Corrales911

I just can't quite justify the $$$ for the SO3s Pilots recommended on this forum. Anybody have real-world experience comparing the Kuhmos and Yokahamas on the same car?

84_Carrera

Not 911 experience, but in the SHO community the tires are generally considered very similar. Treadwear is typically low with the Kumhos though. One person who brought their ES100's to a DE track day exhibited cracking in the center water channel, FWIW. Both are generally liked. I know the 712's have very little cold-weather traction, I'd imagine the ES100's would be similar as from memory they're also silica-based like the 712's.

FWIW, I just put Kumho MX's on the 911's 17" wheels. I put the 16's back on because I like the wheels better, and the Nitto 450's on there are HORRIBLE in comparison to the MX's. The MX's were quiet and extremely grippy compared to the 450's.

Best of luck!

Noel

I have the ES100s and don't like them compared to the old AVS Intermediates. The grip is decent, but the side walls are too soft IMO. I plan to buy the Kumho MX next time, as many of my friends use them and love them.

84_Carrera

Noel, that's funny because I found the AVS-I's to be a decent dry-only tire, and the ES100 was fairly good in a 3-season capacity, and quieter from what I remember of my old AVS-I's.

I'm really missing the MXs now. I think I'll be peeling off the MX's & finding someone who wants those sizes, buying new 16" MX's for the C2 5-spoke wheels, and using the 17" Cup 1's for track use only at this point. I have a pair of Victoracer 245/45-17's I could put on the rears, and then I'd just need to find something for up front.

The Veep here at work just bought himself an S2000, which uses 245/40-17's out back, I'll probably begin the sales pitch with him, and perhaps ebay the 205/40-17's.

Noel

Fred, I should qualify my review of that tire by saying that I only drive the car about 2,000 miles a year and the only time I drive in the rain is at the track or autocross (Like yesterday). However, I have driven with the AVS I's in the rain a couple times during DE events and I thought they were fine, although in both cases it was not heavy rain with standing water. I also only get about 3,000-4,000 miles out of a set of tires since I use them on the track too. So picking the wrong tires doesn't take long until the change. Good luck with the transaction!

Since you are in RI, how far are you from Ayer, MA? There is an autocross this weekend (Aug 7) at Devers Army Base. It should be a large and fast coarse. Yesterday's was 96 seconds and 1.2 miles long. Info can be found on the Northeast PCA Regions website.

Dr. Dynamics

I've tested the Yokohama A520, S02's, 712's and now I have Parada Spec II's. I have tried them on my Celica, except the SO2 which are on the 951. Taking SO2's apart since the little I've driven them they feel much superior, if $$ is your concern and threadlife, go for the 712's. A520 I believe were similar to the 100's, just discontinued (so I was told).

My A520 lasted 10k miles. Daily driving, couple of SoloX days (very hot weather). Very good INITIAL traction until they start wearing out the last 2000 miles, good cornering stiffness (sacrificing daily comfort since they hum a bit and the roads here are not the best).

Then I put 712. Silent compared to the 520's. CHEAPER! Not that great of a cornering stiff compared to my 520's but my wife is happier since the car did't feel that bulky and noisy. Had them for ~25k. Very similar traction compared to the Yokohamas but lost that good feedback. Affected my SoloX time for 1 sec (compromise).

Since the 712 were not in stock I needed tires badly, I put in Yokohamas Paradas. Superior traction. Good initial wet handling. Got feedback back. Havent seen the track yet but I practice a lot on my wat to work. Not as noisy and I'm very happy with them. At least for my tire size, the treadwear is higher than the 712's so I expect 30k from them. Yokohama price though

84_Carrera

Noel -
I used to run Ft Devens with the Northeast SHO Club quite often. We used 300 cones, 2.6 miles & 70 corners on our course.

I'll take a look at the schedule, but I haven't had a chance to have anyone in the NE Region tech my car yet - my track events have been self-teched groups so far this year. I just removed the roll bar yesterday as I'm having the softtop reworked this Thursday. If I can swing the schedule and have an opening in this weekend's scheduled SHO service appointments, I'll take a swing up, even if it's just to say hi. I assume you guys do like we did & swap off the work assignments ******** / driving or ******** / rest / driving cycles, depending on how many people you run - we'd run around 8 circuits per day (4 morning +4 afternoon) with around 40 people. FYI, I think the SHO Club had Sept. 25th open as well at Devens, pricing's usually around $50 per day & is open reg - 1st come 1st served.

Sorry to hijack the thread guys.

84_Carrera

FYI, I ran the Falken Avenis Sports, which are remarkably like the Paradas in tread pattern & compound, but have one wider size - 245/45-17 as well. Be VERY careful on the track with the Parada if it's anything like the Falkens. At Lime Rock once I was running with them, and in the span of 2 laps the rear tires heated up so much I gained something like 8psi, the car got very slippery & I lost it coming out of Big Bend.

Great street tires, I'd go lower on the pressure & work up rather than dropping pressure as you go with them though, FWIW.

petebrown

Noel:
What size tires can you run with Kuhmo MX's? I thought the MX's only were available in 205/55 and 225/50. I need a 245/45 for the rear on my 16x9s.

Pete.

FYI - I've been very happy with my SO3s. I have 16DE days on them or about 6,000 miles. The rears are gone but the fronts have half left.

84_Carrera

Pete, I bought 245/40-17 Kumho MX's for my 17x9's last month. A 255 wide would have been better in my case. The 245 tire doesn't extend beyond the 9" rim, so there's no protection from when your six year old decides to "help" you mount the wheels & drops them face-first on your paved driveway.

Look into the Toyo Proxes T1-S, they have 245/45-16's & 205/50-16's & 205/55-16's, 215/40-16 & 215/55-16's, 225/50-16's too. The Kumho has a little beefier tread block, but I'd hazard a guess the T1-S would shed water better than the MX. Unfortunately, they don't have 255 wide 16's.

RobMc

I'll throw in another opinion here, I've got an s2000 which came with S-02's on it and I have replaced them with the es100's. The es100's are a far better tire in wet conditions and grip almost as well as the S-02's in the dry. The downside to the Es-100's compared to the S-02's is that they wear a bit faster, maybe about a thousand less total miles of life, and they seem to follow the ridges of the road and wander more than the S-02's. For the diffrence in price I recommend the ES-100's, for my S2000 there is about a 60.00+ dollar diffrence per tire so I go with the Yokohama's.

Noel

Pete,

I run 205/55 and 225/50 on my 7/8" fuchs. The only way I would go with a 245 in the rear is if I had a 225 in the front. I don't want to create understeer.
I still have the ES100s in the car right now, but the rears are getting thin. Normally, I would just buy a new set of rears, but this time I'm tossing the fronts so I can get a set of Kumhos.

BTW, you will note that I moved to MA. This happend about 4 weeks ago. Lots of new tracks to explore out here in the East!!!

Noel

Rob,

Did you also notice how much softer the sidewall is with the ES100s?

Noel

RobMc

Noel
I have not noticed a big diffrence however I don't track my car although I do drive it rather spiritedly.

Dr. Dynamics

84_Carrera:

Thanks for the warning. I'll definitely have it in mind!