Serge944

Im on a very tight budget right now but i'm in dire need of new rubber. I have pretty much narrowed it down to 3 tires which i can get for about $240 to my door. They all got decent reviews for the money. But, which ones:

Falken ziex 512
Kumho Ecsta 711
Sumitomo HTR 200

Im leaning towards the Kumhos, what do you guys think?

Don 944 LA

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Don

bloodraven

I say the Falkens...thats what i have on my car and man they are great!

Serge944

I want the es100 too....but i just cant afford them atm.

pete944

From personal experience:
I had the Falken ZE 512's on my 85.5 944 and loved them.
I have the Kuhmo's on the S2 and can't stand them.
I haven't tried the ES100 but I haven't heard any negatives about them.

Dave

You might get better answers if you mentoined what size wheels you have and how you ues the car, for street use all 3 could be called "marginal," and that's being really kind to the Kuhmos. I don't know if they're available in the size you want, but you might consider Fuzion (new Bridgestone/Firestone line), good for street or track but like the 3 above, stay away from autocross with them.

NeedPorscheSpeed

Tell me more. I have been considering the Kumhos for my S2 when it comes time for replacement. My S2 is my daily driver, and I enjoy taking turns hard every chance I get, so, I reasoned, why not get some tires that perform respectably for the money. I currently have Dayton Daytona ZRs on my S2, and I have been extremely pleased with the balance between comfort and performance. However, the my dealer friend who sold them to me went out of business, and I was thinking of using Tirerack.com next go round. If the Kumhos are poor in comfort, I definitely do not want them. Please tell us more about your experience with them.

As a sidenote, I have Bridgestone Potenza S-03 Pole Positions on my 951S, and they are wonderful! Just about as good in the wet as in the dry. However, because they are so expensive, I often find myself "taking it easy on them" so as not to wear them out so quickly. I think next time, I'm going to get some cheaper, although highly rated tires, for the turbo; maybe then I won't feel this need to conserve the tires so much!

Dave

Sounds like your best bet might be to put Potenza RE-750s on both cars, notch below the S-03s but still a great tire and a bit less expensive. What's with the drastic difference in tires between the cars?

Serge944

Well, ill be running 215/60 15's +/-. Theyre mainly for street use, but that doesnt mean i dont like to drive aggressively down windy mountain roads.

NeedPorscheSpeed

Thanks for the recommendation. You know, that's a good question. I guess the main reason is that, although I pamper both cars and prize them highly, the Turbo is the one that I pamper to the maximum. I decided that I would put the very best tires on her. Also, because I drive the S2 daily, I wanted some tires that I could hammer often and not feel guilty about the expense.

It used to be that the Turbo was on a pedestal high above my S2, but I have to admit, the S2 has grown on me tremendously during the past year. I have spent a lot of time on curvy mountain roads, and her balance and manners are so predictable and forgiving; I feel more at one with the S2 than I do with the Turbo. so it is my choice for the twisties now and around town. Although the Turbo, in the hands of a more experienced driver (mine too, actually) can beat my S2 in every category, I just don't feel as comfortable with her, even though I've owned both for 5 years. I guess I need more time behind the wheel to tame the little red devil!
The Turbo is absolutely amazing on the Interstate and the track, however, and is so easy to drive fast! After making some modifications recently, I couldn't resist the urge to hit 140+ mph on the Interstate. Because of that, I have banned myself from the Interstate for 2 weeks! Sorry about being Off-topic...

L8 APEKS

This is a topic I'll likely need to deal with soon. My problem also has to do with sizing, aside from tire choice.

The tires that came on my car are sized 195/60/15 front, and 225/50/15 rear.

I'm not sure where to go with this. My first instinct is to widen the front tire and drop the aspect ratio. The rear seems like an OK size to me.

Would a 205/55 front and 225/50 rear be a decent choice for an S? I want the best cornering grip possible out of the 15's. I don't AutoX at all, but I drive in a very "spirited" manner, and do a good number of track events (dedicated race wheels/tires are coming, but not quite yet). Suggestions?

As for tire choice...I really wanted the Falken Azenis, but they are backordered from the Mfr. for 60 days. Arrrgh! I may order them now. I was amazed at their grip vs. price performance.

My Kumho 712's were not bad, but I hear the 711 is considerably worse.

Serge944

Falken azenis come in only one 15" size: 205/50. I dont know how those would work on a 944...Too narrow and the profile is too small.

L8 APEKS

Yeah, noticed the size limitation after posting.

Though I'm wondering if they wouldn't make a good front tire choice?

It seems a lot of people are running 205's up front...or should I step up to a 215?

At any rate, the 225/50 looks good out back. I'd like to keep that size. Just not sure what size to use up front!

Serge944

Well, OEM tire size for your car is 215/60/15 front and bak. So if you chose to run 225/50's in the back you should probably do the same in the front.

Dave

These cars do not respond well to mixing tires front to back, use the same brand and model at both ends. I've found that 225/50-15s are just too small for street use, they make the car "buzzy" on the highway (the revs are high enough with the stock size, especially in an S), I use this size for autocross (I have Ecsta V700s and will never buy another Kuhmo product) but I don't think there is as much benefit in gear reduction as some would have you believe.
I do run staggered sizes with my "street wheels" but they are 16" and there are a lot more tires to chose from, on my 15s I stick with the same size all around. I like the stock size but I understand that some people do like the 225/50-15, I would draw the line at these two sizes and due to the difference in diameter I wouldn't mix them, to run a 205 front with the 225/50 rear you'd need to find a 215/55-15 (do these exist?). My snow tires are 195s thats the only use for this width.
I've mentioned my opinion of Kuhmo, My most recent experience on the 944 is with the RE-730 (I understand the RE-750 is better) and with Fuzion. Last I checked there was only one review of Fuzion on Tirerack, I wrote it, in it I said that they do well on the street and the track but didn't stand up well to autocross use. They are not quite as good as the RE-730s but they are priced like Kuhmos and are easily better than an equivilent Kuhmo. I don't know what 15" sizes are available from Fuzion, if it's not on the tirerack site you should call and ask, my rear tires weren't listed yet last I checked but I'd had them for a few weeks already by then. I would have liked to try a set of RE-750s, but I need a job first. On that note, I gotta go look for one now.