Hankook Ventus Evo vs Vredestein Ultrac plus
Across the two shared 225/45 R17 tests from 2026, the pattern is extremely consistent: the Hankook repeatedly sits in the front-running group (3rd in both tests and “Highly Recommended” in one), while the Vredestein finishes in the lower tier (9/9 and 10/13). The most telling separation is on wet braking and overall wet grip-areas that strongly affect real-world safety margins-while Vredestein's main counterpunch is lower rolling resistance (better efficiency).
Test Results
Independent comparison tyre tests are the best source of data to get tyre information from, and the good news is there have been two tests which compare both tyres directly!
| Tyre | Test Wins | Performance |
|---|---|---|
| Hankook Ventus Evo | two |
While it might look like the Hankook Ventus Evo is better than the Vredestein Ultrac plus purely based on the higher number of test wins, tyres are very complicated objects which means where one tyre is better than the other can be more important in real world use.
Let's look at how the two tyres compare across multiple tyre test categories.
Key Strengths
- Class-leading wet performance in these tests (best wet braking and top aquaplaning results, including 78.8 km/h vs 75.4 km/h straight aquaplaning)
- Consistently strong dry dynamics (shorter dry braking at ~37.3 m and quicker dry handling times)
- High driver confidence/feel at the limit (top subjective dry and wet handling scores in the datasets)
- Competitive overall ranking versus premium rivals (3rd place finishes; “Highly Recommended” award)
- Lower rolling resistance / better efficiency (about 12-13% advantage over Hankook in both tests)
- Respectable aquaplaning resistance for everyday use (straight and curved aquaplaning not far behind Hankook)
- Generally acceptable, predictable wet-road manners at normal speeds (described as solid/communicative even if not sharp)
- Touring-oriented character that may suit relaxed driving where ultimate grip is not the priority
Dry Braking
Looking at data from two tyre tests, the Hankook Ventus Evo was better during two dry braking tests. On average the Hankook Ventus Evo stopped the vehicle in 5.09% less distance than the Vredestein Ultrac plus.
Best In Dry Braking: Hankook Ventus Evo
See how the Dry Braking winner was calculated >>
Dry Handling [s]
Looking at data from two tyre tests, the Hankook Ventus Evo was better during two dry handling [s] tests. On average the Hankook Ventus Evo was 1.49% faster around a lap than the Vredestein Ultrac plus.
Best In Dry Handling [s]: Hankook Ventus Evo
See how the Dry Handling winner was calculated >>
Subj. Dry Handling
Looking at data from two tyre tests, the Hankook Ventus Evo was better during two subj. dry handling tests. On average the Hankook Ventus Evo scored 15% more points than the Vredestein Ultrac plus.
Best In Subj. Dry Handling: Hankook Ventus Evo
See how the Subj. Dry Handling winner was calculated >>
Wet Braking
Looking at data from two tyre tests, the Hankook Ventus Evo was better during two wet braking tests. On average the Hankook Ventus Evo stopped the vehicle in 8.45% less distance than the Vredestein Ultrac plus.
Best In Wet Braking: Hankook Ventus Evo
See how the Wet Braking winner was calculated >>
Wet Handling [s]
Looking at data from two tyre tests, the Hankook Ventus Evo was better during two wet handling [s] tests. On average the Hankook Ventus Evo was 4.16% faster around a wet lap than the Vredestein Ultrac plus.
Best In Wet Handling [s]: Hankook Ventus Evo
See how the Wet Handling winner was calculated >>
Subj. Wet Handling
Looking at data from one tyre tests, the Hankook Ventus Evo was better during one subj. wet handling tests. On average the Hankook Ventus Evo scored 10.34% more points than the Vredestein Ultrac plus.
Best In Subj. Wet Handling: Hankook Ventus Evo
See how the Subj. Wet Handling winner was calculated >>
Wet Circle
Looking at data from one tyre tests, the Hankook Ventus Evo was better during one wet circle tests. On average the Hankook Ventus Evo had 7.79% higher lateral wet grip than the Vredestein Ultrac plus.
Best In Wet Circle: Hankook Ventus Evo
See how the Wet Circle winner was calculated >>
Straight Aqua
Looking at data from two tyre tests, the Hankook Ventus Evo was better during two straight aqua tests. On average the Hankook Ventus Evo floated at a 4.35% higher speed than the Vredestein Ultrac plus.
Best In Straight Aqua: Hankook Ventus Evo
See how the Straight Aqua winner was calculated >>
Curved Aquaplaning
Looking at data from two tyre tests, the Hankook Ventus Evo was better during two curved aquaplaning tests. On average the Hankook Ventus Evo slipped out at a 2.08% higher speed than the Vredestein Ultrac plus.
