Gary, Kumho Ecsta HP4-716 for $39/tire! Do you recommend these?

[rumratt]

Hi Gary,

Our 94 accord won't pass inspection without some new tires. I'm looking on tirerack and saw the Kumho tires for $39/tire :yikes: and the survey results actually look very good! Do you have any recommendations against these tires?

We're not sure how long before we junk the car, so we're not excited about investing a lot in tires, so these seemed appealing. But at the same time it's my wife's car so I don't want to buy something unsafe or has particularly risky handling characteristics (within the scope of an H-rated all-season, of course).

I need these soon, so after hearing some opinions on these I'll probably order online or give you a call.

Thanks!!!!!

[Gary@Tirerack]

Hi Gary,

Our 94 accord won't pass inspection without some new tires. I'm looking on tirerack and saw the Kumho tires for $39/tire :yikes: and the survey results actually look very good! Do you have any recommendations against these tires?

We're not sure how long before we junk the car, so we're not excited about investing a lot in tires, so these seemed appealing. But at the same time it's my wife's car so I don't want to buy something unsafe or has particularly risky handling characteristics (within the scope of an H-rated all-season, of course).

I need these soon, so after hearing some opinions on these I'll probably order online or give you a call.

Thanks!!!!!

Yes, we've actually have very good experience with this tire so far for a good, basic H rated all season tire. Compared to others in the catagory, they have good ride quality, decent handling, and good wet/dry grip. The price is hard to pass up as well...

If you order online, just refer to 'bimmerfest/Gary' as your 'previous contact' so that the forum gets its portion of the proceeds.

http://www.tirerack.com/a.jsp?a=AB2&url=/tires/index.jsp

[rumratt]

Thanks Gary! I'll definitely reference you and bimmerfest.

One more (stupid) question, for Gary or anyone else:

The front tires wore relatively evenly, except the VERY innermost part of the tire (at most, 1 inch.. maybe less) is worn all the way down past 0 tread.

My obvious solution was to get the car alligned, but can bad allignment cause such a narrow strip worn so heavily on both front tires. The car drive fine, doesn't pull either way, etc. I'm wondering if it could be something else.

[Gary@Tirerack]

Thanks Gary! I'll definitely reference you and bimmerfest.

One more (stupid) question, for Gary or anyone else:

The front tires wore relatively evenly, except the VERY innermost part of the tire (around 1 inch or less) which is worn all the way down past 0 tread.

My obvious solution was to get the car alligned, but is it normal to have such a narrow strip worn so heavily on both front tires. The car drive fine, doesn't pull either way, etc. I'm wondering if it could be something else.

If this is a car thats not going to be around much longer, the uneven wear was that minor, and the car doesn't pull, I would personally not be concerned.

[rumratt]

Ahhh. The two warehouses nearest me now have these tires on back order. :mad: Gary, any predictions when these will be back in stock? Otherwise I'll need to pay the extra shipping to get them from Louisana.


> If this is a car thats not going to be around much longer,

Yeah, I definitely thought of that so I'm not sure I'll do it either way. But do you know if allignment can cause that kind of wear?

Thanks.

[Gary@Tirerack]

Ahhh. The two warehouses nearest me now have these tires on back order. :mad: Gary, any predictions when these will be back in stock? Otherwise I'll need to pay the extra shipping to get them from Louisana.


> If this is a car thats not going to be around much longer,

Yeah, I definitely thought of that so I'm not sure I'll do it either way. But do you know if allignment can cause that kind of wear?

Thanks.

Unfortunately a backorder can mean that we would be waiting for eight weeks or more for the order to arrive. Sometimes the wait can be much longer.

Too much negative camber in the alignment may have caused the faster wear on the inner shoulders.

[Mr. The Edge]

If you order online, just refer to 'bimmerfest/Gary' as your 'previous contact' so that the forum gets its portion of the proceeds.



hey, cool! I didn't know about this feature :thumbup:

[rumratt]

I ordered them, and entered the bimmerfest/Gary thing. Thanks for the help!

(I'm sure I'm keeping bimmerfest and tirerack in business with my order for $39 tires!!! :banana: )

I ate the $20 something extra that I would have had to pay if I ordered yesterday. :ouch:

[rumratt]

BUMP!

