KUMHO ECSTA MX 18's

[cyplandscape]

Anyone running this rubber? New Pedders suspension installed, want new tires to complete the package, 06 M6. Price looks good, so do the reviews.

[NickC]

Anyone running this rubber? New Pedders suspension installed, want new tires to complete the package, 06 M6. Price looks good, so do the reviews.

I had a set of these once on my E46 BMW ///M3.

Incredible tires, that lasted for about....1700 miles.

I'm not kidding you, 1700 miles. Threads were showing on the rears.

Pass.

[RedhotGTO]

I got 7-8K miles out of a set of 17's.

I was happy with their performance - did a couple of Auto-X's and Road Track Days - and many canyon runs up in them there hills

I am hard on tires and getting around 8K miles, out of a set of summer tires, is good for me (got the same out of the AVS ES100's, and about 10K out of the FK452s but had only 1 Auto-X on them and no track days)

.

[cyplandscape]

1700 miles... glad I didn't go for those!
Thanks for the replies....looking at other brands, saw those Kumho's while reading tire specs. Prolly go with Dunlop Direzza Sport since I read more reviews. Anyone riding those?? :popcorn2:

[Guy]

Great tires, hooked up well for street tire. I'm moving up to DR's for the rears but the fronts I'm keeping on.

[ODE]

they will last much longer then 8000 miles or 1700 miles if you drive like a normal person lol if you auto X or just plain beat the crap outta tires then yeah they will not last long.

I had a set on a FRC vette that lasted a good 20000 miles. they grip excellent for the money!

Im putting them on the rear of my car as soon as I get some bread up.

[YaXMaN]

I ran a pair of 235 18's on the rear... got 9,000 miles out of them.
Great tire. It's true... the BMW guys swear by their cost/performance ratio.

[jmasse]

You get what you pay for with tires....period.

Kuhmo's are built to totally different standards than major brands, just like Pedders suspension parts are better then Gabriel stuff from AutoZone.

It continues to amaze me how many people on this site and others that spend a fortune on mods and go cheap on their tires.

PM me and I can help you with tire choices.

Admins, I have PM'd twice trying to sponsor the site and cannot get a response.....

[slammin86]

I had a set of MX's on my turbo civic back in the day...I loved them.

[Smitty]

I'm running a set of 17" MX's, 255/40 & 275/40. They seem to be wearing fine, including a couple road track days. (Course, mine isn't a daily driver, either...)

I like them.

[cyplandscape]

You get what you pay for with tires....period.

Kuhmo's are built to totally different standards than major brands, just like Pedders suspension parts are better then Gabriel stuff from AutoZone.

It continues to amaze me how many people on this site and others that spend a fortune on mods and go cheap on their tires.

PM me and I can help you with tire choices.

Admins, I have PM'd twice trying to sponsor the site and cannot get a response.....


Not trying to go cheap on tires either, looking for a good tire, and value. Prices really don't make a difference when buying, but if a good tire is available at a good price, then I would be interested. Only looked at Kumho after I read some reviews, then Dunlops also. Not a daily driver, or track car for me, just like to go fast on good roads sometimes.

[cyplandscape]

I had a set of MX's on my turbo civic back in the day...I loved them.

Nice wheels, might want to do that to mine one day. Think a dark gray would look good on my QSM.

[YaxBro]

You get what you pay for with tires....period.

Kuhmo's are built to totally different standards than major brands, just like Pedders suspension parts are better then Gabriel stuff from AutoZone.

It continues to amaze me how many people on this site and others that spend a fortune on mods and go cheap on their tires.

PM me and I can help you with tire choices.

Admins, I have PM'd twice trying to sponsor the site and cannot get a response.....

Couldn't disagree more. The MX comes with compromises, but quality has not been one of them in my experience.

They are a bit louder than the Pilot Sports I had before. They carry a different tone of hum over concrete, but can be dead silent on certain types of asphalt. The tread pattern is not friendly to low noise, but jeebus, most here have exhaust akin to Shuttle take off.

