Tests – · none yet Owners 56 · 693 reviews
“New shoes: Hankook Ventus S1 Noble2. 255/40-18”
Relative Score (0–100): the weighted average of the categories below, each 60% road tests and 40% owner reviews (comfort 40/60). Based on 0 + 1 road tests and 693 + 1,457 owner reviews. How we score
Firehawk Indy 500 leads, 65–61 Narrow edge
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Tests – · none yet Owners 56 · 693 reviews
“New shoes: Hankook Ventus S1 Noble2. 255/40-18”
Tests – · 1 test Owners 62 · 1,457 reviews
Best test result: #6 of 22 in 2022 Consumer Reports Ultra High Performance Summer Tires (tested tread life (miles))
“I just put Firestone Firehawk Indy 500's on my NC2 and I like them and would recommend them. I paid about $635 with installation at Costco but you might even be able to find them for less elsewhere.”
Relative Score per category, 0–100. Open “Why this score” for the tests and owner ratings behind it.
| Source | Ventus S1 noble2 | Firehawk Indy 500 |
|---|---|---|
| Professional tests (TWG score) | ≈ 64 (est.) | ≈ 72 (est.) |
| Reviews found online | 60 | 78 |
Ventus S1 noble2: 60% × 64.5 (est.) + 40% × 59.5 = 62
Firehawk Indy 500: 60% × 72.1 (est.) + 40% × 77.6 = 74
No road tests of dry for Ventus S1 noble2. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.42).
No road tests of dry for Firehawk Indy 500. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.42).
| Source | Ventus S1 noble2 | Firehawk Indy 500 |
|---|---|---|
| Professional tests (TWG score) | ≈ 68 (est.) | ≈ 68 (est.) |
| Reviews found online | 66 | 65 |
Ventus S1 noble2: 60% × 68.2 (est.) + 40% × 66.1 = 67
Firehawk Indy 500: 60% × 67.6 (est.) + 40% × 65.1 = 67
No road tests of wet for Ventus S1 noble2. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.55).
No road tests of wet for Firehawk Indy 500. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.55).
| Source | Ventus S1 noble2 | Firehawk Indy 500 |
|---|---|---|
| Professional tests (TWG score) | ≈ 60 (est.) | ≈ 55 (est.) |
| Reviews found online | 43 | 28 |
Ventus S1 noble2: 60% × 60.4 (est.) + 40% × 43 = 53
Firehawk Indy 500: 60% × 54.7 (est.) + 40% × 27.7 = 44
No road tests of snow for Ventus S1 noble2. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.37).
No road tests of snow for Firehawk Indy 500. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.37).
| Source | Ventus S1 noble2 | Firehawk Indy 500 |
|---|---|---|
| Professional tests (TWG score) | ≈ 68 (est.) | ≈ 68 (est.) |
| Reviews found online | 63 | 64 |
Ventus S1 noble2: 40% × 68 (est.) + 60% × 62.9 = 65
Firehawk Indy 500: 40% × 68.3 (est.) + 60% × 64.4 = 66
No road tests of comfort for Ventus S1 noble2 or Firehawk Indy 500. The test half is the tested tires’ average (69): owners’ comfort ratings barely follow the road tests.
| Source | Ventus S1 noble2 | Firehawk Indy 500 |
|---|---|---|
| Professional tests (TWG score) | – | ≈ 67 (est.) |
| Reviews found online | – | 65 |
Firehawk Indy 500: 60% × 66.6 (est.) + 40% × 64.9 = 66
No road tests of noise for Firehawk Indy 500. The test half is the tested tires’ average (67): owners’ noise ratings barely follow the road tests.
| Source | Ventus S1 noble2 | Firehawk Indy 500 |
|---|---|---|
| Professional tests (TWG score) · – / 1 tests | ≈ 59 (est.) | 70 |
| Reviews found online | 44 | 61 |
Ventus S1 noble2: 60% × 58.5 (est.) + 40% × 44.3 = 53
Firehawk Indy 500: 60% × 70.2 + 40% × 60.8 = 66
No road tests of treadwear for Ventus S1 noble2. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.35).
| Source | Ventus S1 noble2 | Firehawk Indy 500 |
|---|---|---|
| Reviews found online | 63 | 71 |
| Category | Hankook Ventus S1 noble2 | Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 |
|---|---|---|
| Relative Score | 61 | 65 |
| Dry | 62 | 74 |
| Wet | 67 | 67 |
| Snow | 53 | 44 |
| Comfort | 65 | 66 |
| Noise | – | 66 |
| Treadwear | 53 | 66 |
| Handling (owners) | 63 | 71 |
Higher is better. The Relative Score follows your weights below; category scores do not change.
Wet grip starts at “Important”. Treadwear starts at “Neutral” here: road tests measured it for at most one of the two tires, so it rests on owner reviews. Move the sliders and the scores update instantly.
Only one of the two tires has a score here, so this weight changes nothing in the head-to-head.
Ventus S1 noble2
Firehawk Indy 500
Only categories both tires have data for count toward the headline score.
Themes extracted from owner reviews found online — not the opinion of TireWheelGuide.
