my poor little 8 needs tires quick and unfortunately money seems to be scarce lol, so i found these tires for pretty cheap as a set of four. what yall think about the Kumho ecsta ku32 tires, there going on my stock rims as 225/45/18. Just a yay or nay to let me know if i should go for em, there about 420 shipped for 4.

 

Kumho makes a good tire. The ones you mentioned should do you ok. Too bad u don't have money though lol... few hundred more and you could do Nitto NT05's or Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 Star Spec (this one i might go with myself.)

 

I ran the Kumho ecsta SPT's and liked them. They were good tires for the cash.

NT05's or Star Specs are way overkill for the street. Those are autocross/track tires.

 

its mainly for street use, well hard street use, i live in East Tennessee and i got backroads that can make you think ur living in the Alps or some crap lol. thanks for the replies though, i think im gonna go for them.

 

Kumho tires are very good .... for the [relatively inexpensive] money.

There are better (e.g. Toyo T1R).

You get what you pay for.

 

I run the Kumho ecsta SPT's for street, they are much quieter than oem and have good grip.

 

My 8 came with SPT's which I track, and they work so well that I can't find the limit on the street. I have to track the car at HPDE.

For my 2nd set, I've put a pair of Hankook Ventus v12 k110 in 225/40r18 on the front, and they seem to be quiet and give more grip than SPT's. I got for $100 each shipped, but they had rebate at the time.

 

Why would you ask an opinion on a cheap product? The cheapskates will always say they are "good enough" or are a good "bang for the buck". The whole point of owning an RX-8 is for its handling. Why shortchange the car? Unfortunately most buy it because it looks cool. They certainly aren't buying it for the power or mileage..

 

Tires in our rx8 size are already safety overkill ( rated up to about 168mph), and my SPT's are about the first set I've ever worn to the bars on any vehicle before they went egg shaped. A cheap product would be something like LING LONG or whatever.

I think the op is on the right track because the Korean tires are actually very good. Another good cheap one is General UHP Exclaim. He obviously doesn't want r-comp overkill to have street fun on a budget.

In fact, the "cheap" Korean tires I run have enough traction that I can't drive hard enough on the street to find the cars limit.

 

"Handling" is not the same thing as ultimate grip. If you want to feel how the car handles, lower grip tires are the way to go. You will then understand what the reviewers are on about when they talk about "neutral" handling.

My current RX-8 came on SPTs, and I loved them. When compared to any "normal" tire, they do have a high level of grip, but not so high that you couldn't get them to let go if you wanted to. When you do, you get that perfectly balanced feel - transition between oversteer and understeer with subtle throttle inputs. Fantastic.

Now Ive got Yokohama Advan AD07s on the street. Much, MUCH higher level of grip. It literally just goes where I point it, always. The speeds I'd have to drive on the street to get these to let go would be totally irresponsible. Its cool to have that much grip, but not as much fun as controlling the car on SPTs.

 

I did happen to buy the car for its handling, and i love the job it does. but i dont race everyday and a 120 tire and a 200 tires isnt going to make me feel that much of a difference for my style. Maybe one day i will have time to track it, but till then, i got **** that gets me there and back, and at the same time its enjoyable. not all rx8 owners race, its actually a very comfortable daily driver in my opinion. thanks for the input.

 

tire is a wear item, if you need tires now just get the cheap ones, take some more trips, drive more so you can swap them out faster when you get more money

 

^ thats what im going to do. i havent really been doing any spirited driving lately anyways