Kumho ECSTA 711 215/45-17, good tires?

[Archibald]

A few of you have mentioned these in your posts, I would like to have some different opinions on this tire. Also, if there are other suugestions for a 215/45-17 I would greatly appreciate the info.

[redgum]

I have 1000 miles on my toyo proxes 4 and they are great so far, a little pricier but they are all season.

[04GTboySC]

I have those on my car dude, i dont have any problems i even had kumho tires on my 16 inch wheels pretty nice all season tires i'd say defintly worth the money

[Archibald]

Nice, thanks 04GTboyVA. Now I just have to choose the right wheel.

[OdessitPashka]

I have Kumho ecsta 712 and they are horrible!

[Atomic]

I currently have the Kuhmo 711's and they're not bad for the money.

On my Celica I had Toyo Proxes on 17's and for the price difference the Toyo's were much better. The sidewall on these Kuhmo's doesn't seem nearly as strong as the Toyo's, when I hit a corner hard they like to roll under my rim easier. Also, when I made a lane change with the Toyo's, it felt more precise, but that's not a fair comparison considering these are 2 completely different cars. When these tires need changed I'm going back to Toyo.

[Mr. Dan]

I live in a place that gets next to no snow so I went with summer tires. The Ecsta MXs hold really well and I still use my OEM 15" wheels. I'm very happy with them but I have less than 1k km on them so far.

[FastKingCab]

the Kumho's are good chep tires, but they are just that. Cheap tires. they are great if you need a crazy tire size to cram some 17's , 18's or 19's on your car. having worked in a tire shop for the last 7 years I have seen my share of tires.

here are my top 5's by brand;

for performance:

1) Bridgestone
2) Michilen
3) Yokohama
4) Nitto
5) Goodyear

For all-season comfort

1) Michilen
2) Pirelli
3) Bridgestone
4) Continental
5) Goodyear

[04GTboySC]

i dont see how they are cheap tires, they are doing pretty good for me, if swortham reads this, how many miles was on these tires when you had them? There still doin pretty good for long time driving, and even climate change from texas to here in virginia

[OdessitPashka]

Let me say something. You cannot really feel tires unless you are driving in snow, have lots of power, or have car with manual transmission. With 135hp and auto tranny any tires will be fine.

[SWortham]

Kumho's are decent. They're not a very high-quality brand per se. But they do sell some good performing tires for the money. If you're looking for something that performs I'd suggest the Kumho 712's over the 711's. I've owned the Kumho 712's in 215/45-17 and I was very happy with them for the most part.

But if you're willing to spend a little more, I'd suggest the Toyo T1-S. It's lighter and it'll have better handling characteristics than the 712's. The 712's are great for initial turn-in, but not so great in mid-corner performance how the sidewall bends and can cause a more abrupt loss of traction. The Toyo T1-S still has good initial turn-in and sidewall strength, but they'll be more progressive and more predictable all-around. Plus they're still very livable with fairly low road noise and excellent traction in the rain.

[OdessitPashka]

712s don't hook up too well on dry or wet. I used to have them. Would not ever buy them again!!!

[SWortham]

712s don't hook up too well on dry or wet.
Compared to what?

[04GTboySC]

im saving up my money to get toyo 215 45 17's

[SWortham]

Here's a review on the Toyo T1-S:
http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Flats/3877/t1s.html

[FastKingCab]

the tires are THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THE CAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

it is foolish to spend ANY money on ANY upgrade if you are going to settle for just OK tires.

A good tire ofer a great tire will improve, Braking, mileage, acceleration, turning & comfort all at the same time.

i dont see how they are cheap tires, they are doing pretty good for me, if swortham reads this, how many miles was on these tires when you had them? There still doin pretty good for long time driving, and even climate change from texas to here in virginia

I didn't meen cheap as in they are bad tires, they are verry good for the money. there are plenty cheaper that are plenty worse. there are however plenty better for much more $$$. the kumho 711 / 712's are a good middle of ther road tire.

Let me say something. You cannot really feel tires unless you are driving in snow, have lots of power, or have car with manual transmission. With 135hp and auto tranny any tires will be fine.

you could not be more wrong... the tires are the the ONLY part of the car that connect your car to the road.


It's all in your needs. some want miles per dollar (kumho) some want performance per dollar (Toyo) some want both, while others want CHEAP as tires

every tire on the market has something to it that is better than the next one. Ther are constant trade off's.

The Kumho 712's are a low$$ high treadwear tire that you will get alot of miles out of. tipicly that is exactly what a Hundai / Kia owner wants.

[SilverBullet]

you could not be more wrong... the tires are the the ONLY part of the car that connect your car to the road.

