Need new rubber - prices, opinions....

[ischmitz]

So it's this time again. Two car need new rubber all around. I start to see thread-bare areas. I need 225/50/16 and 205/55/16 for the Targa and 275/55/17 for the SUV.

I looked at the Falken Azenis tires for the Targa. They now do make this nice RT-615 in my size for the rear but nothing for the front. The RT-215 is discontinued. Bummer. My next choice is to go with Khumo Ecsta SPT. Cheap and I was pretty happy with my old Khumo's. The Ecsta MX are 30% more expensive, is that worth it. Any opinions.

For the SUV I priced tires a year ago and everything I came up with was way north of 200$ per tire or real crap. Now Khumo makes a tire with 600AA thread wear rating for 123$ a piece. No-brainer IMHO.

In general is the oil price influencing tire prices a lot? What are your observations

Cheers,
Ingo

[dimeified]

i run kumho asx, very happy.

[mjshira]

Ingo

I noticed the same. Yes oil does influence the price of tires but I can't speak to how great a degree it does. What I did was monitor discount tire and I also watched for local sales at tire shops. I ended up getting a good deal at around 125 a corner for my 500E. If you can time the purchase around a sale then I think you can do what I did.

Good luck!

[ShakinJoe]

600AA rating????? Surely not for track use. Buy JeremyD's tires on the cheap and enjoy 10K more miles with traction!

[ischmitz]

The 600AA is for the SUV - they'll outlive the damn truck......

[ShakinJoe]

Just got Bridgestone RE01-R for the Carrera. I am very impressed with this tire.

[ischmitz]

Looks like they come at a price with their 140AA tread wear rating and double the price tag compared to the Khumo SPT. I wonder if that is worth it.....

[ShakinJoe]

I cannot comment on the wear yet, but they are consistant.

I paid $113 for fronts and $127 for rears. I am not sure if they are double the price of the Kuhmo's, but they are a heck of lot less than the Michelin Sport Cups.

Worth it is a matter of what they are used for...I will not buy a bargain track tire.

[Porsche G.I]

I just purchased some Kumho ASX tires, I'm hoping for the best. Not bad at 80 bucks each at tire rack. 225/50/16 rears and 205/55/16 fronts on 7 and 8 in Fuchs.

[MOMO3.2]

Ingo:

I am happy with the Hankook Ventus RS2 tires on my 87 Carrera. They have worn well, have good grip in the dry, and seemed fine during the SoCal deluge yesterday. They were among the least expensive tires I could find and they came in 245/45/16 for my 9" rear Fuchs.

Mike

[Nine9six]

Originally Posted by MOMO3.2

Ingo:

I am happy with the Hankook Ventus RS2 tires on my 87 Carrera. They have worn well, have good grip in the dry, and seemed fine during the SoCal deluge yesterday. They were among the least expensive tires I could find and they came in 245/45/16 for my 9" rear Fuchs.

Mike

+1 on what Mike said...Very good grip at a low, low price!
Can you say best bang for yer buck?

[carolinatrophy]

In case you (or anyone else) is interested, I have a pair of Continental SportCaontacts here, size 205/55-16, with less than 1000 miles on them. They look brand new. I only took them off because I changed wheels. I'll sell them both for $100 if you want them.

[ischmitz]

Mike, I am with you. The Khumo SPT run $65 for the front and $66 for the rear a piece. Can't beat that. The R-S2 seem more - around 100 a piece. That puts them into the Khumo MX range. I had these before and was very happy with them. Did you buy yours online?

In general I don't see tire twice as expensive lasting two times longer the way I drive.....

Ingo

[MOMO3.2]

Ingo:

I paid about $100 each for the fronts (225x50x16) and a little more than $100 each for the rears (245x45x16). I bought them from a local tire store.

The Hankook RS2's do seem to have better grip than the Yok's I purchased previously.

The local tire stores will match the prices of Tire Rack in my area (Los Angeles).

Mike

[ischmitz]

I see - unfortunately up here I don't think there is any price-matching going on. So I will order them from the rack and deal with it.

My Khumo's lasted surprisingly well, given that I have 2.5 degrees of negative camber dialed in in the rear. Eventually, they did wear unevenly but I knew that from the get-go. And at these price level I really don't care about 5000 miles more or less. The driving is fun and they are very predictable IMHO.

I'll give an update when I do the installation in January. Going to Europe for the holidays.

Ingo

[RWebb]

is the Bridgestone RE01-R the replacement for the S03?

[mschwien]

+1 on the RE01-R although I believe Tire Rack has the next generation tire in stock

[Kaliv]

I never hear anyone talk about Firestone Wideovals. I was thinking they might be my next tire. Is there a reason people avoid these?

[vanwyk4257]

I have RS-2 Hankooks on my '87 targa and have done a pretty aggressive DE weekend with them as well as about 3000 street miles this past year. IMHO for the money they're one of the best tires out there.

For the SUV, I just put a set of Kuhmo tires on my wife's '05 Jeep Grand Cherokee V8 and have been very happy with them. I really think that Kuhmo, Hankook, and some others are making some of the best tires these days compared to Goodyear and lots of others who seem to be coasting by on their so-called "reputation".

[JeremyD]

+1 The hankooks I had required very little weight to balance.