Hey, I bought the Kumhos about a month ago and have put probably 300 miles and more on it. They felt great and very sticky compared to my Dunlop W10s and they even seem to ride better. But lately, I feel like my car is able to drift more easily, no more of the tight handling feeling like before. Anyone here experience the same thing?

Could it be my wheels? Do I need to re-torque the wheels? The wheels were installed and balanced at the tire shop.....not sure if I need to tighten up the lugs again after a few hundred miles of driving.

 

I have those and also felt that they are much stickier than my Dunlop Sports. A great deal on a darn good tire if you ask me. Neat tread design too.

I havn't noticed any wandering but they felt like they were low on pressure @ ~32 PSI so I pumped the fronts up to 40 and the rears to 35.

 

same here,i have em on my stock wheels,had no problem..check your tire psi or alignment..

 

I hate my Kumho Ecsta Supra 712s. They definitely suck compared to the Dunlop SP8k's. I've noticed that squirrely behavior you spoke of. I can't take the same turns I used to with as much speed, nor confidence. I'm not even close to the same speed (in turns) as I used to be with my SP8k's, and the Kumhos already start "drifting" a little.

 

Check your tire presures.

You definitely should have never expected a Kumho 712 to be as good as an SP8k! but for the price different is is pretty sticky comparatively

 

I have no problems at all with my Kumho's. They handle great, no weird behavior. Maybe its the kind of road you're on or the tire pressure is low?

 

Carlex I don't believe the "drifting" behavior of my tires can be attributed to the tires. I've run them at different pressures to test that theory. Yeah, I know that the Kumhos shouldn't be compared with SP8's, but I'd heard all these good things about the Kumhos. It's like when someone tells you a movie is so great blah blah blah, and you go to see it and you're kinda let down because your expectations were so high...

 

I have to agree with marmaladeboy about the switch. I had the same switch from SP8's to the Kumho's, but I wouldn't say that I hate them. They're a great tire for the price difference from the SP8's. I do feel some slipping on some tight corners, but I've only had mine for 100's miles or so, so maybe more sliding is on the way. But I feel as if the tire is stable. I don't have anything else to say except that others are having the same problem as you.

 

after about 8K miles, they start getting greasy. At least mine did on my CRX. So now they're no longer fun sticky tires...but just fun tires that break away predictably.

Man i miss my crx...it's been sitting in front of the house for over a week. Motor mount broke and instead of fixing it, I'm planning on finally swapping.

 

i just ordered mine 10 min. ago, from tire rack for like 80 bucks a piece. Hope they are as great as everyone says they are,

 

I'd like to see some more feedback on this. With me selling my GS-R... I will need to AutoX the Maxima... the last time I ran it I took about 2000 miles off the tread so I figure maybe 2 more AutoX's and I will need to replace them. If the Kumho's are worth it, then it's the best route for me...
Jesse noted that they go away after a certain amount of wear. I trust his assessment so I was wondering HOW BADLY do they go away. If it's just a little less grip, then I'd not have a problem since I learned to drive in snow. If it's a huge difference in a CRX then it would be deadly for a 3300lb Maxima, and I'd rather pay another $25 a tire to get something to hold up.
Anyone else have any feedback on this. I'd prefer a little more than "you get what you pay for" assessments.
Thanks

 

Hello Derek,

The Kumhos are definately not "you get what you pay for" tires. These are definately better than the Dunlop D60's (which aren't a shabby tire) or Sumitomo HTR-100's I've had on the CRX before. They are still wonderful in the wet. And like most perf tires, they are silly when it gets cold. I was able to baaaark 3rd gear this past winter, when usually it's just a little squeak. I'll try to break down the differences I've noticed after breaking in the tires and after about 8K miles.

Fresh after break-in
Tire noise is not noticeable. Plenty of ultimate grip on the street and I was unable to lose traction with them on the street. While cornering hard, it produced scrubbing noises. At the autoX, I was quite satisfied with them...and after getting them heated up a little, I was even happier.

After ~8K miles
Tire noise has increased to the point where I'm aware of it. Nothing nearly as bad as Yok A520's or Yok AVSi's. On the street there is still a generous amount of grip to do whatever you want to get you into trouble, but trouble happens at a lower limit now. As I mentioned in my post above, it's a predictable tire. They start to howl when the limit is approaching. Since the post 8K mile more on these tires, I've been able to easily coax out the tail of the CRX on the street at a few of my familiar favorite turns, and sometimes unexpectedly (thank goodness for autoX). Because of the decrease of rearward grip over time, I have actually softened up my rear shocks.

Ok, now on the track, I was a little upset at these tires. I was sliding ALL over the place, spending most of my time countersteering out of corners. Yeah it's fun but slow as far as times are concerned.

Now these are results on my ~2000lb 88 CRX with 325/225 GC "coilovers" and KYB AGX shocks. 22mm/20mm swaybars and with the Kumhos in 195-50-15 at 35psi/29psi on the street and 40psi/33psi at autoXes. Tire wear is pretty damn good, considering I have -2 degrees of camber in the front. The Kumhos have a neat way of checking wear. There are I beleive 6 tiny holes of different depth in the tread. And they will wear out accordingly. I've rubbed them past the 3rd-4th hole on the inside but only the 2nd on the outside of my tread...if that makes any sense.

A friend has 235-45-17 Kumhos on his Maxima and he likes them. He can tell that they are grippier than the Dunlop SP5000's he's had before (same sizes)...he can also tell that they are slightly louder. He can also tell they weren't as grippy as the RE-71's he's had before on the Max (same size). His Max is equipped with H&R springs/Tokico Blues and a Stillen rear swaybar.

Wow...I write a bunch when I'm bored.

 

The 712s are a good street tire (far better then my stock V4s) but I only use them for AutoXing. I have driven them on the street a few times and experenced no problems. Not sure if this post is helpful but I thought I would give my 2 cents.

 

Thanks everybody... especially Jesse for getting technical and going into detail... and telling me about your friend with a Maxima was a bonus. I am a member of a Maxima site... but it seems like all they do is downtalk Hondas and Acuras so I'm afraid to post there. I get enough ridicule here and I'm one of you. At least until my Teg sells.

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