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Kuhmo KU31


adam1942

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I've had a few scary moments when cornering in the wet (not hard I may add!) where the rear will completely go.. today I set off from the lights turning in to Tesco to get the weekly shop and the back went.. second gear and not accelerating hard.. Just as the police where driving on the opposite side of the road! oops.. :bang:.. So I thought whilst I've still got my license and more importantly my life I will replace the tyres..

 

Anyway I've looked on here and I can see my rear tyres are quite frankly awful in the rain (The RE050A's). I've also seen that the Kuhmo's are quite decent and as I had them on my RenaultSport Clio 197 with no problems I thought I'd check them out...

 

I've found some 275/35/R19 quite cheap from mytyres.. Can someone check to make sure they are the correct tyres for the rears so I can buy them whilst they are cheap and keep them in storage?

 

http://ssl.delti.com/cgi-bin/rshop.pl?d ... 7&dsco=110

 

£114 for 275/35/R19 seems extremely cheap considering RE050A's are £300 each?! Surely these tyres could not be as good??

 

The fronts (255/35/R19 on the same 10inch rim slight stretch) are equally as cheap at £136...

 

Also the rears are 100Y and the fronts are 96Y will this be OK?

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Do you drive with TC off?

 

I have had a few different tyres on the Zed and to be honest I've never seen it go unexpectedly (Maybe RE040s occasionally) especially with wide treads on the rear.

 

Seems odd.

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Nah I keep TC on at all time.. I don't rely on it but its good knowing that there's a safety net! The rain here in Northern Ireland has been crazy recently I think the problem is a lot of standing water..

 

 

So yay or neh on the Kuhmos? They look extremely cheap!

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kuhmo ku31's are a good midrange tyre same as the falkens and the toyos never used them, have tried toyo and don't like them and now on my 2nd set of falkens and happy. they suit lower profile setups better.

 

if you can things like the ultrac sessantas are good eagle F1's are very good wet tyres and dry. Dunlop sp sport maxx is ok as well.

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Ok well there are dunlop sp sport maxx's on the front so instead of doing all 4 I could put 2 new on the rear - I just want a full watching set to see if it makes wet handling better :)

 

kuhmo ku31's are a good midrange tyre same as the falkens and the toyos never used them, have tried toyo and don't like them and now on my 2nd set of falkens and happy. they suit lower profile setups better.

 

if you can things like the ultrac sessantas are good eagle F1's are very good wet tyres and dry. Dunlop sp sport maxx is ok as well.

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I have kumho ku31's After using ps2's. I have used them on track in the heat and also in the rain and I'm so impressed with them for the cash. I think in 18" they have too soft a sidewall @45 profile (so I've heard) I run 35profile on 19" and they are brilliant for the money. Excellent in the wet also.

 

I chose them as alot of the boys on the m3 owners club are using them instead of ps2's. Some rate them as good also.

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rtbiscuit I have the Dunlop Sport Maxx GT on the front they look slightly different to those in that picture

 

Neil - I have the Kumho's fitted to my RenaultSport Clio 197 and found them to be only a little worse than the contisport 3 which come as standard (and are at least 3 times the price fitted!!)

 

 

Looking here the Kumho's seem to be rated a lot higher than the Dunlop Sport Maxx GT for everything but Dry grip (2% difference)

 

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Dunlo ... axx-GT.htm

 

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Tyre/Kumho/Ecsta-KU31.htm

 

So for an extra £200 to get Kumho's all round I think I may go for them and sell the Dunlop Sport Maxx + the RE050A's on ebay as part worn?

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Just to throw something else out there, from personal experience I rate Hankook V12 Evos above the Kuhmo KU31's. Might be another option worth looking at. Sidewalls on both are reasonably soft on the standard 18" sizes so need a few extra psi. May be fine on 19's though!

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If your accelerating round corners, particularly in the wet your going to loose the back end on a car like the 350. Especially in the low gears like it sounds like you were in. You need to keep a steady speed around corners, keeping on the drive though braking and accelerating shifts the weight of a car to the front or the rear unbalancing it. Or in the case of the zed the rear can kick out. Buy a copy of roadcraft. It's all explained in there properly. It should be part of driving tests IMO.

