It's time for new tires and I'm thinking of these. They seem to rate pretty well and cover my driving criteria for most of my driving. We do have winters here in Baltimore though. Should I get a set of winter wheels as well?

Anyone have any experience with these tires?

 

Just bought them Saturday. There are some threads in here that speak of them. Some reviews are mixed but most say they are decent for some winter driving. My entire 2 day 300 mile experience has been good so far. I got 18's and so far they are a lot more comfortable than the stock Dunlop runflats.

 

Excellent. The stock Dunlops are pretty durn uncomfy. Sounds like these are the economic option then.

 

I am eyeing these up as well - any report on the turn in vs. stock runflats?\

thanks!

 

Where did you buy the Kumho's in the Charlotte area?Also,do you have any suspension mods?Springs or bars?
Thanks,Bill
PS. I like your signature,we too are animal lovers and tire of hearing of abuse to our friends.

 

Hey Bill
I got them through the Discount Tire Website and they shipped them to the store nearest me. Still like them so far. Thanks for the comment on my sig. We are involved in rescue and I know exactly what you mean. I like your sig as well. Also love Indy Blue [my '03 was an Indy S]. I'm going to the Dragon this year -- found out at the last minute that I could trade with a co-worker. Can't wait.
Have a great day.
Art

 

I forgot. I have the JCW suspension and brake kit. No problems with rubbing as of yet.

 

Thanks Payne, i going to need some tires post Dragon.I haven't looked yet ,i hope they're available in 215-40 or 45-17 for my R90's.Btw,where are you staying at the Dragon?
Bill

 

I have them in 215/45-17. While I am certainly no expert in tire handling characteristics, I can say that it seems that I have lost a bit of the "razor's edge" steering response of the runflats. The tradeoff for this is greatly (vastly, hugely) improved ride comfort. No more bone-jarring expansion joints, no more edge of control feeling on grooved pavement, no more bouncing around like a pinball in the truck ruts.
For my purposes (long daily commute), these work well. If you corner agressively, you may feel let down.

 

Well, I just ordered a set from Alex at the Tire Rack and will have them sent to a shop in MD. The customer reviews on the TR site though talk about how hard these tires are to balance. Is there something I should know and convey to the folks doing the mounting?

 

They had no trouble balancing mine but mine are 18's
Bill,
I'm crashing at Luke Shields [prez M2C2] rented cabin with a sleeping bag -- don't even know exactly where this is but I will find out shortly. Where are you staying. I was lucky and got tickets to pretty much everything
Art

 

Also, Strongly agree with 3cocinas about the ride quality!

 

good to hear on everything. The ride quality on the runflats is pretty distressing. I get worried that stuff will fall off sometimes when I run over manhole covers. The balancing doesn't sound like an issue either. If you're okay with the 18's, the 17's should be easy (or at least easier, since the aspect is less radical).

Looking forward to my new shoes.

 

why would a one tire be harder to balance than another? Unless the tire quality was poor such that the tire is way far out of balance and the process needs to make bigger corrections than normal?

I'm not making that statement about these tires - quite to opposite - I ordered some yesterday....

so w/out getting specif' to these, what would make a tire "hard to balance"?

 

I had the same question. It's just that two of the three comments on the Tire Rack customer comments list stated that as an issue. That said, it looks like the only legit issue is the lack of Winter performance. I'll probably end up contacting Alex for a set of 15's this Fall anyway.

 

I kind of like the turn in sharpness and all of the handling characteristics of my Dunlap 9000 run flats,just not the expense. My Mini is our 3rd car,so its basicly a weekend,crusing car,not primary transportation,so i don't worry too much about the harsh ride,even my wife don't even complain.So,having said that i don't know if these are for me.Anyway i really appreciate the feedback from everybody,it keeps you from buying a product and then being unhappy with it. Also, i'm at Microtel in Robbinsville.If you're at Fontana,you're right in the heart of it all!A few of the Tarheel members are there including Dan from Grassroots Garage.
Thanks Again,
Bill

 

ya - I think "hard to balance" equates to "don't know how to use the equipment" which is solved by "find a different shop".

Which is why I'm always reluctant to buy "balance for life" unless I really really know they do a good job.

Same thing with alignments....oh, that car is really hard to get right...let me put it back on the rack and try again.

 

Okay, I got my Kumhos from Alex at Tire Rack and got them installed yesterday. I must say that the ride home was demonstrably more pleasant than the drive in. No more teeth-shattering, bone-jarring, windshield cracking bumps every time I run over a manhole cover. And it still holds the corners like flypaper.

Thanks, Alex. You're the best.

 

I hit a pothole couple days ago in Manhattan, damn we have them all around the city, however this time i got two destroyed tires and one bended rim. Luckily nothing serious happened. I bought 4 of those Kumho Ecsta AST XL. I was planning to buy Goodyear but my mechanic thinks Goodyear is overpriced and he insisted on buying Kumho. I ordered them from TireRack and shipped to his shop. I drove only one day with these tires but I am already satisfied.

FYI, New York City reimburse some of your expenses for the damages caused by potholes. You need to file a claim and you can download the claim forms at http://www.comptroller.nyc.gov/ For more information call 311 and ask for your rights. They were very helpful to me.

Another thing; i think it might be helpful for people with no spare tire. There is one tire repair shop at 138th street in NYC called Bonanza (Exit 3 on I-87) They have pretty much every size of used tires. I found a used Goodyear for my MCS (205/45/17). So have the towing truck tow you right to this place instead of visiting couple different tire shop and paying insane amount of moneys to towing companies. BTW, if you are on highway and close to the exit, first take the exit and then look for a towing company. Highway Authorized towing companies charge around 100 bucks for the first mile

Hope this can be helpful information for some people.

-s