There have been several tire threads over the last several months (I know because I have read most of them) about quite tires, long lasting tires, and cheap tires, so this one isn't much different other than maybe some of you have had a chance to try new ones.
I presently have 295 Kumho MXs, and like them. The issue is traction!! With my present mods, I have basically no traction (sound familure?) I can drive it off the line then ease hard into it and basically go up in smoke. Since there's no need to have power if you can't use it I am considering new tires. Since my wife's car is needing some, I thought it might be a good time to look at some options.
1. Keep the 295 Kumhos and live with the traction issue.
2. Get Nittos II 305's at $315 and have possible wet weather issues (along with low cash issues)
3. Get 285 F1 GS-D3s at $280, and lose thread width from my Kumhos
4. Get 285 Michelon Pilots at $350 and lose width and my budget.

I rarely go to the track, but I "need" to be able to get the power to the ground when necessary. Drag radials are out, because I go on several weekend trips each year, and to the mountains approx. twice a year. I'm definitly leaning toward the Nitto IIs, but the 6/32 tread depth and questionable wet weather handling that some of you have reported has got me worried.
If you've had 1st hand experience with any of these,(and you've got some decent power to put to the ground) give me your feedback
Thanks

 

Anyone??

 

How old are your Kumhos? Could they be getting hard because they're old (or older)? Are they exposed to sun all the time (i.e. do you park outside during the day)?
What is the width of your rear wheel? Why are you not considering 295/35-18 GS-D3s (you only mention the 285 size)?

 

My Kumhos are in excellent shape. They are just over a year old, with around 1500 miles on them and they spend their days sitting in a garage hidden form UVB rays
I was actually looking at the Discount tire web site, and just found the widest tire listed in an 18 for the Goodyear.
I guess the qustion is; would there be enough difference in traction to warrant the hugh difference in price. I guess the only people that could answer that would be guys that have had both.

 

Sorry, can't help you there. Good luck finding the answer.

 

I’m in the same situation shopping for tires. From what I’ve learned so far it seems the Kumho’s are pretty decent for dry traction. I’m having a hard time justifying the extra cost for the PS2’s and the GS-D3’s.

For what it’s worth Tire Rack carries both the Pilot PS2 and the GS-D3 in 295/35-18.

 

That's my point; without back to back comparisons, it's just subjective of what is considered, "good traction"
If someone's got a mostly stock A4, then most any tire will provide "great traction"
What would be cool to see, is a head to head match up of various tires and their 0-60 results on a mildly modified C5/A4 (for consistancy). Much like dyno testing different heads or other mods