I will have to agree with FastKingCab here, the elantra might only have 135-some odd horsepower and the particular one might be an auto, but the tires are an independent component.

Personally, i concentrate more on the actual driving with the auto and the tires are an integral part of this. True, it makes more of a difference when you're driving a stick, but I don't think that having a manual tranny should be basis for getting better tires.

Anything is better than the sh$tty stock Energys and the limit for how good of a tire to get is based on what you want as a driver and how you want your car to be, the sole purpose of websites like this.

Besides, an Enzo with the T/C off will still slide no matter what. :D

[OdessitPashka]

Compared to what?

Dunlops, BFGoodrich, and the list can go on.

I tried a lot of different tires, raced on a lot of different tires, drove different cars with different tires, and from my personal experience I say that Kumho Ecsta 712 are one of the worst tires I've had/driven.

They might have high thread life, but they are not safe IMO. I would not recommend those tires to someone who's looking for performance tires. I guess they last long, but they cannot hold a car off the line when you launch it pretty hard.

[Mr. Dan]

:cool: The tires are THE most important safety and performance feature all rolled up into one. I pushed the safety issue on my wife when she saw the bill for the tires. In Korea 750,000 won will buy you a used car, enough food for two years, I could take a taxi to work and back every day for more than a year on that. Its more than a lot of people make in a month. It was worth every single won. :)

I bought my tires because A) The reviews of them were by and large very favorable B) I needed performance tires because the OEM tires were not made for the way I drive and I was tearing bits off the sidewalls C) I need to brake hard A LOT D) There were no other tires that performed as well for that price and E) I really had no choice in brands anyway. :)

I'm very happy with mine, they might be CHEAP compared to some other brands, but they work really good, the price was very reasonable compared to other brands and they sort of fit in to my whole Korean only motif. :cool:

[SWortham]

Dunlops, BFGoodrich, and the list can go on.

I tried a lot of different tires, raced on a lot of different tires, drove different cars with different tires, and from my personal experience I say that Kumho Ecsta 712 are one of the worst tires I've had/driven.

They might have high thread life, but they are not safe IMO. I would not recommend those tires to someone who's looking for performance tires. I guess they last long, but they cannot hold a car off the line when you launch it pretty hard.
The treadwear is 280 on the 712's & they don't exactly have long treadlife. I thought the tire was good for what it is... a cheap ultra-high performance summer tire. Traction will not be as good in cold climates. But I bet they're still going to outperform pretty much any all-season tire in dry & wet conditions both in grip and steering feel.

Mr. Dan, the Kumho MX is a tire that is dominating in its class in autocross competitions right now, along with the Falken Azenis. I'd like to try a set, but the treadwear is a little low, and the road noise is a little louder. More road noise is pretty typical of a lot of max performance tires though because of the large tread blocks. It's just another one of those compromises of performance vs practicality. It might be something I'd get if I get into autocrossing. (Isn't shopping for tires fun? :) )

[OdessitPashka]

^
wrong. I had all season dunlops and comparing to Kumho they are amazing in dry and wet conditions.

I don't want to start arguments with anyone or go against anyone, I'm just expression my opinion about those tires, so no one please be offended by me :)

[SWortham]

^
wrong. I had all season dunlops and comparing to Kumho they are amazing in dry and wet conditions.
Interesting. I wonder if it had something to do with the compound and the weather.... maybe the Dunlops were performing better when it was cold? Which Dunlops did you have by the way?

[OdessitPashka]

I had dunlops at the track, in rain, cold, and hot weathers. Also tried Kumhos in rain, hot, cold, and drag strip. And I wasn't very happy with Dunlops in snow, but everything else was great!

I think they are Dunlop sport A2 or something. Relatively cheap, only $65 a piece at tirerack.com.

[FastKingCab]

The treadwear is 280 on the 712's & they don't exactly have long treadlife. I thought the tire was good for what it is... a cheap ultra-high performance summer tire. Traction will not be as good in cold climates. But I bet they're still going to outperform pretty much any all-season tire in dry & wet conditions both in grip and steering feel.

Mr. Dan, the Kumho MX is a tire that is dominating in its class in autocross competitions right now, along with the Falken Azenis. I'd like to try a set, but the treadwear is a little low, and the road noise is a little louder. More road noise is pretty typical of a lot of max performance tires though because of the large tread blocks. It's just another one of those compromises of performance vs practicality. It might be something I'd get if I get into autocrossing. (Isn't shopping for tires fun? :) )

compared to a high dollar set of BFG's or Bridgestones that will range in treadwear rating of 120-200 they do.

I haven't seen the MX yet the falken is a good one.