 

The best tires in the world will give way if you give it some round a bend.

 

On a lighter note my tires need changing soon. I'm either sticking with the flakes it already has or I've been looking at Yokohama advans.

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Cheers guys - I'll look at the price of hankook V12s as well

 

Theheff yeah I agree it most likely was my driving I keep looking out for advanced driving lessons in Northern Ireland but we have no "public" skid pans so I'm planning a trip to UK Mainland to try and get some better experience!

 

I still think it might be best to have the same make/model tyres all round though mixed tyres I guess are not the way to go! (previous owner had them fitted)

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Guys - I thought I'd update this.

 

I'm quite ashamed to say I now know the reason that the back of the car was so "skiddy" when going round right hand corners..

 

The rear left tyre was 5PSI lower than the rest of the tyres.... I usually check this when cleaning the car but I've not had time for the last month so hadn't checked them in a month.. :bang::bangin::blackeye:

 

the rest of the tyres where perfect bar one which is a little strange but I'll keep an eye on it.

 

Cheers for the advise so far - I'll be purchasing new tyres in the near future but I thought I'd let everyone know it was!

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lol

 

I've just put some part worn re050a's on and I have been so far quite impressed over their previous version, road noise is substantially reduced and grip is increased especially in the wet.

 

I wouldn't say they have amazing performance and when they run out I'll be getting either falkens, vredestein or kuhmos. Had Ku31s on all previous jap cars and rate them very highly for the budget. But the tread pattern on the vredestein is just awesome :)

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  • 2 months later...

Just to update this.. I've had the tyres for close to two months now in the dry they are a lot better as they are in the wet also! I'm wondering though if this is to do with these tyres maybe having the correct pressure!

 

Anyway I'd recommend these as cheap tyres although the sizes I am running I find the car kills the power very early..

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Just to update this.. I've had the tyres for close to two months now in the dry they are a lot better as they are in the wet also! I'm wondering though if this is to do with these tyres maybe having the correct pressure!

 

Anyway I'd recommend these as cheap tyres although the sizes I am running I find the car kills the power very early..

What sizes are you running mate? I have these on my 19's and think theyre great value for money. Very very impressed, even coming from ps2's

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Neilp I'm running 255/35/R19 on the front and 275/35/R19 on the rear (Rota GTR's 19x10 all around) Couldn't run anything smaller than a 255 or the stretch would just look/perform silly :( I think TCS kills the power as the rolling radius is slightly off due to the front tyre!

 

docwra - I'll most likely move to KU39's when these wear out but for £125 (VAT included!) for each 275/35/R19 I cant complain!

 

**edit**

 

Just checked and cant see KU39s for my sizes :(

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KU31's are discontinued now, the replacement is the KU39 and Ive read good things from the M3 boys about them :)

Yeah it was m3 boys that made me choose the 31's. I barely get 3k out a set so i got fed up funding the bill for ps2's. Read up on the m3 forum and people seemed to think these ku31's were a decent comparison and great value for the cash. I must say that i've been very impressed by them and they're quite a progressive tyre and good for getting sideways on when you want to. When warm they perform well. I originally though I overheated them on track at combe but I've now realised it was my pressures that was causing this skittish feel as it happened with my r888's also at knockhill. Started at 35psi and after 8 laps they were at 44psi. It felt terrible, let them down and everything was perfect again.

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Neilp I'm running 255/35/R19 on the front and 275/35/R19 on the rear (Rota GTR's 19x10 all around) Couldn't run anything smaller than a 255 or the stretch would just look/perform silly :( I think TCS kills the power as the rolling radius is slightly off due to the front tyre!

 

docwra - I'll most likely move to KU39's when these wear out but for £125 (VAT included!) for each 275/35/R19 I cant complain!

 

**edit**

 

Just checked and cant see KU39s for my sizes :(

 

Here you go

 

http://www.tyrewizard.co.uk/car-tyres-c ... oogle#4529

 

And

 

http://www.tyredrive.co.uk/tyre.php?tyr ... y+xl&did=1

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