13 inch tire question, Kumho 758?

[CharlieG]

Gruppe,

Ran this through the search a few times, couldn't find anything relating to these.

As the 165/80/13 Michelin MX4s on this car appear to be about 9 years old with sidewall cracks and a pretty hardened tread surface, it's safe to say they're pretty well done. This leads me to head out on the safari of the vast choices of proper 13 inch rubber available for these cars.

*Cough*

Anyways, I'm looking to stay with the OEM steelies or multispoke e21 rims ('76 california car, fwiw), so 165/80/13 or 185/70/13 is my main choice. I was poking around on Tirerack & discount tire, and I found a choice that I hadn't seen mentioned before, the Kumho Power Star 758:

http://www.kumhousa.com/tires/passenger/broadline-a-s/758.do

It's available in 155/80R13, 165/80R13 83T, 175/70R13 82T and 185/70R13 sizes and is a 400 treadwear. The scuttlebutt lists it as "positioned for the classic import market such as the Mini, Karmen Ghia, Datsun 510 and 2002"

Tire Rack, discount tire, etc seem to list them for around 40-50 bucks/tire, anyone tossed a set of these on yet?

-Charlie

[Delia]

Have not tried this particular model, but purchased some Kumho tires for my E30 325is a couple years ago. They were "T" rated and not exactly "high-performance," but who's driving more than 115 mph for more than 43 minutes, anyway?

Just about any tire that's round and black will exceed 60s-70s technology including Michelin's fabled XAS.

On the West Coast, apparently no one has 13" wheels...but they have huge biceps from parallel parking.

Delia

[gwb72tii]

Have not tried this particular model, but purchased some Kumho tires for my E30 325is a couple years ago. They were "T" rated and not exactly "high-performance," but who's driving more than 115 mph for more than 43 minutes, anyway?

Just about any tire that's round and black will exceed 60s-70s technology including Michelin's fabled XAS.

On the West Coast, apparently no one has 13" wheels...but they have huge biceps from parallel parking.

Delia

I have 13" wheels, thank you very much :-)

I run yoko avid t4's, 185/70's and they're ok

there are sadly no real "performance" tires in the 13" dia

[TobyB]

And at the opposite end of the spectrum, the Toyo RA1 (soon discontinued)

and R888 come in narrow 13" sizes for the spec RX7 racers....

t

[kbmb02]

And at the opposite end of the spectrum, the Toyo RA1 (soon discontinued) and R888 come in narrow 13" sizes for the spec RX7 racers....

t

Damn - what have you heard about the RA1's being discontinued? Do I need to buy a couple of sets now?

[TobyB]

yeah, Toyo's press release for the 888 said it's the designated replacement for the RA1.

And many of the spec racing tires have been re- ruled to 888's (Spec Miata,

Pro7 and Pro3 up here) for 2009.

That doesn't necessarily mean they'll stop- I had a hell of a time with

the 888's in the wet- but that's the official word.

And there were supply issues with the 15-225 sizes last summer, too...

t

[kbmb02]

Thanks for the info. I run 205-60 13 RA-1's on my race care and like the performance / wear / cost relationship . . . I'll keep an eye out for updates and/or dwindling inventory.