Tyre Choices - Falken FK452 or Kumho KU31s?

[AlpineTurbo]

I was all set to get the Falkens until I rang up me olde tyre place.

He said £80 for the Falken FK452s and £50 each all round for the Kumho KU31s (Fronts are 225/45R17, rears are 255/40R17). Rears in the Falkens are £95.

I also need to get the geometry sorted (I have just fitted 968 Castor mounts) and I'd like to get rid of the tramlining (Something I think the tyres are responsible for and geometry).

Question is which you go for out of the two? Whilst my dampers were changed 5-7 years ago I'd like to change them too for something like either Konis or Gaz items (depending on what the latter are like on the road).

I could get better tyres but at the moment anything will be better than two borderline P6000s and two rear P6000s (all of which are around 8 years old (yes, my car may have been a garage queen for some years before I started putting on the miles to it)).

[Brett928S2]

Hi

Umm those Kumho KU31 SHOULD be around £92 each fitted (www.blackcircles.com)

I would be a little worried about that low a price....

Personally I ALWAYS use Falken 452`s ...great in the dry and good in the wet....

Not tried Kumho KU31 so no opinion....

Wide low profile tyres normally do cause some tramlining but its the price you pay for that extra width of tyre...

All the best Brett

[tr7v8]

I run Falkens on the Jag replacing PZero Asymetricos & they are great, I've driven a 944 on Khumos & they were OK not enough to express an opinion though.

As for shocks how many miles has it done in that period, if not a lot then they will be OK? This will need a realignment after they are fitted so I'd do it all at once.

[watchcam]

I have heard Kumho's have a lot of margin in them. Does seem cheap though!
By the way if anyone is round the Warminster, Westbury way I recommend Pro Tyre. Always good service and prices!

[J.J.]

Khumo are working hard to shed there budget image. The KU 31 is the tyre if you have a Lotus elise if your into that sort of thing. No idea how they work on a '44 though. Would be a shot in the dark. Was going to try them next on mine. £50 is way too cheap though as you need all 4 balanced & new valves. + disposal of your old covers. £75 would be cheap. Did they fall off the back of a lorry??? Or is it £50 + £5 for a valve + 10 disposal + VAT + think of a number fiting charge.

[AerialAndy]

My tyre fitter was going on about the KU31s as they were only slightly cheaper then the FK452s (talking couple of quid here). I went for the Falkens in the end as they were a trusted brand name for performance tyre and I liked the look of the tread patten more (that's so shallow isn't it ) They've performed brilliantly even in this weather

Andy

[AlpineTurbo]

As said, I've known the tyre guy for a long time, and I guess it's being done at mate's rates . On other cars (my dad's (he's does stupid amount of miles a year (try 80,000 a year), no one can match the price on Kumhos for his car.

Put it this way, he's repaired punctures for me at very very cheap rates (yes, my dad does go through that many tyres a year).

The shocks have done around 30k in that time, but I was thinking that the age wouldn't have done them much good. ATM I'd doing around 10k a year in the car.

[David924S]

I had Kumho Ecsta sport on my S2 255/45/17 for around a year (they were on when I bought it) the only problems I had were the noise, tramlining and lack of rear grip, but I suspect the latter was more due to the low tread depth at the end.

When I replaced my tyres last year I almost bought Kumho again but decided against it due to the high road noise and went for Toyo T1Rs which were not much more expensive, have lasted well, have fantastic grip and low road noise plus the tramlining is nowhere near as bad.

[PaulSmith]

I have the Kumho's on both my cars and they seem very good for a budget tyre, especially in the wet. They replaced Michelin Pilot Sports which were positively useless in comparison

[AlpineTurbo]

After the trip back from EMC (for a cambelt tension check) I figured I'd kill two birds with one stone on my car, and went for the Kumhos in the end from my tyre fitter. They were a little more than £50 though (£130 for the pair), and I got a mate's puncture fixed on his Dolly Sprint too which was in the boot of my car.

After 40 miles, my wheel bearings don't sound like they are gone anymore at the front (they weren't, P6000s from past cars seem to be quite noisy), and my tramlining is near non existant now too . I guess I'll give my view to join the others once I put on a few more miles on them.

Paul, I'm glad you told me about the PS2s, I was considering them for when the rears wore out .

[J.J.]

Be interested to know how you get on with them. And how long they last!