Just driving a loaner with Kumho Ecsta SPT tires ...

[szh]

... on a G35 in a 235/45-18 size - load index of 98. Has about 6900 miles on them (that is the mileage on the car).

These tires are incredibly noisy on the road. I simply would not consider buying them at all in the future, on that basis alone.

Handling is not particularly good either ... I was able to make the SLIP light come on way too easily on curves, although that may have had more to do with too low a pressure (about 27 psi) on the left rear tire.

I just filled it back to 36psi (matched all the tires) and will do some more driving tests to confirm my handling impressions ... the road noise did not go down with the corrected pressure though.

Yuck.

Z

[Huy]

I had the same result after purchasing 4 new tires for my M a few years ago. The are indeed crapy tires. I was sold on some good reviews on TireRack etc. but the actual experience was dissapointing.

Great review.

[sultan]

they chunk like crazy brand new but grip is way better than those ancient es100s. not that that really helps but anyway, **** sucks

[maxnix]

Awww, you guys are all screwed up! Just read McCrews' and unnatural1's posts about halfway down the first page.

zer...54518

Also, Q45tech couldn't get the things to balance at all at 10K when he tried them on the rear of his G50.

But if you come from square tires, they must seem great!

The whole discussion is a great lesson in how individual experiences and perceptions can vary, while objective facts do not. It's only natural that one defends one's experience as definititve, but one must always consider others observations even if they are contradictory and/or involve something one has not experienced.

[mcrews]

you gotta love "objective facts"

one member, brian's hero, Q45tech has a bad experience ....and that's a FACT. Two members (who are not brian's hero's) have good experiences and that's just perception.We are really rolling on square tires because ....well....brian says so!!!!!

oh yeah.....I did mention that i drive on the ASX - a nondirectional tire and this thread is concerning the SPT - a directional uhp summer tire....gosh dang FACTS.....keep jumping up in front of things.

[Mark Linkous]

Hello,Z, has Kumho become a OEM supplier to Infiniti? Or, did the dealer take off the tires shipped with the car and put these on since it is a loaner? I do believe that you pay for what you get. If the OEM Michelin Pilot's would ever wear out, I cannot wait to purchase PS2's. I am shocked at how long the OEM's have lasted.

I have never owned Kumho tires. I did laugh when informed the manufacturer builds tires with red dyes and aromatics like lavender. I suppose whatever floats their boat won't sink mine. Still hokey to me.Cheers,ML


Modified by Mark Linkous at 9:47 PM 10/17/2008

[maxnix]

Two members (who are not brian's hero's) have good experiences and that's just perception.

Be sure to read all of the posts prior to yours when you contribute to a thread.

You can count to three, can you not?

[mcrews]

Be sure to read all of the posts prior to yours when you contribute to a thread.

You can count to three, can you not?

Brian,please, you really should practice what you preach.

[striz923]

I had a set of Kumho tires on my old Prelude Type SH and had terrible road noise as well. They also caused my car to pull to the right (I complained 3 times in a month and they checked the alignment and it was straight and true all 3 times), to which the tech said, some tires will do that...

[szh]

Final report on my experiences with the Kumho tires:

1. I filled all the tires back to 35psi to check things out. The rear end slipping went down a lot. More control but still a bit more squirrelly than I would like. Only lit up the SLIP light a few times - not as much as before. That low tire pressure in the rear was a major contributor to the problem.

3. Road noise did not change with the corrected pressure. These tires are simply too loud to be worth getting and that is a fatal problem, IMHO.

4. Handling was decent to good (after fixing the pressure). Slightly better tracking and handling than my current Michelin Pilot Sport A/S tires, but I am not sure how much of that is simply the car differences.

5. But, not as good in handling (sharpness, or curves or braking) as my previous M tires though (the Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3).

All in all, I'd say decent tires, but not ones I would consider buying ... because of the way too high road noise.

Z