From Reddit, forums and review threads. Not part of our score
Community sentiment toward the Hankook Ventus S1 noble2 is largely positive, with owners highlighting its competitive price-to-performance value compared to premium alternatives like Michelin. Drivers frequently commend its quiet ride, wet grip, and respectable tread life, though some note reduced handling sharpness compared to dedicated summer tires and increased road noise after higher mileage.
“Quote: Originally Posted by Chaotic1,Feb 9 2009, 06:49 AM Price per tire? Fronts: $63.00 x 2 + shipping (214/45zr-17) = $152.16 Rears: $71.00 x 2 + shipping (245/40/zr-17) = $164.15 Originally, I was only going to replace the rears with OEM tires because my fronts were in such decent shape, but I was able to get all four wheels for cheaper than the two rears so I went that direction instead. As promised, I'd continue to report on these tires and with todays showers and mixture of oil/grime and left over sand from the sleet we recently had, the tires are doing as well as expected. Of course with the sand, it is easy to break the rear-end loose but it breaks when expected, no surprises.”
“Getting new tires I’m replacing my OEM tires (Hankook Ventus S1 Noble2 sized 235/50R19). They’ve got 80,000 miles on them. I’ve had a good experience with them. My tire guy has about 3 tires in the $200 (installed) range. Right now I’m leaning towards the Hercules Raptis ® R-T6X. Who has experience with these? Does that sound like a decent choice? I want to spend the money I need to on good tires, but don’t want to spend the most money just because. Read more”
“My car originally came with 225/40/19 and 245/40/19, I then went to the other OEMs 225/45/18 and 245/45/18. But the 225/50/18 an 245/50/18 is the best yet. Way better ride, fills up the wheel wells and corrected the speedo error.”
Based on 36 community posts
Community sentiment toward the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 is overwhelmingly positive, with drivers frequently praising it as an exceptional value and budget-friendly alternative to premium summer tires. Owners report strong dry grip, solid wet-weather traction, good comfort, and predictable handling, though some note reduced performance in cold temperatures, softer sidewalls, and a tendency to get greasy during aggressive track sessions. Interest is also growing around the newer V2 version and its updated compound and tread design.
“Will I regret buying Firestone Firehawk Indy 500s? I have a stock '21 GT Premium convertible with the black appearance package. It came with the upgraded Pirelli P Zero 255/40-19 tires, but with 35,000 miles, they are really worn, and I need new tires. I live in North Florida. We don't have a lot of cold weather (I missed the snow last month), but I do get a lot of rain. I don't track the car, and mostly drive on country roads and the interstate. The Pirelli's have treated me well as far as traction, dry and wet. I like the aggressive look of the Firehawks, but I am concerned about wet weather traction. Will the Firehawks be at least comparable to the Pirelli's for wet weather and general handling? If not, it sounds like the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 4 is the way to go. Also, the car is all black, with black rims, and the tires look wimpy. I'm not up for new rims this go-round, and I won't lower it because I like the clearance for potholes, etc., that I see a lot of in my area. I'm hoping the tires will help the look a little bit. Read more”
“I just put Firestone Firehawk Indy 500's on my NC2 and I like them and would recommend them. I paid about $635 with installation at Costco but you might even be able to find them for less elsewhere.”
“I had them on wifes old MR2 spyder, drove great. deep tread and quiet, did not exhibit any bad behavior and held well at high speed on ramps, ect....great in wet weather and were by far the longest lasting tire I ever had on that car, yokohamas would burn down in 15-20k miles in rear and staggered so no rotates. different beast, I know but the tires on a miata should easily go 40-50k.”
Based on 146 community posts
| Attribute | A · Hankook Ventus S1 noble2 | B · Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 |
|---|---|---|
| Category | All-Season | Summer |
| Vehicle type | Passenger Car / Crossover | Passenger Car / Crossover |
| Sizes available | 8 | 47 |
| Rim diameters | 17″ – 20″ | 16″ – 20″ |
| Tread depth | — | 9 - 10/32″ |
| UTQG | — | 340 A A |
| Sidewall | — | Black Side Wall |
| Max pressure | — | 50 - 51 psi |
| Sizes in common | 2 | 2 |
Hankook Ventus S1 noble2
Firestone Firehawk Indy 500
Narrow edge: Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 — better treadwear, dry and handling. Pick the Hankook Ventus S1 noble2 if snow matters most to you.
Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 scores 66 vs 53 on treadwear.
Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 scores 74 vs 62 on dry.
Hankook Ventus S1 noble2 scores 53 vs 44 on snow.
Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 scores 71 vs 63 on handling.
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Neither, by our numbers: 67 vs 67 on the wet score, within 3 points.
Firestone Firehawk Indy 500, 74 vs 62 on our dry score.
Hankook Ventus S1 noble2, 53 vs 44 on our snow score.
Neither, by our numbers: 65 vs 66 on the comfort score, within 3 points.
Firestone Firehawk Indy 500, 66 vs 53 on our treadwear score.
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.
Handling is the exception: road tests measure it inside the dry and wet scores, so its own row comes from owner ratings only and starts as less important.
Community buzz from Reddit and forums is shown for context only — it never changes the score. Full methodology