The Ecsta SPT (KU31) is Kumho's Ultra High Performance Summer tire developed for sports cars, coupes and sedans. The Ecsta SPT was designed to offer grip, handling, comfort, wear and good looks in order to provide enthusiastic drivers the ability to "Drive Hard 'Go Big' Look Good." Ecsta SPT tires are not intended to be driven in near-freezing temperatures, through snow or on ice.

On the outside, Ecsta SPT tires feature Kumho's High Dispersion Silica tread compound (that broadens the tread rubber's temperature operating range) molded into a directional tread design that features large, independent shoulder blocks, four straight circumferential grooves and three solid center ribs to combine wet grip, responsive handling and high-speed stability. Rotation Wear Indicators (R.W.I.) are built into the Ecsta SPT to let drivers know the time has come to rotate tires to maintain more even wear and lower noise levels into the later stages of the tire's life. On the inside, Ecsta SPT tires feature twin steel belts reinforced by a spiral-wrapped, jointless nylon cap ply to enhance ride quality while providing high-speed durability.
Kumho Ecsta SPT (Ultra High Performance Summer)
for 2008 Pontiac G8 GT Warranty Rating 3

* Size: 245/40ZR19
* Blackwall
* ZR Speed Rated

* Price: $170.00 (each)
* Estimated Availability:
In Stock

Optional Road Hazard Program: additional $20.40 per tire:gears:

18 years in the tire business I would not recommend going with Kumho's. Michelin,Bridgestone or B.F. Goodrich is a much better choice. My GP comp g is riding on B.F.G. Comp G and are by far the best handling tires out there and all the tire magazines tests agree. Remember you get what you pay for.

ive went through alot of tires in my day and ill say that the kumho's i have had were very good tires. great traction, wear, longevity... nitto's, pirelli and goodyear have treated me good as well. i would stay away from michelin (terrible wear and high cost) and toyo (same as michelin). like said above the bf goodrich tires are good tires!

chrish

Rears will probably last only a few months for me , so ill destroy a few pairs of those kumhos just or the tire smoke:driving:

Had Kumho Ecsta STXs (V-rated tires) for 45,000 miles on my high-performance truck (30,000 miles on the first set, 15,000 on the second before I sold it) and they were great tires. Even wear, great traction, and quite. Would do it again in a heartbeat.

ive went through alot of tires in my day and ill say that the kumho's i have had were very good tires. great traction, wear, longevity... nitto's, pirelli and goodyear have treated me good as well. i would stay away from michelin (terrible wear and high cost) and toyo (same as michelin). like said above the bf goodrich tires are good tires!

chrish

Like I said 18 years in the tire business. Kumho's have pretty good life, but from what I have seen ( In 18 years) is the more expensive tires will give you the best performance. The Kumho's are made of a much harder rubber which helps them last a little long, but also causes them to loose handling. Toyo's I can't speak for. I don't know much about them, and they are not made by Michelin. We are a certified Michelin dealer and I also live 5 mile from the Michelin Headquaters in Greer S.C. and have been there many times.Toyo is not made by them only Uniroyal and B.F. Goodrich. All I'am tring to say is if you want a true performance tire with good handling you will have to pay for it and I will not look at the price when it comes to that 5 in. patch of rubber on the road holding me between life and death. From what I have seen Kumho's have a lot of blow outs and other problems and are not a very good tire.

Toyo's they are not made by Michelin. Toyo is not made by them only Uniroyal and B.F. Goodrich.

must have been a misunderstanding because i meant same as michelin as in expensive and bad wear. g35 coupes came standard with the michelin pilot sports and when i worked for infiniti in college i saw them coming in all the time with 15k miles needing new tires. maybe other michelins are ok, but the pilots are junk for the money.

chrish

My Michelin Pilots had belt separations INSIDE the tire, on my Infiniti M45. I've had good experiences with Kumhos also.

I have TOYO Proxie T-1R's on my Cobalt and I can't complain about them, however they're only my summer tires. They were not my tire of choice however cause I wanted BFG KDW's.... Those are so sick but I couldn't get them in the time frame I needed them. However IF I resort to putting aftermarket wheels on my G8 GXP, they will be the KDW's.

I have a couple of friends who had Kumho tires on their rides and both of them were not satisfied with them. Both had fast tire wear and one of my friends had extreme tire noise once the tread was getting lower. The noise was so disturbing that he prematurely had to buy new tires. I never looked at Kumhos. I have Falken FK452 tires on my Mustang and they have great wet and dry traction for the price. I've recommended Falken tires to a few folks on a different site who were looking for tires for a good price and they thanked me afterwards. I've gotten the tip to go with Falkens from someone who owns a Dodge Charger SRT8 who is also very satisfied with them. You can't go wrong with BF Goodrich either. I had those before the Falkens and I was satisfied with them too.

