At all cost I have to get the GY RF's off the car. But being as I just got the car a few weeks ago I'm low on cash. I've seen a lot of post about how good the KUMHO's are for the money and Pepboys has a deal of buy 3 get one free. What I need to know is what KUMHO model I should look at... also are they as wide as the GY RF's or can I go to the next size wider or not bother. I like the side walls profile and how wide the RF's are so i want to keep that look.
I'm a little concerned about the non RF part of this but it doesn't seem to bother many of you. And has anyone had Pepboys mount tired for you as in do they do a good job?

Thank you

 

The tires are not bad, especially when the price is right. Be advised that the Pep Boys deal only works if you have them install the tires. That may not be such a good idea.

 

You should talk to Ralphyboy, see what he thinks of his GY runflats!

 

I run kumhos ASX. I love them great tire for the $$. I just bought a compressor & plug kit that I keep in the center compartment in the back. Just incase......

 

Check Nitto's too

 

The OEM Runflats are very wide and have square corners.

Here are the widths from Tire Rack:
The OEM Goodyear runflats are EXTREMELY WIDE for their size. The tread width is even wider than the 295 Z06 tires, here are the specs (tread width)
-Goodyear F1 GS EMT (275) 10.3 inches
-Goodyear Z06 (295) 10.2 inches
-Firestone (275) 8.6 inches
-Goodyear F1 GS D3 (275) 9.4 inches
-Goodyear F1 GS-2 EMT (285, 19 inch diameter) 9.2 inches

The OEM Runflats get 3 mpg better mileage than Goodyear GS-D3s.

Regular tires will hook-up better and ride better. Surprisingly, a magazine found that OEM Runflats outhandled the GS-D3's !

A friend of mine was seriously injured when a car ran into his when he had a flat. Remote chance, yes but why take it.

The Michelins Runflats are an all-season tire, good in cold AND SNOW ! If you drive in these conditions they are great.

Firestone runflats are supposely NOT repairable after running flat.

Goodyear OEM Runflats can run up to 200 miles flat (longest by far of any), but then you can't re-use them. Usually if you only run 50 miles or less they can be fixed.

I am on my third set of OEM Runflats. I get 45,000 miles from back tires and 55,000 miles from fronts.

 

Just got Michelin run flats on my 2000 coupe at a Cadillac dealership. They matched Costco's price!!!! Though I did pay $65 additional for GM's 5 year road hazard warranty on the tires. Great tires, quiet, smooth, excellent grip! I recommend them for sure, and the Cadillac shop guys were pros handling runflats and tire pressure sensors. good luck!

 

$65.00 for 5 year warranty is a great price! I WISH MY TIRES WOULD LAST A YEAR!!!!

 

I got to give it to the stock RF's, I had the best time at the track out of 3 other corvettes (1 of them a 04 Z06) and I was the only one with the tires, all other vettes had Non-RF's. Heck there was even a 06 Z06 at the track and his best time was 12.9, but he was not getting traction AT ALL. Only thing I absolutly HATE is how the car jerks around on those tires.

 

According to a Bridgestone/Firestone Consumer Products Mnaager (Sales Engineering) in Nashville, TN, the Firestone runflats can in fact be repaired. I asked that question a number of years ago when I got a puncture on two of my Firestone runflats. Here is the text of his response:

When Bridgestone Firestone initially developed runflat tires for normal
production use, runflats were still a very new product and not too much
was known about their reparability. Bridgestone decided at that point
to label these tires as non-reparable until we could accumulate more
data regarding exactly how the tires were used in the market, what type of road hazard was typical, etc. We have been able to accumulate enough data now to pass judgment on that issue, and the answer is that yes, Bridgestone Firestone runflat tires are reparable.

We have made no changes to the tires from their initial introduction to
make them reparable, but we didn't have enough experience at that time to make that call. Therefore, your tires can now be considered
repairable. And your description of the repair procedure followed by
your local tire store (remove from the wheel, inspect, and repair with
patch & plug) is the proper method.

