Are Kumho tires any good? Not for me. A friend wants to put some on his 96 Impala and ask me for my opinion.

 

I had a set of 18in. kuhmos put on about 4 months ago. I took them back 2 days later because I lost a lot of road feel and hardly any solid grip in the corners.

 

Thanks. Anyone else?

These are the ones that he is looking at.

Kumho
ECSTA Supra 712
Size:255/50-17

 

What kind did you have?

 

Can't remember. If I run into my old reciept, I'll let you know which ones.

 

I have 225/45/17 ecsta supra 712's...I like them. They aren't super performing, but they are quiet, smooth and last a long time. They are more than enough for the street. Getting S03s or T1S's or any $200 tires for street use is overkill imo. If you drive on the streets at teh limits of tires, then you have other problems. I wouldn't get S03's or T1S type tires unless I was putting some track miles on the car. And by track I mean the track, not the drag strip.

 

I like mine, they're not too loud, great in the rain, fun to blast around on ramps w/, don't cost a fortune to replace, good treadlife (320 I think) and besides that, they look bad ass. You're not driving a M3 so you don't need Pole positions in my opinion anyways so save some cash and buy the Kumhos!

 

Got mine, they're good, and they're great for the price. if I blow one I'll just get a new one.

 

i thought they were great. nice and quiet and they hooked up well at the track.

 

When you have such severe camber issues like me, the inexpensive Kumhos are great!

 

I'ld buy em again, cus i'm on a budget. Installed Ecsta at 28k miles, now have over 62k miles (34k hiway miles in 1.2 years and not a stoplight racer).

 

Best you can buy for the price. Unless your doing autoX, you don't really need any better tires. Great in the rain too.

 

I autocross on Kumho supra 712's they work pretty well, but they lack the ultimate grip that would be nice. But at 90 bucks a tire i would rather shred those than a 200 dollar tire. They are quiet upto 90, past that and you can hear the tread whinning. They are fairly good in the rain, just dont expect to drive them year round, they are a mess when temps are below 30 degrees.

 

i rode in a 350z with kuhmo ecsta MX tires and those things are super grippy. They are brand new and they grip like hell. I mean he launcehs off the line with minimal wheel spin.

 

I'm plannin' on gettin' 'em when I get 18s. My buddy has 'em on his Supra (245/45/17 and 275/40/17), and he loves 'em cuz they're pretty damn good, and they're cheap to replace, if you drive them hard.

 

I had a set of the 712's for 10k, thought they were ok, but then replaced them with a pair of Bridgestone S-03's..And now I realized how bad the Kuhmos were, they suck and the Bridgestones are well worth the $50-60 premium. I drive my car hard, and I grew accustomed to the lack of grip and sliding of the 712's, now with the Pole Position S-03's, I'm starting to realize the potential of the car and how great it can handle... And in the rain, I now have grip where before it was like skating on ice, I now can hit corners in the rain almost as fast as I could with the Kuhmos when it was dry!

 

I've had mine on the car a little over 6 months. I just failed VA State Inspection because two had bubbled.

I don't remember hitting any major pot holes and I don't usually run the car hard. In my opinion I shouldn't be replacing two tires with less then 6K miles on them. I won't buy Kumho's again.

The good thing is, like someone mentioned earlier, they aren't that expensive to replaced.

 

I have had the 215/45-17 Kumho Ecsta Supra 712s for about a year now and they work great. I got a bubble in one tire, but that was after I ran over a brick and dented both rims in the process. I think they are great tires for the money and performed pretty well when I autocrossed them. Traction in the rain is pretty good too in my opinion also; during one of my autocross runs it started pouring and the tires held on surprisingly well in the rain. Tell him to get them.

 

You should also think about yokohoma es100's too. As DrDre said if you spend a bit more you can get a better tire. But i think the kumho's are great buys for regular street use and the yoko es100's are awesome too. I know some drifter guys you use the es100s too. I got my yokohoma AVS sports for $160 mounted and balanced each. 255/40 17 are my specs

http://www.yrc.co.jp/pr/html/2002/0203/02019E04.html
tell me thats not a killer ass tread design =)

 

khumo sucks i had them they don't grip for shit
pay the extra loot and get the so3 bridgestone's

 

I had the 712s on my BMW and they felt fine. Better than the Pirellis that were on there before. I did not like the Kumhos is temps less than 30-35 degrees, they became rock hard; more so than other tires I've used.

 

I used to cut low 1.9s at the track on 'em...they are a great allround affordable choice

 

Thanks for the feedback.