Mark P

I'm looking for a tire to put on my 17" OZ Chrono wheels. I am looking for a tire for use mainly at the dragstrip to put down ~450 ft-lbs to the wheels/ground. I am on a set of Pirelli PZero Neros currently that are at the min wear mark, and are all breaking loose on every launch, no matter how gentle I try. I don't think I will need an insane (ie dedicated drag radial, etc) tire to get the kind of launches I desire, but I do want something rather sticky. Also, I need a tire that I can drive on the highway, daily, as the drag strip is about 100-150 miles away. I will likely keep these tires/wheels on daily for a couple months in the spring and a couple in the fall. In the summer, when it's too hot to go to the drags, I'll sport my 18" RS4 reps.

So, does anyone have experiences/suggestions for either of these two tires and how they might meet my desires? Thanks!


Kumho MX
220 / AA / A
225/45R17 = $103/ea
<img src="http://www.tirerack.com/images/tires/kumho/ku_ecsta_mx_ci2_l.jpg">
<a href="http://www.tirerack.com/a.jsp?a=AR4&url=%2Ftires%2Ftires.jsp%3FtireMake%3D Kumho%26tireModel%3DECSTA%2BMX" target="_blank">http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Kumho&amp;tireModel=ECSTA+MX</a>
<img src="http://www.kumhousa.com/images/Products/Tires/KU15.jpg">
<a href="http://www.kumhousa.com/Products/PtnDetails.asp?mainCatID=1&PtnID=KU15&refAction=Pt nDetail" target="_blank">http://www.kumhousa.com/Products/PtnDetails.asp?mainCatID=1&amp;PtnID=KU15&amp;refA ction=PtnDetail</a>



Falken Azenis RT615
200 / A / A
225/45R17 = $112/ea
<img src="http://www.vulcantire.com/graphics/tires/azenis_rt615.jpg">
<a href="http://www.vulcantire.com/azenis_rt615_t.htm" target="_blank">http://www.vulcantire.com/azenis_rt615_t.htm</a>
<img src="http://www.edgeracing.com/images/tire/falken_azenis_rt615_front_zoom.jpg">
<a href="http://www.edgeracing.com/tire/1534/" target="_blank">http://www.edgeracing.com/tire/1534/</a>


The other day, I put down this 121.72 mph trap speed, but the ET is poor due to the 2.4 60' from spinning all four tires:

<img src="http://ctny.audiworld.com/mark/s4/drags/timeslips/12724et_12172mph.jpg">

bhvrdr

The 615 tires are far better. The Kumho MX is junk. Look at a set of used RA1 tires on ebay too.

Mark P

Taking various things into account, I decided to go with the Kumho MX. I think it will meet my needs at the drag strip based on experience with the Kumho 712. If it does that, then the remainder of the differences for my needs seemed all in favor of this tire, thus my choice.

They do certainly seem to run a little wide (which I like), as they were extremely tight fit when I put them in my Avant's trunk this morning. Previously, 4 wheels easily fit standing up - although it's possibly I'm just thinking of snow tires - nonetheless, I'll measure them up to see how they compare to others.

<img src="http://ctny.audiworld.com/mark/s4/wheels/oz/dsc03602.jpg">

<a href="http://ctny.audiworld.com/mark/s4/wheels/" target="_blank">http://ctny.audiworld.com/mark/s4/wheels/</a>