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Kumho MX, slippery?

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Old May 16, 2006 | 03:27 PM
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Default Kumho MX, slippery?

Hi,

I just got a set of Kumho Ecsta MX in 225/50/16. From what I hear they are a good compromize between track/street use.

But I find them extremely slippery, in the wet it will spin in third, and on dry road it spins the rear wheels like crazy in 2ond. It wasnt like this with my old crap tires.

What's up? Do they need to be broken in? Or are they like this when cold? And will they reach operating temperature from regular street driving at all?

MM, confused.
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Old May 16, 2006 | 03:41 PM
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Honestly? Candidly? Kumhos, unless we are talking about the race DOT tires, with which I have no experience, SUCK MONKEY *****. We get what we pay for, and I have had multiple sets of Kumhos, and they have always been underwhelming, squirely under pressure, and not very grippy at all.

Your alignment has alot to do with a tire when you go to the full bore ulta-street tires, but they still simply suck and don't seem to have a grasp of good tread or rubber technology that tires like Bridgestone have.


Originally Posted by gruffalo
Hi,

I just got a set of Kumho Ecsta MX in 225/50/16. From what I hear they are a good compromize between track/street use.

But I find them extremely slippery, in the wet it will spin in third, and on dry road it spins the rear wheels like crazy in 2ond. It wasnt like this with my old crap tires.

What's up? Do they need to be broken in? Or are they like this when cold? And will they reach operating temperature from regular street driving at all?

MM, confused.
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Old May 16, 2006 | 04:28 PM
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I have Kumho MX, and have no complaints. 225 in front, 255 in rear, on GTS wheels. I've used them for several open road races. No sense of loose traction up to 140mph, temps in the desert 90-100* F. Held fine on wet highway up to 120mph during a practice session. In fact, they seemed to hold fine during a track day last month, temps in the mid 70's F. I will probably get the same tire before this summer's ORR.

Brendan, are you referring to the MX or the Supra as crap? I agree that the Supra is crap, as does the rep at Tirerack.

Rich
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Old May 16, 2006 | 07:40 PM
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Two questions:

How many km have you put on the tires?
What's the ambient temperature?

Brand new tires have a mold release agent that can be really slippery at first. A few hundred km and it should be gone. Also Kumho MX are summer performance tires and don't really work well at lower temps. Given warm and dry conditions, the MX's work pretty well. I drove Rich S's car at the track and I thought the grip was pretty good for a street tire.
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Old May 16, 2006 | 11:17 PM
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Originally Posted by Richard S
I have Kumho MX, and have no complaints. 225 in front, 255 in rear, on GTS wheels. I've used them for several open road races. No sense of loose traction up to 140mph, temps in the desert 90-100* F. Held fine on wet highway up to 120mph during a practice session. In fact, they seemed to hold fine during a track day last month, temps in the mid 70's F. I will probably get the same tire before this summer's ORR.

Brendan, are you referring to the MX or the Supra as crap? I agree that the Supra is crap, as does the rep at Tirerack.

Rich

Supra. 712s. Always disappointed. Recently bought 245s from ebay in the form of Dunlop Super Sport Race tires, 60 treadwear - way more fun and cheaper the MX.
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Old May 17, 2006 | 04:04 AM
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only a few kms so far, and cold weather. They may be over inflated too.
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Old May 17, 2006 | 11:36 AM
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MM,

No, the MX is not slippery. It is widely regarded as one of the very best ultra-high performance tires on the market! I'm with Dennis K in thinking that the temperature may be at fault.

It looks as though it's not too cold in Trondheim today (Accuweather shows 52ºF / 11ºC), but perhaps when you were testing it was colder? As the temps drop, the rubber becomes harder and less grippy for this kind of tire, but I don't know what the bottom of the intended operating range is. Could be that grip falls off at 30º, or 40º....

Anyway, I'd expect that you'll see performance improve. That being said, the MX might not be the best choice for Spring in Norway! What about the Nokian NRY? Nokian says it grips down to about 8ºC.
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Old May 17, 2006 | 01:51 PM
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I run then on my Boxster and love them. Yes, they are very slippery in the wet, but, for the price, you can't beat them in them dry......period!
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