Continental vs Khumo

I am one of the brave ones (or reckless fools) to stay on RE92s. time to change

No more than 120 $ per tire , from tire rack.

Chicago weather...includes 2-3 snowstorms a year...plenty of wet weather, cold and windy, icy conditions sometimes.

225-45-R17

Continental Conti Extreme Contact 114 dollars

Khumo Ecsta ASX 81 dollars

 

Prices from Tire Rack.

 

Are 30 dollars a tire worth the difference in all weather performance ? Whhat else in that price range to put on stock rimz !!! Thanks.

I assume you are looking for an all season?

Have had both tires. Conti is hands down winner in my book, and worth the extra $$.

Falken ZIEX ZE-512s are excellent in the wet, especially at high-speed straight-line hydroplane resistance. If you do a lot of highway driving in the wet, this might be a good match for you.

 

They're OK in snow/slush as long as you monitor tire pressures.

 

Ice is the bane of their existence, though - exacerbated by the typically ultra-low temperatures that you'd likely see when such conditions are present.

 

Treadwear is another concern as well.

 

They definitely do fit well within your budget, though, and are a good set of wet/foul-weather biased high-performance all-seasons that offer decent grip in the dry (slightly below that of the Pirelli P-Zero Nero and Toyo Proxes in the dry-handling department, but excel above both when the weather starts getting worse).

I am one of the brave ones (or reckless fools) to stay on RE92s. time to change

No more than 120 $ per tire , from tire rack.

Chicago weather...includes 2-3 snowstorms a year...plenty of wet weather, cold and windy, icy conditions sometimes.

225-45-R17

Continental Conti Extreme Contact 114 dollars

Khumo Ecsta ASX 81 dollars

 

Prices from Tire Rack.

 

Are 30 dollars a tire worth the difference in all weather performance ? Whhat else in that price range to put on stock rimz !!! Thanks.

 

I'm in your same boat and will buy new tires before the winter. I was leaning towards the Contis. I'm also trying to figure out if I should order them from tirerack or go to discount tire and get them there. the contis are $660 at discount tire installed, including taxes and disposal fees (also included lifetime balancing and rotations, and warranty). The only issue with TR is that I have to get them installed locally, but where? Some shops charge 15-20 bucks a tire, plus disposal fee and no lifetime balancing/rotations. Decisions decisions. I'm interested in what you decide....

If you go for Conti's they have a higher than normal defect rate. They are decent tires but IMHO buying from a local is a lot less hassle if you need to return or exchange them.

Falken ZIEX ZE-512s

 

I aggree, I had these in the past and they are great in the wet stuff. $85 at discounttiredirect.com with free shipping! I am picking up another set soon as well to replace the stockers.

I must be one of the few who absolutely hates the conti extremes. Horrible tire in my opinion....dry traction was pathetic. Wet traction and snow traction was decent.

I'm in your same boat and will buy new tires before the winter. I was leaning towards the Contis. Decisions decisions. I'm interested in what you decide....

 

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/kumho_ecsta_asx.jsp

 

http://www.tirerack.com/images/tires/tests/kumho_ecsta_asx/chart6.gif

 

Apparently, in scientific tests, Humho does better than the others but in driver preference the other two have the edge. We are not gonna see THAT MUCH snow in Chicago, plus with a few inches on the ground no tire (not even winter tire) will really help unless it got spikes. Mayor Daley plows streets quite well, highways will always be clear.

 

I am leaning towards Kumho Ecsta ASX, they"re decent, far better than the OEM and cheap enough that if you blow one...you can afford another one w/o much hassle.

 

There's a tire shop close to 6 corners and yesterday they said they will mount them for me and even buy back my old tires with 20k miles on them...I am sure that if put on a civic or something they"re gonna be ok...plenty of thread available...plus a brand new OEM that is my spare. If I recover the cost of one tire...I am cool (or at least the cost of mounting, balancing etc)

curious..did you have them on the LGT or another car?

 

I had them on my old 2.5 RS. Sold the car with those tires on them. The car had prodrive springs and a 20mm sway bar and to be honest I liked the potenza's better than the conti extremes.