The FK452s have a nice tread design too.
http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/images/tyres/452.jpg

must have been a misunderstanding because i meant same as michelin as in expensive and bad wear. g35 coupes came standard with the michelin pilot sports and when i worked for infiniti in college i saw them coming in all the time with 15k miles needing new tires. maybe other michelins are ok, but the pilots are junk for the money.

chrishFYI - don't expect the bridgestones on the G8 GT to get any more than 12-15k miles either. All sticky summer tires are only good for that many miles, if you want more, you need to switch to all-seasons.

I have TOYO Proxie T-1R's on my Cobalt and I can't complain about them, however they're only my summer tires. They were not my tire of choice however cause I wanted BFG KDW's.... Those are so sick but I couldn't get them in the time frame I needed them. However IF I resort to putting aftermarket wheels on my G8 GXP, they will be the KDW's.

Have KDW's on my Comp G..... Wouldn't buy anything else......

I had to pick some cheap tires for the rear of my GTO (and I do mean cheap). I went for the Kumho Ecsta ASX. If the rest of Kumho's high performance line is like these, I'd rather set my money on fire. No grip, even when brand new. You want a good tire that won't break the bank? Let us know when you find a good one. For a good performance tire, you are probably gonna need to spend a little more. I like the Bridgestone Potenza RE050A on Tire Rack's site. I notice they run $259/ea., but you get what you pay for & pay for what you get. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Bridgestone&tireModel=Potenza+RE050A&partnum=44YR9RE050A&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes&place=2. As for all-season tires that are at least higher than V-speed rated (over 149 mph), looks like the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S is the only game in town. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Michelin&tireModel=Pilot+Sport+A%2FS&partnum=44YR9SPORTAS&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes&place=0&speed_rating=Z&speed_rating=W&speed_rating=Y&speed_rating=(Y). They show at $300/ea., but they are rated for around 40K miles. Don't forget to rotate those tires about every 6K miles.

I've got a set of kDW2s that I took off my '04 GTO in my garage with 22-23K miles on them and they have an easy 5K more left.
So I would consider them a true 30K mile tire which is impressive for a high perfromance Summer tire.
They grip like crazy in the rain and except for the noise are easily one of the best tires available, at any price.

Kumho is a nice tire. I've tried a set. But, I don't think the price difference is enough to warrant a change. The OEm's are right, so far.

I'm a big fan of Bridgestone Potenzas. Great life and handling. just my .02

Don't forget to rotate those tires about every 6K miles.[/QUOTE]

We'd actually recommend rotaing every 3K for the first 15K they are on the car, and then every 5K or 6K after that for best results.

I had to pick some cheap tires for the rear of my GTO (and I do mean cheap). I went for the Kumho Ecsta ASX. If the rest of Kumho's high performance line is like these, I'd rather set my money on fire. No grip, even when brand new. You want a good tire that won't break the bank? Let us know when you find a good one. For a good performance tire, you are probably gonna need to spend a little more. I like the Bridgestone Potenza RE050A on Tire Rack's site. I notice they run $259/ea., but you get what you pay for & pay for what you get. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Bridgestone&tireModel=Potenza+RE050A&partnum=44YR9RE050A&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes&place=2. As for all-season tires that are at least higher than V-speed rated (over 149 mph), looks like the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S is the only game in town. http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Michelin&tireModel=Pilot+Sport+A%2FS&partnum=44YR9SPORTAS&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes&place=0&speed_rating=Z&speed_rating=W&speed_rating=Y&speed_rating=(Y). They show at $300/ea., but they are rated for around 40K miles. Don't forget to rotate those tires about every 6K miles.
The Michelin Pilot Sport A/S is the only tire I have had any success with in soggy Seattle. I traded in the Potenzas that came on the car with 114 miles on them (19").
They were actually stickier than I expected, but this is my 3rd set of the Michelins and the wet traction is hard to beat. The first set I got 45K on, then replaced them with the same tires. The SSEi had at least 2/3 left after 23K when I traded it in on the GT. About $1400 out the door with mounting, balancing, lifetime replacement certs, free rotation and good old 8.6% sales tax. Not cheap, but I'd rather spend that kinda $ on good tires than an exhaust system that won't help me stop when I want to.

I've read only good things about the potenzas and so far,they handle excellent-even wet conditions I could take off like a abt outta hell-corners nicely as well...now the question everybody wants to know...how long do they last? One never knows-my friend got 30k out of his worked vette on summer tires!