Twosweet,
I've got Kuhmo Ecsta Supra 712's and they're great. Now bare in mind that I also have 18" Work Meister rims and my front tires are 225's and the rears are 255's. So I've got a lot of grip and these puppies don't squeal at all. The tread has a huge center channel for the rain and they are quite low profile on my 18's. I paid something like $585 delivered from Tire Rack. No, the tread isn't as agressively good looking as the SO2's, but I think it's a lot better looking than the SO3's. For the price I definitely think the Kuhmo's are worth a try. Remember, you'll only have to drop 1/2 to 2/3 as much as the other brands, and if they end up performing like you want, then you've got the inside track on a great inexpensive high performance tire.

 

I just mounted some BFG g-Froce T/A KDWs in 215/50-16 and 245/45-16 on the stock rims. My initial impressions are very favorable. the sidewalls are VERY stiff, maybe stiffer than the S-02s. This is the 5th different tire I've tried on the S2000 (including the OEMs)

My opinions of total grip and turn in response ranked from the best to worst:

1. Kumho V700 (what do you expect, it's a race tire)
2. Bridgestone S-02 (no really bad weather here, and it never gets too cold for the tires to heat quickly)
3. BFG g-Force KDW (may move to second, price /performance looks very favorable, but they're only 3 days old right now)
4. Kumho Ecsta 712 (very hard rubber compound, poor grip, excellent sidewall stiffness yeilds crisp turn in response. Too bad about the lack of grip)
5. Bridgestone RE-730 (These did nothing right for me, 12 autocross runs, a little over three months of driving and they were shot! Not real cheap, sidewalls like linguine, poor overall grip, the only tire I've hated more was the Proxes T1-S)

These were all mounted on the stock 16 inch rims and all of them (except the new BFGs were autocrossed). Your results may vary.

 

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[QUOTE]Originally posted by DeeGYM
[B]

This was the setup that I originally planned on getting, but I wasn't sure b/c no one had this on their car.

 

I have about 200 miles on my Kuhmo 712's now, and I am reasonably pleased. At this point I went for price over performance and they seem to be what I expected. They seem to have about 80% of the grip of the S-02's... @ about 1/2 the price. Ultimately after I get a spare set of wheels, I will go to S-03's with track tires on the spare wheels. By the way the Kuhmos ride much better, seem quiet enough, but are noisier at the limit.

 

I feel the Kumho's have less than 80% the grip of the S-02s. Mine used to squeel everytime I accelelrated around a corner from a stop. They always squeeled when you went over the painted lines. They also developed a dramatic "pull" as they aged, making the car very darty. They are cheap though

 

Not that it's a bad thing to spin the tires on the turns, because I enjoy it, but my Kuhmo 712's really seem to keep me firmly planted. The stock S02's would start sliding immediately. It was cool, but if you want handling, my wider 712's do the job for me better. I have about 6000 miles on my stook and about 2200 were on the SO2's and the remaining 3800 have been on the Kuhmo's.

I guess the Potenza's might be a better investment if more of your driving is on the track, but I don't see a better tire than the Kuhmo's that does just about everything pretty well and is so damn inexpensive.

I think you'd be silly to at least not try them once in the lifespan of your car.