Hi Gary, I bought the Humho's from you this spring but we're selling the car already (man I'm glad I didn't pay more than $38/tire!) They were great tires BTW. :dunno:

But now I need more tires! We bought a 2004 Accord EX sedan 4-cyl, and I'd like to buy a set of snow tires/wheels. I was thinking of a perfomrance snow tire (Like Dunlop M2, or the LM22's) but I don't see them available. Is it just because it's too soon, or that they're not available in the size for this car? (205/60/16, or 205/65/15. )

Is there any reason NOT to go with one of the choices I mentioned? My wife drives the car 95% of the time on they highway in dry pavement, but sometimes she also drives through snow when there is a storm and she refuses to stay home.

Thanks!

[Gary@Tirerack]

BUMP!

Hi Gary, I bought the Humho's from you this spring but we're selling the car already (man I'm glad I didn't pay more than $38/tire!) They were great tires BTW. :dunno:

But now I need more tires! We bought a 2004 Accord EX sedan 4-cyl, and I'd like to buy a set of snow tires/wheels. I was thinking of a perfomrance snow tire (Like Dunlop M2, or the LM22's) but I don't see them available. Is it just because it's too soon, or that they're not available in the size for this car? (205/60/16, or 205/65/15. )

Is there any reason NOT to go with one of the choices I mentioned? My wife drives the car 95% of the time on they highway in dry pavement, but sometimes she also drives through snow when there is a storm and she refuses to stay home.

Thanks!

Unfortunately both tires looks to be unavailable this season in either size. The Pilot Alpin PA2 would be the nearest tire to the M3/Lm22 but will be a bit more biased towards dry handling. Michelin introduced the Pilot Alpin PA2 late last year to take the place of the old Pilot Alpin. Based on last years winter driving, we found that the PA2 did improve over the older Pilot Alpin in snow traction more than we had expected, and now considered closer to the Dunlop M2/M3 and LM22/LM25 in winter traction.

Her other option is to us WS-50 Blizzaks, but accept the tradeoff in dry handling.

http://www.tirerack.com/a.jsp?a=AB2&url=/winter/index.jsp

[rumratt]

Thanks Gary. Maybe the PA2's aren't so bad. But the survey's seem to suggest worse snow performance with no gain in dry performance. That doesn't sound so good. Is there anything else to suggest that the PA2's are better in dry than the M3's?

I'm thinking of getting the M3 in 215/55/16 and the radius would be about the same (25.3" rather than 25.5" or 25.7"). :dunno:

What pisses me off the most is how crappy the stock tires are! http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Michelin&tireModel=Energy+MXV4+S8&vehicleSearch=true&partnum=06VR6MXV4ES8&fromCompare1=yes. OMG They suck! I might want to get rid of these as well. :tsk:

[Gary@Tirerack]

Thanks Gary. Maybe the PA2's aren't so bad. But the survey's seem to suggest worse snow performance with no gain in dry performance. That doesn't sound so good. Is there anything else to suggest that the PA2's are better in dry than the M3's?

I'm thinking of getting the M3 in 215/55/16 and the radius would be about the same (25.3" rather than 25.5" or 25.7"). :dunno:

What pisses me off the most is how crappy the stock tires are! http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Michelin&tireModel=Energy+MXV4+S8&vehicleSearch=true&partnum=06VR6MXV4ES8&fromCompare1=yes. OMG They suck! I might want to get rid of these as well. :tsk:

The difference in dry handling would be very small... mainly from the less agressive tread pattern and more rounded shoulders. We've run 215/55R16 on some V6 Coupes with no problem, but have not yet done so on the 4Cly sedan. It seems possible but I know that clearance is pretty tight on the inside front suspension on the Accords.

[rumratt]

We've run 215/55R16 on some V6 Coupes with no problem, but have not yet done so on the 4Cly sedan. It seems possible but I know that clearance is pretty tight on the inside front suspension on the Accords.

Ahah! I noticed that tirerack recommends the size 215/50R17 for my car. The overall diameter of this tire is 25.5", which is larger than the size I'm thinking of (215/55/16 with 25.3" diameter). Since they're both 215 wide, doesn't this mean smaller diameter 215/55R16's tire should fit also?

Thanks.

[Gary@Tirerack]

Ahah! I noticed that tirerack recommends the size 215/50R17 for my car. The overall diameter of this tire is 25.5", which is larger than the size I'm thinking of (215/55/16 with 25.3" diameter). Since they're both 215 wide, doesn't this mean smaller diameter 215/55R16's tire should fit also?

Thanks.

Yes, my feeling is that it will fit with no problem. We just don't 'guarentee' it since it has not yet been tried.