lookitsakyauk

Well it is now time to get new tires for my car. I am not much of a aggressive driver but I have the monthly spirited drive. So my question is what is better Kumho 711, 712, or the Sumitomo HtR +, z, z II? I need tires that are decently quiet, ridden in a car with the kumho 712 so i want something like that in terms of noise. I want soemthing that'll last me about 30k mi with me not having to rotate the tires all the time. Are there any mounting problems with these tires at the 235/45/17 size on stock rims? And eventually I plan to upgrade to ssr gt1 in 17/17.5. So I would assume these tires would go right on the ssr rims? If anyone has any other suggestion for tires with in the price range of these tires please let me add on to this list. Thanks in advance.

bc01cls

Had Kumho tires on Civic Si. A little more flexible sidewall than originals, but good deal for $$. Liked them. Have Sumitomos on CL-S and like them too.....quiet and good rain traction. Have heard reports of less than stellar wear though.....again a nice tire for the $$ and ours look good at 8,000 miles.

Joe5.0

I've got 712's on my Taurus 17's and I like the mso far. Kinda drony at low speeds, but other than that pretty quiet. 5k on the mso far and they are holding up very well, even with 2 degrees of negative camber. :o

Chief F1 Fan

Love my 712's on 18 RH C2's--just took 'em off today and put on the winter set up as long as it was nice out.

lookitsakyauk

can't anyone tell me more.

Chief F1 Fan

Okay, they're inexpensive, don't wear too fast, look great, handle a LOT of water no problem. On my way to Montreal GP there was a torrential downpour for about 1 hour straight. The CL never waivered or hydroplaned while I maintained 75 mph. I'm putting another set on next year since after two years and about 32K they only have about 5K left on 'em.

Chief F1 Fan

Buy the 712's!

SiGGy

Never tried the Kumho, so I can't compare.

However I do not recommend sumitomo tires. So a search for my input on the sumitomos.

lookitsakyauk

will i have an issues putting on 235/45/17 or should i put 225/45/17? I know with the 225s i rack up more mileage but i dpn't want to have ane problems with the 235s on my stock rim as I plan to buy new rims in maybe 6 months to a year from now.

dgracer

225/45 will give more rpm and indicated miles since the diameter is smaller. Lots of folks run 235/45's but some say its hard to mount the alignment rig afterwards. 235 does maintain the stock diameter the best however. If you search, you will see a few that have had issues with balancing 235 Sumi's.

lookitsakyauk

Looks like everyone is advising the kumho overthe sumitomo. for those who've had the 712s or 711s how long did they last you? Did you have any problems mounting 235s on the stock rim? And also I plan to get the ssr gt1 in 17s will i have any mounting problems with 235s on those? I have tried the search button and i didn't find much about these tires.

Joe5.0

At a local Honda dealership one of the employee's car had 245/45/17's on the stock 17's, so 235's really shouldnt be a problem. Just make sure you go to a decent place to get them installed, not some backyard garage. I had a problem with the balance of my 712's when I first got them, but I went to a different tire place and they did a 3 axis balancing, or something like that, and it killed just about all the vibration.

bigman

kuhmo's have great wear. But for the same price i would get the Nitto 450's

RUF87

So what type of driving and performance is most important to you?

Dry, wet, mixed?
Crusing, curves (fairly regular), 0-60 or 1/4, top speed?

Ride quality, wear, price, etc?

You need to figure these things out first and prioritize them. The you can start looking at what tire best meets those goals.

Ruf

lookitsakyauk

My first priority is wear, I need something that will last me around 30 k mi, Second is price i really want to stay in the $80-$90 range, third would have to being carving through the twisties, and last would be 0-60 and 1/4 mile.

