bureau13

So, my rear tires are almost slicks, so I need to stop being an idiot and do something about it. My fronts are fine, so they'll stay.

Currently, I have Kumho Ecsta Supra all around. The backs are 255/40r17. I had no complaints with them. When I had the original 16-inchers, I had Continentals. I had no complaints with those either.

My priorities are dry handling, cost and wear, and I'm definitely looking for the "good but cheap" part of the store. It's down to the two listed in the title, most likely. Any thoughts comparing the two? They're about the same price, so on that front at least, it's a wash.

Walt L

I had the Conti's and really liked them, until someone introduced me to the Toyo R888's....
Loud but OH MY the TRACTION!!!

bureau13

Aren't those basically track tires? I don't generally drive in tropical storms, but getting caught in the rain is a fairly common occurrence.

Randy V

I'm a Kumho fan.

My recommendation would be to first invest in some 18 inch wheels. That really opens up the tire options to you.

SeanR

Continental would have to pay me to put those tires on my cars again. I hated them that much.

soontobered84

What about the Contis did you not like, Sean? Just curious.

928NOOBIE

I had Kuhmos on my 996...once they broke in they were great tires. I have the Contis on mine now..I like the fact they are all season..I can drive it in the rain and as long as the tires have good tread on them it's very stable.

Never run the Kuhmos on the 928...but I might try it next time. Also been thinking about going with a Michelin for the sidewall strength.

Walt L

I'm on the "Wet Coast" Lot's of rain, they seem pretty good to me...

hb253

If you're going to keep the fronts, I'd stick to the same brand and model for the rear replacements. I've experienced squirrely handling with unmatched tires front to rear.

Hugo

ThetaTau87

This is a no brainer IMO. The Conti wins hands down.

First, I assume you meant Kumho Ecsta PS31 not PS33. I couldn't find any Kumho tires called PS33. The PS31 isn't even in the same performance category as the Conti ExtremeContact DW. The DW is in the next performance category up as classified by Tirerack. The only advantage the PS31 would have is that it will likely last a bit longer than the DW because it has a higher wear rating. If long life is your main concern and handling isn't a top priority the PS31 might be a decent buy, but if you value performance keep reading.

The PS31 doesn't compare well against tires in its own category let alone against the DW in the next level up. PS31 scored 3rd out of 4 tires in this test. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/...y.jsp?ttid=217

The DW is only out ranked by 3 tires of the 30 in its category and they range from 50% to over 100% more expensive. Here are the Tirerack consumer survey results. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/survey...ay.jsp?type=MP

The Kumho tire that is in the same category as the DW is the Ecsta LE Sport. You can see in the link above that it is ranked well down in the middle of the pack of this category.

The Conti DW isn't the best summer street tire you can buy (that's the Michelin Pilot Super Sport), but it is the best value for money tire you can buy. It performs within a hair of tires that cost much more and vastly out performs tires that cost the same. I don't think you can buy a better tire on a budget.

All the above is based on Tirerack survey results and testing of the DW, but I also have had these tires on my Audi for several years. They perform extremely well, especially in the wet. Many summer tires don't handle heavy water very well, but the DW is excellent. I drove through hurricane Irene on my way from CT back to MI, 4 hours driving in the worst down poor I've ever experienced. I never once lost traction or had a hint of hydroplaning. Other cars were crawling and I was able to go posted highway speeds safely. I have been extremely pleased with them. The only thing that may prevent me from buying a set for my 928 when it needs tires is that when I bought it it had Michelin Pilot Super Sports on it. Those tires are AMAZING! It will be a very hard decision if I want to pay for the best or save a bunch and get a slightly lower performing tire.

I have some personal experience with Kumho as well and I'm not a fan. Many years ago I was tempted by the low price and bought a set of their summer performance tires. They started out okay, but as they wore they got extremely noisy and the performance dropped off from acceptable to poor. I couldn't wait for them to wear out and replace them with a set of Goodyear GSD3s. These were my go to summer tire until Conti introduced the DW and they performed nearly the same as the incredibly more expensive Michelin PS2 at a Kumho price.

SeanR

Once they got to 1/2 thread the road noise was like a bald tire from any other manufacturer. Ran them on both the '88 and the '90. I've ran the Kumho's and was happy with a few sets of those but then I went to Hankook and am so much happier with those. Been running those on my car for a few years and on the wifes Merc too.

terry gt

I am running the conti DW on my GT 245/45/17 and 275/40/17 , and quite like them as a all round road tire ..
have even autoX them
Now I have toyo r888 as track tires , the toyos are ok in damp conditions , but can be very dangerous with and standing water .
dry they are quite good

bureau13

First of all, yes, the Kumhos are PS31...I typed that wrong.

Second...I like the idea of sticking with the same brand/model as the fronts, but the reality is that same model does not appear to be available, so I thought I was going with the equivalent new model. I did notice the "performance category" was different, but frankly I'm not entirely convinced the "Ultra," "Max," and whatever the other one are are meaningful (not asserting that, I'm just suspicious of the marketing. All those words mean the same thing, although Max literally means the most, and it's...not the most. So, wtf...).

I was a little concerned that the Contis might not be around much longer, as TireRack seemed to indicate they were a special order. Might not mean anything though...

Sagres74

I have the Continentals on my 993 and have no complaints whatsoever. Good looking tire, good thread pattern with good traction, solid warranty... hard to argue. I've actually been eyeballing them as well for my 928 as my rears are near bald as well.

ThetaTau87

I wouldn't be too worried about matching the front tires. Currently you're driving on near bald rear tires that will create dangerous snap oversteer in wet conditions when the rears hydroplane or lose traction and good tread depth tires at the front. That is about as mismatched as you can get. This is the opposite of what you would want as ideal. Ideally you want the front tires to lose traction first because understeer is a safer and more controllable condition in a panic situation where one axle or the other loses traction unexpectedly. This is exactly the type of situation you're trying to avoid by matching the front and rear tire brand/model.

This is also why the 928 has narrower front tires than rear despite having a 50/50 weight distribution. The best handling would come from having the same size tires on the front and rear, but would create a tendency to oversteer in some situations which is something that factory handling tuners try to avoid. A tendency to understeer is safer for most drivers, so narrower tires up front are what the 928 got from the factory.

The Conti DW is a better performing tire than your existing tires and the PS31. You have to decide if you want more of the same or an upgrade. Increasing the grip of the rear tires will reduce the tendency to oversteer which is generally a good thing. The DW and your current Kumho tires aren't so different that I would expect vastly different performance characteristics. I would put the DW on the rear now and when your fronts wear out upgrade those to DW as well.

Your concern about the DW being discontinued is legitimate. They have been around for a long time and are due for replacement with a newer model. If that happens before you replace your fronts you simply buy the equivalent Conti that replaces the DW. It will undoubtedly be a slight upgrade from the current DW, but still in the same ballpark.

In the end you'll have upgraded your tire performance quite a bit without spending any more money. Kumho Supra used to be a great value tire, but they have been surpassed by Conti DW as the best value in performance tires. Kumho is cheap, but only mid-pack performance. The Conti is equally cheap, but near the top performance in the next category up. The categories may seem like marketing bunk, but if you look at the Tirerack objective and subjective test results for the PS31 and DW you will see that the different categories of tires are separated by a definite gap in performance.