Kuhmo Exsta 712, need your comments good and bad
 

Thinking of getting the 712's. Need your personal thoughts on them - good and bad. Thanks!

Bad. Tread separation when shod on 400-hp SVT Cobra Mustangs...Bad Bad Bad...

bad

my friend crashed his car driving in mountain on it.
i was in front of him, with old yoko a520 and dunlop sp8000 are gripping very well.

too many accident with kumho. don'y buy them, unless you want to total your car.

Reza

i would try sp8000 or yoko AVS ES100

wow so far, not very good reviews. Anyone else care to share their comments?

Ok, I'm starting to lean torwards either the Kumho exsta mx's or the Yokohamas es100's. The only problem I see is that the Kumho's offer a 235/45 for the fronts, as opposed to the 235/40's that I want. I wonder if the 235/45's would be too tall ? My other choice would be the Yokohama es100's. The only conflicting point about those tires are that I wanted 265/40's but they only offer 255/40's or 275/40's. Would the 275/40's on a 40 + offset rub on a stock suspension???

Bad. Suck. Poor. Crap.

Those are all first hand accounts :p:

Great tire for 4-wheel slides and vicious oversteer ... :rolleyes:

Probably the most frustrating experiences I've had auto-xing has been on Ecsta Supra 712's. For the price range, better choices ---> ES100, Sumitomo HTRZII.

Yup, they suck ass. You get whay you pay for. I wish I had "asked" about them before I bought them. I acan't wait for them wear out!

Yup, they suck ass. You get whay you pay for. I wish I had "asked" about them before I bought them. I can't wait for them wear out!

I dont think that accident was a tire factor....

Yeah, tires don't cause accidents unless they deflate or the tread seperates.

how about not as grip.

reza

I have them...they are ok. Havent given me any problems yet. But do consider the fact that this is my daily driver...and I usually dont push her too too hard.
Not bad for a cheap set of tires. So, thats what they are - cheap. Dont expect S-03 performance from them.

Kumho Supra 712s...only good for tire barrier duty LOL :)

Well that pretty well sums it up I guess. I'm thinking of going with the yokahama es 100's now. thanks guys

I have to disagree...I've had two sets of 712's, one when I still had the twin setup and now with the big single turbo. For the money, in their price class, they cannot be beat. I've autocrossed and road raced with these particular tires. If you set up your alignment correctly and everything else is good, you'll be happy with the tires. They're quiet, wear well and are really good in the wet (I live in a sub tropical region, ie. lots of rain). No, they're not So3's, but the MX are quite close for $50/less expensive per tire.

As far as handling the power, they seem to do just fine. ANY 265/18 will bow under pressure with 435rwhp :-) They're predictable and communicate fairly well too. I can go around a corner, feed in a good dose of throttle, get the rear end sliding and control it. I've hit a best of 1.9/ 60ft. drag racing (18" wheels!) as well. Manny and I have always disagreed on them. While I do respect his opinion on many things, I'll have to pass on the Kumho's. He's never driven on them! :-)

Jesus you guys are harsh. Anyone who expects an $80 tire to perform wonders needs a bitch slap to begin with. I, as well as many others have these on my other car in a 225/40/18 and they work great. Of course there is always something better, but then again you need to evaluate your driving and purchase accordingly then. These tires blow away the stock Goodyear Eagle RSAs that came on my other car.

Anyway, my FD had bald tires after just purchasing it, so I bought four of these to fill the void while spending the money on other reliability mods currently being done. When I get new rims I will definitely upgrade tires for those. I think whether these tires are acceptable must depend on how they are used specifically, and how much. If you are into autoX and are a hardcore handling guy like many I have seen on here, it's a no brainer you are going to think these tires are shit.

What was Pirelli's slogan? "Power is NOTHING WITHOUT CONTROL"? That sums it all up for me.

Actually I have driven on the previous generation Ecsta 711s. JUNK tires. Great for drift techniques, but no grip whatsoever. The only thing I did with those tires was take the car up to 170 mph. I can say their Z-rating was good LOL.

The Ecsta 712 treads did separate with one of my track day participants tires. He has a 2003 SVT Cobra making 450 hp (more than Michel's) with about 450 lb.ft torque. The 265/35-18s just weren't doing the job for the big 3500 lb super pony car...

Yes I have to admit, tire opinions can be subjective. I personally do not autocross or race, but I would like to one day, but the fact is that I do not. I'm sure that the kumho 712 are just fine for my driving conditions. But for less money, I can get the Yokohama es 100's and they seemd to score higher than the 712's and mx's in the survey at tirerack.

