Hammerevo

I recently purchased from Tire Rack, a set of Kumho Ecsta V700 tires, for use at driving schools and track days. I also had Tire Rack heat cycle and do the recommended shaving so they would wear better. A few weekends back, I attended a BMW CCA driving school for the first go with the new rubber and I had one tire that decided to come apart. The drivers side front definitely got most of the wear at Pueblo, and I expected it to wear, but it started chunking midway through the day. I even moved the fronts to the rear. The other three tires seemed to wear ok and were all worn about the same. I can’t believe that there could be huge chunks and cuts out of the tire after one track day? I was assuming I could get about 6 or 7 hard track days out of these according to the reviews I read.

I decided to send pictures to Tire Rack and see if it was faulty or if something could be done. Tire Rack was great through the process, very concerned for me as a customer. I had a sales rep ask me some questions on air pressures, the track, my setup and said he sent it off to Kumho. I waited several weeks to hear,

“The motorsports group feels the tire has simply worn out. Basic
set up and inflation pressures look good. But from the rolled appearance
of the tread rubber, it looks like the tire experienced too much slip
angle. Pueblo Motorsports Park has mostly right hand turns, so it’s no
surprise the left front is showing the most wear. There may also be a
fair amount of understeer in the vehicle set up, as both front tires (on
for 20 laps) are showing more wear than the rear tire from the same
side. I would encourage working the set up to reduce the understeer, and
tuning the driving style to avoid sliding the tires.”

So Kumho basically tells me the obvious, that PMP is mostly right hand turns, that my car setup is wrong, and that I should change my driving style. If they would have just replaced the tire, or even sold me a discounted one, they would have been good in my book. After this experience I would not recommend buying Kumho Ecsta V700 tires for road racing or track days, they are not good and Kumho doesn’t back them up. Spend the extra money on a better tire, it’s worth it. This tire might be more suited for Auto-X or any situation where you don’t get them too warm. Their customer service needs a little work too.