Need some good/cheapish tires

[ShelbyZD]

Just thinking about picking up some tires for my tona. It's not making big horse power.. aka about 200. I've got some 420 treadware tires on there now.. which are obviously junk for traction.

I have been looking at the Kumho 711/712.. I know they are cheap.. but they dont see to have any great treadware either(from what I see on the net).

Also, what are your opinions about dot legal slicks.. aka for wet/daily driving/longevity and traction.

What works for your car?

[Vigo]

I've used the 712 and didn't like them terribly much, however i heard that were two speed ratings available and the compounds were much different on them. I must have the sucky one. the 711 as far as i can tell get good reviews from casual tire shoppers and bad reviews from people with more exposure, i.e. people who go to autocrosses and drive other peoples cars or go through tires like crazy.

as for other options.. i currently have 4 different models of high performance tires on various cars of mine, not including the 712s which i havent been using for a while but plan to remount on some steelies and run on my concorde.

nexen n3000 = really darn good! pretty cheap, way underrated. relatively unknown name but these tires are excellent!

kumho ecsta mx = havent gotten to drive on these much since i got them but seem very good, sharpest steering response by far of the ones ill list.

dunlop direzza 101s= i got these cheap from tirerack, and they are doing ok. i dont buy other opinions ive read that say they're better than the old AVS ES100. decent all around, i guess.

general Exclaim UHP. i like these except for the sidewall being too soft. steering response is not what it should be for a 245/40r17 UHP tire. fine otherwise.

i also had some AVS ES100s for a while, those are good but old tires.. better than the 712s and dunlop direzzas imo.

so theres my experience with 6 highperformance tire models ive owned.

i can be more specific with pricing and all if you list what size you are interested in.

if you are still running pumpers take my advice and dont go wider than 215 on a 6 inch wheel. ive tried bigger and the handling goes downhill FAST. and the predictability too. people dont think about that much, but you want to be able to predict what will happen when you take a hard turn. when i had tires too wide for the rim, handling was much less predictable.

[fleckster]

I have the Kumhos Supras on my Spirit R/T (225/50-16) and I like them a lot. I have Nitto NT450s on my Shelby Lancer (225/50-15) and they are pretty good too but I think these are no longer available and have been replaced by the Neo Gens which I don't like the look of and have heard bad things about. The last set of tires I bought are BF Goodrich Comp Sport T/A for my LeBaron GT Convertible (225/45-17s on Dodge Stratus R/T sedan wheels). They look great, perform very well, and a friend who has had them on his SRT-4 that sees a lot of miles reports great tire life so far. They are also priced very affordable too. I like how they resemble the Michelin Pilot Sport tread and cost half as much!

[amcpacer]

I have always used Kuhmo Ecsta tires. They work great except in snow and rain.

They are fairly cheap too.

[turboshadow]

I just got some kuhmo ecsta asx for my car they were $56 each from tire rack. As soon as i put them on the car felt way better then when it had toyo proxies. They have done just fine in light snow and rain:nod:

[dds78910]

For the price I think the Nitto NT450 dont last long enough. On 2 of my cars I have the Falken Zexus 215/45/17 and they seem to do really good. But I have heard good things about the Kumho tires and they are a good price.:nod:

[SteveReject]

Falken XE-502's are good until you're in snow, great wet and dry traction, got them for $99 each at Big-O-tires. I want to try some Kumho's next or maybe the Falken 512's.

[inmyshadow]

The kumho 711s aren't that great. They turn alright, but don't handle any power.

My shadow makes 218whp with 276 ft lbs of torque. I lay that power down through a quaife. I'm running a 225/50R15 tire. At least i try to with the 711s. I can spin 1st and 2nd from a a easy roll. If I'm quick, I can start third spinning.

Forget about driving in rain with any kinda of power. I can spin 5th gear when the roads are wet.

So, the 711s aren't that great.

[iTurbo]

I agree with the above on the 711s. The car handled good with them in the summer but straight line traction wasn't very good. I replaced them with Kumho AST all-season tires and I really think they hook even better than the 711. The 711 wears out fast too.

[Vigo]

kumho ast, i havent heard any reviews on those, fairly new... how do you like them? have pic of them on caR? hard to picture that tread pattern IRL from tirerack pics, heh.

the falken ziex 512 is not a performance tire, do not buy it expecting steering response. they might be more sporty than michelin symmetrys but if you plan on taking fast turns you can do better.