225/40 16" First Impressions

[Larry C Leung]

>amazing differences.  The steering is very crisp and I feel every 
>crack in
>the pavement.  The next thing I noticed was a bit unnerving, these 
>tires
>tramline very badly.  I can no longer drive with on hand on a less 
>than
>perfect road.  If the road has any contour to it these tires instantly 
>yank
>that direction, yes they yank, it isn't a gradual turn in.  It makes 
>for
>some busy driving to say the least, maybe this will get better as they 
>wear
>in.

They do. 


>    I did some slalom at 55mph on a wet back road to compare to the 
>old
>205/45 Dunlop SP9000's.  These tires are way more crisp into the turn, 
>no
>sliding that I could tell, just right into the turn.  I felt no hint 
>of
>sliding at the rear at 55mph and turning very sharply across the road, 
>very
>neat.  

I'm surprized. It took about 100 miles for mine to wear off the molding
compound, then they gripped. Until then, they were like driving on
greased pigs whenever it rained.


I was glad to finally see an almost "back to back" comparo to the vaunted
SP9K's. Helps me feel like my being an early "guinea pig" on trying the
Kumho 712's was worth it. I'm about to switch back to them this weekend
myself.

LL - NY

BTW - the Kumho's are a true summer tire, which is why I've waited until
now to switch off from the snows. I noticed at about 40 degrees F they
get slippery on even dry pavement. On wet below 40 F......... slip
sliding, away.....