Tire Rims Wheels

Initial Review, 29,000 Miles on Tires
August 13, 2012

OEM tires on my car. They will probably last 40,000 miles, but I want to upgrade wheels/tires before my next trip to Tail of the Dragon. The o.e.m.'s have done two Dragon runs and two HSAX track days. Have been shopping Tire Rack for a grippier 4-season tire based on UTCQ rating (300). Can't find one. This confirms my subjective experience: the best 4-season sporting tire I've driven. They stick and stick with excellent feedback about the slip angle.

I will re-up for these o.e.m. tires mounted on OZ 15-lb. rims from Tire Rack in September. The negative reviews astonish me. I can back through 4" of new snow in my driveway. Winter traction is average for a 4-season performance tire, a small price to pay for summer fun.

No hydroplaning problems. In fact, they track better through deep water than other high-performance tires I've owned. Superb on rainy Interstates at high speeds. Can spin 'em from a dead stop at a greasy intersection. Would be disappointed if a Civic Si couldn't!

Noise and ride harshness not a problem; no worse than other high-performance 4-season radials I've owned. But the grip is better. Seems to me that if these factors are more important to a user than dry/wet summer grip, should not be on these tires in the first place.

Initial Review, 12,000 Miles on Tires
July 10, 2012

Mounted on separate rims, so they will only be used in winter. Expect several season's use from them. First time I have used snow tires (all 4 wheels) on this car. Don't rightly know how to compare them with any other experience, but I am pleased.

Initial Review, 10,000 Miles on Tires
July 08, 2012

These tires are tough! They look good too. I thought I messed up a nice rim trying to take a short cut around a red light. I expected serious damage by the sound, but there was...NONE. I bought this car for $300. It's a cheap gas saver for work. I paid more for the rims & tires than the car. It's a cheap mule for work and I drive it that way. Wide open, and no mercy on the curves. I wore out the brakes and replaced them this week. The tires still look like new! When I sell this car, I'm taking the wheels off first and putting them on the next mule!

Initial Review, 50 Miles on Tires
June 26, 2012

Just got this installed yesterday. Thanks Tirerack for quick shipping! Coming from Goodyear Eagle GT in 235/40/18 with 21k miles, these Kumho's are a little quieter and seems to be softer riding (softer sidewall maybe?)
Can't really speak to their handling as I've only put about 50 miles on it.

One thing I noticed is the lack of a rim guard on the Kumho. On the Goodyear, there is a thick piece of hard rubber sticking out near where the tire meets the rim, this is suppose to protect the rim from curb damage. and it has done a pretty good job over the last 3 years keeping my wheels in good shape. With the kumho, it doesn't have that rubber rim guard, so the rim now stick out a little where it meets the rubber. I'm going to have to be super careful when I park now, or expect lots of scratches to the 18" rims.

Overall, on the first day, they aren't too different from the Goodyear Eagle Gt's. I wasn't displeased with the goodyear, and would have continued to use them if it weren't for a nail near the sidewall. They lasted me 21k and still had around 4/32" to 5/32" tread left, so I expected to get around 30k miles out of that set.
Hope the Kumho's will last 30k, they do feel a bit softer (ride wise) so maybe its a softer rubber compound.

Initial Review, 54,000 Miles on Tires
June 29, 2012

Came as OEM on 2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe 2.0T base. Was not expecting much life but kept them at 33-35 psi and rotated every 10K miles which on the turbo Gen Coupe is every other oil change (side to side rotation per owner's manual since front and rear rims are different widths) The rears hit the wear bars at a little over 54K miles with very flat wear, no cupping, no block noise (a little more carcass noise but not annoying), no balance issues or steering wheel shake. Did very well in a majority highway driving southwest desert environment. I realize other reviews are pretty negative but they did pretty well for me. One thing with them is they aren't directional like most other higher end tires for this rim size which allows them to be rotated side to side.

Initial Review, 600 Miles on Tires
May 30, 2012

These are very preliminary observations, tires barely broken in. Rain won't likely be encountered locally for next several months. I replaced the OEM Dunlop all-season tires with these, so far seems a good choice. Tires are 225/40R18, manufactured November 2011. I mention this because a Corvette forum recently posted (quoting Tire Rack source) that production of this size was more recently interrupted to add more reinforcement to the sidewalls on tires now being produced.

