Anybody esle heard of this??


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http://www.kumhousa.com/V710.asp

IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR ECSTA V710 TIRES

KUMHO Tire's priority is safety, and we are committed to supplying our customers with the highest quality and best performing tires that are available anywhere in the world. It is with this philosophy in mind that KUMHO is taking immediate action in discontinuing the sale of the ECSTA V710 Competition Tire.

The V710 has won several races and set numerous track records since it was introduced into the market on January 1, 2004. Although we have not experienced any air loss failures with the ECSTA V710 Competition Tire, we have discovered some inconsistent test results relating to tread splice and tread area durability.

The sale of the ECSTA V710 Competition Tire will, therefore, be discontinued immediately, and tires in use in the market will be collected from consumers. KUMHO will replace them with either the KUMHO ECSTA V700 or Victoracer tire free of charge.

An investigation into the cause of the inconsistencies has been carried out and modifications to the product and production methods have been made to ensure these inconsistencies do not re-occur.

Consumers who have purchased the ECSTA V710 Competition Tire must call the dealer where the tires were purchased or the following toll free number to arrange for tire return and replacement :

1-800-445-8646 Extension 342

Consumers will be given the choice of a free replacement of the ECSTA V710 with either the ECSTA V700 or Victoracer. They will also be provided a free set of the modified ECSTA V710 upon its arrival.

KUMHO is sincerely committed to the quality of our products and the total satisfaction of our customers. We regret any inconvenience to our customers.

 

Damn, why don't they want my Ecsta Supra 712's?

 

I have 710's. Tire Rack sent me a notice.

 

check out the bottom of this page for some crazy pictures of why they're recalling:

http://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=822611&page=2

(please excuse all the hondas )

 

Yea too bad you won't see Dan Rather, and the 20/20 crew, oh yeah AND 60 minutes plastering THAT all over the TV night and day. (Rant Off)

 

Bummer, a recall on my V700s would help

Oh wait, never mind...they only replace them with more Kuhmos

 

so someone could have potentially used 90% of the 710, recieved a free set of the victoracer then when the vicroracer is done they will get a free set of the new 710.... that rocks, wish i bought 710s now!

 

Seems like when I said their quality was junk I heard a bunch of people disagree.....
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Awesome! I now have a nice "I told you so" for 2 friends of mine that said brand doesn't matter. I'm not sure what model, but they both ordered Kumho over the Potenza's I got.

 

Yeah complete and total junk. And they treat their customers like crap. I will certainly never buy one of their tires again. Especially if they are going to recall a tire that has yet to cause any serious harm to the consumer, replace thier tires at no cost then give them another set in addition to the ones replaced. All of this for a competition tire that carries no warranty to begin with since it will be used for racing.

Personally my money goes to Firestone. I would much prefer to have a multi-million dollar settlement and the death of my family because their tires failed and the manufacturer knew fully about it than a couple free sets of tires.

Matt, I normally agree with your posts, but this one seems off base. I know you have alot of expierence in the tire business and your opinions are usually very well reasoned. However I don't think you are giving Khumo a fair rap. If they respond like this for their race tires, what do you think they will do for their street tires? Besides that I have driven on numerous sets of tires over the years, tortered them, raced them, drove them at high speeds in the rain and over long distances for extended periods of time. I used to be and sometimes still am the 10%er that they fear will use the tire to its limits and beyond. While Khumo is not on the top of my list for tires they certainly rank amoung the brands that I trust and I fully recognize the performance I recieve for the price I pay.

If I want the best tire I can buy, I will buy a Bridgestone. Long racing heritage on real race cars (Not NASCAR) high quality, mulitiple lines of High Performance tires and a good price. Khumo is the New Kid On The Block and in the 6 or so years they have been available in the US I think they have done a terrific Job.

Give me something to back up your claim of Khumo being a bad tire.

 

Well Bridgestone = Firestone Same company different brand names.


I do think Kumho is doing good job handling this. Looks like as soon as I began to hear of problems I hear about Kumho attempting to fix it. Sure it sucks when issue like this happen, but yesterday morning I hear about V710 tire delamination. Then mid day I hear about the recall. That is pretty quick. Also looks like the drivers will get two sets from Kumho. A temporary replacement and the updated V710. Yes it would be better if it did not happen, but they seem to be addressing it.

 

M758,

Not being rude. I am fully aware that Bridgestone and Firestone are the same company, but they are still very different.

Firestone is the American based company and produces a completely different line of tires than Bridgestone.

Bridgeston is a Japenese based company again with a completely different line of tires. While they may be under the same corporate entity, I see dramatic differences in their tire quality and reputation. I would never put a Firestone tire on my car. Even before they had blowout problems I saw Firestone as a Cheap low quality tire meant for Mustangs.

Besides, one of the best tires ever made was the Potenza RE-71. That tire was specifically made for the Porsche 959 as at the time it was the only street tire rated at over 200mph. I wish they still made it. Best Tire Ever.

 

Absolutely correct! I would not consider buying a Firestone tire for my wheelbarrow On the other hand, I have no issue spending my hard earned money on Bridgestone tires. I have Bridgestone racing slicks, ice tires (Blizzaks) and S03 Pole Positions (for my 944).

You can take this tire brand partnership situation as far as you want. There are a number of significant players in the tire business who are sharing technologies and leadership.
1) Michelin and BFG
2) Goodyear, Dunlop and Sumitomo
3) Cooper and Avon
4) Continental, General (not much better than Firestone, in my opinion)

Now maybe there is little to choose from, as far as quality and safety, among these other partnerships. However, the extreme difference between Bridgestone and Firestone is quite remarkable.

I do agree that Kumho is doing a great job of keeping their customers and keeping their satisfaction level high. Most of the people I know who use Kumhos are very happy with them. For the price - they are very attractive alternatives to other brands. My only experience with the brand is their rally tire. As stated above - for the price - I was quite satisfied with the performance, quality and wear rate.

 

Personally my money goes to Firestone. I would much prefer to have a multi-million dollar settlement and the death of my family because their tires failed and the manufacturer knew fully about it than a couple free sets of tires.

Andrew - we are pretty good net friends so I am just going to ask you to do the tiniest bit of research as it ALL points to the fact the the vehicle is to blame. Further, what you may not know is that OE tires are made to the vehicle manufacturers specification. I.e. they say, this is what we want, the tire manufacturer just builds it.

If you think they are doing a good job then we must be doing a great job with the tires they are replacing currently on Excursions as they have offered the same thing to them (even so much as personally calling EVERY owner after they have been to the store!).

You are entitled to your opinion of the Firestone product. I wont argue that. What is pictured in the Kumho thread is clealy an issue with the machinery, as that is a tread splice issue. It is where the tread is layed over the inner liner. It is about a basic as tire making comes.

One last thing, I bet you dont know that the BS tires you speak so highly of share common parts (like a Mazda and a Ford for instance or if you prefer, Toyota and Lexus). A good portion of the BS product is made in the US at plants that also make the FS product. There isnt as much difference as you all think.

I am happy to talk about tires but I dont want to get in an argument, or get myself in trouble at work. Some of you may receive PMs.
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I think it's a good thing Kumho is recalling all these tires. A better thing would be to not have the problem in the first place. Then again, has there ever been a company who did it right the first time, everytime?

Matt-

You wouldn't happen to know of any engineering positions within the company would you? Or know anyone with a desk you could drop a resume on?