JYO

has anyone put Kumhos on their car? I have a friend with M3 who swears by them and they are reasonably rpiced.
I do average driving but want some decent handling without spending Michelin money.
any suggestions?

E43

The Kumhos seem to be the best tire for the money. My brother has them on his 3 series BMW and seems to like them. Also, Tire Rack has ranked Kumho's highest performing tire (I forget the name) better than many expensive tires in the same category.

E55 KEV

I think Yokohama makes great tires at affordable prices. What type of tire are you looking for. This is their new Hi Performance All Season Avid V4s:

Richard Galing

Diggin my new Toyo T1-S. Dunlop SP Sport FM-901 are reasonably priced.

BlownV8

I have logged around 100,000 miles on Kumho Escta Supra 712's and I can tell you that they are the absolute best tire for the money! I currently have them on my SEC and E55. I can get around 35,000 miles a set of the Kumho's and for a performance tire, that is great. On my E430, E55, and SEC I've run Nitto NT 555's(sucked big time in every way), Eagle F1's(wore out too fast, noisey, were crappy in the rain, and they are supposed to be good in the rain?????), Sumitomo HTRZ II's(very nice), Continental Sports(sucked!), Bridgestone S-03's(good but really bad once the tread started to close to the wear bars). Go with the Kumho's and you will not reget the decision.

KWiK

I also had the Kumho Escta Supra 712's and I thought they were the worst tire I ever bought! They are made too narrow, the side walls are weak and they don't have very good traction(wet or dry). I would never buy these tires again.

If you want value for your money the Bridgestone S-03 is worth every penny. Even at it's low ball price, I don't think the Kumho is a very good value.

If you are shopping for a tire, get the S-03. If you are shopping for a price, you will probably get the Kumho(big mistake).

JYO

i've also heard supra 712's not that great...i should have said i was referring to the Ecsta MX. It seems to have more fans accoding to user reviews on tirerack.com

E55 KEV

Nitto and Toyo are actually owned by the same company. I have Nitto 555 on rear. The shoulder was too wide to use up front. Supposedly, the 555 has the most tire contact patch than any other tire. They are hard to break lose and hopefully that translates into more forward traction.

michakaveli

I'm really happy with the Continental ContiExtreme Contact 18's.

Awesome wet weather and snow handling.

BlownV8

According to Tire Rack www.tirerack.com on 18" max/ultra high performance tires:

Continental ContiSportContact 3.9 out of 10
Yokohama AVS sport 7.2 out of 10
Kumho Ecsta Supra 712's 7.6 out of 10
Dunlop Sport 8000's 7.3 out of 10
Kumho Ecsta MX's 8.3 out of 10

The Kumho Ecsta Supra's were 14 out of 44 18" performance tires that the Tire Rack sells and the Ecsta MX's were rated 8th best of the 18" performace tires. The Kumho's are far from being a bad tire. I have them on my E55, 350 hp, and my supercharged SEC 450+ hp, and I can tell you that traction is good on both. The SEC will light them up for a long way but it would do that to any street tire of the same size. Traction is great if you don't absolutely hammer the throttle.

I don't think many of the people that are voicing thier opinions on tires are running over 400 hp or using their Mercedes' for auto cross so dry traction shouldn't be a big issue with just about any high performance tire you run. Well, except for those that are running the Continentals ContiSportCntacts. The E55 will bite and go with the Ecsta Supra 712's with very little spin. The Nitto NT 555's were like driving on ice. They were the absolute worst handling, worst riding, lowest traction tire that I have ever run on my car. However, I have heard that the NT555R's are really good for drag racing but the regular 275/35/18 & 245/40/18 NT555's that I ran on my SEC were horrible!

stemags

Give a look at the F1GS D3's they are very reasonable,and handle like a dream.Even wet. And Blown is right. Who's going more than 120-130 at the most,once a month,with the gas prices like they are?

Green E-300 DT

Try a set a Falkens, and let us know what you think?

rob_fed

If you go Kumho, don't go for the low buck Ecsta 711. My rears are 255/40-17 and they are almost worn out at only 13K miles. The fronts are okay, but they are at least at 1/2 tread depth.

I am probably using too much right foot!

Mr.Gearhead

In January, I bought (4) 235/45-17 Michelin Pilot A/S for year round driving... LOVE THEM. Much better than the Pirelli stock tires. I only have 17K on my 2002 and just did not like the Pirelli tires... very noisy!

Last week I put on my NEW wheels. New AMG Monoblock from Mercedes. 18x8 upfront and 18x9 out back. I went with Nitto 555 all the way around. 235/40-18 front, 265/35-18 rear. What a different ride and feel. MUCH MORE responsive. Now I know why the E55 crowd smiles about... (oh.. the horsepower too...hee hee....)

fatchance

You may also want to include the Yoko ES100.

Have them currently on an E430 with 8.5 and 9.5 wide rims (225 in front, 265 in rear)

Very happy with them. Quiet and handle well. If you don't need 4 season capability, this is a good choice for the $$.

-travis

MikeyE430

Overall, the Bridgestone S03 Potenza is the best wet/dry street tire. Quiet, nice ride, excellent grip, light weight. HOWEVER it is expensive and the wear is not that great. I just took two off the back of my E430 and they are gone with only 7K miles. The fronts are looking really good with 10K. Take a look at the Bridgestone RE750. Wear better, cheaper, almost as good as S03.

I have also been curious about the Kuhmos.

stemags

Seems like opinions are like As&%*@#'s,everyone has a story.Im sold on the GY F1 GS D3's after going with Conti Extremes and Bridgstone Turanza'as,of course we're speaking of Summer max perform. type.
For winter,the jury is still out on the Pirelli Snows.
But for the sharing quality of the question and responses,it priceless.

silvercloud

the tires perform great when dry but mang the freeway noise is killing me loudly btw I heard a lot of companys are changing thier v thread designs back due to lot of comsumer noise complaints..

JYO

my wheels came in and i've ordered the yokohama avs es100's and am now considering changing the order after hearing form many people how loud the tires are after they've been used awhile. these may have same tread design as nittos. i''m now thinking i should just pay up and get michelins or the goodyear F1's. i'll probably be happier in the long run.

mkoechel

I recently replaced my Dunlop SP9000s with Michelin Pilot Sport PS2s -- amazing difference in ride quality, quiet and superior grip in dry and wet conditions.

Can't speak to wear yet -- find out later this year when the snow tires go on...

Good luck!

Martin in NH
---------------
2002 E55
2003 ML500

JYO

tirerack rates the Yokos highest in their category, but they are testing new tires. i wonder how their ratings would do if they did a 12K checkup on the same tires they rate so highly as new tires.

E-Klasse

I have a set of 18" Nitto 555's on mine now and they are a great set of tires. My last set were Yokohama's and they were good too. Both are about the same cost at Discount Tire.

BlownV8

NT555's: I guess the difference was that I had them on a car with more than 400 hp and they were like driving on wet tires all the time. Absolutely no traction and rode like a brick! Stiff sidewalls and no traction make for a very bad feeling.

MKW

Very happy with the 235/45-HR 17 Bridgestone RE950s on my wagon. Very quiet, smooth ride and much better in rain than oem 16 " Michelin rubber.