Kumho Ecsta V700 Review: Don't buy them

hammerevo · Oct 30, 2009, 02:25 PM

I recently purchased from Tire Rack, a set of Kumho Ecsta V700 tires, for use on track days. I also had Tire Rack heat cycle and do the recommended shaving so they would wear better. A few weekends back, I went to Pueblo Motorsports Park for the first go with the new rubber and I had one tire that decided to come apart. The drivers side front definitely gets most of the wear at Pueblo, and I expected it to wear, but it started chunking midway through the day. I even moved the fronts to the rear halfway through. The other three tires seemed to wear ok and were all worn about the same. I was assuming I could get about 6 or 7 hard track days out of these according to the reviews I read.

I decided to send pictures to Tire Rack and see if it was faulty or if something could be done. The sales rep, Neal, asked me some questions on air pressures, the track, my setup and he sent it off to Kumho. I waited several weeks to hear,

“The motorsports group feels the tire has simply worn out. Basic set up and inflation pressures look good. But from the rolled appearance of the tread rubber, it looks like the tire experienced too much slip angle. Pueblo Motorsports Park has mostly right hand turns, so it’s no surprise the left front is showing the most wear. There may also be a fair amount of understeer in the vehicle set up, as both front tires (on for 20 laps) are showing more wear than the rear tire from the same side. I would encourage working the set up to reduce the understeer, and tuning the driving style to avoid sliding the tires.”

So Kumho basically tells me the obvious, that PMP is mostly right hand turns, that my car setup is wrong, and that I suck at driving. Ok, thats how I took it. Thanks a lot Kumho, great way to do business. I got 70 miles out of that tire...

As I told Tire Rack, if they would have just replaced the tire, or even sold me a discounted one, they would have been good in my book. Since Kumho basically added insult to injury, I have to recommend no one buying Kumho tires, they are ok tires but Kumho doesn’t back them up. Their customer service needs work too. Bottom line is, no tire should chunk after a half day of track driving.

For the record, Neal at the Tire Rack was very helpful in this matter. Thanks Neal. This is in no way a slam on Tire Rack.

rawkus · Oct 30, 2009, 02:29 PM

Do you feel as if your car understeers a lot? I have been chasing that problem on my Evo with very little budget to make any changes, but I am starting to dial it out and tire wear is becoming more even.

I can beat the hell of my driver's front tire with one day on the track pretty easily from my experience

Dan

RaNGVR-4 · Oct 30, 2009, 02:31 PM

Kumho is correct.

You were likely overdriving into corners as well. Which would overheat and chunk the tires

And why would you buy V700s? Thats a very old tire.

DaWorstPlaya · Oct 30, 2009, 02:31 PM

I believe the Kumho V700 and V710 are primarily for Auto-x. Too soft of track days and a heavy car like the EVO.

**Neal@tirerack.** · Oct 30, 2009, 02:31 PM

Again sorry things turned out like that. I'll shoot you back a reply to your email before I leave tonight on what we discussed.

hammerevo · Oct 30, 2009, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rawkus

Do you feel as if your car understeers a lot? I have been chasing that problem on my Evo with very little budget to make any changes, but I am starting to dial it out and tire wear is becoming more even.

I can beat the hell of my driver's front tire with one day on the track pretty easily from my experience

Dan

My car understeers a little. All AWD cars understeer a little, but every track day I've had, my tires have worn pretty evenly. So my balance is pretty good. I have never experienced this kind of wear on one tire, and have never had to rotate tires at the track.

hammerevo · Oct 30, 2009, 02:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RaNGVR-4

Kumho is correct.

You were likely overdriving into corners as well. Which would overheat and chunk the tires

And why would you buy V700s? Thats a very old tire.

Actually, it was a cool October day and I was not overdriving at all. I had a BMWCCA instructor in the car with me his feedback says otherwise. I bought V700s because I heard good things and the price was right.

hammerevo · Oct 30, 2009, 02:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neal@tirerack.

