I'm in the need for some tires because I MUST get the 7 back on the road and I know my tires won't make it when I go through inspection. Sooooo...I was looking at some tires and I've heard pretty much great things about Kuhmo in recent years. I think the tires are pretty nice (the price...$54 a piece!!!!!!!!!!!! $254 shipped!!!!!! never bought a cheaper tire in my life!!!) looking and have great dry handling according to what I've heard and read, wet handling is good also, noise isn't bad (do i really care ), ride is fine (once again...whatever it's a REAL sports car not a benz). Anyway do any of you have an input to throw at me good or bad? I own an '86 GXL w/mods (suspension, intake stuff, exhaust, blah blah blah).

Thanks again ahead of time.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....tnum=25HR5E711 (here's the link to the tire page)

 

Oh yea, I'm using the stock wheels to fit the tires to...anyone have any thoughts on using 225's on the stock wheels? I've read some of you saying it works, how well (handling).

 

ive never experenced them but i got yokohama's AVS intermediate cheaper and they are some nice tires hold the road VERY well..

but im not sure if you can still get them when i bought them last year they where disscontinued and they where just selling off thier stock

 

Man that was a quick response! I like yoko's too, personally I'm a Pirelli man, but I'm not buying new wheels right now so I'll save the good stuff for then. I just need to have little Kiyo back on the road

 

I put some of these on my car a couple weeks ago and I like them a lot so far. My other tires needed replaced really bad, they were so hard, so anything would have been an improvement. I didn't buy them new, they came off my parts car, but they're nearly new condition-wise. It's a TII so the size is 205/55-16 which I don't even see listed.

Anyway I don't drive real hard but when I do they seem to grip very well. Very good grip in the wet too. Seems like they ride a little stiffer but I've also upped the pressure a tad as well.

Hope that helps some at least.
Cheers

 

I am on my second set of Kumho Ecsta Supras and doubt I will ever buy another brand of tires for my 88 T2.

Traction (wet or dry), handling, noise, and treadwear are great in each rating (w/v/z).

My first set was Z rated and they lasted about 22k miles (which is pretty good for Z rated). The set I currently have are W rated due to the fact that I really don't need Z rated traction and speed, plus I wanted to get a few more miles out of a set of tires before having to replace them.

With the current W rated set I have about 25k miles on them, and it looks like I will be able to get at least another 15k more out of them before I start to feel uncomfortable driving on them ( i.e. I probably could get another 20k+ miles out of them if I wanted to take them totally down to the tread wear indicators.

Anyways, Ecsta Supras are pretty darn good tires for the price, I'm sure the 711s will be pretty good too.

Later,
Douglas

88 Turbo II
Melbourne, FL

 

Sweet, thanks guys keep 'em coming. Remember though they're not Ecsta Supras though (if I was going that far I'd just go back with my Pirelli's but that's a little later I just need it on the road again). They're H (130mph) rated also so no top speed runs but that doesn't matter to me.

 

I have a set of Kuhmos 205/45/17s have had no problems I am very happy with them .

 

The 225s can be mounted on the stock wheel but you really should have at least a 7" rim for it to be a proper fit. I've had 225 Hoosiers rub on the lower spring perch on my car but Kumhos and Toyos have suffcient clearance.

The 711 is a good tire for the money IMO. Decent dry traction but wet traction is not very good.

Chris

 

Those are the ones I'm gonna get!!!!!!

 

I remember a post a few weeks ago about tires width and rim width. basically the point was, sticking the widest tire possible on a rim isn't neccesarily going to get you the best traction, because the edges of the tire curve up, and the center can come off the ground if the tire is too wide. you should check recomended rim width for those tires, and see if its good.
personally though, I'd stick with the 205/60's for the stock 15" wheels. the 225 might also look wierd on a 6" wide rim.

 

True, i know about the tire area but I really want a little more than the 205/60's. Who knows I might just say the hell with it and get the Pirelli's, but I'm still curious as to how this looks and drives...any pics?

 

I just checked out the 205/60VR15 Yokohama AVS Intermediate tires, they're 202.80 shipped (clearance $43ea). Apparently they had great dry handling and good wet (dry was 8.9 and wet was 6.9, cornering 8.6, and steering response 8.5 out of 10). I might go with those instead but I don't know, maybe someone can still convince me on the Kuhmo's (the ecsta supra's).

DAMN...THE HOLY GRAIL???

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....Model=Ecsta+MX

The Kuhmo Ecsta MX, better than any of my holy Pirelli's??? I don't know about wear, but damn 9.2 dry handling?!?

 

note: traction is not the same as handling for those ratings. traction is the straight line braking grip(much different from handling. (we learned all about this in school )


but the point was, a skinnier tire can handle better than a wider tire on the same rim(if the wider tire is too wide).

yeah, go with those yoko's.

I just got dunlop SP sport A2's, they handle amazingly!! and stop good too. I was really suprised for an all-season. I can't even lock the tires with these, just my face feels like its going to fall off

 

Dude I got the Kumho Ecsta Supras on my T2 rims well in the front but I noticed they held a lot better when they were in rear compaired to the Goodyear Eagle's I had on their. However I think I paid too much for mine so I am off to look at that website. Lates Matt22

 

225/50/16 will fit fine...