On-center feel is quite decent, little tramming evident. I don't have Tire Rack's sophisticated measures of dry traction, but the unplanned front wheel spin I often experienced with the Dunlops from standing start with only modest throttle has been tamed.

Comfort and noise are just fine at highway speeds. After all, this is a Y-rated tire, compared with the H-rated Dunlops. Small bumps at low speed are heard and felt, but very tolerable in a sports sedan. Hoping for reasonable and even wear with continued relative quiet. Have zero tolerance for cupped tires with grinding, bearing-like noise.

Not much of a rim protection rib is evident, not that those accomplish all that much.

Stay tuned for updates.

Initial Review, 15,000 Miles on Tires
April 30, 2012

These tires were on my car and slightly used when I purchased it a year ago. About 12,000+ miles I've added. Dry traction is very good. My 95M Miata handles extremely well with these. Dry traction is very good. These tires loosen up quite a bit when wet. Actually just loose enough to make wet road driving alot of fun at about the speed limit on spirited scenic drives. If your up for that. They reject hydroplaning rather well. Was forced to drive all winter with these in nothern WV. They performed better than expected in the snow on a rear wheel drive vehicle, but you better be a good driver to avoid getting stuck. However, even my spouse could handle snow under 1 inch and plowed roads. We did burn up our rear tires in >3 mild months of winter, we contend with many hills to climb. And we did climb them in the snow with these tires all winter. I'd reconsider using these if being used on a true performance vehicle with muscle. My stock 95M Miata can spin them at will and powerslide with mildly spirited driving if just a little wet. Fun for me, but dangerous at higher speeds/horsepower. These are one of the very few all-season tires available for the stock 95M Miata BBS rims. 195/50 15. Upon an inspection today I did find an outward bulge the one of my sidwalls about 2" in diameter. QC may be an issue? Overall for the price, I'm quite pleased with the performance of these tires. Can't completely say how much of it is the car and how much is the tire. But these tires are giving me exactly what I expect from my Miata and I can afford to burn them up having a little having fun. Also, they look good enough. I'm buying 2 more rear tires. Zoom-Zoom

Note: these are directional tires

Dry Traction = very good+
Wet traction = ok, safe at moderate speeds, good highway, easily pushed to fun limit
Snow traction = just good enough
Hydroplaning rejection = very good
Braking = good

Initial Review, 6,000 Miles on Tires
May 08, 2012

THIS IS MY SECOND SET OF KDW's FOR MY 2006 SCION xB ... THE FIRST SET WAS A 215/45-17 BECAUSE I WAS CONCERNED ABOUT THE RIDE QUALITY AT THE TIME , AS I WAS DOING 90 MILES A DAY ROUND TRIP OF MOSTLY HIWAY DRIVING ... I ROTATED THEM EVERY 5 THOUSAND MILES AND RAN THE PRESSURE AT 40 PSI AND THEY WORE PERFECTLY SMOOTH ALL THE WAY DOWN TO BASICALLY NO TREAD AT ALL ...

SO FOR THE SECOND SET I DROPPED THE SIZE TO A 215/40-17 , AS I WASN'T DRIVING THE LONG ROUNDTRIP DAILY ANYMORE ... YES THEY ARE A BIT STIFFER ON THE RIDE , BUT NOTHING THAT BOTHERS ME AT ALL ... SO FAR THEY DO FEEL A BIT MORE AGGRESSIVE ON THE ROADS AND TURNS THAT I ENJOY PLAYING ON ...

I HAVE JUST OVER 1 HUNDRED THOUSAND MILES ON THE CAR , AND I USED THE FACTORY STEEL WHEELS FOR WINTER DUTY WITH A SET OF SNOWS ALL THE WAY AROUND ... MY GUESS IS ABOUT 40 THOUSAND MILES BEFORE I REPLACED THEM ... THE OTHER AWESOME BONUS WAS WITH THE REINFORCED SIDEWALLS I HAVE NEVER BENT OR DAMAGED MY RIMS , I RUN A SET OF KONIG HOT SWAPS ...

I'D HIGHLY RECOMMENT THESE TIRES TO ANYONE THAT WANTS A FUN , GREAT HANDLING TIRE ...