I have driven/ridden in other MCoupes with Toyos, GS-D3s, S03s, Pilot Ports 1 & 2 and Conti-Sports. The MXs were very competitive with all in terms of noise, save the Contis. The MXs are progressive, communicate well and are very light, second to the Toyos. Low weight construction comes with the compromises, such as tread flat-spotting after sitting for a week easily remedied by getting a little heat in them, but the performance factor is there. I went from Pilot Sports to MXs at the same time a friend with an MRoadster went from Pilots to GS-D3s. I gained a 1/4 of a car-length at 100. Heh. They have more grip than the Pilot Sports, period.

Never mind the fact that I can burn through two sets of MXs for the price of one set of Pilot Sports. If they start to howl when they get low on tread (which happened when I had more aggressive camber settings), I have no guilt about ditching them.

Your blanket statement is pointless (no wonder the admins ignore your sponsorship requests). By your thinking, everyone should still be running the factory Bridgestones over Yoko Advans, Conti3s, Dunlop Maxxs and PZero Nero, all of which are far better performance tires. And what else do you apply your get what you pay for attitude? A/V Cables? Are you are the guy that spends $200 on HDMI cables for a $400 Blu-Ray player? :eyetwitch:

[jmasse]

Not trying to go cheap on tires either, looking for a good tire, and value. Prices really don't make a difference when buying, but if a good tire is available at a good price, then I would be interested. Only looked at Kumho after I read some reviews, then Dunlops also. Not a daily driver, or track car for me, just like to go fast on good roads sometimes.

Understood, but the difference in noise reduction, wet weather, and overall performance is vast between a Kuhmo and many premium brands. Not to mention warranty differences.

[jmasse]

Couldn't disagree more. The MX comes with compromises, but quality has not been one of them in my experience.

They are a bit louder than the Pilot Sports I had before. They carry a different tone of hum over concrete, but can be dead silent on certain types of asphalt. The tread pattern is not friendly to low noise, but jeebus, most here have exhaust akin to Shuttle take off.

I have driven/ridden in other MCoupes with Toyos, GS-D3s, S03s, Pilot Ports 1 & 2 and Conti-Sports. The MXs were very competitive with all in terms of noise, save the Contis. The MXs are progressive, communicate well and are very light, second to the Toyos. Low weight construction comes with the compromises, such as tread flat-spotting after sitting for a week easily remedied by getting a little heat in them, but the performance factor is there. I went from Pilot Sports to MXs at the same time a friend with an MRoadster went from Pilots to GS-D3s. I gained a 1/4 of a car-length at 100. Heh. They have more grip than the Pilot Sports, period.

Never mind the fact that I can burn through two sets of MXs for the price of one set of Pilot Sports. If they start to howl when they get low on tread (which happened when I had more aggressive camber settings), I have no guilt about ditching them.

Your blanket statement is pointless (no wonder the admins ignore your sponsorship requests). By your thinking, everyone should still be running the factory Bridgestones over Yoko Advans, Conti3s, Dunlop Maxxs and PZero Nero, all of which are far better performance tires. And what else do you apply your get what you pay for attitude? A/V Cables? Are you are the guy that spends $200 on HDMI cables for a $400 Blu-Ray player? :eyetwitch:

First of all, I never said anything positive about the factory Bridgestones or the size Pontiac chose for us.

What I did state was that you get what you pay for with tires.....and I don't believe I mentioned anything about A/V cables.

I guess the fact that almost every M class BMW comes with Bridgestones along with the Ferrari 612 and many many others means they are no better than Kuhmos. The OE manufacturers spend a lot of time determining what is best for their cars and I certainly do not see any premium vehicles that come with Kuhmo's, but they do come with Bridgestone, Michelin, Pirelli, Continental etc. Interesting.

By the way, the weight of a tire has nothing to do with the flat spotting issue, it is caused by the cord body design.

I also did not attempt to start any kind of debate, but if I saw a car with 10K+ worth of mods and Duralast brake pads, I would make the same statement.

[mattgallan]

You get what you pay for with tires....period.

Yikes! In that case my General Exclaims should have put me into 3 ditches and a wall by now!

[jmasse]

Yikes! In that case my General Exclaims should have put me into 3 ditches and a wall by now!

I never said anything about the Kuhmos or any other tire being unsafe.

[mattgallan]

I never said anything about the Kuhmos or any other tire being unsafe.

I know bud, I'm just messin:) It's just like everything else though, you either get a chance to try them out on someone else's car or have to make a decision based on other peoples' experiences with the product.

