Here's a good all season for us:Kumho ECSTA ASX

[Peterofdevon]

I just replaced a set of total crap 15" Continental ContiExtremeContacts on Miss Mannors with Kumho ASX's 245/45/17.

The Conti's vibrated, the Conti's made noise, the Conti's cornered like crap. The Conti's have high Tirerack ratings...they must be stuffing the ballots. Worst tire ever for the G50.

I took a chance on the Kumhos. I just got a set of 17s for Miss Mannors and could not wait till the summer for PS2s or other pricy bad boys. So I went to Pepboys and the dudes were saying how great these Kumhos are.

Son of gun! They were right on. I was worried about the G50 vib with directionals but these suckers are GREAT. And they have a 4 for the price of three promo going on (its a stupid mail in rebate).

So if the 15s are as quiet as these 17s we can add these to our recommeded list.

Tight and firm in the corners, stable and silent at 70, whisper smooth till 50.

I just drove 30 miles so I'll keep ya posted but so far...one the best first dates I've ever had with some rubber!!!!! (hey, I'm kinky)

Peter

[szh]

What is the load index of the Kumho? Either the 15" or the 17"?

Z

[Peterofdevon]

Michelin Exalto 225/60/15 is 96Same as the Kumho at 96

The Kumho 245/45/17 is 95

For ref the PS2 245/45/17 is also 95

You're good at half the price, but of course there will have to be wear and performance sacrafices. Out of the box it feels great...we'll see.

Far better than my Yoko Dbs and Db2s, the former was ok the later is crap.

Crap=noisy

P.

[Q45tech]

Manufacturers have learned how to fool consumers by optimizing the first 8,000 miles.

My experience with various Kumho after 10-15,000 miles [especially on front] is not good but then again for half price you can always buy 8 and just swap them.

Everyone that touts brand new tires vs old worn [8,000+ miles] may be in for a surprise.

[maxnix]

Everyone that touts brand new tires vs old worn [8,000+ miles] may be in for a surprise.

Most do, because new anything is better than old broken down something.

At 10K, one can tell better.

dB were never noisy for me, nor did they ever feather. But suspension was always OEM tight.

[Skibane]

we can add these to our recommeded list

Just out of curiosity, has anyone ever actually put together a "recommended tire list" for the Q?

Owner survey, perhaps?

[Romeo5k]

I just replaced a set of total crap 15" Continental ContiExtremeContacts on Miss Mannors with Kumho ASX's 245/45/17.

Peter

You read my mindhttp://www.discounttire.com/dt...=trueThis is what im looking at within the next 30 days... So if you say it rides good, then so be it. Not gonna be too much worried about noise because of my music, but as long as it rides goot is all i care about.

[qsiguy]

My current front tires are the Kumho's and the last set I bought for the piepans were Kumho's and I've liked them all. Prices are great so why not replace them more often. New tires are always better than old ones, even if some of the other brands last to 15-20K by then they won't be performing all that great. I'd rather have fresh tires more often if they are half the price or so.

[szh]

Just out of curiosity, has anyone ever actually put together a "recommended tire list" for the Q?

Yup!

1. There is a sticky here: zerothread/108009 that has user reviews.

2. My Excel spreadsheet on available tires for various Infiniti models.

Z

[Peterofdevon]

Manufacturers have learned how to fool consumers by optimizing the first 8,000 miles.

My experience with various Kumho after 10-15,000 miles [especially on front] is not good but then again for half price you can always buy 8 and just swap them.

Everyone that touts brand new tires vs old worn [8,000+ miles] may be in for a surprise.

Well, the Contis were terrible right out of the box. And you know, they have great Tirerack ratings--makes me think all those ratings are crapola.

The old Yoko dBs were ok, a little soft on cornering but I liked them because they did not hydroplane like the OEM Michelins of the era did. The problem with the first Yoko dB iteration was they lasted 12K. Yoko then reformulated the compound and got better milage but the tire lost all its good points.

These Kumhos show great promise but as Q45tech rightly warns---who knows how they'll last.

Peter

[Q45tech]

Consumers are not tire experts, less than 1 in 10,000 know much beyond tires are black and round. So why would one believe Consumer stories and rankings.

Why would one find useful tire tests on a lighter car...........the wet braking tests can probably be extrapolated IF you upgrade the SIZE and Load Index by the same amount as the heavier car [Q45] is over the test car [BMW 325]................the EXTRA 150-200 pounds static on the front tire and the Extra 100 pounds of braking transfer weight does a Q45 in.

You cannot say that 200 pounds of reserve is the same on a heavy car as on a lighter car..................why you look for a load index of 98 or 100 of the front of a Q.

[maxnix]

You cannot say that 200 pounds of reserve is the same on a heavy car as on a lighter car..................why you look for a load index of 98 or 100 of the front of a Q.

I cannot agree more. Get the highest load index in the best tire you can find. The dynamic load changes are mcuh more with a heavier car than a light one. A primary reason why lighter cars handle better.

98-100 is a noticeable improvement over 95.

[mcrews]

I have the 255/45/18 on the 02 Q45 sport (stock was 245/45/18.

They have been an uotstanding tire. Almost at 30k and have not hit the wear bar, but should in about 5-7k more miles. THey are quite and grab well in the corners. I run 38 lbs.

only complaint is the rain (which we hardly get in Sacramento.) The are just average. of course stomping on the gas to try to break the tires lose could also be a problem in the rain!!!!!!

[Q45tech]

Owners may not realize that the brakes have more than TWICE the HP of the engine so any tire that brakes loose at WOT acceleration will surely not stop well in the rain.

Peak acceleration is barely 0.55 G whereas we expect BRAKING DECELERATION to get close to 0.9G!

Why I always point out the wet braking distance as the major criteria.

[szh]

Why I always point out the wet braking distance as the major criteria.

Yes - I'd agree entirely. Wet braking and handling are my personal measures, since I hate driving in rain.

Hence, my preferred tire is currently the Goodyear Eagle G1 GS-D3 245/45-18. At a 100W load index, with its excellent wet weather braking and handling, I am quite pleased. I do re-balance every 3000 miles or so.

Z

[maxnix]

One caveat: "All season" is a marketing euphemism for "not optimal summer tire nor an adequte winter tire."

For normal driving, always get a summer tire. For winter in a snow area, get a snow tire.

[Peterofdevon]

Another day on these tires with Miss Mannors---I'm going to get another speeding ticket.

These are the best all weather tires I've ever had on my Qs. In fact, I put PS2s on Raw Sex and these feel every bit as good. A great rolling feel, great cornering, supurb tracking and the quietest tire ever on this car. Heck if they last 12K and perform like this for most of it---it will be great.

I have them on 01/02 Q 17" sport wheels.

Happy and content (for five minutes)!

P.