Best In Curved Aquaplaning: Hankook Ventus Evo
See how the Curved Aquaplaning winner was calculated >>
Subj. Comfort
Looking at data from two tyre tests, the Hankook Ventus Evo was better during two subj. comfort tests. On average the Hankook Ventus Evo scored 1.54% more points than the Vredestein Ultrac plus.
Best In Subj. Comfort: Hankook Ventus Evo
See how the Subj. Comfort winner was calculated >>
Noise
Looking at data from two tyre tests, the Hankook Ventus Evo was better during two noise tests. On average the Hankook Ventus Evo measured 1.67% quieter than the Vredestein Ultrac plus.
Best In Noise: Hankook Ventus Evo
See how the Noise winner was calculated >>
Rolling Resistance
Looking at data from two tyre tests, the Vredestein Ultrac plus was better during two rolling resistance tests. On average the Vredestein Ultrac plus had a 12.55% lower rolling resistance than the Hankook Ventus Evo.
Best In Rolling Resistance: Vredestein Ultrac plus
See how the Rolling Resistance winner was calculated >>
Real World Driver Reviews
Tyre Reviews also collects real world driver reviews for the Hankook Ventus Evo and Vredestein Ultrac plus.
In total the Hankook Ventus Evo has been reviewed 11 times and drivers have given the tyre 83% overall.
The Vredestein Ultrac plus has been reviewed 6 times and drivers have given the tyre 79% overall.
This means in real world driving, people prefer the Hankook Ventus Evo.
The size is a bit of an unusual one, and therefore the price of this set, compared to a set of... Continue reading this review using the link below
They are much quieter than All Season Pirellis, the noise is mainly a low hum, which is nicer to the ear than the alternatives.
I feel more comfortable when cornering at speed with them. Been driving some forest/field roads and they held up nicely. The tread doesn't seem as deep as other brands, will update how things are looking after 10k km.
Conclusion
The Vredestein Ultrac+ isn't “unsafe”-both test write-ups call it generally acceptable/solid in normal wet driving and reasonably resistant to aquaplaning-but it gives away meaningful stopping distance and grip, especially in the wet where it's weakest in the group in braking and lateral grip. Its one consistent advantage is efficiency: rolling resistance is around 12-13% better than the Hankook in both datasets (e.g., 0.762 vs 0.876 kg/t; 7.73 vs 8.84 kg/t). Practical takeaway: if you want a tyre that feels and performs like a top-tier sporty summer option at a mid-segment price, choose the Hankook; if your priority is lower energy consumption and you drive gently, the Vredestein can make sense, but you're trading away a notable chunk of grip and braking margin.
Key Differences
- Wet braking is a major separator: Hankook stops around 8-9% shorter (e.g., 43.2 m vs 47.2 m; 27.66 m vs 30.2 m), a meaningful real-world safety margin.
- Wet handling/grip advantage is consistent for Hankook (e.g., 70.9 s vs 73.8 s wet handling; better wet circle performance in both tests).
- Aquaplaning: Hankook leads both straight-line (78.8 vs 75.4 km/h) and curved aquaplaning (3.84 vs 3.76 m/s²), reinforcing wet confidence at speed.
- Dry performance: Hankook is quicker and more confidence-inspiring (dry handling ~1.4-1.6% faster; subjective dry scores materially higher).
- Efficiency flips the result: Vredestein's rolling resistance is ~12-13% lower, likely benefiting fuel/EV range and CO₂ over time.
- Heat tolerance/enthusiastic driving: Vredestein is reported to overheat quickly and understeer when pushed, while Hankook remains composed and “sporty” nearer the limit.
Overall Winner: Hankook Ventus Evo
Based on the tyre test data and user reviews we have in our database, the Hankook Ventus Evo has demonstrated better overall performance in this comparison. However, as you can see from the spider diagram above, each tyre has its own strengths which should be considered in your final tyre buying choice.Similar Comparisons
Looking for more tyre comparisons? Here are other direct comparisons involving these tyres:
Footnote
This page has been developed using tyre industry testing best practices. This means we are only comparing tests which have had both tyres in the same test.
Why is this important? Tyre testing is heavily affected by things like surface grip levels and surface temperature, which means you can only compare values from the same day. During a tyre test external condition changes are calculated into the overall results, but it is not possible to calculate this between tyre tests performed on different days or at different locations.
As a result you will see other tests on Tyre Reviews which feature both the %s and %s, but as they weren't conducted on the same day, the results are not comparable.
Lots of other websites do this sort of tyre comparison, Tyre Reviews doesn't.
Discussion
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