Tosh

In size 215-50-17, Kumho 711 cost $69 at Tire Rack, while Kumho 712 cost $121 at 1010Tire.com (and aren't available in this size at Tire Rack). At around $70, the only other comparison would be Sumitomo HTR+ at $74. But at well over $100, there are many other high performance tire choices. Has anyone heard anything about the Kumho KH11 ($93 at Tire Rack)?
Anyhow, after reading MANY reviews here and elsewhere, it doesn't seem like anyone is too happy with their $70 tire after 15-20k miles. Of course everyone raves about them as soon as they mount them, because they're comparing them to their bald stock tires.... It's kind of like the pleasant sensation of a new razor after using the old one for too long.
I, for one, am not going to experiment with $70 tires. I'm also biased against the new imports like Falken, Nitto, Sumitomo, Kumho, Hankook, Nankang, etc., all of which people seem to rave about at first, but don't seem to maintain or develop a consistent reputation. Then there are my personal and anecdotal biases against Pirelli, Conti, Goodyear, and Firestone/Bridgestone, leaving behind only Dunlop, Michelin, and Yokohama as viable choices for me. (Yes, I know Dunlop is now a subsidiary of Goodyear, but I have had such good luck with them...)
So I think that leaves Dunlop SP Sport 5000 ($109 at Tire Rack), SP Sport 9000 ($92 at Discount Tire Direct), and SP Sport A2 ($107 at Tire Rack). Has anyone had any experience with these? Maybe there are decent Yokohamas and Michelins out there, but which ones and at what cost?
My points are 1) I don't think there are any tire bargains to be had, 2) You kind of get what you pay for, and 3) You have to feel satisfied about the tire brand's reputation because, after all, you're the one who has to drive with them for the next couple of years....

Thanks for letting me rant!

Tosh

RUF87

Try looking at the:

TOYO PROXES FZ4 97W
FEDERAL SS-595 93V
Continental Extreme Contact P235/45R-17 93W BSW (26460)

And as a wild card, and a bit pricier -
Pirelli PZero Nero M&S 235/45WR17 94W SL


These should all compare well to the Kumhos.

You may also want to consider 225/45 depending on your rim/wheel size. They're a bit cheaper as well in most cases. It'll also help your acceleration too as the'll be lighter tires.

Ruf

Joe5.0

I've had Dunlop SP5000's (asymetric), Kumho 712's, and Nitto 555's. All have performed well, and have met my expectations. IMO the Nitto's were the best for the money, but then again I only got 15k out of the drag radials, which is actually more than I expected. The 555's that are on the front have 15k on them and still have a ton of life left. The Dunlops wore out at about 30k, but that was more due to a more than normal amount of negative camber that wore out the inside of the tire. The 712's have maybe 5k at most on them, but so far they have been especially impressive in the dry, and have fared verywell in the rain, and this again is with more than normal negative camber.

dajuice27

Go with the Sumitomos

I actually have them both, I have some Kuhmo 711 on the Taurus and some Sumitomo HTR+ on the Probe GT and I had them for around 7 months on the Probe and 1 year for the Taurus, and I prefer the Sumitomos over the Kumhos, they just feel much beter in the rain and on wet surfaces, the Kumhos feel kinda wavery on the slick roads. The wear on the tires are good so far, they both get driven fairly evenly so I think I can get 30K out of them.

Sumitomos HTR+ over the Kumhos 711.

Now, I just bought some Nankang NS-II for the Acura last month, and they stick to the raod relaly well! Nice affordable all season tire! I'll give a better assesment after the winter season, but I am happy with the Nankangs and the Sumitomos - the Kuhmos will be replaced in the Spring.

lookitsakyauk

comparing 225 to 235 how much of a difference will that make in terms of handling and accelerartion. I understand that the 225 are smaller which result in higher mileage reporting is there a way I can get the speedo recalibrated? How much would something like that cost?

dgracer

You'll only be off by about 1-2% so 60 will really be 60.6 to 61.2. The same with your mileage. Over 100,000 miles, you'll rack up one to two thousand more miles. Depends on the exact tire as all 225's are not equal rolling diameter. Same for 215's as each manufacturer is different. Check tirerack.com specs. The last column in revolutions per mile.

