gretzky99

where do these babies stand on the 928 tire criteria list? ...compared to Bridgestones & Dunlops? thanks!

gretz99
91 GT 928

Kaz

Gretzky, I use them on all four corners now having been through a set of very expensive G Force tires.

Far as I'm concerned for the money they can't be beat. Sure they grip just a smidgen less than my G Force tires but that was in extreme driving conditions. 99% of the time my car is not being driven like that.
Great in the rain too, I had them up around 110 mph across Tennessee in a huge rainstorm. Finally the car started to hydroplane and I had to settle in behind a truck doing the same speed. I couldn't see anything but his tires were clearing all the water out. Then I thought about all the water my engine might be ingesting and backed it down from there. Incidentally on the way back I got caught in the big snowstorm that came through Pennsylvania and the Tennessee valley and I can personally attest to their performance in 7 inches of snow. I was moving along just fine at 20mph on the interstate.

K

Jim Nowak

I can't vouch for their preformance on the 928; however, I installed them om my 560 SEC and they are great.

I had the Nitto NT 555 extreme ZR before I switched to the Kuhmo tires. I think the Kuhmo tires grip just as well and the ride is more compliant without a hint of sidewall flex. But then again, I'm running 245/40ZR18 & 275/35ZR18 and sidewall flex usually isin't an issue on this size tire.

First impression: very impressed. Long term: we'll see.

Jim Nowak

SL8GT

Gretz99 - I have ~2500 miles on a set of ECSTA 712s. A little noisier than I had anticipated, otherwise pretty satisfied with performance, handling and wet/dry traction. Great value for the $$. That said, I'd suggest you wait until ECSTA MX are released (s/b ~March). MX will supercede 712 and likely be a better tire.

Thom1

Hi Guys,

Wow! The tire rack comparisons on those Kumhos look very impressive. See: www.tirerack.com. Any more observations on tire noise levels? Kaz are you running 36 and 44 psi rain or snow? Any reason to get V rather than W rated? Do warranties have mileage limitations? (Tire rack specifies years of coverage, not mileage.)

TommyMB

I just took the Kumho off my S4 after 1000 miles. I couldn't stand the noise, ride, and mushy steering. The ride was soft but bouncy. The sidewalls were stiff but steering inputs slow.

I have replaced the Kumho with Bridgestone S-03. Now everything feels right again. I only have the tires for 2 weeks so far, so we will see how they age. By the way the S-03 drives alot like the Yokohama AVS Sport that I have on my 944. The only difference is the S-03 seems to be a little rounder and do not form flat spots as easily from parking. But we will see after awhile.

DaveW

Tommy

It's good to hear from someone running SO-3's. I am thinking of these for my car. Keep us updated

DaveW.

BC

I can vouch for the Kumhos. I had crappy-azz Dunlops SP8000s on before, and I hated them. I installed the 712s just before my move to San Diego from Chicago, and I must say that I am very luke warm on these skins. I am never one to not back up my opinions. Again, I am a not an engineer, race-driver, or rubber-scientist.

* The tires squeal under NORMAL cornering forces. By normal I mean that the passenger is not upset at the G-forces. THEN, when you do hit the limits, they go silent. Not good.

* The braking traction is something that I worry about. We all know the 928 brakes work wonderfully. The rear toes in, and the front hunkers down. I have a rear bias valve, so the rears are doing a bit more work. Again, terrible high-piched moan at moderate braking, and too much wiggle.

* Great water shedding, as Kaz mentioned. I tried 95mph in a terrential downpoor. Narry a wiggle.

* Transisional capability is again moderate. You can feel them bite, but they do not bite with precision. The sidewall is not flexing badly( I have done the shoe polish test) but the tire is not performing as a ulta-high performance should.

* sometimes unknown traction limits. Yes, the squeal. BUT they DO NOT squeal under acceleration. If the rears break loose at anything above 10-15mph,unless you are REALLY paying attention, you may not notice. Its the hard-high performance tire syndrome that I have felt on various Goodyears (Steel, F1) - they are slipping, but still giving a moderate amount of grip, and doing all of this SILENTLY. I personally do not like this.

All this must be tempered: these tires ae cheap. Very cheap compared to S0-3s. But since I now live in San Diego, I will do something different. Maybe RE-730s? Maybe save up for S03s? Right now, I am at probably at a rate of two rear sets for every 1 front set. That means I will have to wither grunt out on more set on the rear while the front set wears out, or maybe go to the track? Heh.
Otherwise, I'll just buy a whol enew set of something else.
My .02 cents
Brendan Campion

Quinn

I was running Dunlop Sport 8000 before and the tread life on any high performance tire is going to be low. But the Dunlop’s were awful. I got 10,000 miles on them. So far my Kuhmo's are Running Awesome, and my tire gage is proving what tire rack already says about them.

Chris Lockhart

I recently installed the 712's on the rear of my GT and so far they are OK. They don't have the dry grip of the Bridgestone Re-730's, but for 100 bucks less, I can live with it. YMMV <img src="graemlins/burnout.gif" border="0" alt="[burnout]" />

Fletcher

I have read many gReat things about the Sumitomo HTRZ2's on tire rack's website. I think I would try these instead of buying the 712's. The Kumho MX's are still a month or more away who knows what they will rate like. I think the lower priced segment has really gotten competetive, great tires for around $100ea

Flint

One word on the Tire Rack description: I bought four of them about nine months ago. Unless TireRack has fixed this, I ordered the W-rated tires, the highest rated they had. When they arrived, they turned out to be Z-rated. I was significantly happier about my 75-bucks-a-tire purchase then. I did notice that just after a wash, they do slip after, say backing out of the driveway, but not much anywhere else. And I have been surprised by how short I can stop. They do not grip well, however in those rare situations where a slightly inebriated friend decides to park his car just behind you for the night, then try to take your space before you've had time to get into your vehicle. <img src="graemlins/drink.gif" border="0" alt="[cherrsagai]" />

Robert

I am a new owner and in need of a new set of tires. The PO had 3-piece 18" Turbo Twists installed and look great. The current tires are Dunlops, but after living with my Accord for so long and only being used to buying 16" tires for a Honda, I wasn't looking forward to puchasing a set of monster tires for my new 928. Thanks to your recommendations, I went over to the America's Tires site and did a search on some 712's. The size I need are 235-40ZR18 (front) and 265-35ZR18 (rear) and the prices are not bad at all. I don't intend to race my 928 so these may be just what I need. At the very least, I won't have to sell one of my kidneys...

Normy

I have the RE730's all around, sizes 225/45-17 front and 275/40-17 rear, and so far I like these. The previous tires [RE71's] only lasted about 12,000 miles though! Yuck. The only problem I've noticed with the 730's is a tendency to flat spot after parking. Overnight is all it takes sometimes, though the problem goes away quickly.

Anyone else had this problem with their tires?

Normy!

2V4V

Gretz,

I will trumpet the other "cheap" tire,
the Sumitomo HTRZ-II. I have found it excellent wet, dry, and snowy. Nice braking wet/dry. Squeals at the limit, otherwise relatively quiet.

I run 225 and 255/17s and have been very happy with the first set of rears (~18K half city miles) still have 50% on the fronts.

They are not P-Zero Rossos or R-compound gumballs.
They do seem to pick up nails more than most tires (2X in 20K, ugh). But, for ~$110 each for 255/17s, I think they are a durn good tire.

I recently drove an 84 euro with Kumhos and they were OK. They weren't sticking as well as the Sumis, but in all fairness they were on 16" phonedials and the suspenders on that car were pretty old.

HTH,

Greg