The only bummer thing is that the es 100's do not come in 265/40's rather 255/40's. The funny thing is that when I bought my fd it had on the factory Bridgestone expedia's on it. I thought they were pieces of shit, till a changed them out to Firestone firehawk sz50's. Now those my friends, are pieces of shit. Too much side wall flex. I didn't realize just how good the expedia's were and that they were a bit pricey.( about $220 each). I looked from them at tirerack but didnt see them. So for now it seems like Yokohama's to me.

Many of us wouldn't dream of putting bargain tires on our FDs. So, as you even admit, on an absolute scale, they suck. Also, as far as budget tires go, I would put my current Dunlop SP8000s up against the 712s any day of the week. (They were brand new on the car when I bought it, I will be trying some S03s or Toyo T1-S next time.)

That said, I have heard really good things about the MX tires. Perhaps I'll give those a try instead of the Bridgestone's or Toyos.

under $100.
You should get Yoko ES100

reza

I apologize for not running my purchases by the community before buying. I guess I am a lowly, uneducated, 26 year old who just got his license and works at McD's (not that there is anything wrong with that for the young bucks out there).

To each his/her own. People posted the question. Those with experience chimed in. Sorry if the responses don't jibe with your own purchase decision. The consensus around here has been that Kumho Ecsta Supra 712s are bargain tires meant for the tuner market. Our FD Rx7s are not tuner cars. The FD Rx7 is a TRUE sports car, and thus deserves true sports car tires. Nuff said.

They aren't the best but they aren't the greatest. I have had mine for awhile and they are better than my POS Potenzas RE730's. I will not get these tires again not because I disliked them, I just want really good grippy tires. One thing they they excel in wet traction.

I haven't used the 711s or 712s, so I can't comment on them from personal experience, but it seems like they received enough negative reviews that I would avoid them.

But that isn't the point of my post anyway... my take on the tire selection question is that tires make a big difference in how enjoyable a car is to drive. I actually enjoy driving my stock '90 Integra daily driver now since I installed some sticky Falken Azenis Sport tires on it -- it is worlds better than it was with cheap(er) tires on it. Putting cheap tires on the FD just seems like a waste of the overall investment in the car itself. Mine had some cheap Eldorado (???) tires on it when I got it, and I replaced them with some Yoko Nexus tires (on special for just $135 each at the time) before the Eldorados were even noticably worn. The new tires made the car much more fun to drive. You can probably get some very decent tires for $600 versus buying cheapies for $400. I can't think of a better way to spend the $200 difference. There are good tires available for just a little more than the cheap ones -- they're worth it. Look for specials and get something decent.

-Max

Each person will have their specific price range. And people have different needs for the tires that they chose. I don't do as much back-country road carving as I used to, and I will probably never compete on street tires again ... unless I'm forced to. ;) I go for the best performance in the under $120/tire category. The $200-300/set I save goes towards the race rubber fund. On the flip side, someone who will buy only one set of tires for the year can justify the extra expense on S03's or T1S's or whatever. Different strokes for different folks ...

That being said, the Kumho 712's are a decent tire for their price. Lots of F-body guys I race with love them .... because they're ok performers and they're cheap. But if you're going to push the limits in your car often (and not in a straight line), this is not the tire I'd recommend. Especially not for the price range.

Point taken. I have never seen Kumhos for the FD that cheap, I see them for $95 all the time. For that same price there are other tires that perform much better, like the original Yokohama Intermediates still available from Tire Rack. I had a set of Dunlops on my car after I removed the Kumhos (they were not even half worn). Admittedly I payed almost $100 more for the entire set but they were a 200% improvement in every respect. I ran a bunch of autox events on the Kumho and it was atrocious. It gives a good feedback and does nothing evil but it has little grip compared to other tires in its price range.

FWIW my street tires are currently Continental Sport Contacts that Tire Rack was closing out due to the new version. I payed $94 apiece and they are absolutely worlds better than the Kumhos.

Gotta go with SleepR1:
"Kumho Supra 712s...only good for tire barrier duty."

Don't come selling us crazy, we're all full up here.

OFF TOPIC

Hey DamonB, thinking of doing the new ContiSport Contact 2s as replacements for the wearing-thin AVS Intermediates, 255/40-17 ($160 each from Tire Rack). Let me know how you like your original ContiSport Contacts, and what size you're running :)