How do people like these tires? I'm looking for a good handling tire. Let me know what ya'll think and what you would suggest instead of the Kumho's.

 

hmmm...

are you talking about what everyone thinks of this tire for auto-x/RR or in general?

 

I've never really liked the design. There a far more superior tires out there than the 712.

 

For the street/daily driving use, I love these tires. For anything else, they kinda suck. They DO hold up well to Roebling's sandpaper surface, but at least they squak really loud and don't grip well on track.

 

my thoughts: can't beat the price.

 

Whats wrong with the Kumhos and which model are you refering to.
I have the MXs and could not be happier.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Bbasso &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Whats wrong with the Kumhos and which model are you refering to.
I have the MXs and could not be happier.</TD></TR></TABLE>

The MX is a better tire than the Kumho Ecsta 712 - I have the 712s on right now...They are fine for everyday driving but not for auto-x to be competitive...I used to have Falkens on my car, which gave a much better grip...unfortunately I was commuting with the car at that time & they lasted only about 10,000 miles so I tried the Kumho 712 as reccommended by the tire rack morons...the 712 will last forever, but that's at a tradeoff - Not the best grip!!! They are okay for trackdays/HPDEs b/c the loud feedback/squealing will keep you from doing anything too stupid- but again not great grip...

As far as autocross, I would recommend the Falken Azenis over the Kumho 712 or the Kumho MX over the 712 - with my preference being the Azenis...One positive item I noticed was that the 712 would not get greasy as they heated up -unlike my old falkens...but I would still pick the falken...

 

Well, let me ask this. Which tire would you buy in the size 195/50/15? Also, will a 205/50/15 fit onto a Rota 15"x6.5" wheel? I don't want to spend something ridiculous like $100 a tire. The car is used for daily driving with a little track use, mainly autocross. I just want a good sticky tire.

Also, I used to have Dunlop SP 8000's and loved them. Now I have some Nitto 450's and hate them. So, I just want to get some people's opinions.

 

falken azenis. auto-xers #1 fav street tire of all time. $60/tire more or less in 205/50/15.

yes the 205 will fit your 6.5" rota.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sicivic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Well, let me ask this. Which tire would you buy in the size 195/50/15? Also, will a 205/50/15 fit onto a Rota 15"x6.5" wheel? I don't want to spend something ridiculous like $100 a tire. The car is used for daily driving with a little track use, mainly autocross. I just want a good sticky tire.

Also, I used to have Dunlop SP 8000's and loved them. Now I have some Nitto 450's and hate them. So, I just want to get some people's opinions.</TD></TR></TABLE>
There is no universal tire for both autocross and daily driving. You have to make concessions either way.

If you're more serious about autocross and you live in an area with no snow and very little rain, get yourself a set of 205/50-15 Falken Azenis for $74 apiece.

If you're not that serious about autocross and want a good affordable daily driver tire, get a set of 205/50-15 Kumho Ecsta 711s for $43 apiece.

If you live in an area with snowfall, don't get either of these.

Best solution: Get a 2nd set of wheels - one for the street, and one for autocross. Run something competitive on the autocross wheels, and run an all-season or winter tire on the daily-driver wheels.

It's frustrating and it boggles my mind how Americans try to get away with one set of wheels and tires on a single car for all purposes. It just doesn't work that way. Tires are one thing you shouldn't cheap out on, they're the only part of your car that touches the ground.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bad-monkey &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">my thoughts: can't beat the price.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Kumho 711, you just beat the price...

 

What we really need to know to make recommendations is your ideal budget, your typical usage, and the climate in your area. There are so many aspects that go into choosing the right tire. Treadwear? Dry grip? Wet grip? Snow grip? Noise? Price?

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by PseudoRealityX &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Kumho 711, you just beat the price...</TD></TR></TABLE>
Yeah, if you're really interested in this sort of tire, get the Kumho Ecsta 711s over the Ecsta Supra 712s. They're a bit cheaper, but there is no significant performance difference; 711s have a very very slight advantage in the dry, and 712s have a very very slight advantage in the wet. They're so close, they're practically identical - so go for the cheaper one. Ecsta 711s are $43 apiece in 205/50-15 on TireRack.com

 

doh!

i didn't realize the 711's were $43 a tire...that's insanely cheap. someone tell me why i'm on POS pirelli's that i paid double for?!!?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sicivic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I don't want to spend something ridiculous like $100 a tire. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Funny, i remember more than a few years ago, when anything with less than 60 profile would be at LEAST $100... It's amazing how cheap low profile tires have gotten over the last few years...

Anyway, for daily driving the 712 is a great tire as is just about any tire you can get nowadays...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bad-monkey &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">doh!

i didn't realize the 711's were $43 a tire...that's insanely cheap. someone tell me why i'm on POS pirelli's that i paid double for?!!?

</TD></TR></TABLE>
Well they get pretty loud when worn, and they don't really last all that long (I'm estimating my set will be done around 20,000 miles) - but I'm not complaining at all because they're so dirt cheap! I got a set of 4 205/50-15s shipped, mounted and balanced this past spring for a grand total of $230. They do surprisingly well in the rain, and certainly aren't bad in the dry - they're no Ecsta MX, but considering they're almost half the price of the MX, who cares?

