UDPride

I can only speak for Kumhos on my WRX, but they are the best summer/rain tires I have ever owned on any car -- ever. And Ive owned the expensive stuff too. And thats not the AWD talking. I got 20K miles on them and I drive them very hard. I actually think they grip better now than they do 10K miles ago. Maybe on a Porsche they are crap. Could be.

Matt H

UD - you dont drive hard if you think they are good tires. I am in the tire business and have tested them on a few cars. For refernce my overweight underpowered RX7 vert will spin the 18" MX's in 3rd gear (they are nearly new). It couldnt break loose the S-02s that were on it in 1st, nor could it break loose the touring tires before that.

How many sets of tires have you had on that car? What were they. If compared to other junk I suppose it could be the best of the bunch, but a shiny turd is still a turd.
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iloveporsches

I can tell you I don't really like the really old, starting-to-dry-rot Yoko's on my car

I'll hopefully be getting some S-03's, if the USPS decides it's worth their time to get me my discount card!

Matt H

You still havent gotten that? I need to send you another one then.
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iloveporsches

AFAIK I haven't. I asked my mom yesterday if anything came in the mail and nothing yet. I'll PM you my address at school, maybe I'll have better luck that way.

Who would the mail come from? You, or would it be marked from Firestone/ Bridgestone?

mpw

The S-03 is a good tire, but it's showing it's age, it's about time for Bridgestone to come out with an S-04. The Goodyear GS-D3 and the BFG G-Force KDW2 are both probably better tires, and the new Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 is for sure.

Matt H - I'm surprised to hear you dislike the MX, you're the first person I've ever heard say that about them. I know a number of guys who have had the MX on the track and far prefer them to the S-03; apparently the MX takes heat much better and sticks almost as well as the S-03 when cool. This is on an S4, so on a 3000 lbs. RWD Porsche, they could behave differently.

Matt H

mpw - the Ecsta MX is a pile for daily driving. They last no more than 10K miles (I have had two sets, I ran through the first so fast I had to see if it was that set). The noise at the 5K mile mark was unacceptable, the wet weather traction is non-existant. See the chart for "relative" tire testing data

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/max.jsp

A great deal of the problem when picking tires is what they are used for. I think the S-03 is not sticky enough for track use when it is heated up. Then again, I dont think that street tires on the track make that much sense (I do know the arguments).

The other tough thing is comparing between different vehicles. It is too hard to compare a tire on X car vs. X car. Each car handles a little differently depending on the tire. That being said, the Kumho product is cheap. Ever wonder why they are one-half the price of a GY, Michelin, Bridgestone, etc?
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mpw

Matt H - I totally agree with you, Kumhos are cheap, there's no question, but for the money I've always heard good things about the MX. Now, the other Kumho street tires are another story. Nonetheless, I also agree that street tires aren't ideal for the track. Personally, I don't even run high-performance tires on the street, I want something comfortable that will last.

Matt H

mpw - the for the money part is really deceiving. For as long as they last they arent even that good a deal monetarily. I can live with the UHP tires on the street, no problem, but they have to be good in the wet and at least decent in the dry (how hard do you really push on the way to work?). Noise is no big deal until such time as I notice it is loud, if you know what I mean. When you cant have a conversation it is too loud.
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UDPride

Why did I even bother.

Matt H

Who knows :>)

What do you do BTW? You have a mighty fine collection of cars. I think your 930 is one of the nicest I have ever seen pictures of.
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87924GT

I've had my 924GT for about 9 months now and this is the 3rd set of tires on the car. It's not like I'm wearing them out, but I've found that that Comp T/A's that came with it would break away with a quick flick of the wheel. That's no fun at all in the rain that we have in central Florida! I unloaded those and pick out a set of Potenza S-02 and found that the front end wouldn't stick in the Mario Andretti attack of all the on/off ramps. The fronts would push all the time and the rears would just not keep up. My car maybe the exception but the Kumo 712's are extremely predicable in the wet and provide the right balance in the dry to drift at the limits that I drive. The car has MO30 turbo bars, has been lowered, has yellow adj. Konis on all fours and I run C-2 rims that are 7.5 & 9.0 X 17's with 225-45 & 255-40's. Next weekend I'll be replacing the ball joints and the tie rods with turbo tie rods and installing a completly rebuild '83 trans. with a Quaife torque bias chunk in it. Later this year I'll be going to Sebring to do a drivers school and will be able to give move feed back on how the tires work on the track. I'm not concerned with road noise from the tires because the car has been built to be driven hard all the time. If you want quite,smooth riding car than get a 928!

mpw

I have a feeling you're going to hate the 712s on the track. If you're drifting on the street, then you're going to be sliding at the track.

Matt H

You will toast 712s in less than 5 laps.

As for the get a 928 comment the original poster did not ask what tires for the track. I assume he wants to drive his car daily, in this instance tire noise is a real issue.
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KuHL 951

Again there are always compromises we all make when we buy tires. My son delivers pizzas in an old Acura Legend; he buys generic cheap tires because he wears down the outsides so fast (picture turn,turn,turn) Even Kumho would be an "expensive" tire for him. Myself I don't put a lot of miles on my Porsches and look for a tire that won't harden up on me before I wear them out but still give me a good bang for my buck. I've had the 712's on a Miata, the Q45, and now on the 951. They seem to wear OK when newer but the ride and grip deteriorates fast after about 7-10K. After they get to that point they are pretty worthless in the rain and the tread seems heat hardened. The ES-100's are still fairly new (3K) and cost about the same as the 712's. I haven't heard that many complaints on other Forums either. The Kumho 712's are always slammed except by people with heavy cars. The MX's seem to have a fair following so far and make a fair street/DE tire. The S-O3's are great tires but again at twice the price of the Yokies. I'm not going to chance having a more expensive tire age harden on me and lose a good 1/2 of the price I paid. Ask what you want out of a tire and make up your mind what your willing to give up: performance, endurance, good price-find a tire that meets two of those criteria and you'll be happy.

I know there are some really experienced tire people here; do all tires age like that over time? I live in a dry hot climate that seems to take it's toll on all rubber products. I've had to scrap $200 Michelins on the Q at less that 1/3 tread because they were on the car for 4 years with the PO. They were absolutely frightening in the rain.

Steve