 

I will add that if you increas the psi by about 5lbs they do perform better. Overall I was still disappointed after hearing all the hype about those tires.

had asx's on an SHO 16s great tire saved my life .... twice

had the conti extreme contact on another car and it was a nice wearing, quiet tire. but performance wise, my current P Zero Neros are better. They work well in the snow, are good in the rain, and are decent on dry. Just a good overall AS tire.

 

Get the P Zero Neros instead. Or try the Falkens, heard good things about them...

Falken 512's were just ok for me, had a set on my 04 Forester XT - good wet traction, but very soft sidewalls didn't feel great. Treadwear wasn't all that great considering the traction level, got about 30k out of them but almost all of that was highway driving - and they got very loud as they wore.

 

I replaced them with a set of Traction T/A's, that worked a lot better for me on that vehicle - I'd get a set for my OBXT but they only have the T rated ones in the correct size & it's a totally different tire than the H or V.

I recently purchased the Contis (225/40/18) after I found two irreparable punctures in my Falken 512's. The Contis are much more focused towards ride and comfort than the Falkens. I really enjoy the softer ride and quietness. If you're looking for performance, however, their softer compounds won't hold up to a more dedicated performance tire. But after 1000 miles, i'm really enjoying them.

I'm running the Falken 512's...although they're a little noisy for my taste, they got me through winter of 2005-06 just fine.

get the Kumho ASX

they are good

Yeah thanks everyone. The phenomenal user input, the great rating they have on Tire Rack, the "scientific" tests in which they often ranked second to Pirelli P-Zero Nero M/S have determined me to think that I am not compromising THAT MUCH by getting the cheaper tire. Do we get snow in Chicago ? Yes...but by and large streets will get cleared, and the interstate will be plowed. As long as they hold their own better in wet and light snow than the OEM Bridgestones...I cannot go wrong.

I plan on getting Conti's soon.

Contis....even after balance and alighnment

some people said that car pulls to right/left a little and vibrates like a mofo

it's most likely from the tread design

I autocrossed and rallycrossed my set of conti's this past month, they were in between the 2 600+ mile NYC-Detroit trips.

 

They've held up well, ride nicely and quietly on the crappy roads I drive on (you'll hear more of the trademark subaru wind noise from the mirror area), they were ok in the dirt, decent on the autocross (not as grippy as a summer tire, but breaksway very progressively), and after going through a heavy downpour between penn-nj, I can say they're good in the rain (mind you they already had like 15000 miles on them when I got them with my rims )

I bought the Kuhmo ASX and had them on my 1999 Subaru Legacy GT limited. They were great tires. Awesome in the rain, but did not get to test them in the snow. I think they would do fine in the snow, as long as you are not trying to haul ass and spin out your tires. I heard the conti's were more focused towards snow conditions, and are not as much of a performance / all season blend as the kuhmo. I think for the price of the kumho, they are the winner. Cheap price + great quality tires, kuhmo gets my appreciation! Now i would have like to tried them in the snow, but with subaru's AWD anyways, i think it would have been fine.

Loved the Kumhos on my last car. Still running stock on the Legacy now, but I would not hesitate to buy Kumhos again. That said, I have heard (but never owned) even better things about Falken...

 

***edit***

Kumho's deliver in the rain. I live in Florida and we have that market cornered...

Yea, i was also living in the rain at the time of my kumho purchase, these tires ROCK in the rain, and im sure they would do fine in the snow as well. Probably not as good as the conti's in heavy snow, but then again as long as your city plows, even heavy snowfall should not be much of a problem. We get TONS of snow up here in NH in the winter, and i think these tires would be fine for it, so long as you arent trying to race around in it.

What about Dunlop SP 5000? 215/45R17 are quite cheap from tirerack.

 

Krzys

I'm running Kuhmos...Absolutely love em, and I'm really pickey when it comes to tires. They kick a$$ in the dry and in the rain. Actually not too bad in the snow either, but I run Hankook Ice Bear 300's on my stock rims in the winter.

 

They are pretty quiet and comfortable for daily use too. They aren't in the same category as an all out high performance summer tire, but for a high performance all season these are about as good as you are gonna get.

 

Factor in the price and you can't go wrong.