'Kumho' Tires opinions?

I was reccomended to use these tyres as the best sticky tires for road, and weekend track events, bearing in mind I only did 4,000 miles last year!.

Anyone have any practical experience with these or any other sticky tires that will help my traction at these auto x/time trials.
thaks ben

Great! Cheaper and last longer than Hoosiers. I get about 60 autocross runs plus driving to events on them. I don't know how long they would last as street tires though. Also tires heat cycle and get hard. They can be hard and offer a lot less grip and still have adequate tread.

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Jeff Parker
72t

Yeah, you may want to consider a second set of rims, to avoid the heat cycling problem. Track tires don't last long, under the best of circumstances.

I've heard better things about Hoosiers, although they do cost more. I'm planning on getting a set for a second set of Fuchs later this Spring.

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Jack Olsen
1973 911 T (3.6) sunroof coupe
jackolsen@mediaone.net

You don't want to run these on the road. They are so sticky they pick up pebbles and will shower the paint behind your wheel wells. Get extra wheels and have a set for the track only.

Chuck

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'86 Cab, '77 Targa, '85 toyota 4wd rain mobile

I was assuming you are talking about the Victoracer, Kumhos DOT legal race tire. They also sell a true street tire, and if that is what you are talking about, then those are fine for the street, but not nearly so sticky as the Victoracers.

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'86 Cab, '77 Targa, '85 toyota 4wd rain mobile

Be sure to consider dialing in additional negative camber if you intend to run track tires. The street/track time ratio will help determine which tire to purchase and how much negative camber you should run.
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We had a discussion on track tire selection and negative camber over on the PCA-Potomac BBS two weeks ago. You might want to have a look. See:
http://www.pcapotomac.org/ubb/Forum13/HTML/000193.html
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Chuck

Thanks guys,
Maybe these Kumhos are too race oriented, unless I can get 2nd set of wheels! (Oh dear the bank balance just dropped dramatically )
Alternatively, What would be the stickiest street tire without paying silly money!.
Are their any good options?.
I am not looking to win end of year trophies but just improve my own performance on and off the track.
My current tires are Yoko S306 which I am told are V. hard and not much grip! but cheap (surprise surprise ).
I will read up on the camber thread Chuck thanks.
rgds Ben

Ben, you might want to consider Toyo Proxies RA-1s as a compromise if you elect not to go with a second set of wheels at the present time.
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The Proxies are a DOT street-legal track tire. Many of our serious racers use them for their racing rain tires since they have some tread - they are not a track slick. We have PCA members up here in Potomac that keep them on their car for street, DE and AutoX use and love them. If you purchase them unshaved, you'll get decent mileage out of them. I use them for DEs - they give me far, far better grip on the track than my street tires, Yoko AVS Sports. And the Proxies require less negative camber many other track tires.
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Chuck

Oh my God, Chuck!
Another Porsche chat site!
With incredibley usefull info, some of it is foreign, but I will figure it out
Now my wife will never get me off the computer!

What's this about heat cycling?
There was a mention in the thread about tire rack heat cycling tires for $60?
Is this a service to restore softness to a tire?.
Most of my off track driving will be highway of about 1-2 hrs and so my tires may heat up.
As for stones sticking to the tires/damaging paintwork, my paint is far from concours so I don't see it as a major problem.
Just curious about this heat cycling thing?
Thanks
Ben

Ben, for a good description of heat cycling, have a look at the www.tirerack.com web site. Select most any of the competition tires, and one of the menu items is usually "the care and feeding of XXXX Track tires" (For example see
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/kumho/ku_v700_care.htm )
Contained will be a discussion on heat cycling. Briefly, a new tire is heat cycled on the track by running it ONCE at high operating tempature and then letting it cool and sit over night. Apparently, (and I am neither a chemist nor an engineer) gets all the rubble molecules set up properly to hold together for a longer period of time. - - The tire lasts longer.
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Chuck

Chuck: Who is selling this Proxies RA-1? Tirerack.com does not carry Toyo. How does this tire compare to the Yoko A032R?? I too dont do much mileage and would pay the extra for a soft compound tire..
Thanks. BB

I purchased my Toyos from a local dealer who supports our local PCA Potomac region. Have a look on the Toyo site to determine who your local dealer are. Or have a look in the trusty Yeller pages.
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Off the top of my head, and a SWAG, I would guess the Yoko 032 are more of a dry track tire and the Proxies can handle both. However, because of that, I would guess a yoko would out perform an unshaved Toyo on dry pavement but the latter would do far better on a wet or damp track.
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If I were running a track tire on the street for extended periods of time (like Ben is considering), I would opt for the Toyo. But this is personal choice and I'm sure others have totally different opinions. Tire selection discussion, like oil discussions, bring out great debate, facts, lies, opinions and embellishments. Makes these BBSs fun!
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Chuck

Thanks again Chuck. Lets here it from the BBS. What DOT legal tires do you folks recommend for a narrow bodied 911 with 15x6" wheels? I am thinking a little DE, auto-x and spirited driving this summer...
BB