[joseph_liu]

Hey guys....

Well my RSA's have 21K on them now and they are shot.

I looked at tirerack and I am thinking about going with the Kumho ECSTA ASXs.

Any opinions on these tires?

I'm either going with these or the Avon Techs.

What do you guys think?

Thanks!
Joseph

 

[Midnight_Speeder]

They seem to be a board favorite. As far as I know, a lot of people have them.

 

[Saint]

I just bought the Kuhmo SPT's and they are awesome! Great handling in the rain which is important to me and absolutly great during dry weather. I got 225/50 r17s for mine. They are really nice tire compared to the RSA's. I actually feel they are better than the old BFG G-sports that I had before on my previous car.

~Saint

 

[autoxer]

Personally i don't like them. The compound is too hard for good dry weather traction. But have heard they are decent in snow/rain.

Saint: 225/50/17??...a 50 series seems kinda tall...

 

[Saint]

Yea 225/50 r17s. Same as stock. I figured that without a drop in the near future that having a smaller size would look odd. Basically my tires look like the stock size but just a bit wider.

~Saint

 

[autoxer]

my stock tires were 205/50/17....?? did they change the size?

 

[Saint]

Right. Stock is 205/50 r17

The 205 being the width of the tire. 50 being the hight and r17 being the rim size. They are the same hight as the stock rsa's but a bit wider. On my previous post I ment the hight was the same as stock, being the "50". Sorry for not explaining what exactally I was talking about.

Here is where I got my information before I chose the tire size that I wanted
http://www.discounttire.com/dtcs/infoSidewall.dos
~Saint

 

[drumboy]

[quote author=joseph_liu link=topic=67741.msg1166549#msg1166549 date=1169655651]
Hey guys....

Well my RSA's have 21K on them now and they are shot.

I looked at tirerack and I am thinking about going with the Kumho ECSTA ASXs.

Any opinions on these tires?

I'm either going with these or the Avon Techs.

What do you guys think?

Thanks!
Joseph
[/quote]

Joseph, I got experience with both Avon Tech MS550 and Kumho ASX tires in 215/50/17 size. I have two mazda hatchbacks with Avons on mine and Kumhos on my girlfriend's. If I had to do it again (and I will soon), I would go with Kumhos. Here is why: ride comfort. Avons handle a bit better in every category, including rain and snow, but they are stiffer in sidewalls. I have to run my tires at 30 or 31 PSI year round, to get close to a comfort I had with RSA. The reason so many manufactures put Good Eagle RSA tires on their vehicles is ride comfort. They seem to have a sweet spot between ride comfort and acceptable handling.

Also, two things to keep in my mind: treadware rating. Kumho ASX tire has a higher rating, which mean that it will last longer. I have had Avons on my car since I picked at the dealership because I hated my girlfriend's Goodyear RSAs, and I have put 20000 miles on them so far. I am a fairly aggresive driver and expect them to last me 'til the beginning of the summer (or until I reach 25000 miles or so). Then I am going to buy Kumhos. You cannot beat that tire for the price. Good luck!

 

[dread]

50 is not the height it is height relative to width so a 225 50 is going to be a lot taller than a 205 50 and probably wont fit your car. I just got the asx's and there are much quieter than the rsa, they seem to hold the road better and have a stiffer side wall but absorb bumps in the road better than the rsa's. I am pretty impressed with the tire.

 

[greyzoomer]

I have Avon Tech MS550's I bought to replace the POS RSA's. I'm happy with them so far. Only have about 800 miles on them, and we have had a little bit of snow and they are a world of difference from RSA's. The price on the Avon's was what I could afford. It honked me off that I had to replace the RSA's so soon with only about 12000 miles on them, but they were too dangerous to continue driving with in the snow and wet. I know alot of people on this forum go with the Kumho's and it sounds like they are happy with their choice too.

 

[Saint]

[quote author=dread link=topic=67741.msg1166910#msg1166910 date=1169665702]
50 is not the height it is height relative to width so a 225 50 is going to be a lot taller than a 205 50 and probably wont fit your car. I just got the asx's and there are much quieter than the rsa, they seem to hold the road better and have a stiffer side wall but absorb bumps in the road better than the rsa's. I am pretty impressed with the tire.
[/quote]
Really now? Maybe you can explain how my Kuhmo 225/50 r17s fit perfectlly on my car with no rubbing and are actually a half centimeter smaller than the RSA's at 32 psi.

~Saint

 

[dmention7]

[quote author=Saint link=topic=67741.msg1167023#msg1167023 date=1169668923]
[quote author=dread link=topic=67741.msg1166910#msg1166910 date=1169665702]
50 is not the height it is height relative to width so a 225 50 is going to be a lot taller than a 205 50 and probably wont fit your car. I just got the asx's and there are much quieter than the rsa, they seem to hold the road better and have a stiffer side wall but absorb bumps in the road better than the rsa's. I am pretty impressed with the tire.
[/quote]
Really now? Maybe you can explain how my Kuhmo 225/50 r17s fit perfectlly on my car with no rubbing and are actually a half centimeter smaller than the RSA's at 32 psi.

~Saint
[/quote]

Dread is correct. The second number is the sidewall height as a ratio of the tread width. If you increase the aspect ratio while keeping the tire width the same, you'll get a taller sidewall. If anything, you should be the one doing the explaining... I mean, you wouldn't ask us to tell you why a pair of size 32 pants feels looser on you than a size 36 would you? lol

:arrow: http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

 

[Saint]

Boy don't I feel like an ass. haha. Ok I thought discount had put on 225/50 r17s but they actually put on 225/45 r17s. So yea you where right dread, my bad. I don't know why I figured they put 50's on. I'm just going to leave my previous "jerk" post alone. Sorry bout that.

~Saint

 

[dmention7]

:doh:

 

[maguiresean]

I put the Kumho ECSTA ASX on after 19K ( 1 year ) with the RSAs- looked at the Avon ratings on Tirerack and figured for the $$ plus what others have written here the Kumhos were the way to go.
Some rain and the Kumho's are better than the RSAs, maybe more road noise. No real snow yet.

So the answer for you is yes (its what I did )

 

[mz3szoomzoom]

For Chicago weather youre going to want better than the ASX for winter traction they are good in the winter but maybe have two sets of tires. I just bought a set of Potenza G009 Im loving them so far for winter driving but havent gotten to test them in the spring or summer.

 

[joseph_liu]

Thanks for the advice guys!

I'm going to go with the Kumho's

Joseph

 

[dread]

[quote author=Saint link=topic=67741.msg1167062#msg1167062 date=1169669907]
Boy don't I feel like an ass. haha. Ok I thought discount had put on 225/50 r17s but they actually put on 225/45 r17s. So yea you where right dread, my bad. I don't know why I figured they put 50's on. I'm just going to leave my previous "jerk" post alone. Sorry bout that.

~Saint
[/quote]

No problem I just don't want anyone to buy a set of tires that don't fit their car.

 

[Saint]

True that! I'm glad the people working at discount are smarter than me or I would prob. have a big problem right now :lol:

~Saint

 

[autoxer]

It's all good