I bought my RX-8 with 15,000 miles on it. The dealer slapped 2 new tires on the back. They are the cheap $98 dollar Kumho Exsta tires that are on Tirerack.com. I left the stock potenza's on the front until I hit 23,000 miles. I just replaced them with 2 new Exstas in the front. I immediately noticed an amazing difference. The ride is quieter, smoother and the car handles 100% better. The difference is night and day. I was down to about 3/10's on one potenza and 4/10's on the other. The car grips much better in the corners and it doesn't feel at all jumpy when I come off the gas (don't know quite how to explain that effect). The car is now wisper quiet on the highway. Alot of the friction and noise I heard in my car must have been from the potenzas. I highly recommend these tires. They are vastly superior to potenzas and a great buy, regardless of the price. Hope this helps someone.

 

You mean, ecstas?

 

4 of the same tire will ride/handle better than 2 pair of different tires.

 

i always like kumhos and I always felt that they were the best tires per $

 

I like the ecstas better for wet roads and highway cruising, but the potenzas are by far the better tire for cornering and aggressive driving. Granted, mine wore out in 12k ;-)

 

Stock Potenzas?

 

I've got Kumho Ecsta MX's and they're amazing tires! Granted, they're not really intended for daily driving as they're more of a track tire but the noise, grip, and feel is much better then the Potenzas.

Potenzas get very loud once they start wearing down.

 

what model? Without that this review is useless.

 

I would use the ECSTA SP's for the street not the MX's

 

I know several people that use the MX's on a daily basis. They have nothing but good things to say about them. Why do you say that?

 

Kumho Ecsta SPT

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....YR8KU31#Survey

I had the stock potenzas on before and they absolutely suck in comparison to my new ones. Given they were fairly worn when I got them, but hands down I am sold on the SPTs.

 

yup, alot of the forum user love the SPT, but they wear FAST.....

 

I run the MX's and love them. They are a little soft in the sidewall compared to the potenzas but they have good grip and, my favorite part, they break away smooooth after crossing the tire's limits.

I use them for track and street with no problems. I do go through two sets of rears and one set of fronts (remounted mid-season) a year. -But that probably has more to do with the 12-17 events a year + my annual pilgrimage to the Tail of the Dragon.

 

no,

they really dont..


beers

 

Because they are made for the street and get much better wear.

The MX is a track tire. It will wear out like a motorcycle tire.

 

my MX's have 15,000 miles on them since last November and they're holding up. They might need to be replaced by the New Year but that's okay with me.

 

The MX is not a track tire.... The Kumho V710 and V700 are track tires.

 

+1.

The MX's are street tires that do well on the track...for street tires.

 

They don't even do that, they are well of the pace of the Falken 615, Advan and RE01-R. They were great when they came out, but time has moved on the that tire has not been updated.

 

I have tried the 615's and still prefer the MX's ( I don't think the MX's are well off pace of the 615's), and the Advans are too expensive. I would like to try the RE01's but they don't come in 275/40 -17.

 

The results do not agree with you. The Kumho is not at the top of any ST race classes. It is all Yokohama and Bridgestone, a few fast guys are still on Falkens but they are not as fast as the Yok and BS. The good news is a replacement for the MX will be at SEMA, Kumho is calling it the 615 killer, hope they did not aim to low.

 

Kevin McCormick finished 2nd in STS at Nats using MX front and SPT rear, watch out if he gets real ST tires

 

Yes he did, and he was well off the pace. He would crush them on any of the other three. That is why Motonish left STS after winning twice, Kumho contract driver that wants to run a tire and class where he can win, the current crop of other ST tires are way better than when the MX was new.

 

ehh, SPTs are great...when it's hot! they absolutely suck in the rain.

I'd recommend SPT (or MX?) for beginner racing tyres. no need to rush to r-compound or slicks.

 

Strange how people can have such a different impression of the same tire. Many of the Kumho factory drivers use the SPT as a rain for racing. This year Scott McWho ran his AS Corvette on the SPT at the Atwater natl tour in the rain and beat the SS guys who were on Hooiser wets.