Anyone try Kumho Ecsta XS?

[Nliiitend1]

Yup. 235/40R18 on stock springs. No rubbing issues as of yet (though I've still never had the back of the car loaded up much with this setup on the car).

 

[bluelion]

been considering gettin the XS or the MX for my replacements.... i have 18 X 7.5 with 45 offset.... could 235/40 fit without rubbing... are these tires wider than the 'stones? i'm still running my stock tires on the aftermarket wheels so i wouldn't want any rubbing...and i'm dropped on autoexe springs

 

[Rotus8]

Hey Rotus, any updated impressions of the XS ?

I'm real pleased with them. My commute tests them out every day, but only at about .7 (hey, it's the street!). Some of the back roads are quite a test though, and I wouldn't trade them for anything but DOT race tires. I haven't found their limit yet. They do act a bit weird if you break them loose on acceleration in the rain; they try to hook up, break loose, hook again, kinda violent. Don't even dream of using them in the snow.

 

[Nliiitend1]

OK, so I said I would chime in here after a chance to see how these perform at an autocross.

In a word...



Awesome.



These tires get VERY sticky when pushed a bit. Once hot, they're reasonably consistent (i.e., they don't really grease up) and they're pretty easy to feel as far as when they're about to let go. Yesterday's course was very slalom-heavy, with not much of a chance to see how they perform in say, a decreasing radius sweeper or a carousel, but they handled the back-and-forth nature of the slalom quite well, and they heated up very quickly.

Now, of course you have to keep in mind that these tires are not going to last a really long time if you plan to buy them. I have about 4500 miles on mine with 1 autocross on them and they are nearly half gone.

That being said, I got similar mileage out of the stock RE050As, so they're about as good as the stock tires as far as wear goes.

 

[bluelion]

well, i don't autocross nor drag race....i'll drive spiritly ever now and then. but thats it.... my stockers have 18k on them and i can prolly go even longer if i rotated them right now...but then i'll have slicker tires in the rear and honestly i don't want that.... with 7.5 wide wheels and 45 offset, will 235/40 be good? i don't really want 225/40....

 

[Nliiitend1]

Well a 7.5" wide wheel with a +45mm offset is going to have the outside edge of the rim sitting pretty much where the outside edge of my 18x8 +50mm offset wheels sit...but, a 235 tire will actually extend out further on the 18x7.5 +45mm wheel than on the 18x8 +50mm offset wheel...

To be safe, you should probably go with the 225, unless you're prepared for the possibility of needing to roll your fenders...

 

[leadf00t]

Thanks for the info guys, when I upgrade my tires I'll most likely get a set of these.