Just ordered my Kumho Tires

[hockeyman]

I just went out and found a auto shop that deals with tirerack.com. The total for delivery, mounting, balancing, and old tire disposal came to $489.00. I put half down and the guy said they'll be in by late next week. I got the ECSTA 712's, 255/50/w16's. The guy was trying to talk me out of them, and said, "Personally, I wouldn't order these. You could get alot more performance from BF Goodrich, and they are ONLY $300.00 more". I said "You know, there is another shop not too far from here that I can order Kumho's from". Needless to say, he ordered them for me.
Any feedback from Kumho owners here? Do you like them?

Marc

[PiLOTLiTE]

I have the same tires and size and I love them. Great cornering grip and they stick on launch pretty well too. Of course anything probably will stick better than the eagles that were on there before. But seriously, they are a great tire for the price, can't ask much more in performance, we'll just have to see how they wear.

I'm getting 3.73s/lsd put in as we speak so I'll let you know how they hook on those in a few days.

[hockeyman]

373's?? Wow! I hear you'll lose alot of top end with those gears. Acceleration will be nice though. I currently have 3:23's, but the lowest I would go (if I were to change them) would be 3:42's.
Thank you for the reply.

Marc

[NBMA4V6]

kumho's absolutly suck in off the line performance if you have any torque...i can spin these tires into second with an automatic..they get super hard with some heat

however they are good cornering tires and wet traction is AWESOME

they do wander on the road a bit but its nothing you cant live with

[12secondv6]

A lot of my 11 and 12 second ls1 buddies run them for street tire.
Traction is good (considering their power) & cost is nice too

[whiteshark]

i love mine, wet and dry traction are both awesome [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img] and they look really cool too. havn't regretted it for a second

[hockeyman]

Yeah, I'm looking forward to getting them installed. I'm all giddy!

Thanx Guys!

Marc

[strobhen]

They are an excellent street tire.

First off they are better in every way possible than the stock GA's

They have excellent cornering, I can spin them, but not nearly as much as the GA's. They do wander just a tad over bumps & such, but its really not that bad.

Wet traction is simply amazing. Was driving at night in moderate rain (right after a monster of a rainstorm), going about 50, and I hit a huge puddle (like I was slinging water to the sides higher than the car). Car stayed straight as an arrow, couldn't feel any hydroplaning either (I did take my foot off the accelerator, slowed down mighty quick).

I am very happy with these tires.

Just remember it takes them a little while to break in, about 100 miles. When you first leave the shop, if you hit it, you will be all over the place (I was spinning under moderate acceleration, hehe)

I have heard, however, that the first half of the tread is pretty dang soft, while the second half is much harder. I am nowhere near half tread, so grip may reduce then.

[99firebirdconv.]

Yokohama A520's are better if you can afford them, i love mine. :D

[ProjectX]

I too love mine. THey are 18's though. I used to spin like crazy in first and second but now launch right outof the whole. I did notice a little wandering on the road too.

[AZ3.8Camaro]

BTW the only reason he told you to go with bfgs (besides more money in his pocket) is that they have a higher treadwear value. He probably recommended G-Forces. Some new technology makes them pretty cool, but very pricey. The tread is weird it has like slanted cuts in it. Very weird but hard to notice. For the money, you can't beat the kumhos. Someone might tell you that so-and-so tire is better. But kumhos are rated AA in traction (The very highest) A in Temp (The very highest) and have a little over 200 in treadwear. The only way to make a tire better is to up the treadwear, but you pay more (usually not worth it), so it evens out anyways.

[TheV6Bird]

I love my Kumhos as well. They only wander on the crappiest of crap highways. There is this one strecth of I-95 near exit 41 and on, and the road is actually sunk in where the tires have worn. Needless to say, I keep both hands on the wheel. Every other road, however, I am fine.

[SuprSpdDB7]

yes i have them too! they are da bomb diggity! :D
awesome wet traction - absolutely the best for So. Florida weather. They have saved me from several incidences that make have been damaging if I still had my old tires.
Initial wear seems to be alot but the wear is getting slower (harder tread like someone said)
Yeah, they wander a little, especially when driving SLOW (20 or under)
I will definitely buy them again, especially since they are so cheap! ($500 all together & installed)

[hockeyman]

If anyone gets to read this and knows the answer, please respond.
What does the treadwear and numbers mean? I don't understand them. Like what is the highest and lowest quality number(s).

Marc

[Guardsman]

There are rating systms for the tires. For Traction, it's a letter system, AA is the highest, then it goes to A, B, etc.
Temp is the same thing, I can't remember what is measures right off the top of my head, though.
The wear rating is in numbers, the higher the number the better the tire will wear (i.e., the longer it will last).
As a warning, though, I found out that the wear rating is relative to the speed rating on the tire, i.e., a 200 treadwear rating on a Z-rated tire is not the same as a 200 rating on an H-rated tire. I put about 5000 miles a month onm my car on average, so the treadwear is an issue for me. I'll have gotten over a year (almost 60,000 miles now) on my BFG Comp T/A HR4s, so they're worth the extra money (about $500 all up). I just changed the fronts, and the rears are still on, and will last a bit longer, so I may get close to 70,000 miles from those. Of course, BFG turned around and discontinued them (a**holes), so I have to find a replacement.