I just have a question to the whole group out there. Why do so many of you guys use the cheap Kumho's? I mean these tires are utter crap! Toyo and Yokohama make a tire that is light years advanced and only cost a bit more if even that. In fact, checking my price book today, a set of 205/40-17 Yokohama ES100 cost 12 dollars less than the Kumho's. I know a lot of people are on a budget, but lets get real, your tires are way more important than some intake that only gives you 2hp more; or muffler that sounds good. Not that these are bad or stupid, but not as neccesary as your tires. javascript:smilie('')

Why go out and buy expensive wheels and put cheap, unreliable tires on it? Most of the wheels are all built by the same factory in China and just have the Konig, or Enkei or whatever brand stamped into it. Where as the tires are built by reputable compaines. Please enlighten me to the thought pattern here. BTW, I am a tire dealer if you hadn't guessed, a race tire dealer to be exact so I see this type of thing all the time. I am interested in the responses.

 

I buy kumhos because they are usuaully about 120/tire and have great specs: ECSTA Supra

30/35/40/45/50/55 Series, 'H','V',Z' Speed Rated, BSW
The Kumho ECSTA Supra 712 Directional tread was developed to meet the very highest demands of those drivers who require the absolute best in handling and traction. With its European design and styling, the ECSTA Supra delivers Ultra High Performance. Also includes RWI Technology.
UTQG: HR-360 AA/A, VR- 340 AA/A, ZR- 280 AA/A

My 2 cents

 

Then again I drive a Maxima not a lancer ES so perhaps you are refering to another tire kumho makes?

 

I got my Kumho's in a package w/rims
i like my tires!
What is your take on Falken tires?

 

they are cheap and im poor

 

From what I understand, Kumhos are much better than you give them credit for - I'd rate them along with Yokos for quality. Now if you're a race tire salesman, then I'll concede you probably have more first hand experience than I do here, but I've driven on Kumhos and I've driven on Yokos and I'd say any difference I felt between them was due to the different cars and different tire sizes.
-N

 

I've known a ton of people who use Kumho tires and I've never heard a bad thing about them. I used to have a set, and they kicked ***. Could you provide some examples of why you think they suck?

 

Wow, you guys are fast! Barley up 5 minutes and 6 replies. I guess my beef comes form the fact that Kumho sells their tires completely on price. The only reason they have any market share is because they have totally undercut every tire maker for the last 3 years. But now, it has caught up to them. In the past year they have had to raise prices two times. If you guys are satisfied with them then rock on. But tell me how your treadwear is and how long it takes before the tires starts to fall off (lose grip).

Falken makes a decent tire, I'd rate it a head of any Kuhmo made. Toyo and Yokohama make some of the best tires in the world. Toyo is consistanly ranked as the top replacement tire in all catagories.

Guess maybe I come from the race side and know how lousy they are overall. Fast at first but absolutely no consistancy or longevity. Guys, remember, racing is where they learn to make the tires you use on your street car. How many championships has Kuhmo won in the past? I'll tell you, NONE! Yokohama was the tire that won 8 championships in the GT class for the Factory BMW team and the World Challange Championship in the late 90's with Ferrari. Toyo is the spec tire in the World Challange Series and the race tire, Proxes RA1 drives circlesa around anything Kumho can come up with. Remember the old adage, you get what you pay for. And it isn't very often you get a great tire for a cheap price. So, in the long run most people will buy 2 sets of Kumho's for the price of one set of Yok's or Toyo's or any other top brand.

As for you "poor guys" did you see where I wrote the ES100 is cheaper and the FZ4 is maybe 6 bucks more? Just a reminder.

 

glad to see you can copy the Kumho tire book. Now what do you really think?

 

I agree with you about the cheap quality of the kumho's..... I got almost 30k miles out of my stock yoko's whereas my friend only got about 10k miles out of his kumho's and I know that I drive my car harder than he does. The yoko's never seemed to fall off as you put it, whereas the kumho's i have on my mustang have begun to do that. what are you feelings on dunlop's?.... i have to replace my tires now and was thinking about the dunlop sport A2

I also believe that most people are running kumho's because they bought a wheel and tire package which come sporting kumho's, most really well priced package deals come with kumho's because of their cheap price.

 

That was going to be my next point. Almost all tire and wheel packages come with either Kuhmo or Nankang tires. That is the main reason you can sell wheel packages for $699. I was in Las Vegas a month ago and priced some wheel packages. The wheels were Primax, a good wheel, the tire was a Capital. A what? It is a generic Sumitomo brand. When I added in mount and balance with tax I was at $800. When I said how about Toyo's (FZ4) they said another $100. My shop sells Eagle alloys with Toyo's for $799 plus tax or shipping. The point here is we use a less expensive wheel, but just as good for everyday use, but a great tire which costs about the same. In fact FYI, the price of FZ4's is down 10% until June 30.

As for Dunlops, they make a very good tire, I don't have much experience with them. Goodyear owns Dunlop so, you are going to get a good tire. Just keep in mind the only way to get a cheap deal is to sell inexpenisve products. Either the wheel or the tire or for that incredible $599 Ebay deal, a no name wheel and tire.

Big tire companies spend millions on development of new tires. Yokohama has developed a new Silica Compound which helps with grip and wear. Sorry to beat the Yokohama and Toyo Drum but they are top line tires for the track and the street.

One last comment, we could carry Kuhmo's since we are in business to make money, we chose not to sell them because of the quality issue. Toyo have a 100% nationwide gurantee and Yokohama also stands by thier tires. Thanks for the feedback.

 

I'm just not convinced. I think you should send me a set of FZ4's so that I can find out for myself.
Thanks for all of the great info. My dad has a Lexus that came with toyo's that were defective, but nobody is perfect huh. However I'm pretty sure he ran into a problem getting new tires. I'll find out for sure what happened and update my post.

 

I'm riding on Falkens (which I'm not too pleased with, but I believe it's only because they're a cheap model), but I believe the reason so many people get Kumhos is because they're included in many wheel/tire packages from people like wheelmax and other discount wheel places. Often they're the least of several evils.

 

i have to say my kumhos arn't that bad...i like but the reason i had them was that they were on the rims when i got them so later on if they do fall apart my first choice would be goin to yokos...hey tswift...how bout cuttin me a deal on some yokos for my wheels...u live in the chicago area and so do i...

 

I love them. Not as sticky as the nitto 555s I had but much better treadware (about 25% longer life) also have way more grip in the rain. Pretty much a n all around great set of tires. Not the best at any one thing but definatly worth the price.

My 2 cents