Oh, they're a squeal-fest at autocrosses and they suck in the snow.

 

Well, I want to spend $150-300 for a set of four tires. The car is a daily driver for now, but will no longer be in a month or so. The car will then be a fun/race car. More fun than race car for a little while. But I do want to do some autocrosses with the car in the future months. I live in Atlanta, Ga where we have some rain and seldomly have snow. I want a purely performance tire. I don't need a winter or all-season tire.

The reason I am asking this is because the Nitto's that I have now are crappy as hell. I paid $45 a piece for them two and half years ago. I paid $80 a piece for the Dunlop SP 8000's and they were great. So, I'm kinda wondering if I buy another ~$40 or 50 tire that it will be crappy too. I was thinking about the Dunlop SP 9000's. I can get them for $65 a piece. But maybe I'll get the Azenis, but I've heard that they are heavy.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sicivic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">But maybe I'll get the Azenis, but I've heard that they are heavy.</TD></TR></TABLE>

So? They're great tires, and cheap.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sicivic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">But maybe I'll get the Azenis, but I've heard that they are heavy.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Don't worry about tire weight, Kumho V700s in 235/45-13 weigh a ton too but they sure aren't slowing me down

I would strongly suggest 205/50-15 Azenis for you. They're probably the grippiest street tire you can buy. They're no R-compounds, but they last a heck of a lot longer than an R-comp and provide outstanding dry grip in a wide temperature range - all for a reasonable price. That's why they're so popular.

Just take it easy with them on the street in the rain, because they don't like standing water. At all. Hydroplane city.

If you're going to retire your car from daily driving and make it a race-only car, why not go R-compound though? (Unless, of course, you're competing in STS) Kumho Victoracer V700s are an "entry level" R-compound with more dry grip than Azenis, but better treadwear than the grippier R-comps. I believe they run about $115 apiece in 205/50-15, but they will usually last you for 2 autocross seasons plus a little bit of street driving (stay out of the rain!).

Kumho Ecsta V700s are also a good R-compound for around the same price ($112 in 205/50-15), with more grip than the Victoracers but less treadlife.

 

They are not a bad tire. For daily driving if you don't want an extream tire, they are rather good. However, they do not compare to the Azenis. For instance my 712's are sitting unmounted in the basement, right next to the mounted Azenis.

OK summer tire if you don't want to daily drive a set of Azenis or MX's. They are OK for autocross but very far from ideal.

 

If you want a tire to use on the track, get an R compound tire. Track tires for the track, street tires for the street.

If you want the absolute best tire for the street, get a top-of-the-line tire like the Bridgestone Potenza S-03 or Kumho MX. Be prepared to pay top dollar.

If you want performance that is close to the top-of-the-line tires but you don't want to pay top-of-the-line prices, get one of the budget performance tires. The Tire Rack did a test in which they compared the Kumho Ecsta Supra 712 with the Yokohama AVS ES100, which are both considered budget performance tires and are priced similarly. The ES100 spanked the 712. The Tire Rack evaluated both tires (and a Sumitomo tire) in 23 different categories, and the ES100 beat the 712 in 23 out of 23. You can read the complete test results on their website here. The ES100 is a very impressive tire for the money.

The Falken Azenis Sport is a street tire that offers great dry performance and a decent price, but it's lousy on wet pavement. It's fine if you live in an area where it rarely rains or if you have them on a car that you don't use when the weather is bad.

 

I always love how people slag the 712's for not being an ultimate street tire. But for what you get in a $40 tire they're pretty damned good. Noisy as hell though. They're an improvement over any all season OEM tire but for autocross they're definitely no great score but I've been more than happy with them for daily use and I'll buy another set when they wear out.

 

The 712s are decent cheap street tires. And they last forever. I got about 13k street miles plus maybe 12-14 track days out of a set.

But they chunk. You've been warned:

 

Very good daily-driver tire. Not the ultimate grip, for sure, but quite acceptable for day-to-day use. Rain is absolutely no problem for the 712 (in my car, anyway)...on the trip to Topeka last year, we hit a classic Kansas T-storm right at the CO-KS border. I kinda forgot about that hydroplaning issue (we were on a tight schedule) after testing the grip, and I had absolutely no problem between 90 and 105 mph on that stretch between Limon and Colby.

Snow, since you're in GA, isn't much of a concern. If you run into it with the 712, though, be very careful...they suck. I just curbed three days ago because of the total lack of snow grip on these tires.

Autocrossing the 712's isn't worth it. Early last year, I ran with the SoCal club. They had morning and afternoon runs (was it a practice event? Can't remember). I ran the fairly worn-out Victoracers first, then switched to the 712's for the afternoon runs (they were fairly worn, as well). Turned out that the 712's were right around 2 seconds behind on a low-70 second course.

Go with something round and black...you can't go wrong!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Targa250R &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Oh, they're a squeal-fest at autocrosses and they suck in the snow. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I've done pretty well with them at autocrosses where im too lazy to change onto the race tires. They're street tires...they ALL squeal.

 

kumho is good for daily driving and weekend trackday, if you getting a special tires for autocross then get falken's.

they last pretty long, dirt cheap and good grip over all.
my buddy use 172 too on his gsx, it's tough enough for awd turbo abuse on track