vdelvec

In other words... about 180 miles. :-P

CarAndDriver

They said they couldn't. Of course their listing says will beat compeitor's prices. I pointed that out in a following email and said if they couldn't deliver than don't say that.

redcivic

I had Dunlops on my 01' Protege ES 2.0 and loved them. I drive 100 miles a day and occasionally autox and to be honest I have been pretty satisfied with the OEM Bridgstones. I could give a **** less about road noise though. So the Mx's are better than the spt's?

Melkor

I just did the same thing and bought some Kumho SPTs from America's Tire/Discount Tire. (www.tire.com) They are listed for 120 each on their site, but TireRack has them for 95 bux a piece. So I printed out the TireRack.com price and took it down there. They price matched for me, but threw in the $40 shipping cost I would have been charged. I ended up getting the tires for $105 a piece.

So far I am happy with these tires. My first impression was 2 things: 1) Wow, I can hear my engine when I speed up from a stop light! 2) Wow, these tires are mushy. But I was expecting the latter. I am also expecting the tires to perform better and better as they are worn in. I was a fan of the stock bridgestones, but at under half the price I am very happy. I had 25k on the bridgestones and it has been pretty awful these past 10k, with the wowowowowow road noise. I am hoping to at least get 25k on the Kumhos. Now, I don't have to pay the mazda dealership $15-20 friggin dollars just to rotate my tires!

The new ride is quiet and very smooth!

Discount Tire does not do alignments, so I guess I'll ge the dealership to check mine out next time I am there. I just found out my dad paid more for new tires on his minivan than me! Rock on!

swoope

iTrader: (5)

what is you air pressure set at... i would 34 to 35 psi and no more mushy... also it will take a couple hundred miles for them to feel right..

beers

Mr986

34lbs of air; seemed to firm thing up a bit without detracting from ride. After 1000 miles, I really can't think of anything bad to say about these tires; great ride, great wet weather traction, very good dry traction and QUIET!

This is my wife's car and I used to hate driving it with the RE040's; now it a real pleasure again--if I can just get this power loss issue resolved.

CarAndDriver

Appreciate the tips on air pressure when I get my Kumhos soon.

RX8_Buckeye

I used the Ecsta SPTs this warm season (May-present), and I have been very pleased. No, they're not as good as the Potenzas in terms of grip and handling, but you can't argue with the price (I know I can't afford to drop $1200 on tires every 2 years).

I'll add one more comment about these tires. Yesterday evening, parts of Detroit were hit with pretty intense snowfall as the temperature was rapidly falling. Unfortunately, I was on my way home from work and got caught in this. I was actually very pleased with the snow and ice handling of these tires as compared to the Bridgestones. By no means am I saying that these tires are good for snow and ice driving, but if you are unlucky enough to get caught in these conditions with your summer tires, you have a much better chance of avoiding inicident with the Ecstas than you do with the Potenzas. I drove through about 1/4" of snow on the road surfaces, and after conducting many brake checks I was pleased with the grip. By the time I had reached my neighborhood, a lot of snow that had melted was freezing due to the plummeting temperatures. The road leading to my neighborhood was practically a solid sheet of ice. While I did have some very frightening sliding episodes, I felt I had substantially more traction than I ever did with the Potenzas in those conditions.

Mr986

Good information; I was wondering how they might function in light snow and freezing temps. I try to put off putting on the Blizzaks until Dec 1 if possible just because the handling does suffer.
With the Potenzas, you really didn't have a choice with light snow; you either didn't drive the vehicle or risked the very real possiblity of getting into an accident because you had no traction. With these, it sounds like you can at least get home if you get caught in an early storm and drive carefully.

zenmoused

The kumhos are definitely a good buy. I had them installed today after hearing pretty much nothing but rave reviews, and they are 10x quieter than the bridgestones. I asked them to save my best tire so I can use it as a spare- it was almost bald after only 14k miles! I do my share of aggressive driving, but certainly no burnouts or the like. It's just incredible to me that they wore out so quickly. Let's hope these kumhos deliver like everyone says they will!