To the OP, I have ran sets of Kuhmo's and never had any major problems with them...so I say go for it! (worst case scenario, you have to buy new tires, which is inevitable:rolleyes:)

[ddawson]

BMW and Ferrari. Wonder which company provides tires for the F1 cars?

[jmasse]

BMW and Ferrari. Wonder which company provides tires for the F1 cars?

That has no bearings on OE fitments, but it is interesting that Michelin tried to compete and ended up refunding tickets to thousands of spectators at the US Grand Prix.

[r0nd3L]

First of all, I never said anything positive about the factory Bridgestones or the size Pontiac chose for us.

What I did state was that you get what you pay for with tires.....and I don't believe I mentioned anything about A/V cables.

I guess the fact that almost every M class BMW comes with Bridgestones along with the Ferrari 612 and many many others means they are no better than Kuhmos. The OE manufacturers spend a lot of time determining what is best for their cars and I certainly do not see any premium vehicles that come with Kuhmo's, but they do come with Bridgestone, Michelin, Pirelli, Continental etc. Interesting.

By the way, the weight of a tire has nothing to do with the flat spotting issue, it is caused by the cord body design.

I also did not attempt to start any kind of debate, but if I saw a car with 10K+ worth of mods and Duralast brake pads, I would make the same statement.

Let's all buy most expensive tires next time, because all others are inferior.

[cyplandscape]

To the OP, I have ran sets of Kuhmo's and never had any major problems with them...so I say go for it! (worst case scenario, you have to buy new tires, which is inevitable:rolleyes:)

Cool, thanks man, like knowing someone else had Kumho and gave their opinion / experience with them. Still looking, not rushing on this purchase, want my new Pedders suspension to settle in and get the best tire for my driving style. Bought car with Toyo Proxes on, good rubber left, but feeling and sounding kinda harsh with 12k miles. Too bad we can't go take a test drive with the dealers tires before buying :driving:

[Riddlefox]

The Kumho MX was a great tire when it was introduced. People won national level autocrosses on them. But time has marched on, and there are quite a few better choices. The fact that there are better tires doesn't necessarily mean the MX is a bad performer. Technology always advances.

The Dunlop Direzza Sports are very nice tires. I have them on my GTO, and I will likely put them onto my STi and Elise when they need new tires. They're already proving themselves on the autocross courses, as well. Very grippy, very good wet traction. I didn't notice any more road noise in the GTO over the stock KDWS, but I am not very sensitive to noise. They do run wide, so watch out for rubbing.

[r0nd3L]

The Kumho MX was a great tire when it was introduced. People won national level autocrosses on them. But time has marched on, and there are quite a few better choices. The fact that there are better tires doesn't necessarily mean the MX is a bad performer. Technology always advances.

The Dunlop Direzza Sports are very nice tires. I have them on my GTO, and I will likely put them onto my STi and Elise when they need new tires. They're already proving themselves on the autocross courses, as well. Very grippy, very good wet traction. I didn't notice any more road noise in the GTO over the stock KDWS, but I am not very sensitive to noise. They do run wide, so watch out for rubbing.

Do you have the Z1s? Star Spec or older ones? That's what I'm going with and will probably stick to stock sizes. I have plenty of clearance now and I think KWs will give me even more since perch sits quite high.

[YaxBro]

The Kumho MX was a great tire when it was introduced. People won national level autocrosses on them. But time has marched on, and there are quite a few better choices. The fact that there are better tires doesn't necessarily mean the MX is a bad performer. Technology always advances.

The Dunlop Direzza Sports are very nice tires. I have them on my GTO, and I will likely put them onto my STi and Elise when they need new tires. They're already proving themselves on the autocross courses, as well. Very grippy, very good wet traction. I didn't notice any more road noise in the GTO over the stock KDWS, but I am not very sensitive to noise. They do run wide, so watch out for rubbing.

Great info. I noticed many positive reviews around the web for the Direzas. Nice to hear that you would think it would work well on your varied selection of vehicles.

[jmasse]

Cool, thanks man, like knowing someone else had Kumho and gave their opinion / experience with them. Still looking, not rushing on this purchase, want my new Pedders suspension to settle in and get the best tire for my driving style. Bought car with Toyo Proxes on, good rubber left, but feeling and sounding kinda harsh with 12k miles. Too bad we can't go take a test drive with the dealers tires before buying :driving:

Actually, you can test drive tires. Every Bridgestone tire (bought from an authorized dealer) carries a "no questions asked" 30 day test drive. This includes installation and balancing as well.