DO NOT GET Kumho 711s... they suck ***... i had them on my car... they suck ***.

 

I'm leaning more toward the Yoko's right now, unless I try the Ecsta MX's later on as a trial basis when I change wheels. I know that handling and traction are 2 totally different things (that's why I also listed the cornering numbers too in case someone else wanted to check them out). I'm thinking the Yoko's will do me fine in the long run (I'm not a type of guy who's like oh no they only last 20,000 miles they're no good), but I'm also thinking that I might stay on the hometeam and get the Pirelli P6000's (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....tnum=06VR56000)...you just can't get a better tire than Pirelli (the V/149mph rated tires are $66 and H/130mph rated are $60). But I do like the price of the Yoko AVS's so I think that just might win out after all...

 

Hey CHEERS - What pressure were you running in the 711's? That may have been your problem.

When I first got 225/50's the handling was pretty bad.
I soon learned that you should not run them at the rated pressure.
The negative camber on the rears keeps the full footprint from gripping.

My best results were at 26 PSI.

 

Ahhh...air pressure, something that nearly everyone overlooks before they call a tire bad. Good info SureShot.

 

I too have the Dunlop SP Sport A2s. I like them as well. I had Pirelli P6000s. The A2s are quieter, seem to handle just as well and are SUPPOSED to last longer. They are all-season, have a 50,000 mile warranty, and were only about $85.00 apiece.

Todd

 

Damn...50,000 miles is a long way. I've been looking (more like glancing) at the Dunlop lineup, but haven't really heard any greatness about their tires. Haven't heard anything bad either so I know they're not the worst. I have a perseption that they're pretty much more of a grand touring type of tire with good performance (except for the obvious high performance specific tires they do). What kinda launches do you guys get (rpm, throttle position, etc) get with the tires that your speaking of? I'm not a drag racer at all (much more a road/auto cross course type of guy), but I'd like to know how well the handle the TQ off the line either way. Also how about coming out of corners?

 

Humph...I just found a different review page on tirerack.com and it's got 28 different reviews for tires that other RX7's have used (already I see to very highly rated Yoko AVS's...hmmm). Off a readin' I go .

Yokohama AVS Intermediate - 1989 Mazda RX7 Turbo
Driving Style: Fast and Aggressive
Driving Condition: Mostly Highway
Peformance Category: Ultra High Performance
Reviewer's Overall Ratings: 9.12 out of 10
Review Submitted 2002-11-07

"My car is a 1989 RX7 Turbo2, which has been mildly modified and professionally maintained by Mike Johnson of JRE Motorsports. We have modified the drivetrain, engine management, cooling, exhaust, and suspension components to take the car to the limit of streetable performance, while not exceeding any factory design limitations. The result is 330 bhp, rear wheels, with exceptional tractability and street driveability. I commute 100 miles per day, and enjoy the car tremendously. I have been through 14 sets of AVS Intermediates, and have always been impressed with their overall performance. When this tire was discontinued, I researched available options, and chose the AVS ES 100 tires. The AVS ES 100 is better than the AVS Intermediates, in every respect. Steering response, traction, and overall road manners are greatly improved, and certainly on par with the finest performance tires available. When my friends at Rite Way Wheel Repair mounted them, I was told that these tires where the most concentric and best balanced tires they have yet seen. (Rite Way is known for performance wheel repair worldwide). In fact, only one-half gram was need to balance each tire, to counterbalance the valve stem! After driving them for 700 miles, I am absolutely astounded that Yokohama can produce such a fine tire for such a tremendous price! Congratulations to Yokohama and Tire Rack! Finally, when I spoke to Yokohama for tire information, the manufacturer recommended I speak with Tire Rack, citing their extensive testing and expertise. It says a lot that a major manufacturer relies upon Tire Rack for objective test data. Congratulations to both Tire Rack and Yokohama for their tremendous products and services. I will be back in a few thousand miles! See you on the road: be fast, be safe!"

 

the esta supras are pretty good. you will be happy. Get them.

as for all of you, dont be misled by speed ratings of tires. Just because a tire is rate for 130mph+ doesnt mean that its too much for your car. The speed ratings seem to effect sidewall construction more then anything. So the higher the speed rating, the stiffer the sidewall and the better you can corner. So get the highest speed rating you can so you can corner the best.

 

And besides - I like Komo's "stop for the rabbit" commercial.

 

Haha, I just did a comparison of like 10 different tires from a few different brands(Bridgestone, Dunlop, Kuhmo, Pirelli, Yoko, etc.), in the end it came down to the top three being (this is for when I do change the wheels, but either way it's still a tale of how good the tires themselves are despite sizes)...

1. Pirelli PZero Nero (had to go with my boys) $131
2. Kuhmo Ecsta MX $106
3. Bridgestone Potenza S-03 Pole Position $142

That's pretty much how it fell into place after I sifted through the ratings checking how far one tire was from another and the price differences also. The Nero didn't have really any ratings, but I already know about this tire and it is the King so the others were really rated by themselves and then had a shot at the King. The Potenza's came damn close but were too close to the Kuhmo's and the price didn't justify them. The Kuhmo's almost actually won...it came down to tire tread LOOK, that close.