alphapenguin

I've had my Kumho Ecsta SPT for about a little over a year, and have about less than 20k miles on it. I took my car in to get an oil change at the mazda dealer, and they call me up telling me I need to replace all 4 tires. i dont believe them since I just got them replaced a year ago, but looking at the thread... it's eaten down. I dont think I am the most aggressive drive and I have rotated the tires, so I have no idea why they are wore away so fast. I've seen a lot of good reviews for this tire, but has anyone else had these issues?

zenmoused

yep, I've put about 20k miles on them, and they're ready to be replaced. Difference is, my driving style is pretty aggressive. Remember- hard braking or even being the type to ride your brakes can wear down tires as well.

ULLLOSE

iTrader: (1)

I have almost 30k on mine, 245-40-18, they are just about down to the wear bars. Rotate often and have your alignment checked. I would buy them again for sure.

SouthFL

See for yourself is the tread is flush with the wear bar indicators around the entire tire. If there's still a difference consistently throughout the tire's surface, then the dealer is trying to make a quick buck.

½mv²

I've heard mixed things about these tires myself. They seem to wear like RX7 engines - drive hard as hell on them and they'll last 20k. Baby them, and they'll last 20k. Damned if you do, damned if you don't, it seems :/

Butch Brown

Typical mileage for High Performance tires.

nt5k

That's about right actually. I have 16k on mine and am not too thrilled with their grip as time goes on, not sure I'll get them again.

mysql101

I have SPT's, and I don't think I'd recommend them to anyone.

The tire performance is about right for the price, but the issue I have is that they cool down and develop flat spots where the car sits. Then for 5-10 minutes every morning, the car feels like it needs to have the tires balanced until they warm up and the flat spots go away.

It's irritating. So I would actually like the tires to wear out sooner than later

RA-Eight

iTrader: (6)

Alex - let's meet somewhere and I'll help you heat those bad boys up!

CosmosMpower

The dealers are pretty cautious so if you're under 3 or 4/32nd's they're probably telling you to replace so you'll buy tires from them. You might have another 2/32nd's before it's really unsafe to drive in the rain. That sounds about right though, my factory RE040's only lasted me 17K with similar wear characteristics. If you expect tires to last 40K+ you're driving the wrong car, I can't wait to hear the complaints once you get that turbo kit

Huhwha

Sounds right. I'm finishing my 2nd summer and one track day with mine. I'm pretty sure when I take them off this winter, they'll be toast. That'll be about 15,000. Same as I got on the OEM Dunlops, that cost more than twice as much!

For the money, I'll probably do this again, but I'll see what's available in the spring.

BTW, I see some minor cupping on the fronts, but I'm due for an alignment in the spring anyway.

phxtravis

Damn....I was hoping mine would last a couple of years, I guess I should've waited for the Conty's.

Razz1

Yep, High performance emilage is normal.

Less performance better milage.

alphapenguin

thanks guys for the response. I got my wheels aligned, i dont remember how much they were off but got it done anyway. Actually bought the Firestone lifetime Alignment, since I dont plan on every selling this car.
As for the tires, the wear seems to be worse on the inside, but overall it is getting down to the tread bars. I plan on buying the Bridgestones Pole Position S03 on clearance from Tirerack. It is pretty darn cheap i must say. Though some people dont like them as much, they have to last longer than those kumho's and they're on clearance!

Ra-8, once I get my new tires, I can rip them oldboys up! haha.

Now does anyone have any suggestions about where to get the new tires mounted? I was just going to take it to Firestone, but then I came to a realization that I could maybe ask the local RX-8store to do it (if they do and are cheaper).

DOMINION

Dam good thing I have nothing to do and found this thread. I have the same prob and this happen after I got my new wheels and went for a wheel alinment. I went back thinking they did something wrong but everything was cool. So this is normal? How did you find this out?

swoope

iTrader: (5)

the stock bridgestones did the same thing for me.. have not noticed it with the spt.

beers

DOMINION

Dam. That bugs me. Feels like my wheel is going to fall off. Think if I get Eibach springs will do away with it?

swoope

iTrader: (5)

no,

this is my quick comment.. i got over 30k on my first set.. they would have gone a lot further if not for lower springs, and waiting for replacement shocks to come in before alignment..

i am on my second set.. great for the street.. na... great in rain.. now i dont drive 9/10s on the street..

nor does anyone else except in there mind.. or not real bright..

as to the flat spotting. have not had that with the kumhos, and my car does sit sometimes for 4 days.. i did get it with the bridgestones after about 36 hrs... but it went away after ~4 miles...

dont know the answer, and jason is well spoken.. go figure..

beers

Flashwing

I've ran my SPT's for about 10,000 miles and so far they have worn about what I would expect. I didn't expect anything more than 20,000 miles with the high speed driving out here in Phoenix.

The summer heat eats the rubber but otherwise 20k is what I would expect from a high performance tire.

I could only hope the KUHMO MX tires get the same mileage.

DOMINION

Thanks for the info.

Celronx

iTrader: (1)

I'm not impressed with these tires either. I was at first. But as time goes on, I'm just not liking them.

I get the flat spots real bad...to the point that my wife doesn't want to drive or ride in my car anymore. They take about 5 minutes to get back to round and she hates that dut, dut, dut. They flat spot after about 6 hours. Meaning when I park the car and go into work, they are flat when I get out.

I've also only gotten about 17k out of mine and they will be replaced in about the next 3-5k miles.

dntx5b9

Interesting. I have 45K on my stock Dunlop and looking at Kumho SPTs for the replacements. According to the UTQG rating, the Kumhos are best at 320 as compared to Dunlop OEs at 280, Bridgestone OEs at 140, and Bridgestone S-03 at 220. So, the Kumhos should last longer than the other three according to the rating. Looked at the reviews at tirerack, and Kumho SPT got real good ratings. Can't beat the price.

alphapenguin

just got my Bridgestone Pole Pos S03 today. I think I will wait till next season to put them on, hopefully my tires wont blow out on me. They are running really low on the tread. Come on snow! gotta go with the snow tires soon. with or without the snow.

rotorhead335

Hi:
The SPTs do this, but it only takes about five minutes of driving for them to round out again. As with (newbie?) questions about them lasting "only" 20-25k miles, you are always going to have trade-offs. Tires same as anything else. The Kumho Ecsta SPT is, I think, a very sticky tire (a good thing) at an unreal bargain price. We should not expect our high-performance, gummy tires mounted on sports cars to last like harder, clunkier tires on a sedan. That's not why we drive them--the cars or the tires. One person's opinion.

DOMINION

Its cool if they only last 30K.
I like the fact that they are so quiet and I can take turns like nothing. Not bad in the ran too.