[YaxBro]

First of all, I never said anything positive about the factory Bridgestones or the size Pontiac chose for us.
Ah but you did make the statement that you get what you pay for and the Bridgestones are more expensive, so they have to be better, right?

What I did state was that you get what you pay for with tires.....and I don't believe I mentioned anything about A/V cables.
Just drawing parallels to another product family where people are equally misled by the concept of "you get what you pay for"/"it's more expensive, it has to be better."

I guess the fact that almost every M class BMW comes with Bridgestones along with the Ferrari 612 and many many others means they are no better than Kuhmos. The OE manufacturers spend a lot of time determining what is best for their cars and I certainly do not see any premium vehicles that come with Kuhmo's, but they do come with Bridgestone, Michelin, Pirelli, Continental etc. Interesting.
WRT high performance cars, the OE manufacturers work with specific tire manufacturers to develop car specific compounds and constructions. Ferrari has a long history with Bridgestone triggered by their collaborative efforts in racing. The new M3 comes with Pilot Sports using a compound specific to the M3. Oh wait, they are all supposed to come with Bridgestones? In fact, the M6 sometimes has Pirelli Corsas from the factory. IIRC, the M5 is still using Conti Sports. Manufacturers like Toyo and Yokohama already provide their high performance tires to several auto manufacturers.

By the way, the weight of a tire has nothing to do with the flat spotting issue, it is caused by the cord body design.
So, the weight of the tire is not influenced by cord design?

I also did not attempt to start any kind of debate, but if I saw a car with 10K+ worth of mods and Duralast brake pads, I would make the same statement.
I have a Duralast battery in my M car. Uh oh. And you had no idea that the blanket "you get what you pay for" statement about a product you seem to have something against, along with the I'm smart so PM me privately to shill my wares with a little, "hey admins, I want to sell stuff so you have to reply to me" is not going illicit responses? You can not possibly have 300+ posts on any message board and not know that there are plenty of people that love to jump on posts like this.

I'm done. Carry on.

[YaxBro]

That has no bearings on OE fitments, but it is interesting that Michelin tried to compete and ended up refunding tickets to thousands of spectators at the US Grand Prix.
Not intentionally singling out your posts, but...

Michelin "tried to compete" and did quite well, winning two championships with Renault after competing to the last races of the season with McLaren against Ferrari. In fact, Renault's first season with the new mandatory Bridgestones was severely impacted by Michelin's departure as their aero package was dependent on the more rounded construction of the Michelins.

So why did Michelin actually leave F1? Max Mosley wanted to standardize the tire constructions to minimize the advantage Bridgestone, working almost exclusively with Ferrari, had over Michelin, who were spread over Renault, Williams-BMW and McLaren, under the guise of "reducing team costs". The four other cars besides the Ferraris at Indy that year bought Bridgestones and made them work, despite being designed for the Ferrari. After that, Bridgestone had a few teams switch to their tire and later, Bridgestone dropped their shorts to "win" the contract to be the sole tire supplier. In raes at Indy that

Just an FYI to the other readers that may not follow F1. Very political...

[Riddlefox]

Do you have the Z1s? Star Spec or older ones? That's what I'm going with and will probably stick to stock sizes. I have plenty of clearance now and I think KWs will give me even more since perch sits quite high.

I have the original ones, not the Star Spec. I bought mine and about a day later, they did the "Buy the Star Spec!" stuff. Ah well. From what I've heard, there's a minor difference in how quickly they get up to temp, but that won't matter on the street really - the ultimate performance level is the same.

The Star Spec will probably work better on the Elise since it's so light, the tires need all the help they can get to get up to operating temp, but for the all around heavy GTO and the very nose heavy STi, I don't know how much of a difference it'd be.

FWIW, YaxBro, I fully agree with you in regards to jmasse.. Kumho has proven themselves in various levels of motorsports from grassroots autocrossing to American Le Mans.

[cyplandscape]

The Kumho MX was a great tire when it was introduced. People won national level autocrosses on them. But time has marched on, and there are quite a few better choices. The fact that there are better tires doesn't necessarily mean the MX is a bad performer. Technology always advances.

