tire advice

  • Sponsors (?)


I just put a set of Kuhmo ecsta 712's on. Tire rack, 96 a piece, plus you can find an installer and have them drop shipped. So far they do outperform my BFG KDW's, but I don't know how long they will last. I decided I did not care, I would rather put a new set on after 15000 miles and and maintain consistent performance then trying to squeak out a few extra miles on a set of degraded more expensive tires.
 
cavepony said:
I just put a set of Kuhmo ecsta 712's on. Tire rack, 96 a piece, plus you can find an installer and have them drop shipped. So far they do outperform my BFG KDW's, but I don't know how long they will last. I decided I did not care, I would rather put a new set on after 15000 miles and and maintain consistent performance then trying to squeak out a few extra miles on a set of degraded more expensive tires.

I am not trying to be argumentative but, go to the Tirerack and do a comparison and see what others are saying. Evidently you are in the minority if you think the Kumho Ecsta 712 will outhandle the BFG KDW. The KDW is rated higher in handling, wet traction and dry traction. The Kumho is rated higher in ride comfort and noise comfort.

I didn't buy my Mustang for comfort :D
 
Yeah, but which tire leaves the best burnout tracks???

My GT will need a set soon too. 25,000 miles and the Gatorbacks have maybe an 1/8" left at best. I've been tossing around the BFG KDW and Nitto 555 as shortlisters. I'm sure both are great all-round tires so it'll probably boil down to bead protector differences, looks and cost.
 
rjstaaf said:
I am not trying to be argumentative but, go to the Tirerack and do a comparison and see what others are saying. Evidently you are in the minority if you think the Kumho Ecsta 712 will outhandle the BFG KDW. The KDW is rated higher in handling, wet traction and dry traction. The Kumho is rated higher in ride comfort and noise comfort.

I didn't buy my Mustang for comfort :D

I am driving the Kumho's and there is a significant increase in traction, especially wet. In Florida wet is very important. :) My KDW's traction went south pretty quickly near 10k, just about useless on a wet road. I decided I would rather try the Kumho's and replace them once a year (about 10k) and have good tractiion more consistently then try to squeeze more then 10k out of my KDW's because they cost 50% more.
 
cavepony said:
I am driving the Kumho's and there is a significant increase in traction, especially wet. In Florida wet is very important. :) My KDW's traction went south pretty quickly near 10k, just about useless on a wet road. I decided I would rather try the Kumho's and replace them once a year (about 10k) and have good tractiion more consistently then try to squeeze more then 10k out of my KDW's because they cost 50% more.

I am not going to argue your experience but, it is the exception rather than the rule. I am on my 3rd set of KDWs and I have no problems with traction well past 20K. Last set was replaced at 28K. I have lived in Florida most of my life and still spend quite a bit of time there even though we now live in SC.
 
rjstaaf said:
I am not going to argue your experience but, it is the exception rather than the rule. I am on my 3rd set of KDWs and I have no problems with traction well past 20K. Last set was replaced at 28K. I have lived in Florida most of my life and still spend quite a bit of time there even though we now live in SC.


JMHO :)

The best part was that the garage that did the mounting had a Cobra kit up on the lifts the same time time as my gt. After talking to the guy about what he was doing with the Cobra I decided he would be the one to do some of my mods. :)
 
Sumitomo HTRZ II (NOT the HTR Z)
245/45ZR17 $99

I have these for my 18's (245's and 285's) and they are a fantastic tire for the price. Great dry and wet performance. I used to have Kumho ECSTA Supra 712, and the Sumitomo tires are a significantly beter tire. The BFG's might be a tad better, but the BFG's also cost $50 more per tire.