori Summer Tyre Test −5.1 Different tests

Pros, cons & observations

Themes extracted from owner reviews found online — not the opinion of TireWheelGuide.

Tire A Sport Maxx RT2

Pros

  • Excellent grip and stability in both wet and dry conditions
  • Significantly lower road noise and high ride comfort compared to competitors
  • Competitive pricing offering great value for a premium-tier brand

Cons

  • Soft sidewalls can cause a spongy feel and lack of precision during fast cornering
  • Some reports of premature cracking in the tread valleys or sidewalls
  • Performance and noise levels can degrade noticeably as the tread wears down
All owner themes in the Sport Maxx RT2 review

Tire B Ventus Prime 4

Pros

  • Exceptional wet and dry grip providing high confidence
  • Significantly reduced road noise and smooth, quiet ride quality
  • Competitively priced offering great value compared to top-tier premium brands

Cons

  • Accelerated tread wear reported by some users, leading to shorter overall tire life
  • Noticeable decrease in wet traction and grip as the tread wears down past the halfway mark
  • Stiffer sidewalls can translate to a firmer ride or reduced comfort on rough surfaces
All owner themes in the Ventus Prime 4 review

What real owners are saying

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

Tire A

Dunlop Sport Maxx RT2

Positive

Community opinion portrays the Dunlop Sport Maxx RT 2 as a solid, quiet, and good-value performance tire that performs well in all weather conditions. While some drivers note it is an older design compared to newer flagship releases and point out its 'B' wet rating in certain sizes, it is generally considered capable and competitively priced. There is also frequent discussion clarifying the availability of both run-flat and non-run-flat variants across different dimensions.

Top themes
#Run-flat availability confusion#Low road noise#Value for money#All-weather grip#Older tire generation#Wet performance rating

Based on 19 community posts

Tire B

Hankook Ventus Prime 4

Positive

Community opinion on the Hankook Ventus Prime 4 is largely positive, with drivers viewing it as a comfortable, quiet, and capable touring tire. Users frequently praise its strong dry and wet performance alongside its compelling price-to-performance ratio compared to premium alternatives like Michelin. Some uncertainties exist regarding long-term tread wear and slight fuel economy impacts, but owners generally report satisfactory everyday reliability.

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/tires ·3 upvotes ·2026-10-09

“Found a cut on one of my tires, is it 100% cooked? Three month old Hankook Ventus Prime 4, covered less than 600miles. Found a small cut on the front right one. It is holding air fine. I will go to a tire shop to get checked asap, but chances that it’s ok? And what could have caused it? Hitting a curb? Thank you in advance!”

forums.hardwarezone.com.sg ·2024-11-12

“Ya. I read that review too. If I up the psi to 3, or 4 would result in hard and harsh bumps and much less comfy ride which I don't like. Therefore, I settle for 34 front and 32 back and started back to use Eco mode. I don't carry heavy loads and many pax in my car. I restricted it to 4 adult pax including myself as a driver, with or without loads at the boot.”

Top themes
#value for money#comfort and low noise#wet and dry grip#comparison with premium brands#tread longevity questions#touring versus sports handling

Based on 41 community posts

Specs side by side

Attribute A · Dunlop Sport Maxx RT2 B · Hankook Ventus Prime 4
CategorySummerSummer
Vehicle typePassenger Car / Crossover—
Sizes available5666
Rim diameters17″ – 21″15″ – 20″
Tread depth10/32″—
UTQG300 A A—
SidewallBlackwall—
Max pressure50 psi—

Which one should you actually buy?

Dunlop Sport Maxx RT2

Hankook Ventus Prime 4

Winner: Hankook Ventus Prime 4 — better dry, treadwear and handling. Pick the Dunlop Sport Maxx RT2 if noise matters most to you.

Pick tire B You want the most grip on dry roads

Hankook Ventus Prime 4 scores 80 vs 75 on dry.

Pick tire A You want a quieter cabin

Dunlop Sport Maxx RT2 scores 67 vs 63 on noise.

Pick tire B You want the longest tread life

Hankook Ventus Prime 4 scores 73 vs 69 on treadwear.

Pick tire B You enjoy sharp, responsive handling

Hankook Ventus Prime 4 scores 74 vs 70 on handling.

Tire A · Dunlop Sport Maxx RT2
Tire B · Hankook Ventus Prime 4

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How do we compare tires?

Every category score blends two independent signals. 60% comes from professional tire tests (braking distances, lap times, noise measurements), each result compared with every other tire in the same test and newer tests counting more. 40% comes from owner reviews found online, adjusted for how generously each site rates. Both use one scale: the average tested tire gets 70, the best 100. When a tire has only one of the two, the missing half is estimated from the other and the score stays closer to average; with no road test and fewer than five owner reviews it gets no score yet.

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

75

Narrow edge

Ventus Prime 4

Amazon