Any experiences with Kumho KH31?

[ReggNoble]

Cant find too much info on this tire but it is sold in 185/55/15 on onlinetires.com.
Even the Kumho USA site has no info on these.
I am assuming they are grand touring summer tires.
Considering the Yokohama S.Drives but would like a grand touring summer for the smoother/quieter ride.
I do have a set of 2002 miata wheels with Michelin Xice2 and would like to move to a summer tire to replace my stock Yokos.

 

[skullsroad]

I haven't driven on those but the Kumho KH line is mediocre at best. I wouldn't bother with the "summer" and "all season" labels either. Just get the best tire you can afford.

 

[EF9]

Solus KH 16's here. Lasted only a year on a stock civic. Pathetic. Wasn't even worth going back to complain about since the tires were so crappy. Mediocre grip at best, meh to ohsht grip when wet and the wearing is so poor that the several tire rotations probably didn't help the wear.

 

[ngd298]

I had 2 Kumho Ecsta 4X tires on my 2 and liked them pretty well. Good improvement over the stock tires, but they didn't last very long. Bottom line- good brand of tire but there are much better out there, like Michelin or BFG. Probably doesnt help since its a completely different tire, but it is the same brand.

 

[ReggNoble]

I really don't want to change tire sizes from the stock, so my choices are limited.
Love my Michelin Xi2 for what it is, so I agree on the brand thing.
Guess my best choice for a summer tire in 185/55/15 would be the Yoko S.Drive

 

[skullsroad]

Yeah I would go that route. They ride smooth for what they are. Just don't expect them to be a long term investment. The trade off is more smiles in the twisty bits, however.

 

[zps2004]

Any reason you have to keep the stock size? There are a lot of options in a 195/50/15. I have star specs on one set of wheels and some BFG G-force sport 2's on another set of wheels. Star specs are my DD tire for the 2.

 

[tehpeach]

Any reason you have to keep the stock size? There are a lot of options in a 195/50/15. I have star specs on one set of wheels and some BFG G-force sport 2's on another set of wheels. Star specs are my DD tire for the 2.

This. The 2 is so light you can get a lot of use out of a set of star specs, and even R1R's. Forget the latter if you're in a cold climate though. I'm buying going to try to get a set of the "special" compound R1R's, I believe they only come in 195 width. I live in New England and they'll be my summer/autox tire and then I'll throw some snows on my stock wheels. A friend is going on his 3rd? maybe 4th season of the same R1R's for summer tires on his daily driver/STS miata. Plenty of tread left.

 

[ReggNoble]

zps2004,

I feel the 2 is so underpowered and the extra weight of a wider tire would not provide that much benefit compared to just moving to a performance tire of the same size. This is my own weird way of keeping everything as light as possible.
My stock yokos are still good on tread so i have time to decide

 

[eyeballs]

I'm running a 195/50 but since my wheels weigh under 11 lbs each there is no extra weight.

 

[zps2004]

GRM did an article on wheel weights and did autocross runs, and dyno runs on a Miata. One with light wheels and then some 22lbs wheels. There was basically no noticeable difference.

The star specs are only 2lbs heavier then the stock tires according to Tirerack, and they are such a better tire. Besides a 195/50 is a slightly smaller diameter so you will have better gearing technically.

I am all against weight as well. I am putting a 11lbs braille in my car and going to be building an aluminum exhaust for it this summer. With tires there is a lot more to consider than just the weight, I would take the extra grip any day.

 

[Ryno666]

GRM did an article on wheel weights and did autocross runs, and dyno runs on a Miata. One with light wheels and then some 22lbs wheels. There was basically no noticeable difference.

The star specs are only 2lbs heavier then the stock tires according to Tirerack, and they are such a better tire. Besides a 195/50 is a slightly smaller diameter so you will have better gearing technically.

I am all against weight as well. I am putting a 11lbs braille in my car and going to be building an aluminum exhaust for it this summer. With tires there is a lot more to consider than just the weight, I would take the extra grip any day.

Agree 100%.

 

[eyeballs]

Yea I read that article too, and I still searched for light wheels. In the end, all other factors being equal, the lighter car will be faster (theoretically, but apparently not always in testing). Faster to accelerate, faster to change direction, faster to slow down. The conclusion of that article let me down. I plan on going with the odyssey battery, its a few more lbs than the braille but the car actually starts up normally, and I think its a little cheaper.

 

[zps2004]

Lighter will be faster, but unless it is a full racecar/autocrosser then does it really matter? Also as far as the tires go the star specs will still be faster then the other options presented so the weight point isn't really there. Even the BFG's would have more grip, but they are noisy. Not to happy with them on my Miata. Also I really like the Falken 912's, for how cheap they are they perform great. Pretty sure you can get them in a 195/50.

The car starts just fine on a 11.5lbs braille.

 

[eyeballs]

I ran a braille in my wrx for awhile, and always took a fair number of cranks to get it going and I'd frequently ask myself "is it going to start today?" while cranking. I also didn't drive that car every day so that may have had something to do with it. Man that battery was tiny though.

I'm a fan of the 912's as well for an all-season. I think I've had at least 3 sets of them on various vehicles for daily driving.