New Tires for the Big Ol' 540i

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[Medivh1984]

Finally!
 I get to do tomorrow' practice at Race City with some new Tires that should be pretty decent! (My first set on the black rims were 380 Treadwear UHP's, but they came with the car), and the ones I had at Stratotech were 300 Treadwear and almost done. So based on a few reviews I read, I decided to test these:

Kumho Ecsta XS on my 17" Rims I had at Stratotech (the 19" rims require way to low profile of rubber!). The XS (no MS, those are older ones from Kumho) are 180-AA-A, and in Tireracks tests did very well on dry conditions. I'm sure their are better tires, but the price was good, and for me in my first year, they should be a huge leap up from my 380 Treadwear Generals I've run on so far!

(Feel free to comment, not sure on the overall opinions of Kumho Tires)

Later!

--Scott

[Mr_ET]

You should have much more grip!

[Medivh1984]

You should have much more grip!

Aye, I have the feeling once I push it I'll be really surprised upgrading from worn out 380 Treadwear to these 180's. No more rocks to drive on!

[rx7racerca]

The XS is shaping up to be the top tire in a very hot tire war for the SCCA street tire classes in autocross, so besides good price, they apparently are delivering excellent grip and communication . The top new street tires, like the XS, apparently aren't far off the pace of the road-racing oriented r-comps, like the R888 and A048.  I think you're going have a night and day experience on the new tires vs old.
I can't wait to toast my current streets and replace them with a set of XS's, actually

[Medivh1984]

Thanks, nice to know I found some good tires. Found these ones on tirerack, cheaper than 1010Tires even after all shipping and customs stuff! They were less than $250 /each on the 17" rims.

[bryceman]

Just curious...how does the XS compare to the SPT (which I have on my wife's A4Q Avant)?

[Medivh1984]

Good Morning;
 I cannot really speak for the SPT's from Kumho, but from reading a few reviews and checking out TireRack they still look like your average good Ultra High Performance Summer, probably great for the road. But for the track they are a lot closer to what I had before. The SPT's are Treadwear 320-AA-A, as opposed to the XS's being a much more track oriented 180-AA-A.

 Otherwise the SPT's look fine, but for track use they would still fall a good ways behind the XS, which are an "Extreme Performance Summer", rather than the more common "Ultra High Performance".

Thanks!
--Scott

[Talonman]

Just curious...how does the XS compare to the SPT (which I have on my wife's A4Q Avant)?

No where near the same tire, not even close. I love the SPT and had them on the A4 and A6.

[Mr_ET]

The SPT is a good street tire but the grip level from the XS compared to the SPT is night and day.  The XS is a far superior tire.  I am currently running old design Advan A032-R 60 threadwear r comps and plan to run the XS after those wear off and from what I can tell, I will not be losing much grip and the tires will probably last a bit longer.

[bryceman]

Thanks for the info and sorry for the thread jack 

I have been thinking of bringing the A4 out to do some autocrossing, as my 4000Q seems to be languishing in the garage with everything that life brings.  My wife is not a fan of the SPT...she finds it a bit too squirrelly for her liking.  So...I was thinking of burning them up on the autocross course, getting her some more sedate all season tires for summer and getting yet another set of rims with the XS for street tire class given all the reviews.  Personally I like the SPT...it is a fun tire for the street.

Keep us up to date with how they perform.

Bryce