A forumer asked for tire opinions. I wrote a book, thought I'd share it here too.
11-29-2001, 07:12 PM
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A forumer asked for tire opinions. I wrote a book, thought I'd share it here too.
I have owned all of these tires on my TT. I'd love to hear comments about the Kumhos from some, we haven't talked about this in a while.
RE040
1. Ride quality: Even compromise between luxury and sport
2. Dry grip: Good. Capable at the track but third of the three
3. Wet grip (includes driving in deluges): Dangerous. Slow down or slide even when new
4. Noise: nicely quiet. The TT is designed to give the driver some tire noise as road feedback IMHO.
5. Treadwear: 140 Worst of the three. Typical for an OEM choice tho. Get people to buy the same tires often. Wore bald by 11K with 1 track weekend.
6. Pure cornering (sidewall stiffness): Capable for a car of this class, however worst of the 3
7. Coolness (tread pattern, etc): none Boring.
8. Problems: sidewall too soft for weight and cornering ability of car. Audi paid for 3 of 4 tires with sidewall bubbles. Seemed to attract nails. My friends called these tires "magnetic" LOL!
RE730
1. A bit harsh. Very sporty.
2. Very good. Tended to bounce a little due to hard sidewall but better than 040.
3. Good. Potenzas should have good wet as they are named after Bstones pro race rain tire. These lived up. 80% speed in thunderstorms.
4. Noisier from the start but not bad. Then at 4000 miles or so they started singing. Bstone bought them back from me for this common issue.
5. Good. 280 Easily a 20K tire
6. Excellent. Best of the 3. You could throw the car into a turn at speed and control it easily due to stiffness of sidewall.
7. Aggressive V-shaped pattern.
8. Cupped in an odd way. Not a suspension problem nor alignment. Bstone replaced tires. Major symptom was noise.
Kumho
1. Trends back to luxury. Absorbs the little things nicely but still gives good feedback. Hey, it's a touring car not a pure sports car.
2. Excellent. Some magical tread compound makes them wear longer than the 040 but grip better.
3. Best of show. Huge rain channel and aggressive V tread pattern. I have plowed through 3" of standing water with hardly a pull.
4. Nicely quiet. Perhaps not quiet as quiet as the 040 but close.
5. Treadwear is high 200's I think. 3500 miles and I can't tell they're used. They also have a neat feature where they tell you when to rotate based on wear indicators.
6. Not as good as RE730 but you get a nicer ride. Still, I can take my "test corner" faster than the other tires.
7. Great V pattern. "Aquatread" like groove negates coolness factor. Safety in rain negates "Aquatread" factor.
8. None. There is no compromise here. Must have cheap labor in Korea. Again, the price is the price and the tires are as good as any.
Kumhos are $101 at Tire Rack.
RE040
1. Ride quality: Even compromise between luxury and sport
2. Dry grip: Good. Capable at the track but third of the three
3. Wet grip (includes driving in deluges): Dangerous. Slow down or slide even when new
4. Noise: nicely quiet. The TT is designed to give the driver some tire noise as road feedback IMHO.
5. Treadwear: 140 Worst of the three. Typical for an OEM choice tho. Get people to buy the same tires often. Wore bald by 11K with 1 track weekend.
6. Pure cornering (sidewall stiffness): Capable for a car of this class, however worst of the 3
7. Coolness (tread pattern, etc): none Boring.
8. Problems: sidewall too soft for weight and cornering ability of car. Audi paid for 3 of 4 tires with sidewall bubbles. Seemed to attract nails. My friends called these tires "magnetic" LOL!
RE730
1. A bit harsh. Very sporty.
2. Very good. Tended to bounce a little due to hard sidewall but better than 040.
3. Good. Potenzas should have good wet as they are named after Bstones pro race rain tire. These lived up. 80% speed in thunderstorms.
4. Noisier from the start but not bad. Then at 4000 miles or so they started singing. Bstone bought them back from me for this common issue.
5. Good. 280 Easily a 20K tire
6. Excellent. Best of the 3. You could throw the car into a turn at speed and control it easily due to stiffness of sidewall.
7. Aggressive V-shaped pattern.
8. Cupped in an odd way. Not a suspension problem nor alignment. Bstone replaced tires. Major symptom was noise.
Kumho
1. Trends back to luxury. Absorbs the little things nicely but still gives good feedback. Hey, it's a touring car not a pure sports car.
2. Excellent. Some magical tread compound makes them wear longer than the 040 but grip better.
3. Best of show. Huge rain channel and aggressive V tread pattern. I have plowed through 3" of standing water with hardly a pull.
4. Nicely quiet. Perhaps not quiet as quiet as the 040 but close.
5. Treadwear is high 200's I think. 3500 miles and I can't tell they're used. They also have a neat feature where they tell you when to rotate based on wear indicators.
6. Not as good as RE730 but you get a nicer ride. Still, I can take my "test corner" faster than the other tires.
7. Great V pattern. "Aquatread" like groove negates coolness factor. Safety in rain negates "Aquatread" factor.
8. None. There is no compromise here. Must have cheap labor in Korea. Again, the price is the price and the tires are as good as any.
Kumhos are $101 at Tire Rack.
11-29-2001, 08:35 PM
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After 1500 miles on 040, I have about 4000 on Kumhos.
Generally agree with your comments on these two tires, nicely done. However, I have the Kumhos in 235/40/17. Funny, when I compared them to the RE040s, they did not appear to be 10mm wider either at the tread or the sidewall "bulge". Definitely more firm than the RE040s but not harsh, and pretty quiet. After two sets of P7000 on my GTI, I can't stand the noise any more!!!
11-30-2001, 03:54 AM
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I am in Florida but I can assure you you don't want a tire with the Kumho's speed rating
in snow. I have learned enough here to tell you if you need snows or not I think. If you are north of Charlotte, NC get snows. 
