Eddie@Tirerack

Hi Gang!

As promised here is my unoficial $.02 on the Kumho UHP tire.

We tested up against the Sumitomo HTRz, and the Yokohama A520. The thing I want to stress is that these tires are considered to be an entry level UHP tire.

That said, the tires had a great on road handling, very nice grip & responsiveness & smooth ride, quiet noise level A& overall nice on road feel. The only thing I did notice is that on hard cornering (exiting offramp @ 55/60) the tires do have squealing as they approach their adhesion limit, yet no noticable slippage.

On the track, I ran near days end, seemed to hold up somewhat well in terms of wear. Still pretty grippy although a bit more mushiness (could be due to the days end run?). Our unusually sunny & warm weather here did not give me a wet track test day (we are planning a wet track test for our new facility to be built), so I will leave that feedback up to CaryB. :-)

To sum it up, the tires do provide a nice road tire for the money. Is it a good tire for TT or S4? I would say NO. The S4s Bridgestone RE040 is exclusive to that car, and would lean more toward the max performance tire type.

As for the A4 guys, well, that is up to you. I would say if you are not that aggressive in handling (lane changes & onramps, corners, twisties), then you would be okay as a nice upgrade that is economical. If you tend to be the harder driver as described above, we need to look at something a step up like the RE730s, SP9000s, etc, or even up to the maxperformance category.

For track use in a non speed, non timed event (drivers schools), you would be okay for a light use, but get used to tire squeal noise under hard driving.

Hope this helps to share with you. If you have any questions, of course just call me, thats why I am here! Our official write up should be on our website in a week or 2, until then, happy reading!


Thanks!<p>Eddie

If placing an order call me direct, or if ordering online, list "Eddie ext 369" as your Previous Contact and I can track it for you as it comes through!

Eddie
Wheel/Tire Forum Moderator
Retail Sales 800.428.8355, ext 369
Personal Web:

Stätus Josh

I won't be getting those tires, thanks for the heads up. Anything better than the AVS Sports for the money? I might look at the RE730s.

leslie

Or anything that matched the sizes and price of the Kumho's for track use?

Seattle and I need them in two weeks!

thanks.<p><a href=http://registry.audiworld.com/audi/registry/details.asp?car=3977> click for registry</a>
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/AudiWorldPics/2000/leslie-signature-2.jpg">

Eddie@Tirerack

If you are going to be tracking on them, you can pick up a set of the

<a href="http://www.tirerack.com/tires/kumho/ku_v700.jsp"> Kumho 700 race compound </a> tires for 130.00 each in the 225/45R17 size, that will offer you super track handling & woudl be a much better usage than running either of the other two for the car.

If you are looking for a UHP tire to use for the track & daily drive on, the S4 is really deserving of a max performance tire. Bang for the buck with those goes to the <a href="http://www.tirerack.com/tires/yokohama/yo_avs_sport.jsp"> Yokohama AVS Sport</a>.

Hope this helps. Feel free to call me to discuss further!

Thanks!<p>Eddie

If placing an order call me direct, or if ordering online, list "Eddie ext 369" as your Previous Contact and I can track it for you as it comes through!

Eddie
Wheel/Tire Forum Moderator
Retail Sales 800.428.8355, ext 369
Personal Web:<ul><li><a href="http://www.tirerack.com/tires/kumho/ku_v700.jsp">Kumho info HERE!</a></li></ul>