# New pilot sports vs. half dead Kumhos... I am blown away...



## DanB (Feb 20, 2002)

I replaced my half dead kumho 712's (I think that's the number) with brand new pilot sports... here are some quick observations..

1) My car is once again a vault while driving. The difference in road noise is incredible! It's one of those things that you don't really notice because of the gradual increase in noise (The kumhos were quiet at first), but in terms of "luxury factor," the quietness of the pilots have forced me to appreciate my car much more. 

2) It was raining like a MF in San Diego today, and my car was as solid as a rock. In similar rain in SD about a month ago on the kumhos, the car would tramline, slide around, and I nearly lost it in big freeway puddles. Note that the front tires DID have sufficient tread, and the rears were the "half dead" ones here. This is a serious safety issue here. All of the aforementioned conditions were completely absent with the pilots, and the car cut a straight and steady line through the water making me feel much more secure. 

3) Dry handling!!! OMFG! On the way up, dogshine and I went through some malibu canyons. On power-out turns where the kumhos would have lost it, these pilots didn't even so much as trip the traction control light (I actually forgot to turn trac control off, wheras with the kumhos, it was frustratingly necessary during any hard driving). 

4) Steering response is once again hairpin.

To sum it up, the kumhos were great when they were brand new; quiet, handled great, and had decent steering response. After about halfway dead, they began sucking tremendously. The pilot sports kick ass, and budget allowing, I'll never buy another brand. 

-DanB


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## Colin Campbell (Mar 19, 2003)

*How many miles on old tires?*

I assume the Kumhos were at least the car's second set of tires, since they aren't OE. Do you know what was on before?

My car came with the Michelins, and is up to 17k miles now. I've been happy with them, but I think I'm starting to get some noise now. I don't often push the handling envelope, but they seem to still be holding the road well.

I really, really like the looks of my car with the sport setup, but I have gotten used to 45k and even longer tread life. I'm not sure how happy I'll be to replace them with 25k or so miles!


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## tpham (Feb 13, 2003)

It was nice meeting you, Dan. Your exhaust is a killer. Send me an email and I'll reply w/ the 10-second clip.

BTW, you owe me a pack of smoke

Cheers,
TP.
[email protected]


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## mola (Dec 18, 2001)

*Re: How many miles on old tires?*



Colin Campbell said:


> *I assume the Kumhos were at least the car's second set of tires, since they aren't OE. Do you know what was on before?
> 
> My car came with the Michelins, and is up to 17k miles now. I've been happy with them, but I think I'm starting to get some noise now. I don't often push the handling envelope, but they seem to still be holding the road well.
> 
> I really, really like the looks of my car with the sport setup, but I have gotten used to 45k and even longer tread life. I'm not sure how happy I'll be to replace them with 25k or so miles! *


I think DanB gets about 10k miles out of his tires, the way he drives that's pretty good life for him 

I used to get about 50k miles out of my old 15" wheels & tires but these 17", 18" wheels and tires seems much softer. The rear inside edges seems to wear a bit quicker due to the slight neg camber. I've been changing wheels and tires once a year so I'm not sure how long they really last.

I think I'll go with the Kumho MX for my next pair of shoes. I'd be happy if I can get 20k miles out of these tires.


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## JPinTO (Dec 20, 2001)

DanB said:


> *To sum it up, the kumhos were great when they were brand new; quiet, handled great, and had decent steering response. After about halfway dead, they began sucking tremendously. The pilot sports kick ass, and budget allowing, I'll never buy another brand.
> 
> -DanB *


I'd make the exact same comment for the SUmitomo HTRZII's. After 15k miles-- they are loud and sucky.

Are those the NEW tread pattern Pilot's?


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## DanB (Feb 20, 2002)

tpham said:


> *It was nice meeting you, Dan. Your exhaust is a killer. Send me an email and I'll reply w/ the 10-second clip.
> 
> BTW, you owe me a pack of smoke
> 
> ...


Emailing...

A pack!? I only had one! lol (BTW, shh on that... I have one or two when I'm away from my wife. She'd kill me!)

Also, these are the old tread pattern kumhos, not the new ones.


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## roxnadz (Jan 10, 2003)

DanB said:


> *Emailing...
> 
> A pack!? I only had one! lol (BTW, shh on that... I have one or two when I'm away from my wife. She'd kill me!)
> 
> Also, these are the old tread pattern kumhos, not the new ones. *


Kumhos have a new tread pattern? I'll have to check them out, I got some Kumhos around Super Bowl time. Did they change over to the new pattern?

BTW Colin, DanB, tpham, mola...it was great to finally meet youse guys!


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## Allan (Apr 7, 2003)

*Re: How many miles on old tires?*

Colin,
I've got almost 23K now on the Michelins that came with my car in 2001, and the tread still looks pretty good. They are a bit noisy; I'm setting off in the morning to drive from Portland to Palm Springs. We'll see how they do. One thing I am considering is switching to 16" wheels and higher profile tires. I have the wheels -- bought them for snow tires & chains, but have not used them yet. I like the look of the sport wheels, and especially the style of the 530i SP wheels, but I'm not convinced this is practical, especially with the poor quality of road surfaces we have in OR and CA.


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## tpham (Feb 13, 2003)

roxnadz said:


> *Kumhos have a new tread pattern? I'll have to check them out, I got some Kumhos around Super Bowl time. Did they change over to the new pattern?
> 
> BTW Colin, DanB, tpham, mola...it was great to finally meet youse guys! *


Great meeting you, man. Gotta get my sounds upgrade soon, especially after listened to yours all.

Cheers,
TP.


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## RKT BMR (Sep 7, 2002)

I got 28k miles out of my pilot sports.

At great risk to my life, more times than I care to admit.  

The tires were ready to be replaced at 18k, and shouldn't have been run beyond that. At that point, the rears were close to the wear bars. By 28k, they were slicks. :yikes: 

I replaced them monday with Potenza S03's, and won't make the same mistake again out of laziness.

Drive safe, buds! :thumbup:


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## WAM (Jan 30, 2002)

Dan,

I think you'll love the new Pilot Sports more.

I was reading an article in one of the Porsche mags, GT, I think, where they tested it against the old Pilot sport.

The authors verdict on the tire was that it was a revelation!

If I remember correctly, the lap times at the Michelin track were 2 secs quicker in the dry, 4 secs quicker in the wet. :thumbup:


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