Kumho Tires

[compuwiz1]

Hey, they have some Kumho's downtown. They run about $50 for a one hour set.

 

[Journer]

had some kumho ecstas on a few cars...good tries

 

[mwmorph]

Originally posted by: NFS4
I'm looking at a set of Kumho ECSTA ASXs for my Mazda 3s GT Hatch. I've heard nothing but good things about these tires over at the Mazda3forums.

My stock RS-As are TRASH. 16,000 miles and they're almost done for (and I don't even track 'em or spin the fronts).

I have a set of 4 Escta ASX on my car (2002 camry, hey they were inexpensive and rode well!). Nice performance for the price.

As UHP All Season, i expected a little more grip though. When new, the grip was incredible but after about 2000 miles, the grip seems more pedestrian.

Soft sidewalls hamper turn in but provide a very quiet and comfortable ride. Grip through turns is good, understeer is vastly reduced over the old stocker Goodyear Integritys[Shudder], which are the most unsafe , worst tires ever. Road noise is also reduced over the stocker Goodyear integritys.

Good tire for the money, but not exactly UHP All season as far as performance goes(50 per tire though so I couldnt complain).

edit: as a bonus, the sidewalls and tread patterns is generally attractive and they seemingly wear pretty well.

 

[Viperoni]

Instead of going with a narrow 175/70/14, step up to something like a 195/60/14.
That'll open up your tire choices a lot, and you could get somethign like the Ecsta HP4.
You can also get the Falken ZE-512's and Bridgestone Potenza G009's in that size...

Oh yeah, and since you have a saturn which uses the civic bolt pattern/rims, if you really wanted to, you could get a set of winter tires on your 14" steelies, and get a nicer set of 15 or 16" rims come spring with some sticky summer rubber.

I liked my 205/50/15 BF Goodrich KDW's.... pity they only lasted 5k

 

[J0hnny]

You know what I'm surprised with, the quality of Hankook tires. Compared to my firestones, the Hankook's are a world of difference.

 

[sandorski]

stds!!!

 

[otispunkmeyer]

i am of the understanding that kumho tires are actually pretty good.


though i usually only buy michelin

 

[Demon-Xanth]

From what I've heard elsewhere, the only real downside is they don't last as long as other tires.

 

[AmphibSailor]

They're some of the best selling tires here in Korea. (They are Korean made...)

 

[dmw16]

good tires, good price! cant beat them.

 

[jlbenedict]

Instead of the Kumho's that I was planning on getting, I ended up getting the Sumitomo HTR 200's.

I know it mentions that these are a high performance, "summer" tire; I overlooked that. Its not too much of a concern, since if it does snow, I drive my Ford Explorer on days when the Saturn can't get around.

 

[wyvrn]

My new car came with Kumho tires. One tire had a flat after 2 days of driving. I took it to Discount Tire to have it patched (because the company will NOT replace them, even if they are brand new), and the guy said he couldn't tell what caused the hole. No worries, the patch took care of it. About a month later, the sidewall of the tire blows out completely. It was shredded. When I took it in to have it replace, at my cost (because Kumho warranty sucks), the guy said he hadn't seen anything like that. I hadn't hit any curbs or anything, and I only drive this car to the train stop every day, so why the sidewall decided to shred itself while I was driving home was beyond him.

That's my only experience with this manufacturer. Up until my recent car purchase, I hadn't heard of them.

 

[davidsi]

i loved my kumhos. they were really grippy, but i think they wore out kidna fast thoguh.

 

[spidey07]

I've got the xtsa ASX.

Good tire for the price.

Cons - loud, traction is ok, sidewall seems not very stiff.

 

[SlowSpyder]

I used to have $250 a piece BF Goodrich tires. When those needed to be replaced I went with the $100 a piece Kuhumo Ecsta 711's (245/45/17 size). The BFG's were definitely softer rubber and I'm sure a better tire for all out performance. I didn't expect much with the Kuhmo's but needed tires so I could drive the car. I was suprised at how decent they are. They aren't great, but I was expecting them to not be as good as they were. Ride noise isn't too bad, and the traction isn't bad either. I have only about 5-6,000 miles on them, but so far they look fine. I'd buy them again. They are fine for the money.

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: spidey07
I've got the xtsa ASX.

Good tire for the price.

Cons - loud, traction is ok, sidewall seems not very stiff.

