Kuhmo XS installed!
I finally got rid of my worn out Michelin PS2's and replaced them with these XS tires. These tires are supposed to be the best/fastest of the new crop of high performance street tires so I'm pretty psyched. C&D tested them and they were a full second faster than PS2's on a 1 minute autocross course. Grassroots Motorsports mag also did a comparo and they came out on top. I'm doing a HPDE down at Gateway in STL this Saturday and several autocrosses in the next month so I'm eager to see how they do. :) Best part is they cost $773 shipped from Tire Rack in 18" sizes. I'll let you guys know how they compare to the pricier Michelins.
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Brand new, your tires have a tread depth of about 9/32nds. I would keep a eye on them if you are doing a high speed track event, as you may chunk them.
Tread depth that deep could cause some real premature wear (that's why they shave new tires for track use). Let us know how it goes... |
Adam, be sure to come back to this thread and report on how they're wearing, the grip they provide, and of most interest to me, if they "wagon wheel" when cold like the Kuhmo's I had on my boxster after I first purchased it.
Those Kumho's sucked. I swore I'd never buy the brand again, but I'd love you to prove to me I was wrong and I need to eat those words. My wallet would thank you profusely. |
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You probably had the old Kuhmo MX tires. Those things weren't all that great and didn't really do anything well, but the price was good. These XS are light years better in the performance dept. By "wagon wheel" are you referring to flat spotting when sitting? I'll note that as well. This XS tire also reportedly doesn't do well in the rain so some people would have to take that into consideration....luckily I don't drive the car much in the rain and I doubt you do down in Houston. Also, you shouldn't drive them in sub freezing temps like most performance tires. I think these tires will wear out too quickly for some, and they're not for everyone, but if your needs are similar to mine then I think you'll be very pleased. I'll report back once I get some more miles on them. |
I'll just hope for the best and try to shave them the old fashion way
Just remember to be smooth...the more you attack, they more the tires will slide, causing damage to the tread block. I'll be curious to see what you think as I usually use a DOT R compound tire and don't have a lot of track experience with street tires; only what I witness as an instructor (I've brand new tires gone in one track day!) |
I see your point but the XS have pretty decent size tread blocks. Not as big as my Star Spec tho... :p
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Adam--a few comments..
I've had these tires on our 987 in 245/35/18 and 275/35/18 sizes off and on since May. I won these at a club DE last year.
I've done one auto-x and 2 DE's with them. A few observations: -I like these sizes on the 2.7L model since it lowers the effective gearing because these are about .6" smaller OD than the stock tires. -These tires have lot of grip; when hot, they break loose but the slide is very controllable--a very easy tire to drive fast on. Have to say before they got heated up, the combination of these tires and XP8 carbotechs had me braking way early for turn 7 at MidOH. -Tread wear: I went from 10/32 to 7/32 on the fronts at the 2 day DE; wear was very even. Overall, I think the 9-10/32 tread depth on some of these sizes is a bit much considering the market they are appealing to. -Tire pressure: I'm thinking these tires like pressures under 40PSI--hot At 38/40 (f/r) the wear was very even, but even then I wasn't quite getting to the little triangles on the side that indicate the how much rollover you're getting; 36/38 might be better. -In the wet: I drove home in the rain on them about 90 miles and they were OK, but I've heard reports that they can be tricky. -Noise: Initially, very quiet. after the 2 day DE I could hear them. I'm glad I've got the GY Asym F1's for everyday use. Overall, I think these are a good value auto-x/DE tire for the Boxster. I don't think I'd want them as an everyday tire after a couple of DE's. One last thing, wear--given the amount of wear so far i see these lasting one full DE season or say 5 2 day DE's. |
Mike, thanks for your driving impressions and input on these tires especially for track/autocross use. I couldn't find any other mention of these on this board so appreciate the feedback on tire pressure ect. I wasn't sure what these tires liked on our cars. If they like high 30's hot then I'll probably start at 36 rear/34 front cold and see how that works. I let you know how things work out. :cheers:
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Ok, I did the DE on Saturday and all I can say is I wish I would've had more seat time, but I had a lot of fun. I only signed for one 20 minute session so I never got too comfortable with the track and finding the proper line, braking points, ect. My instructor basically said I needed to slow it down and concentrate on the fundamentals first, then increase speed later. Like Jmatta said, the focus is on smoothness first then speed later, but with the adrenaline pumping and only 20 min I wanted to go fast! As far as the tires are concerned they worked great and offererd a lot of grip! They held together just fine and didn't chunk up or anything. They reminded me a lot of an R comp tire because at the limit they didn't squeal or make any noise, they just quietly and predictably broke away. I can't wait to see how they do this weekend at the autocross where I'm more in my comfort zone and familiar. Oh, and Mike I ran 34 psi up front and 36 out back cold and that seemed to be almost perfect. The fronts rolled over just enough to hit the triangles on the sides, the back didn't roll over quite as much so I might play with lowering the rear pressure in the future.
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Adam--good for you. Glad to hear it worked out well. I suspect this won't be the last DE you do :) A few years back we decided to do more DE's than auto-x because of the increase in seat time. They cost more for sure but on a good day you can get close to and hour and a half behind the wheel at speed.
Anyway, at your next auto-x try even pressures--f/r. I tried it with these tires this year and I thought the car was very balanced. One nice thing at an auto-x is that you can experiment a bit more with pressures and not get into much trouble doing it. All things considered these tires are way better than PS2's for auto-x. A few years back I felt good if I could get within 3 seconds of our club's auto-X champ with a 944 turbo running victoracers. In the only one I've done this year, I was just a hair above 1 second behind this guy on brand new XS tires. |
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