what up guys, I am currently choosing a low cost, high performance tire, with decent quality handling and performance. Bang for the buck. I am currently choosing between these 3. Anyone have any input, any experiences, any other suggestions.

Thanks alot.

falken ziex ze-512
Kumho ECSTA SPT
Nitto NT 555 Extreme Performance

 

I went on tire rack and bought General tires... Z rated and cost only 120$ and 100$ each for the fronts..245/35/19 & 225/35/19

 

love my kumhos, spts. quiet, ride well, handle well, great in the rain.

i would do some research of reviews and test @ www.tirerack.com.

also do a search on kumho @ swoope some links there.

hope this helps.

beers

 

Kumho

 

the Kumho 'looks' pretty cool :o

i think the only one i would be hesitant to get would be the Nitto's. the other 2 should both be excellent tires for the money :D

 

The question between those three would be do you want all season, high performance, or maximum performance? Those tires aren't really in the same category. If you don't need all-season, I'd nix the Falken right away. If you do, it's the only choice.

Next question, do you plan on going to the track or autox on a regular basis? If no, then the Kumho is probably the way to go (as their tagline says!). If yes, the Nitto is the best choice.

If you're willing to go 245/40/18, which fit fine on OEM rims, you open up a lot more possibilities though not necessarily many cheaper ones.

Just have to know what exactly you're using the tires for, then we can better help you decide .

 

whatup guys, i dont have the stock rims, i have other 18" rims, but i was able to fit the oem tires on just fine. I wont be going to autocross anytime soon, just for daily spirited driving. As to wehter i want all seasons or performance tires. Depends on how well they perform. How would these two tires compare performancewise to the Oem potenzas, anyone know?

 

oops i signed under my boyfriends name, this is rx8 gurl btw

 

Toya Proxes 4 is a new All Season that is highly regarded by allot of people. Oh yeah it looks real nice too.

 

all the newer 'high performance all-season' tires (eg the ziex 512, or the proxes 4) should perform fine on the streets, the only time you'll be able to tell that these are 'all season' tires is if you go at it at some *very* illegal speeds

that said, the big question for you is, how much winter weather driving (if any) are you planning to do in the 8? if you don't plan to drive in snow in the 8, then summer tire like the Kumho will be fine

 

hey, i live in chicago and do plan on driving in the winter, I bought some winter tires last winter and they worked great. We only have two of them now. Would the car be safe if we only used two winter tires on the back and the oem's on the front. If not, then I would probably look into buying all seasons

 

for chicago, i'd recommend get 2 more winter tires so you can get the best winter driving performance by using winter tires at all 4 corners :D

 

falken since u mentioned winter
but luved my nt555 and was very impressed in rainy conditions

 

Took my 8 in for service today because it's been fishtailing like, well, a fish, every time I drive in the rain. Turns out my alignment's out of whack and my rear tires are shot. No big deal, it happens.

After researching a bunch of different tires, I chose the Kumho Ecsta SPTs because they seem to be one of the best tires for the money. Four SPTs are cheaper than two Dunlops and the ratings and write-ups are better.

Looking forward to seeing how the 8 handles when I get it back. :D

 

I got the Kumho Ecsta SPT 245/40/18 because of price and performance.
I got them about 10 days ago at Discount Tires/America's Tires (California name is America's Tires cuz there is already a Discount Tire company here).
They charged me the same price that TireRack quoted ($133). They charge $10 a tire for all the extra work (mount, life-time balance, life-time rotation, prorated road hazard).

I don't know how these will work for winter, but I haven't driven in snow in about 10 years. Compared to the Potenza's it was a night and day. I'm very happy with the purchase.

- Cesar -

 

Definitely no snow for the SPTs. They're summer tires and will be like skis come winter. That's what my snow tires are for. :D

 

kumho has an ultra high performance all season tire too, the Kumho ECSTA ASX, I just had them put on a couple of weeks ago. They definitely feel different from the Potenzas, softer, spongier and perhaps they cannot be pushed to the same limit as the Potenza, my initial thoughts anyway. They are also much quieter and much smoother feeling on the road. Somehow though hey just don't feel like they have quite the precision of the Potenza but overall I am happy with the ride and certainly with the price at $140 per tire. Looking forward to trying them out in the winter, well kinda... :D

 

So I got my 8 back yesterday with my new Kumho SPTs installed. Wow what a difference. These tires have awesome traction and they stick and handle far better than my Dunlops did. If they do this well now, I can only imagine how good they'll be when they've been properly broken-in. I'm hoping it rains next week so that I can try out their wet traction.

BTW - I went with the stock tire size rather than 245/40/18.

 

*writes down Kumho SPT*

may consider these as eventual replacements for MY stock Dunlops (which aren't too bad themselves, quite impressed with their track performance actually, for a street tire at least :p ), let us know how it does as you wear it in :p

 

just passed 2k miles with the spts. they just get better, not quite as crisp as the brigestones, but boy are they better everywhere else.

quiet, and awsome in the wet. was driving back from naples in the hurricane yesterday. the worst rain i have driven in forever tires were great. plus they have 3x the tread life.

beers

 

Just curious,

Why did you go with the stock size instead of the 245 40?
I'm thinking about replacing my Dunlops with those same tires and am on the fence whether or not to plus size.

 

I'm riding on the Kumho SPT in the stock size. Got about 3k miles on them, and they are great. All the traction you could need without the harsh ride or noise of the stockers..

 

tried a different brand such as yokohamas? db2 happy customer here.... :P a bit expensive 250/tire....(245/45's I think) I went bit wider but would still fit OEM rims.

 

Momentary brain fart. I wasn't thinking when I ordered them. I just looked up tires on Tirerack in the stock size, and didn't even think to look at the 245/40/18s. Not a big deal to me. These tires are phenomenal. I drove all day yesterday in some pretty torrential downpours and the 8 stuck to the road like glue.

 

How well does the kumho SPT perform during winter session? My car will never see snow so I wonder how it will perform during cold/rain weather.