Doh. I was hoping I wouldn't hear comments on road noise with that particular tire. My RS-As are loud and I want something quieter

 

[BD2003]

Originally posted by: mwmorph

Originally posted by: NFS4
I'm looking at a set of Kumho ECSTA ASXs for my Mazda 3s GT Hatch. I've heard nothing but good things about these tires over at the Mazda3forums.

My stock RS-As are TRASH. 16,000 miles and they're almost done for (and I don't even track 'em or spin the fronts).

I have a set of 4 Escta ASX on my car (2002 camry, hey they were inexpensive and rode well!). Nice performance for the price.

As UHP All Season, i expected a little more grip though. When new, the grip was incredible but after about 2000 miles, the grip seems more pedestrian.

Soft sidewalls hamper turn in but provide a very quiet and comfortable ride. Grip through turns is good, understeer is vastly reduced over the old stocker Goodyear Integritys[Shudder], which are the most unsafe , worst tires ever. Road noise is also reduced over the stocker Goodyear integritys.

Good tire for the money, but not exactly UHP All season as far as performance goes(50 per tire though so I couldnt complain).

edit: as a bonus, the sidewalls and tread patterns is generally attractive and they seemingly wear pretty well.

I have the ecsta ASTs...very similar to the ASXs.

I'd agree with most of what they said. The ride is quiet and comfy, but not really "performance". Definitely a huge difference from summer tires.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: NFS4
Doh. I was hoping I wouldn't hear comments on road noise with that particular tire. My RS-As are loud and I want something quieter

It's not bad. But for me there is some tire noise.

Maybe "loud" isn't the right word. "not super quiet" would be a better description.

 

[prontospyder]

got Kumhos that replaced the stock Bridgestones on my Altima and am satisfied. Hopefully, it lasts 40K miles as the old Bridgestones did.

 

[overst33r]

Does the preferred installer on tire rack mount tires out of OEM spec? For example, my OEM recommended is 175/65-14....if i get 195/65-14, will the "preferred installer" put them on my car?

 

[jlbenedict]

Originally posted by: mariok2006
Does the preferred installer on tire rack mount tires out of OEM spec? For example, my OEM recommended is 175/65-14....if i get 195/60, will the "preferred installer" put them on my car?

My OEMs are 175/70-14's.. I ordered 185/70-14's.. My installer put them on with no questions asked..


The difference in 175 and 195 tires is 20mm. Your rims will accept a pretty modest range of different widths, as long as they mount correctly.

 

[overst33r]

Originally posted by: jlbenedict

Originally posted by: mariok2006
Does the preferred installer on tire rack mount tires out of OEM spec? For example, my OEM recommended is 175/65-14....if i get 195/60, will the "preferred installer" put them on my car?

My OEMs are 175/70-14's.. I ordered 185/70-14's.. My installer put them on with no questions asked..


The difference in 175 and 195 tires is 20mm. Your rims will accept a pretty modest range of different widths, as long as they mount correctly.

yea...2cm isnt that much.... It should mount ok on the steelies right?

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

I know they are far superior to Continental tires. I had Conti's on my 02 Spec V and the wet weather traction was horrendous. I upgraded to the Kumhos which are cheaper and they were far better.

 

[BD2003]

Originally posted by: NFS4

Originally posted by: spidey07
I've got the xtsa ASX.

Good tire for the price.

Cons - loud, traction is ok, sidewall seems not very stiff.

Doh. I was hoping I wouldn't hear comments on road noise with that particular tire. My RS-As are loud and I want something quieter

The AST's may be a good choice then. They are very quiet and smooth. They handle well - just not nearly as responsive as the summer tires I previously had. I can still pull pretty hard turns without breaking the tires loose, but it's a bit "laggy" when turning in. It's better than non-performance tires, but I still wish I had the extra tightness when driving around, even though its far from necessary.

 

[DCFife]

Originally posted by: NFS4
I'm looking at a set of Kumho ECSTA ASXs for my Mazda 3s GT Hatch. I've heard nothing but good things about these tires over at the Mazda3forums.

My stock RS-As are TRASH. 16,000 miles and they're almost done for (and I don't even track 'em or spin the fronts).

I just got a set of these from Tirerack for my wifes '99 Sentra (195/55/15) and they are amazingly superior to the Yokohama's that were on the car. Very quiet and a much smoother ride.