The Dunlop Direzza Sports are very nice tires. I have them on my GTO, and I will likely put them onto my STi and Elise when they need new tires. They're already proving themselves on the autocross courses, as well. Very grippy, very good wet traction. I didn't notice any more road noise in the GTO over the stock KDWS, but I am not very sensitive to noise. They do run wide, so watch out for rubbing.

Great news, man I love this forum for all the different opinions from everyone. New owner here, and this is the exact kind of information that I can use to help me decide what to buy. Already thought either Kumho, or Dunlop would be my choice, now I have more input to use when making my decision.

[YaxBro]

FWIW, YaxBro, I fully agree with you in regards to jmasse.. Kumho has proven themselves in various levels of motorsports from grassroots autocrossing to American Le Mans.

:thumbs:

The Dunlops may in fact be my next set of tires. Keep us posted.

[cyplandscape]

:thumbs:

The Dunlops may in fact be my next set of tires. Keep us posted.

Made my decision on brand, going for Dunlop. Now the question is which one?? Sport Maxx, DZ101, Sport Z1 Star Spec are the one's I'm reviewing. The price is close on all, and the reviews have them about the same except for wet traction, Z1 not the best. Anyone have an opinion or experience with these tires? :dunno:
245/40/18

[ExTurbo]

FWIW I have the 245/40/18 khumos on the back of the goat, and i have no complaints...been on the car for about 10K so far and they are wearing fine. No burnouts on these though save for a few rolling ones from lack of traction in first and second, but other than that i dont exactly drive easy on the street all the time. Id reccomend them with no problem

[cyplandscape]

Thanks for the Kumho reply, good to read someone's opinion of that tire. Had a dealer quote a good price on the MX, that one and Dunlop are going to be coin flip I think. No burnouts for me, just spirited driving on the road, and the occasional overspeed alarm warning.:secret:

[z-ya]

If got a set of mx's in 245x17 275-17 on my gto and love them. Quite a step up from thr bfg kdws. 3800 miles on the rears and they still look good. The fronts are new to go on my narrowed c6 z06 replicas.

[2XS]

Made my decision on brand, going for Dunlop. Now the question is which one?? Sport Maxx, DZ101, Sport Z1 Star Spec are the one's I'm reviewing. The price is close on all, and the reviews have them about the same except for wet traction, Z1 not the best. Anyone have an opinion or experience with these tires? :dunno:
245/40/18

I am running these:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=D unlop&tireModel=Direzza+DZ101

Extremely sticky tire. Haven't driven them in wet, so can't tell you about that. Road noise? None. Ride comfort? AWESOME. Turns and handling? AWESOME. Would I recommend them and/or buy them again? HELL YA!

[cyplandscape]

I am running these:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=D unlop&tireModel=Direzza+DZ101

Extremely sticky tire. Haven't driven them in wet, so can't tell you about that. Road noise? None. Ride comfort? AWESOME. Turns and handling? AWESOME. Would I recommend them and/or buy them again? HELL YA!

Thanks for the reply....can't decide, everytime I read a positive review like yours, I read one like this>>>
Rick in Wake Forest "2001 Lexus GS300 - 245-45-18 - Great at first, loud, loud loud after 7-8k miles. Had them replaced and found out there was no mileage warranty on this brand. Do not buy these tires!!!"
So many choices, brands, will make a decision here soon. Going to take my time though, want a good tire for a road trip coming soon!

[MoFinWiley]

Been pretty happy with my MXs on my APS GTO.

Hell....I beat a 08 911 turbo conv. in a setup race. FROM A DIG with 275 MXs. They seem to be wearing nicely too.

With the MXs you get 95% of big-name, all-out summer tire for HALF the price. Whats not to like.

[2QWK4RU 06 GOAT]

The Kuhmo Is Not Too Bad At All. I Have Tried And Played With Just About Everything In Existance Out There. Bridgestone Re-01's Are The Best Bang For YOURR BUCK Max Perf. Radial Out There And They Are Way Quieter Than The Kuhmo. In Fact, They Are The Quietest Performance Tire I Have Ever Ridden On.

[HelloYello Goat]

I have Kumho Ecsta SPTs on my GTO and love them...wearing well and a nominal upgrade over the factory rubber!