Im thinking of getting them, mainly becuase they're only 88 bucks a pop for 255/45/17s. Any opinions?

 

Yeah. You get what you pay for.

 

so..... your running them? And dont like them?

 

I'm running them, and i live in Seattle. I don't have any problems with these tires for a daily driver. Rain or not. They do their job if your car isn't heavily modified. Even still i was rather impressed with their performance for the price.

 

If I can ask, what is done to your car? Im pretty much stock, and my car will spin its tires all the way through 2nd right now, which I dont like. Im hoping these will grip a lot more than the shitty aged-cracked tires I have now.

 

No, currently I'm running a set of Michelin Exalto PE2 summer tires and I'm pleased with them.

The FD has a very precise chassis and a sophisticated suspension. It's one of the sharpest handling cars around. It deserves a set of good tires. I've seen people spend $$$ on all sorts of wings and bling-bling rims that don't do a damn thing for their cars and then skimp on a set of mediocre meats. Or they'll buy tires based on a racey looking tread pattern, then if you read the test results at the Tire Rack you'll see mid-pack or lower test results. It makes no sense. It's like a great runner showing up at the Olympics wearing a pair of cloggs.

 

Well, I cant really spend over 400-450 or so. I need 2 255s and 2 235s. Id love to put some Pilots or Neovas on it, but on a single E-3's pay, its just not going to happen. And trust me, anything is better than what I have now. So, it probably going to be these or Sumitomo HTRZ-II. They both have great reviews on tirerack. I could care less how they look, but these are both cheap tires in the summer/high performace category.

 

Kuhmo does make good tires and has been aggressive in the racing scene. However instead to the ECSTA 711, I would spend a few more $ and get the ECSTA Supra 712. I use these for daily driving, Kuhmo V700?? for autocross and Michelin pilot sport cup mega $$$ tire for track. After years of Pirelli P-Zeros and Michelin Pilots, Hoosiers, Yokohama's I do not believe performance & quality really match you get what you pay for

 

Id actually like the 712. I was searching for 255/45/17, and they only make them in 255/40 or 50, so I didnt see them. And, they dont make a 235, only a 245, and I dont know if I can get a 245 up front. I probably can, as Im running a 235 right now. Ill find out when i get the old tires off my rims to see how wide they actually are.

 

(Edit: I wrote something about v710s which is a wholly different tire)

This tire should work well for you.

Dave

 

My dad had them on his 290 rwhp FD, he bought them against my advice. At first he was happy with them, after a couple thousand miles he hated them. The grip drastically deteriorated. I can't recommend them, I think they're junk tires for a performance car. If you want some decent tires that won't kill your budget, look into the Yoko es100s.

 

You might want to consider the Kumho SPT instead, it's still dirt cheap, but it's a pretty decent tire. I was quite happy with mine and would have bought them again had I not gotten a deal on some Bredestone RE070's.

 

the only decent street tire kumho makes is the mx. you couldnt pay me to put any of their other street tires on my car. however i live in socal and i dont have to worry about rain. though the times i have driven mx in the rain they have been fine.

 

^^I agree, I've heard great things about the mx.

 

I hear ya, but there is a way around it. Most local tire retailers offer a credit plan.
You can put a substantial amount down and finance the rest. I'm not a big advocate of credit, but a car with outstanding handling deserves tires of equal measure. Why settle for mediocre or even middle of the pack?

 

The 711s are seriously shitty tires. You can do MUCH better, even for the same money. Even the 712s are much better and a lot of FD drivers think those suck.

 

I have Supra 712's ...I can't imagine there is a tire worse then this one.

 

i have both 711 and the supras. fyi i have about 300hp. the 711 suck. i have them on a 9.5" inch wheel and the supras on the factory 8" and the supras have more grip. food for thought.

 

People need to stop mounting cheap shitty tires on their FDs. If you think about it, the tires are the only part of your car to be in contact with the road----all the power, braking, and suspension mods rely on them. Even when it meant making sacrifices, I've always run quality tires on my FD----Potenza S02s, Potenze S03s, BFG KDs. Never regretted it for a second.

 

I had 712s also on my old mostly stock FD. I didn't like them much when I drove aggressively on them. Not much grip. Not all that great in the rain either.

Running Kumho MXs now and like them a LOT. Excellent in dry and wet in all sorts of temps. Tire Rack has them for $123 each.

 

The MX aren't the only decent street tire made by Kumho, they're certainly the best, but unless you've tried them all you can't say that nothing else is any good.

Different people want different things from their tires, some are into max performance, where the MX is best, others are willing to sacrifice some performance for longer life, cheaper cost and so on. In that case the SPT is a great tire. There's some middle ground too, I mean you don't all drive on race tires, so you can certainly understand that. Sure the SPT's not the stickyest, but it'll live longer, is cheaper and has better wet grip. It's a better tire for a daily driver that doesn't see track time. I've used them for daily driving, autocross and track driving and they're pretty good tires. They were good enough for me to catch up to and pass a Porsche 996 Carrera 4S for one. So no, they're not crap.

If you're just driving to and from work for instance, then what's the point in spending twice as much on a tire that wears out twice as fast that you'll never use to it's full potential. I agree 100% to get good tires, but cheap doesn't mean crap, and expensive doesn't mean good.

 

for good cheap tires go with hankook R-s2, Azenis 615, Khumo MX, Federal 595RS. I know not everyone can afford neovas and re01-r's but 711's are total **** man, so are the 712's. Like azn akira said if you are looking at khumo MX are the ONLY street tire they offer you should even consider.

 

The Kumho MX is a great tire but I'd be the first to say the 711 and the 712 are absolute garbage. Years ago I put 712's on my car because I'd heard from many that liked them. I removed them quickly. I was happy to pay money again to get rid of those things and the 711 is an even worse tire!

 

Totally agree with you there.

As a counterpoint to the 712s/711s, my friend uses them on his Miata and he liked them a lot. He is a much more accomplished driver than I am and he enjoyed thrashing those Kumhos on his Miata. So part of the equation is also the car and power levels of the car.

I've also heard some good things about those Kumhos SPT on street and autox (not at the competitive level autox)

 

I have the SPTs and like them a lot on the street. I got them for the excellent wet traction, on the theory that if it is raining during a track day, I can just leave them on instead of the R compound Avons. Luckily, I haven't had to test this theory yet, but have been very pleased with the street performance. And $67 bucks each for the stock size has me smiling even more.