I am looking for a quiet, smooth ride, decent treadwear tire in 235/45/17 size. Kumho 712's came up but I'm afraid ride comfort and noise will suffer being a high performance tire. My fiance drives the car now so I don't need anything high performance, any all season tire would do as long as it fits the above conditions. What about Pirelli P6000 or Dunlop SP 5000? Anyone have advice to give? Thanks.

 

Geez guys....thanks for the help.

 

I'm running the Kumoh 712's in that same size and am very pleased with the performance and ride. There is very little noise, I mostly hear the CAI. On the highway the ride is very smooth. Wet wheather traction is also very good. For the price you can't beat them. I replaced a set of Nitto 555's and I think I like the Kumoh's better.

 

I have a friend who put the Pirelli P6000 on his car. They seemed to do well in the rain and snow with good treadwear. But, I don't know how they compare on the Max.

 

They are pretty quiet Mr. Steele. And for harshness, they are softer riding than the Firestone SZ50s that I had.

 

According to Pirelli's website, they don't offer the P6000SV in a 17" size. They do offer the P7000SS though.

 

The kumho's are real nice tires unless your running on wet ground. I had kumhos on mine when i wrecked my car and i still feel if it wasn't for the tires I would have made it out safely

 

I disagree. I think the Kuhmos 712s are about as good as most tires in the wet out there. Tire Rack's reviews confirms this.

 

I have the Bridgestone Potenza RE030. They are the best tires I've ever had. Unfortunately they cost $220 each and there is no way I'm buying another set at that price. I bought a set of 00 GS400 wheels wrapped in them for less than the price of the tires. I'm definitely going with the Kumho when these tires wear out. My girlfriend's brother has them on his Integra and he loves them. If you concerned with hydro-planing, stay away from Nitto and Falkens my girlfriend's brother had both and the wheels spun like crazy on a 1.8L intergra LS Auto.

 

I agree with Jeff above... IF you were using the 712s and crashed because of wet roads... You must have done some extreme driving I have them now and I was looking for large puddles to see how they were... The puddles didn't even phase the large 712s I have... hardly felt it at all...
Plus they are quiet and comfortable.

 

Kumhos are racing tires. Forget them for the street. I'm on Bridgestone Potenza RE730's, the replacement for my older RE71's. Good sticky tires, very good in the wet and good enough for competitive autocrossing. The RE730's have a stiffer sidewall than the RE71's. They are comfortable, not too loud, and I got 25k miles out of my RE71's, even with autocrossing and a day at Sears Point Raceway. Of course, I drove them bald ....

 

Correction: Kumho OFFER racing tires. The Supra Esta 712 and the older 711 series tires were designed specificly for street use.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/kumho/ku_712.jsp

 

OK, I thought these were the tires for autocrossing, which are DOT rated as street tires, but with a tread wear rating around 60; last year as a rookie class autocrosser, I wasn't allowed to use Kumhos because of the low treadwear rating. It looks like they are closer to the Potenzas than I recalled. Here are some quotes from Tirerack customers:

Mazda Miata 1991 - Colorado Springs, CO
I own a Mazda Miata and went from some Potenza's to the Kumho Ecsta Supra 712. The Kumho's didn't stick as much as I thought they would, but for the price and treadwear I expect to get out of them, they're a good bargain. They work okay in the wet and in the snow they're atrocious. This is to be expected however. But for the money I spent, I'm very happy with the tire and have no real complaints to make.


Audi A4 1.8 Turbo Quattro 2000 - San Diego, CA
The tires are great for their cost, but not the greatest tire for the true driving enthusiast. Spending an extra $60/tire for the Yoko AVS Sports is worth it from my experience... They just don't hold up as well in extreme cornering like the RE730s or AVS Sports

 

Hey Don,

If you want a quiet tire, and not worried about performance, get the Dunlop SP5000's... those were quiet! but being an all season/wet, not too much performance. The ride is soft. Now with the 712's, they are louder, but not too bad. Ride is noticably stiffer than the SP5000's. the SP5K lasted a good while too.

-Shing

 

I have Pirelli P6000SV on my car, 15" SE rims though I don't think they are avail any larger. This is my second set and I like them, but I think I only got 40K at most out of the first set. . . You could probably find a tire that gives just as much performance with longer tread wear.