He further stated the following concerning the speed rating:

Our official position is yes, it does lose its speed rating. However, again that is really dependent upon the repair. And there is really another way of looking at it. You probably can’t drive at 186 mph (Y speed rating) in the USA. However, we have to make the tire with additional reinforcements, etc. to go 186 mph. Those extra reinforcements are what give the tire that handling and response. Those reinforcements are still in the tire and at highway speeds (< 85 mph) the tire durability will be fine and it will handle and respond the same as before.

With respect to losing the speed rating, my own personal thought is that I would not want to be driving at 186 mph on a tire that had even the slightest chance of being less than perfect. At half that speed, I still have time to react if I feel something strange. But at 186, everything is happening too fast (or so I’m told).

I know my repaired Firestones have performed just fine under normal driving conditions.

That being said, the Kuhmo tires seem to be pretty decent as evidenced by the comments here on the forum. If you decide to go with non-runflats, just be sure you are prepared for the possibility of a flat. I carry a small air compressor, a plug kit, a cell phone and have emergency road serivce/towing on my auto insurance.

 

I need more KUMHO input please. I saw someone wasn't thrilled with the idea of Pepboy's mounting them. Has anyone been using the tire for a while and had them mounted by Pepboys. The buy 3 get 1 free deal is pretty good if the tire is worth while. $98 for the fronts and $190 for the rears. I don't race the car so I don't care about that....
I'am alittle concerned with the non-RF issue here but it doesn't seem to bother many people here and the last time I had a BAD flat was 22 years ago.
So if there are rolling the KUMHO's please fill me in on the good the bad the ugly.

Thanks
Keith

 

Look at TOYO 245/R17 $150ea 275/40R18 $200ea installation was extra pluse road hazard. they are higher on the food chain. it's a good ride soft &Quiet as for price they don't cost much more then the Kumho's your looking at. Check out Tirerack.com they will ship them to a store of your choice. a firestone Goodyear anywhere they sell tires, anything is better then PepBoys. Good luck

 

yeah I was a bit concerned about Pepboys but so many people here have had such good things to say about the KUHMO's I wasn't sure what to do about them..... So all input helps ...thanks

 

Do a search on Tire Rack.com you'llsee best sellers,Kumho's are on there.

 

The Kumho Ecsta MX comes in C5 sizes and in C5 sized run-flats. I have had both on mine and am now running the run-flats for piece of mind. The difference in cost of the non-runflats won't pay for a roll back ride (or worse). I am very happy with wet and dry performance, but am not crazy about the ricey sidewall design. They are far superior in every way to the OEMs except maybe for treadwear life. TireRack has great service - I have never bought tires from PepBoys, but they have treated me well otherwise.

 

pepboys has them buy 3 get one free....Good DEAL?

 

what ever you do good LUCK see ya on the road

 

Thanks Korte for mentioning me. I had a 93 with Goodrich G-force KDW non runlats, and I loved them.My C5 03 has the Goodyear OEM runflats, and I really don't like them. They are REALLY noisey, and the car darts back and forth from lane to lane on certain road surfaces.It does react quickly to steering input, and I drove the car to North Carolina where my son goes to college in some heavy rain.It handled the wet weather very well. Having said that, I will never get these again for my car. Right now, they have too much tread to replace them, and I can't justify spending the money to replace them now. I've heard alot of good reports here about Firestone Firehawks, and Michelin runlats.The Firehawks are reasonably priced too. The reviews in Tire Rack are favorable for both tires. The overall review of the tires shows the Kumho's to be not as good as the other choices.However, alot of guys on the forum like them.Read the reviews on Tire Rack, and try to find someone in your area that has these tires and go for a ride with them if you can. I plan on doing that when I'm due for new rubber.I'm leaning towards the Michelins, because I like the idea of runflats. Tires are your most important safety factor, and means of getting power to the road. Is it worth it to save a few bucks for something so important? Choose wisely, read alot.

 

 

I've had the Kuhmo MX runflats for about a year now. I have been very happy with them. They perform better than the Goodyears and are less noisy. For the price, you would have a hard time beating them.

I basically got mine through Tire Rack and had a Goodyear store mount them for me. You want to make sure who ever is doing the work knows what they are doing. The side walls are very stiff.