last week, i ordered the following:
2 sets HP + brake pads
power slot rotors
235/45-13 kumho's.

they email me informing me they never had those brake pads in stock, and will take 2-3 months to get them in.. first anger..

next, the guy actually calls me and informs me that my tires MUST BE SHAVED.. Kumho says that if i don't shave them, they will blister.. for an extra 80 bucks i say NO!!!

i'm using them for autocross, so why would i need them shaved? i doubt i'll get them hot enough to blister them. what do you guys think?

btw, i've had good experiences in the past, and didn't need my last set of kumhos shaved.. do you think they're just trying to get money?

 

The newer Khumo's defintaly perform better if shaved and on high powered fwd cars they do blister at full tread, for brakes and rotors I would try these guys, http://cobaltfriction.com and http://www.carbotecheng.com

 

i was going to go with carbotech's.. but i like my HP+ right now.. and just needed something easy to get.. but now, since tire rack doesn't HAVE them i guess i will have to check out carbotech..

as for the tires.. they really will blister on a stock B16a CRX that autocrosses? i don't do ANY track time and i definately wouldn't with these tires.. a 13x8 is a little too wide..

 

We're running the 235-45-13 Kumhos unshaved this season on an 89 CRX with about 120WHP. We are 3 drivers sharing the car and no wear issues of any kind. They're holding up quite nicely actually. Before the beginning of the season, we had the same concern, but not anymore.

 

From what I understand the blistering was a problem with the full tread khumo's.. howver that could have change, since that was an issue when they first came out.

 

I purchased the Kumho Victoracers from Vertex in Mclean un shaved and raced on them this past weekend in the HC. I don't have any blisters.

 

I used to use 235/45/13 Kumhos on my Integra and I never had any blistering while autocrossing. However, they would lose their grip before the rubber runs out rendering them useless. I switched to the 215/50/13 Kumhos because they are available in the new K6A compound and have far more grip then the K8A ever had, even with the smaller tire size. Currently I'm running on a set of shaved 215/50/13 Kumhos to see if they will stay stickier longer.

 

I've been using an unshaved set of 235 45 13 kumho's for a couple of seasons now, mostly autocrosses, and haven't had a blistering problem. For autocrossing I don't see an absolute neccessity to have them shaved. They may have less grip then a shaved tire, but I don't think they'd blister.

 

Carbotech has HB + hawk pads in stock.

Ecstas & Victoracers need to be shaved in they are being used in the dry. as a rain tire they can be left full tread.

KingRAT.

 

I ordered a set of 195/55/14s heat cycled and not shaved in September 02. I used them for a track day, then for autocrossing. No blistering, no problems.

I doubt seriously that they are trying to suck more money out of you. Sounds like whomever offered the whole shaving thing fully believed that he was helping.

Could also be that Kumho has had some bad experiences with folks running full tread in non-rain conditions? One dude mentioned something about the compound has changed? Perhaps this is why.

However I'm with you on the whole frustration thing. I've had bad experiences ordering stuff from less then helpful sales persons. I gave this advice to myself for the future, if you're not happy with the person on the other end politely ask for someone else.

Cancel the brake order and the rotor order. Get the tires the way you want them, but if they do blister then sucks to be you. Order the brake stuff somewhere else.

Or cancel everything and start fresh with someone you feel comfortable dropping your hard earned dollar with, and someone who will explain things without getting you all defensive and stuff.

2 cents

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by emwavey &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">However I'm with you on the whole frustration thing. I've had bad experiences ordering stuff from less then helpful sales persons. I gave this advice to myself for the future, if you're not happy with the person on the other end politely ask for someone else.</TD></TR></TABLE>


Agreed 100%. As consumers we should feel extremely satisfied, or order elsewhere.

It may not help in this situation but FWIW I've had great service for years from Eddie at Tire Rack, ext 369. If he can't answer something he will get an answer and call back before any talk of actual ordering. Literally Eddie is one of the smartest and nicest people I've ever ordered anything from in this business... which is why he's gotten thousands of dollars from me in the last few years.

HTH,

Jon

 

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=556102

Just posted!

They can be considered shaved and will include a set of wheels on them for about what you pay to get the Kumhos shipped. Besides, a 235 will work fine on the CRX.

Anthony Crea

 

Yea, dont order brakes from tirerack. They are tire people.

 

235-13's? You are going to look silly. I recommend a set of 13x8 wires to finish off the CRX. Then take it to Manassas and cruise, yo!

ceas..

 

shut up ceas.. i already have 13x8's..


anyway.. thanks for the advice.. the tires are on there way.. unshaved.. i'll let you all know about how they come out this season..

thanks for the info on the brakes.. i'm gonna try the powerslots cause i seem to be getting a lot of glazing on my pads.. which is strange.. but i dunno. i guess it's worth a shot, right? not going on the track, right now.. when i do, it's back to OEM style brembos.. but for autox, since the pads get hot/cold quickly, maybe it'll work better..

thanks for the info about the HP + pads, too!! sweet! they're in stock!!

 

The shaved thing is the CYA tax. They got lots of complaints about 'em. Probably from guys driving heavier cars - but you can see why they say it.