I have Kumho Ecsta 716 HP4s on my Escort and only have 10,000 miles on them. One was vibrating some and making noise at higher speeds. I took it in and its flat spotted. There was one time going about 50mph when I had to hit the brakes hard and I locked them up for an instant. That could be the only time it would have gotten flat spotted. Does this sound normal? Only one time and the tire is bad? The tread rating is 360 so it’s not all that soft. I asked if it was cause its a cheap tire and the guy said no. They offered me a new one at half price but I don’t know if I should buy another if they suck that much. This is my POS car that I bought for $200 so I don’t know if I should leave it or not. It only makes a little noise and slight roughness on the freeway.
Cheap tires...flat spot
- Thread starter 1969mach1351
- Start date
-
Sponsors (?)
DarkBuddha
Founding Member
The 716s have a reputation for poor wear quality. The UTQG rating of 360 doesn't necessarily mean much in light of how the number is assigned. Here is a summary of UTQG treadwear ratings from www.tirerack.com:
"
Treadwear Grades
UTQG Treadwear Grades are based on actual road use in which the test tire is run in a vehicle convoy along with standardized Course Monitoring Tires. The vehicle repeatedly runs a prescribed 400-mile test loop in West Texas for a total of 7,200 miles. The vehicle can have its alignment set, air pressure checked and tires rotated every 800 miles. The test tire's and the Monitoring Tire's wear are measured during and at the conclusion of the test. The tire manufacturers then assign a Treadwear Grade based on the observed wear rates. The Course Monitoring Tire is assigned a grade and the test tire receives a grade indicating its relative treadwear. A grade of 100 would indicate that the tire tread would last as long as the test tire, 200 would indicate the tread would last twice as long, 300 would indicate three times as long, etc.
The problem with UTQG Treadwear Grades is that they are open to some interpretation on the part of the tire manufacturer because they are assigned after the tire has only experienced a little treadwear as it runs the 7,200 miles. This means that the tire manufacturers need to extrapolate their raw wear data when they are assigning Treadwear Grades, and that their grades can to some extent reflect how conservative or optimistic their marketing department is. Typically, comparing the Treadwear Grades of tire lines within a single brand is somewhat helpful, while attempting to compare the grades between different brands is not as helpful.
"
So, as you can see, Kuhmo and pretty much write what they want.
I know it probably doesn't, but I hope this helps...
"
Treadwear Grades
UTQG Treadwear Grades are based on actual road use in which the test tire is run in a vehicle convoy along with standardized Course Monitoring Tires. The vehicle repeatedly runs a prescribed 400-mile test loop in West Texas for a total of 7,200 miles. The vehicle can have its alignment set, air pressure checked and tires rotated every 800 miles. The test tire's and the Monitoring Tire's wear are measured during and at the conclusion of the test. The tire manufacturers then assign a Treadwear Grade based on the observed wear rates. The Course Monitoring Tire is assigned a grade and the test tire receives a grade indicating its relative treadwear. A grade of 100 would indicate that the tire tread would last as long as the test tire, 200 would indicate the tread would last twice as long, 300 would indicate three times as long, etc.
The problem with UTQG Treadwear Grades is that they are open to some interpretation on the part of the tire manufacturer because they are assigned after the tire has only experienced a little treadwear as it runs the 7,200 miles. This means that the tire manufacturers need to extrapolate their raw wear data when they are assigning Treadwear Grades, and that their grades can to some extent reflect how conservative or optimistic their marketing department is. Typically, comparing the Treadwear Grades of tire lines within a single brand is somewhat helpful, while attempting to compare the grades between different brands is not as helpful.
"
So, as you can see, Kuhmo and pretty much write what they want.
I know it probably doesn't, but I hope this helps...
Route666
Active Member
I once locked up on the highway doing 60mph down to about 10mph, smoked the tyres right off, and they had noticable flat spots, I could hear them as I continued, but they didn't vibrate, even at 60. So to me it seems like you locking them for "an instant" (sounds shorter than what I did) would NOT cause THAT bad of a flat spot.