Initial Review, 2,200 Miles on Tires
May 05, 2012

Driving a stk motor STI with coilovers, exhaust, pro-tune and suspension upgrades. Car is predominately driven agressively on backroads and in the mountains but no track or autox. Tire grips very similar to the oem RE070 in the dry and much better in the rain. Ride quality and noise level is much improved...car should have come from factory with these tires, they are that good! The only tradeoff I've found is a marginally less aggressive feel on turn in, but high speed corner grip is as good or better. The only thing that annoys me is that the side rim protection rubber is nearly flush w/rim and offers no real protection, unlike RE070s. I would absolutely buy these again and for "real world driving" they are a great choice and more flexible than the RE070. I went one size wider (235) and dropped to 40 profile on stk wheels to aid in cornering and exit grip...and they do a wonderful job!!!!

Initial Review, 4,000 Miles on Tires
April 28, 2012

This is the perfect tire if you want a comfortable ride but still want to pull some G's on the on-ramp.
The ride of this tire is very civilized considering it's grip. I was very impressed with it's wet performance also. Tire noise?? what noise?? Nuff said.

I would recommend running these on wider rim to improve responsiveness, that seems to be the only concession for the sweet ride. Am running the 245/40-18" on a 9" wheel, it gives the tire a little "stretch" which improves response. Granted, the response in not terrible... but it is noticeable slower than the 245/35-19 wheel/tire combination that it replaced. All talk about "response" goes out the door the first time you traverse a large crack across the road and it doesn't feel like shocks are about to be launched through the hood: )

I have been running these for approx. 4000 miles and they actually feel more responsive now, like they needed to be broken in a bit.
As far as wear, I can't detect any at this point.

Initial Review, 31,000 Miles on Tires
April 19, 2012

The Dunlop Sport Signature has been a good and reliable street performance tire. Great handling in wet and dry, responsive and predictable in the corners, no noise and respectable wear. The tire has a beefy rim protector bead and a stiff sidewall that still provides a comfortable ride. This Passat is re-mapped to 215hp, 7" wheels and I have certainly used these Dunlops. A good price point and probably all a sport sedan needs. Would purchase again. Nice balance of practical and performance.

Initial Review, 20,000 Miles on Tires
March 31, 2012

This tire is a tremendous improvement over the OEM ones shipped with the car. I rotate these religiously but otherwise abuse them regularly and they have stood up very well to my driving.

My only complaint is that there is a loud thumping or chopping sound that shows up every time I rotate the tires around. The alignment is fine, the rims are fine, but these tires are just loud. This can get annoying at times and at first I took the car in to have my wheel bearings checked, it is that loud. Once I get to highway speeds (70+) it either goes away or is blended into the rest of the road noise. At 40 or below, it can get distracting.

Initial Review, 46,000 Miles on Tires
March 27, 2012

I have driven these tires until the wear indicators were flat with the tread. I got roughly 47,000 miles out of them (rounding to the nearest 500). I drive a 1994 Mustang GT, and my driving style is very spirited. I was not gentle with these tires, I did not baby them at all and to get as many miles out of them as I did, I'm truly impressed! The only thing I will do differently with my next set of tires is rotate them at EVERY oil change (5k miles). This is most likely due to my driving style. I think I may get some additional miles out of them with the more frequent rotation.

Driving in the wet / rain was excellent in the first half of the tread life. For the second half, and just before they needed to be replaced the wet driving took a little more care. Using common sense and slowing down when water is ponding on the road was necessary as the tread life dwindled.

I also had the opportunity to drive in light snow with this tire. This is obviously NOT a snow tire, but it did get me home before the snow storm was too much to handle.

All in all this is a FANTASTIC tire. I am on my second set for this car and recommend these to my fellow mustang owners. The cornering / handling in dry weather was outstanding. Definitely a perfect match for my driving style. I would like to note that I have 2003 mustang Mach 1 wheels on the car (17x8 rim). The tire size mounted is 235 50 17 which gives slightly more side wall. This did NOT impair performance but it did fill out the wheel well more since the car is not lowered. I also have a set of these tires on a 2005 mustnag v6 with 18x8.5 2008 GT wheels on it and they work perfectly.