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 :)