CarAndDriver

I'm going to be putting some Kumho's on this month or next....will report back as well.

KimiFelipe

I am definately in the internet minority on this, but I hate kumhos - I've owned two sets of them. They seem great at first because of the price but as they wear they do get quite loud. I had balancing problems with both sets after about 15k mi on the tires. they developed hard spots and could not be road-force balanced out. I had to replace both sets (on an A4 and on a 95 subaru legacy) in under 20 k. however I was glad to because of the awful noise.

Also, having graduated now to better rubber, I know that the MX and the 712 do not have particularly good grip, either, wet or dry. The 712 was good in the wet initially, but this became average after about 10k mi.

If you are looking to save money on tires, and want a summer only, I highly recomend the B'Stone RE 050 (yes the 050 is far better than the 040, particularly for noise and ride quality). This tire is on closeout at tirerack for $132 per, and is definately the best tire I've ever run. I also like the Avon Tech M 500 for summer, and have read great things about the M550 as an all season tire. The M 500 is close in wet and dry grip to the 050, though clearly not its equal, and is also very smooth and quiet. I have 10 k mi on these tires now, and they are behaving quite well, and stellar compared to my kumhos.

For summer rubber, I also like the contisport contact 2 - these were good up to 25 k mi, dunlop sp sport maxx, the Toyo T1-R and S (ran the S for 20 k mi on my miata - outstanding in the wet and dry, smooth, and now I'm switching to the R).

Less experience with all season tires, but I did really like the B'stone RE950. Also excellent, for an all season, in every way.

I really do hope you guys are happy with your SPTs for the life of the tires, but based on my experience I would never consider buying them. Just wanted to state for the record.

swoope

iTrader: (5)

kimi,

i had the 712 kumhos on my supra.. they were softer and did not grip as well as the spts.. 712 were scary in the wet...

the tech has come a very long way since then... i have run the spt for 30k miles.. still quiet, still great in the rain.. handles very well...

now this is a great street tire... it has enough prefomance for anyone driving on street roads... 8/10s fine.. we are driving on the street..

it is not a track tire... or an autox tire...

my next set of tires will not be the spts, but they will be on different rims for track days...

i would think the spts are going to go at least 50k miles..

hope this helps..

beers

sharward

Thanks for the feedback, KemiFelipe. Your experience is a contrast from others in this thread and several others, but valuable nevertheless.

Did you ever run SPTs? You mentioned MX and 712, so I assume not... Bear in mind that this thread is (mostlly) about the SPT model.

Anyway... I said I'd report back with some wet handling perspective, now that I've driven in a bit of rain. I've managed to be lucky in not having to drive in very heavy rains so far. Nevertheless, I have a very positive impression on them.

I do tend to drive like a grandma when it rains, so factor that into the equation.

I did trigger DSC a couple of times on wet roads, but that was sort of expected -- taking a corner a little heavy or starting from a dead stop while turning... Not so much for entertainment, but more to get acquainted with the tires on a wet surface, trying to test the limits in a safe manner without anyone or anything else in the way.

Overall, I think their wet handling performance has left me with the same perception as their dry handling performance -- not quite as good as the OEM Bridgestones when they were new, but definitely satisfactory.

I do wish the sidewalls were stiffer... But, so what.

swoope

iTrader: (5)

raise air pressure..

start at 34psi.

beers

KimiFelipe

Swoope,

As I said, I hope these tires work well for people. The thing I hated most about my kumhos was the balancing problems after 15 k mi or so. On my set of 712's, there was a great deal of tread left when I threw them out. Not a single tire could be road force balanced after about 20 k mi. They were uncomfortable to drive on, and loud. I hated them, and I don't ever want to throw away tires with good tread left on them again. With the other set I had similar issues just not quite as bad. They were very loud anyway so I said "fark it" and got rid of them too.

The thing is, I decided that another 10 to 40 % more money per tire is worth it to have a set of great rubber that I'll be happy with. If I only get 20 or 25 k out of my tires, it's actually just the same mileage I got out of my sets of kumhos, but the entire time I've had far better wet and dry traction, a much more comfortable and quiet ride, and I HAVENT spent money rebalancing tires. I paid for three rebalancings on my 712s after 15 k mi, on average $27 per tire, including the one road force. Very expensive.