Again sorry things turned out like that. I'll shoot you back a reply to your email before I leave tonight on what we discussed.

Thanks Neal. I appreciate your help.

rawkus · Oct 30, 2009, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hammerevo

My car understeers a little. All AWD cars understeer a little, but every track day I've had, my tires have worn pretty evenly. So my balance is pretty good. I have never experienced this kind of wear on one tire, and have never had to rotate tires at the track.

You can actually dial out understeer completely on Evo's, especially with a modification like a TRE Rear Differential. My car is pretty neutral off throttle with a bit of understeer on throttle in high speed turns.

I have experienced that wear on the driver's front before, especially when I first got the car and was dealing with the previous owners setup of the suspension.

Assuming you haven't made any changes, the Tein Flex coilover is somewhat similar to the Cuscos I run in that Japanese suspension companies tend to run higher spring rates up front than in the rear. Due to the motion ratio of the Evo's Front suspension being very different than the Rear suspension (MacPherson Strut vs MultiLink) this GENERALLY will dial in understeer.

One of the best modifications I have done so far was increasing rear spring rate. You are running esentially a 9k Front Spring with 8k Rear. I would suggest perhaps a 10-11k spring in the Rear.

My ride quality did not change dramatically, in fact I could dial down the rear damping a bit and the car felt more stable.

This greatly improved my tire wear, though the fronts will still get beat up more than the rear, I rotate tires constantly for the most even wear.

I also increased ride height in the rear and was very pleased with this decision.

Hope this helps

Dan

JohnDoe1984 · Oct 30, 2009, 03:03 PM

If you could do it again which tire do you think you might buy or what are you getting next time?

Nitto NT05's?

hammerevo · Oct 30, 2009, 03:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rawkus

You can actually dial out understeer completely on Evo's, especially with a modification like a TRE Rear Differential. My car is pretty neutral off throttle with a bit of understeer on throttle in high speed turns.

I have experienced that wear on the driver's front before, especially when I first got the car and was dealing with the previous owners setup of the suspension.

Assuming you haven't made any changes, the Tein Flex coilover is somewhat similar to the Cuscos I run in that Japanese suspension companies tend to run higher spring rates up front than in the rear. Due to the motion ratio of the Evo's Front suspension being very different than the Rear suspension (MacPherson Strut vs MultiLink) this GENERALLY will dial in understeer.

One of the best modifications I have done so far was increasing rear spring rate. You are running esentially a 9k Front Spring with 8k Rear. I would suggest perhaps a 10-11k spring in the Rear.

My ride quality did not change dramatically, in fact I could dial down the rear damping a bit and the car felt more stable.

This greatly improved my tire wear, though the fronts will still get beat up more than the rear, I rotate tires constantly for the most even wear.

I also increased ride height in the rear and was very pleased with this decision.

Hope this helps

Dan

Thanks Dan, that is a lot of good info. When this happened, I actually had my stock bilstein setup on, with Tein S-techs. So there was definitely a little understeer. Thats interesting about raising your ride height in the rear. Thanks man!

hammerevo · Oct 30, 2009, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnDoe1984

If you could do it again which tire do you think you might buy or what are you getting next time?

Nitto NT05's?

Yes, I have heard good things about the NT05, maybe the Yok A048 or the BFG R-1. I dont know yet, I need to get some recommendations.

MrCasual · Oct 30, 2009, 03:15 PM

Thanks for the info, i was looking to buy tires from Tire Rack, they have great deals but so many brands i never heard of.

**SmikeEvo** · Oct 30, 2009, 03:19 PM

I ran a set of season old V700s at Winged Warrior. Even with a seasons AX on them, they still had a good 2-3 events on them.

But that is AX. I never tracked on them.

I agree with others here. You can dial out understeer.

Ahhhh, S-Techs are terrible!!!

**Neal@tirerack.** · Oct 30, 2009, 03:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrCasual

Thanks for the info, i was looking to buy tires from Tire Rack, they have great deals but so many brands i never heard of.

Call me