High Performance Tire 235/45-17 Choice

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
Originally Posted By: The Critic
How often are you having this car aligned?

I've been aligning my car at least every 10k and my settings are pretty much perfect, and have had no abnormal tire wear at all. Perhaps you should consider aligning your car more frequently.

It was aligned once at dealer on the first free oil change. The tires wear out evenly on the rears and a little more on outside on the fronts.


That does not mean the alignment is ideal. I've seen plenty of cars that tracked acceptably with sorta ok tire wear, that drove better and had better tire wear once the car was aligned.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Alignment specs of the E430; It has rather large negative camber, especially the rear. I think to reduce negative camber it needs a kit, also not many places can do alignment for the car, mostly dealer only.

The way I see it is if I buy tires with mileage warranty, and the tires wear evenly(with rotation regularly) then I will get pro-rate for a new set of tires.

Front
Caster: 5.30deg +/- 0.50deg
Camber: -0.60deg +/- 0.40deg
Toe-in: 0.20deg or 3.0mm
Rear
Camber: -1.20deg +/- 0.40deg
Toe-in: 0.35deg or 5.0mm

 

[SteveSRT8]

ALWAYS check the alignment. All the IRS large sedans are hard on the rear end due to the anti squat anti lift that Merc designs in.

Note that the ride height needs to be verified, as the springs are probably getting old. You may need cradle bushings and some other misc parts as well. Note that on my heavy and high powered sedan with nearly the same suspension I wear tires VERY evenly without rotation unless I'm at the drag strip!

I will be very interested in your feedback, as every set of Kumhos I've ever seen were good on price and not much else.

 

[SubLGT]

Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
............every set of Kumhos I've ever seen were good on price and not much else.


The Ecsta 4Xs may be an exception to that rule. The trend I see with the UHPAS tires in that price range (e.g Kumho, Nitto, Falken, Cooper, etc) is that they lag behind the premium brands in tread life, rolling resistance, and snow/ice traction, but can be strong performers in the dry and wet, and can have low tire noise.

 

[Rand]

I have the 4x. they are not a comfort tire, but not overly harsh.

My gas mileage did take a dip. And they have slight overnight flat-spotting that goes away quickly.

The hydroplane resistance is average to good, the wet traction is amazing. By far the best tires I ever had for wet roads.

Dry traction is very good, road bumps are transmitted much more than the oem tires.. Noise is about average.
fuel economy -5% to -7% vs oem tires

other plus's include:
asymmetrical NOT directional.. so full tire rotations are available which is nice for my AWD subie.
Seem to balance well with low weight
good handling

I also got mine for cheap.
500$ shipped in 225/55R17 -180$ in rebates. +87 to roadforce mount and balance.

 

[SubLGT]

^ What were the OE tires on your Forester?

 

[threeputtpar]

I went with the Goodyear Eagle GT for my A6, and they are a great tire for a highway sedan. I've put 10k miles on them and they are just starting to show some wear, so getting to the 55k mile warranty is a good possibility.

I had to make a quick decision when one of my old tires blew out after I hit a pothole, but if I was able to make the choice again I probably would have gone with the Nitto Motivo. Some people on the Audi forums were given free sets to try and review and all the reviews I have seen were positive. They are available through DT, so the $100 rebate applies.

My main criteria was the non-directional tread pattern since my car also has a bit too much camber front and rear. Both of the above tires are asymetrical and non-directional.

 

[cp3]

I currently have the V2s on both cars. Great tire as far as I'm concerned.
Far and away beat the Kumho ASXs that were on the G5 when I bought it. Ride and wet are far superior and dry is about equal, maybe a bit noisier. Previous tire on the G6 was the V4 and I was also very happy with that as well. I would give a slight edge to the V4 in hydroplaning and noise. Other than that very comparable tires in my opinion with the V2 having a higher treadwear rating. Maybe not top of the food chain but a good tire with great value.