dgracer

I'm kind of in your corner on this as well. Not to mention, everyone values different qualities in tires. Some guys are trying to make slot cars out of their CL's even if it means a noisier, harsher, quicker wearing tire than stock. Others, like me, want a better all around tire with little drawbacks but nothing much worse than stock. I'm still debating between sizes as well (stock due to tranny warranty or 235/45 with potential balancing/alignment issues). Damn I hate all these choices!!!

dgracer

Funny my local Discount Tire direct only shows 3 stock size replacements, the Kuhmo 711, Yoko YK420 (very all season looking) and the stock Michelin. Regional difference I suppose.

dgracer

By the way, I am considering the 235/45 Yoko AVS Es-100 or the new Goodyear F1-somethings both priced at or under $150/ea and both seem to be quiet, good handling and will last around 30k fairly easy miles (hopefully).

RUF87

Guys, you are really making way too much out of that minor difference. The OEM are 25.5" dia or 819 RPM. I'm running a 225/45/17 that's 25.1" dia and 838 RPM, or about 1.2% difference. When checked by radar, I'm right on the money.

I plan on dropping to a 24.6" to 24.9" dia / 843 to 835 RPM for my next tire. That's about 2% difference or about 1000 extra miles over 100k based on an average speed of 45MPH.

Not a big deal when you really think about it. Besides, once your tires start wearing you are already losing something. The average tire has 10/32 tread, 7/32 usable. So once your OEM 25.5" is down to about 3/32", you are about equal to my 25.1" tires.

So you can really not worry about anything less than 1/2" in my opinion. The only issues would be load ratings that tend to drop with a smaller tire.

Ruf

lead_sled_dog

Get the Sumitomo's.

RaleighNC

Had the 712s. Good summer/rain tires. Got noisey as tread worn close to the wear marker. Terrible in the snow and ice. (The rare times in NC). Rides hard when weather is cold.

I have HTR+. So far so good. Seems to wearout faster than 712s. Miles mostly hiway.

Co-worker purchased Fire-Hawks Z-rated from tirerack for $88. Look like the 712.

bigman

if you are looking for a good all season tire with great wear, also check out the continental tires.

Tosh

It's true that certain clever combinations of tire section (215, 225, etc.) and aspect ratio (45 or 50) will result in a tire diameter yielding only a minor error in indicated speed. But tire selection is not a geometry problem alone.
First, the increased rotating mass and width of a wider tire results in the rotational inertia increasing to a point where likely even a small out of balance condition cannot ever be corrected by wheel weights. I think this problem has been identified by others on here who have not been able to balance their wider tires.
Second, the tire itself must be regarded as the PRIMARY element of a car's suspension system. ALL road forces (bumps) which the shocks and springs eventually react to are first modulated by the tire. If the tire is different from what the manufacturer intended (because of inflation changes, mass, sidewall stiffness, etc), the whole car can react oddly.
I'm not saying that certain combinations don't work or that you must stick to the OEM tire. On the contrary. I want my car to be responsive rather than cushy as well. But just keep in mind that deviating too far on the most important part of the suspension system can yield surprising and unintended results.

Tosh

CBR1100XX

I had the kuhmo before on my 97 Integra. handled great, good price, but wore really fast.

I now have the sumitomo on my 6sp cl. So far i love them. Great grip, great price. My sister has a set on her 01 Mustang GT 5spd, and they are holding up well. She drives more aggressive than i do.

RUF87

Agreed, there are trade offs and limits. That's why I won't go with a 235 or a 40 series tire.

Ruf

lookitsakyauk

So would 225 be better then 235?

chungkopi

go with kumho's. i had 712's on my bmw. just about perfect for it's price. my friend had sumi's but their treadlife aren't that great..