Kumho Tyres

EricW · Post by **EricW** » Mon Oct 18, 2004 7:23 pm

As promised, I went and had a talk with C.C. McPhail Ltd re Kumho tyres.

They would like to help out, but on an official basis, through the club,
rather than on an "ad hoc" basis with individual members.

Their reason for this is that, they being wholesalers only, we would have to
take the the tyres elsewhere to be fitted and this might cause McPhail's
some difficulty with their retailers if they are also seen as selling
directly to "The Public". You can see their point of view.

I have referred their Sales Manager to Willie Williamson, and Kumho will
make the club an offer through Willie. No doubt, if negotiations are
successful, Willie will promulgate this information in the appropriate
fashion.

That's as far as I can take it at the moment, I hope it helps

Eric

Carl Shepherdson · Post by **Carl Shepherdson** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 2:27 pm

Eric

Thanks for that, my need is slighty more immediate as I have a
overdue warrent. Went Kumho though - ECSTA 712's (195/60 R15) and so
far very impressed. Grip is very good and road noise is good as well.
Havnt had the opportunity to give them a real test though so time
will tell.

Cheers
Carl

Post by **zorruno** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 5:01 pm

on 20/10/2004 2:27 p.m. Carl Shepherdson wrote:

Thanks for that, my need is slighty more immediate as I have a
overdue warrent. Went Kumho though - ECSTA 712's (195/60 R15) and so
far very impressed. Grip is very good and road noise is good as well.

Hi Carl,

If they are anything like my experience with them a few years ago (on my
old MX6), they have good grip but wear very quickly. Too quickly. I
posted a review a couple of years back. They may have totally changed
compound in that time though.

I still have a couple 1/2 worn in my ceiling which are 225/50 16 which
are a bit too tall profile for my 16" MX5 rims - but maybe good for a
driver training day some time.

cheers
zorruno

EricW · Post by **EricW** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 8:13 pm

Interesting comment zorruno, but not born out by my experience, mind you I
have always been fairly light on tyres, brakes clutches etc.

Mine seem to have lasted very well, and I notice that they no longer make
the Powermax, so one assumes that if there was a change of compound it
occured with the change of model. That makes mine "pre change" so who knows.

They certainly seem to last at least as well as the Bridgestones on the BMW,
(which actually are a bit disappointing from the wear point of view, but
sensational in every other aspect), I would buy them again.

Eric

dscotland · Post by **dscotland** » Thu Oct 21, 2004 4:09 pm

I had Kumho's on a SSS sentra. In my experience they are known as a 'hard'
tyre so wear is supposed to be good, but mine were directional and had
terrible road noise (195/50/15) powermax I think. They whined like hell
and I changed them before they wore out.

Duncan
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Interesting comment zorruno, but not born out by my experience, mind you I
have always been fairly light on tyres, brakes clutches etc.

Mine seem to have lasted very well, and I notice that they no longer make
the Powermax, so one assumes that if there was a change of compound it
occured with the change of model. That makes mine "pre change" so who
knows.

They certainly seem to last at least as well as the Bridgestones on the BMW,
(which actually are a bit disappointing from the wear point of view, but
sensational in every other aspect), I would buy them again.

Eric

poison · Post by **poison** » Thu Oct 21, 2004 6:48 pm

There is always going to be some form of trade off, quiet=wear=good stick or
noisy=long life=no stick (danger but fun in the wet). I've had many types of
tyres on various cars of my own and my companies, and they're almost all great
for road stick in the first year and then seem to get harder and less sticky
over time on a mildly damp road. I wonder what the "ideal" sticky life km/time
etc of a tyre is?

Gazza
"PO1SON"
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jeff · Post by **jeff** » Fri Oct 22, 2004 11:26 am

FWIW, it seems that the Kumho MX is a decent value performance tyre, and the other models are merely average. Then again, this is going off miataforum.com ... most of them can get this and the super-schticky Falken Azenis for US$60 ea, compared to ~$400 down here! (cue the sound of tragic gypsy violins )

The half-worn Dunlop W-10s (sticky-ish) that came on my '96 only lasted about 6 months

The crap-o Falken Ziex OTOH are only half worn after 2 yrs of mild abuse - treadwear of 420 it says on the side, gah ! I've read that tyres tend to "go off" after a year or two, one guy even replaces them regardless of tread after this time.

PS - Does anyone have contacts for tyre importers?

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