In the end, even paying normal price for, say, the contisportcontact 2's, which are what $150 a tire, this works out to be cheaper than buying the kumhos and having them rebalanced a second time, which in my case did NOT help.

I'd rather spend the money up front and get a tire I can trust will have excellent performance over its life.

But again I dont wish anybody problems and hope these perform much better than my 712's and MX's.

I will never again take the chance with Kumho. I took a chance with Avon, and over 10 k mi on my Tech M500's, I was extremely pleased. Unfortunately the A4 I had them on is now sold, but I may well purchase a set of 500's for my RX-8 when my 040's wear out. OTOH, as I said I am willing to spend on a great tire. But I don't feel you need to spend $240 per for the 8090 for example, or even $230 for the pilot sport PS2 - both fabulous tires.

For a lot less money and just as much piece of mind you can get the CSC 2, the SP sport Maxx, the Avon, the RE 050 (even full price is only $175 or so), and there are a number of others too.

OK rant over. G/L everybody!

swoope

iTrader: (5)

that was not a rant, just advice..

i can just say i have owned the spt and the 712. and the 712 was junk, and the spt for the street is not..

and when you compare 95 bucks a tire to 175 it does add up to 360 per set.. i think there are lots of great tires out, most of them are far above are abilitys.

more opinions are better!!!!

beers

MikeTyson8MyKids

iTrader: (1)

I settled on 36 psi all the way around.

sharward

My $40 rebate check arrived today. :-)

I've also had some more rain exposure this week. Last night the was quite heavy on my freeway commute. I was quite pleased. :-)

Regarding tire pressure -- I hesitate to boost the PSI beyond Mazda's specs. Call me paranoid. Why doesn't Mazda recommend 35 PSI? There's a reason, right?

CarAndDriver

You can run air pressure all the way to the tire max but I wouldn't do it.

Mazda tire pressure recommendation balances comfort versus handling and probably other factors like fuel economy and wear. Lower is better for ride comfort and higher for handling.

Raising your tire pressure from 32 to 35-36 PSI is not going to make your tires blow up and your 8 to self destruct.

Try it...if you don't like it lower it.

KimiFelipe

sort of, but not really. Think about it this way. Most cars,particularly american POS's, are designed to be least offensive to the most people, trying to offer something, anything, that everyone will like, as long as they dont actually have to make a good car

LOL you know what I mean, offer something middle of the road that many will accept, who cares if noone loves it.

Your tire pressures are the same way. You can almost completely ignore the mazda recommendation if you pay attention to how your tires feel. My car came with 40 psi from the dealer, all around. This is a good pressure actually for good turn in and responsiveness, but the ride is harsher than with the stock 32 psi.

I dont think I'll ever run that low because I want a firmer feeling. My miata stock recmmendation is 28 psi, and I run it at 32 all around.

tire pressures is something everyone should experiment with to figure out what they like. Always measure tire pressure cold, and vary it. Maybe start at 40 - I beleive the stokc rubber has a max pressure of 51, but if not its 44. Start high, drive around a while, then after your tires are cool, let out about 2 psi if you are sensitive, 3-4 if you arent, then drive around again.

Figure out what you like, then run with that.

Mr986

had a stiffer sidewall than the SPT, so all things being equal, at the same pressures your turn in will feel a bit more sluggish with the SPT than the Potenza. A couple of pounds additional pressure in the tires gets rid of a lot of the sluggishness and doesn't adversly affect the ride.

On our 06 Boxster the advertised std. pressure in 30 in front; because the PS2's have a softer sidewall than some other max performance tires I put it up to 32 for street driving--it firms up the ride and turn in. on the track I usually run pressures of 34F/36R (cold).

KimiFelipe

Excellent point. I agree.

unpocoloco

Does putting 35 psi in the tires affect the lifespan of the tire?

swoope

iTrader: (5)

likely it will extend it. depending on what you were running before.

beers