BrianV

I was browsing TireRack and I did their recommended tire selector. One of the hits came up with this $55 tire

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....=Ecsta+HP4+716

Not saying it's a great tire, but it beats out the MXV4 in every survey result and it's nearly 1/3 the price. I've used Kumho's on my Maxima once and a few times on various other cars and have never had problems with them. I wanted to know if anyone else had experience with these, this price is almost too good to justify spending 2x more for a tire that has the same review results (the Turanza people have recommended), or 3x more for a worse tire.

I have the MXV4's now and they seem alright, they suck in the rain though.

tn52

For me, there is another parameter that I look at: contact width - this is where one of the things that tire manufactures did to cut corners (I think?). A while back when I was trying to buy new tires for my car, I got a chance to compare tire contact width from a few manufactures: given the same tire size 225/60/16R, Michelin always have the widest contact patch & it looks good if you watch from behind (fat & mean)! The second closest is Goodyear and BfGoodrich, then Pirelli, Dunlop, Bridgestone. The worst was the PepBoy brand, even they stated that the tire was 225/60/16, the tire width looks so skinny - almost like a donut spare tire! It doesn't matter what series/types/levels of tires from each brand but if they are from the same brand, they all showed the same width...

meZoom!

hmmm i think i'm also looking for a new set of rubbers right now...just to be on the safe side

Plum

I've seen these tires and have been very interested on feedback.
Spotted them while looking for tires for my gf's civic ex coupe.
Of the two tire shops near me that have Kuhmo tires they can't get the 716's.
Running Michelin Pilot XGT H4's on my 97 es and think they are good but not great. Wet ok and snow is avg. to less than avg.
Inquired at a Sears tire shop and the guy I spoke with had good experiences with Kuhmo's but never used this particular tire.

Feedback on these tires would be great!

ricois300

I have ecstra supras on my car. 225/40-18 and I haven't had any problems so far. About 11K miles on them.
My tire guy said Kumho's are recommended by the Porsche Club of America because they tested them for performance and reliability and they passed. And the price is great if you go through them fast. He also said that this company is probably gonna sell them cheap until the name catches on and then raise their prices. Just his opinion.
Like I said the brand is good in my book, but never used the new HP4's.

E55AMG

I've personally had nothing but problems with the Kumho Ecsta 712s on my previous E-class. No amount of balancing could stop the vibrations coming from my wheels. Tried re-mounting and balancing several times; I tried every conceivable method to make these tires work. I even sent all four wheels to rim and wheel works, and they found only one was even slightly bent, which they fixed and sent back to me. Still, nothing could stop the vibrations. Finally, I gave up and bought Bridgestone Potenza S-03s, and as soon as they were mounted and balanced, the car became stable again.

So read the tirerack reviews of the tire -- you'll see the results are generally mixed. Some seem to have excellent results, some not-so-good. I personally see a link between the weight of the car and the "goodness" of the tire -- the Ecstas don't seem to go that well with heaviers cars, i.e., the LS430, the E-class, etc., but seem to do just fine on the Civics, Accords and Miatas. But this is just my opinion, and singular experience, and who knows, these tires might rock but I just had one bad batch. YMMV.

seanl

Kumho makes decent track tires, but I don't know anyone who's ever used 'em on the street that was happy with them.

Personally, I wouldn't buy Kumhos for any of my daily drivers.

If you want to save a few bucks vs. the Michelins, I suggest taking a look at the Bridgestone Turanzas....I have them on my LS400 and they're an excellent tire for this car. You could probably find a bit 'sportier' tire, but if ride quality and low tire noise is an important buying criteria, I think you'd be really happy with the Turanza LS series...

Regards,

BrianV

I've had 712's on my Maxima, they were decent performance, great price, decent longevity, but I'm not talking about putting 712's on the LS, I was referring to that more conservative h-rated one on top of the thread. The 712 wasn't designed for comfort and smoothness.

Mean Gene

I've just run through my first set of Kuhmo Supras ( 245/40/18 ) & will offer this feedback. Wet traction's not bad but dry traction dosen't compare to my former Pilot Sports ( but we know what those cost!! ) The Supras seem to wear about the same as the Michelins but better than the Nitto Extremes I also used ( about 20k for the Nittos & 28k for the Kuhmo ). The biggest downside for me is that the Kuhmo's are quite noisy compared to the other 2 tires I mentioned. They also don't ride quite as well as the Nittos ( ever notice how soft the sidewall is on an Extreme? ). Gonna consider the Bridgestone for my next tire - I tend to go more for cosmetics than performance in my tires as we don't have many nice curvy roads to turn the GS4 loose on here in Louisiana. But we make up for the lack of those with potholes!!!!!!!!!!:eek: