JD Kemp wrote:
> I've driven Lucretia on the Kumho's, wet and dry, a few times. They are
> skinny l'il 195*55*14's, and they're NOISY at almost any speed.
With an open top (or thin vinyl top for those rare occasions that it's
not down), I'm sure they're quite loud!
> I haven't
> noticed any difference in that as they've worn down in tread thickness.
> By noisy, I mean both that they pick up stuff and bombard the wheelwells,
> and that they just rumble, like an old 4X4 on Ground Hawgs.
Bummer. I was hoping they'd get a little quieter as the grooves became
more shallow.
> There's enough difference in ride to be noticeable as well, although with
> the Saturn it likely wouldn't be as much so, since you actually HAVE a
> suspension to take up for the bumps.
Actually, Saturns (in comparison to similar cars), tend to have a
somewhat harsh ride, especially prior to the '98 revision. Mine being
lowered with stiffer springs, stiffer swaybars, rock-hard Delrin
bushings and stiff 50 series tires is considerably more harsh than it
was when it was stock. But not so rough that my wife won't ride in it,
so I guess it's about right. I'm still running stock struts, so the
suspension has at least one area of "compliance" left, I don't think the
extra stiffness of an R-tire would be a Bad Thing.
> And, Bubba, watch 'em in the rain! I went for some wild rides coming home
> from wet events in Tallahassee with the R tires on the car. Although, in
> the MG, it was kinda cool to be able to spin the wheels at stoplights. This
> was after they had significant tread wear, so newer rubber might do better.
> (YMMV!)
This is my concern with the Kumhos and other "real" autocross tires.
Yeah, they might be durable enough for street use, and they might wear
well enough to keep me happy, but when I have to drive to work in the
rain with traffic flow going 70+, I wouldn't feel comfortable trying to
drive 40! (and the alternate routes would limit me to closer to 30,
probably 20 by the time you figure in traffic and stop lights)
> Hope this helps, and hey, I put that *K* word in the subject line for easy
> deletion by the "Kumho intolerant!"
I specifically left the K word out of my original title for that reason!
--
Loren Williams | Homepage - http://www2.southwind.net/~lsw
'94 Saturn SC2 | Wichita Region SCCA - http://www2.southwind.net/~scca
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