Brent,

Your comments were not taken lightly. I just wonder why the Kum-Hoes would not rate as well as the Bridgestones that the reviewers were coming from. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that the S-03 reviews are based on 7.3 million miles & the Kum-Hoes are based on 64 thousand miles.

PorKen,

Your rims are one-half inch narrow for the tires, according to TireRack specs.

 

So that would be a 1/4" over on each side of the rim?

<img src="http://members.rennlist.com/porken/EmblemSide.jpg" alt=" - " />

Doesn't it feel bad that you're scrubbing that expensive extra 2% of performance rubber in stop and go traffic?

 

So to speak. I would rather say that it deforms the tire profile to "slightly out of design spec".

 

Old&New, No offense taken, none at all. I am not trying to say that the Kumho is a better tire.I am not trying to run my supercar on a shoestring budget either, witness the $6-7,000 in upgrades I have done in the first 4 months of ownership. I am also a "tire connesuer" I thin the Tire Rack knows me by my first name. I have two sets of tires for three of my four vehicles, and change them before they"need" it in most cases.That equates to two sets of Michelins, two sets of Yokos, one set of Continentals, one set of Dunlops, and the Kumhos I just fitted to the 928.

For half the price of S03's I figured I would try the Ecsta MX. If they are inferior I will find out. If they are even close I will continue to use them. I understand the "get what you pay for" scenario as well. I think what you have in Kumho is a company trying to break into a crowded market. I do not expect the prices will stay that low as time goes on.

It is possible that they are in fact cheap in every sense of the word. These things are difficult to quantify. You almost need a controlled test including a bunch of competitors to say for sure. It would be nice to really know what you are getting for the money.

So, if these tires do not meet my expectations, they will be replaced. Until then, based on the info available, they look like a decent bet. Rest assured, if they fail to please I will be the first to admit it <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />

I would also avoid a "Pep Boys" tire for a 928. At least on a car I plan to run on a racetrack <img border="0" title="" alt="[Eek!]" src="eek.gif" />

 

Brent, you won't be admitting it, you'll be *communicating* it. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="wink.gif" />

The Kum-Ho scenario may pan out like the Yokohamas did when they appeared on the market. The welcome was luke warm until the word got out that they were a great tire.

They just have to do something about that name.

 

Yea - the 'Kum-Ho' name could be the punch line for some pretty funny (and off-color) jokes!

 

All I can think of is "Chef" from South Park.

Maybe need a Graemlin for Kum-Ho ? <img src="http://home.attbi.com/~one_love/drink.gif" alt=" - " /> <img src="http://www.is300.net/forum/images/smiles/icon_redface.gif" alt=" - " />

 

Right now, I am running 225/50/16 on my shark which is the tire size as the car was shipped. I got a decent deal on a tire called Dayton ($120.00 ea.). Now I am not going to try and convince anybody that tires such as Michelin, Goodyear, etc. are not the best tire given a healthy checkbook, but I have 3 cars and a bike to keep on the road. The two previous owners of my shark were buying tires at $350.00 a pop - regularly!!! Tires are a comsumable. If your shark is a daily freeway driver, you could probably save quite a sum of cash by shopping around for tires that don't carry the big name. The Daytons have been on my shark for a year now and show very little wear. Granted, I don't track the car and my spirited driving is kept to a minimum, but these tires have held up really well. I have not been disappointed with the performance at all.....
The only time I wish I had $1400.00 worth of rubber sitting on my car is when I am parked next to a ricer that probably had to take out a 2nd mortgage to pay for the rims and tires on his car.

Here is a pic of my shark sitting on the Dayton tires.

<a href="http://groups.msn.com/thediygang/redalert.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=58" target="_blank">http://groups.msn.com/thediygang/redalert.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=58</a>

Just some information for anyone who is scared silly about tire pricing. You CAN run offbrand tires and have decent performance.
My uncle is a tire wholesaler and he told me that offbrand tires are built by the big names anyway and just relabeled to whatever name the company wants.

FYI

 

Just because the off-brand tires are manufactured by a big name does not mean that you are getting the same tires. You are justifying it to your self when you make statements like that. There is no rival off brand tire to the S03's or Pilot Sport tires.

Now for the set of needs Bernie describes, cheap tires will work just fine. No track use, limited fast driving period, just taking it easy for the most part will not tax a tire, any tire.

I buy premium tire because there is a proven and measurable difference in them. It is not a case of just paying for a name.

 

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">Originally posted by Ed Ruiz:
<strong>245/50-16 will fit on a OEM 7" rim, but just barely as far as safety is concerned.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva">By no means was I suggesting you put 245s on a rim designed for a 225! The 245/50R16s were what I had on my Firebird. When replacing my Porsche's tires, I'll be picking up the 225/50R16s (and they're $20 cheaper to boot!)

PS. It seems most people think that the bigger the tire, the better, when it's really the more correct the tire is for the rim the better! Putting big tires on small rims doesn't improve performance, it reduces it! If you must have bigger tires, get bigger rims (well, at least until they start hitting wheel wells and things...)

 

Be careful about saving money at the expense of sacrificing performance. The 928 was/is a very high performance car that should be shod accordingly (IMO).

Most of my driving is commuting, but it's nice to know that the car can handle corners and brake extremely well. Using less than optimum tires will mean the car will no perform as well.

I like to think of it like paying to have Michael Jordan on my roundball team, but telling him (and the rest of the team) to wear combat-boots because they will last longer, and are considerably cheaper than Air-Jordans. YMMV.

 

Brett,

I cashed in on the Yoks deal at tirerack last summer also, H rated tires, but dirt cheap. They did not have the front tires though, only the rears (for 17" rims). I wear out two sets of rear tires for every set of fronts though, so I should be fine. Gretch is a gararge queen most of the time anyway, so at around 5,000 milesa year they will prolly last me through the decade...........

 

In addition to actual miles driven, time also takes a toll on tires. Back in the days when I did PCA concours judging, I would sometimes inspect 15+ year old cars with their original tires. Although the tires were treated to look nice, they often were so dried out (by ozone and time) that they were not safe to drive off the trailers, let alone on the street. :^( YMMV.

 

Brett,

I took advantage of the yoks on tirerack.com last summer. great deal on rear tires, (they did not have the fronts for 17" rims. Since Gretch is a bit of a gararge queen, I figure these tires will last me the better part of the decade....

 

BIGGER is not better ...run a 245x45 tire on a 7 inch rim and the car will not corner nearly as well , it simply does not work . Bulged out sidewalls are unstable and makes the car look stupid ...... Many racing sanctioning bodies do not limit tire width , they limit the rim width if a racer is silly enough to run too wide tires they simply go slow ,squeal the tires in the corner and watch everyone else drive away from them . You do not race ? enter a corner a bit too fast on the street or need to evade an accident and good correctly sized tires might save you but the too wide tires may introduce you to the guard rail .