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I recently had to replace a set of Kuhmo Ecsta ASX on my '04 Aero and thought I'd pass on a long term report on the tires.
First, a little history...
My Aero came shod with Pirelli P-Zero Rossos, which were fantastic tires when it came to grip and wet weather traction. However, as is often the case with spirited driving and soft compound tires, the tread life was less than stellar. For all intents and purposes, the tires were the equivalent of racing slicks by the time I hit 17.5k miles.
I put about 15k miles per year on my car, so the idea of dropping close to a grand every 12 to 14 months for new rubber was a bit daunting. After much research -- and more than a little help from this SAAB board (thank you everyone)-- I decided to give Kuhmo a try, and opted for the Ecsta ASX because they seemed like a good compromise between handling and tread life, and the price was certainly right.
Fast forward to this weekend, and it was time to replace the Kuhmos. It was a simple decision on what tire to go with next.
The answer?
Another set of Kuhmo Ecsta ASX.
These tires delivered in absolutely every way, and lived up to the information I had gathered when researching them 34260 miles ago! That's right... 34260k miles. Not bad for a high performance tire.
While they weren't quite as sticky as the original Pirellis, they had more than enough grip when pushing the car to the limit. Road noise on the Kuhmos was significantly less than with the Pirellis, and it wasn't until the last 5 to 7 thousand miles that the noise started to noticably increase as the tires began to get down to the final stages of good tread. Wet weather traction was far superior to the Pirellis, as was their ability to handle seams and edges in the road with almost no tracking.
Religious rotation schedule and a relatively high psi (42 front, 41 rear) probably contributed to the long tread life as well.
So there you have it. One man's experience with the Kuhmo Ecsta ASX who is, needless to say, a satisfied customer.
posted by 76.169.17...
, Sun, 27 Apr 2008 19:05:50, Sun, 27 Apr 2008 08:09:14
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