Kumho  Ecsta V730

These lasted much longer than Falken 660 without giving up any drivability. Race at WGI on these for 8 hrs and on the Falkens for 8 hrs lap times were very comparable Best lap times by only thousands were on the Kuhmo’s

I decided to give this tire a go on my STX-Prepped Mazda RX-8 for Autocross. As a street-tire, these tires aren't all that great as they are stiff, rather loud, and are quick to aquaplane. If you are an avid autocrosser, the TL:DR is that these act like a better-feeling BFG Rival-S

My first test and tune was sunny, over 60*, and had relatively low downtime between runs. In that environment, the V730 did well. The steering-feel was excellent and the grip was on par with the RE-71R's that I previously ran.

The day after during our first event, the weather took a turn for the worse and it dropped to 50*, no sun, and I had a relatively long amount of downtime between runs. With no tire warmers, I wasn't able to keep temperature in the tires and my times suffered because of that. My best raw time of the day was after a re-run where I still had temps in the tires, and even though the surface was damp from rain, I was able to cut almost .5s off my best.

The sidewall seems quite stiff on this tire as well. Even at 23psi, I couldn't get enough flex in the tire to get down to the triangle on the sidewall.

I think once the temps start getting into the 70's and above, these tires will come into their own and start performing better. Are they as good as the RT660 or the A052? I don't know for sure but I don't think they are going to be at the top of the timing charts but can be close. That said, I think they are a competent budget tire and based on what I see, they will wear pretty well. I currently don't see any signs of weird and/or abnormal wear like the V720, but I didn't get them all that hot yet either.

Based on what I see on my setup and how the tire acted, I think these might work well in camber-limited fwd/awd street cars that can get some temps into a tire (Like the BFG Rival does). They run narrower than the A052 so that combined with the lack of sidewall flex, the V730 shouldn't get the outer tread-block breakdown that the Yokohama does.

I have 2000+ miles on these tires, used exclusively for HPDE on my supercharged Miata track car. I can maintain 1+g regularly in corners, same for braking. Transient response is quick, and grip is predictable in dry conditions. In rain, my best advice is... Don't. They are holding up very well and I expect to get another 8-10 track days out of them.

I drive these exclusively on track, turning 2:15-2:20 laps at VIR. This set of tires has lasted 18 track days, 40-50 laps/day and are not fully worn out. As an amateur HPDE driver I am more concerned with durability than that last second of speed, but I find my times very consistent from lap to lap, and grip remains consistent and predictable as well. They seem very tolerant of a wide range of ambient temperatures from near-freezing (once warmed up) to 95+ without getting greasy. I consider these as dry tires only; they get squirrelly on a damp surface, wet and rain are a no-go, or a go-off. Overall very pleased, just mounted another set for this season.

Used this set as a dedicated track/autocross tire, only time it was on the street was driving to and from the track. With oem alignment I've done 3 autocross days and 4 track days and the shoulder is just now starting to peel. In autocross I'm driving 10/10ths but on track maybe only 7 or 8 /10th, for reference I'm only hitting 2:05 at Chuckwalla. For being used on a 3800 lb car they do very well and last quite a long time. The main inner threads are still deep and not at their wear bars yet. With a proper alignment I can see these lasting 3-5 more track days at my driving style. They get up to temp pretty quickly, about 1 autocross run or about 1/2-3/4 of a lap. Once up to temp they grip very well, a tiny bit less than the RT-660's I would say but they do not overheat and they wear much better. Considering their price and how long they last, these are probably the best seat-time tires you can buy. They will get you to within ~ 1 second of the top 200tw tires but last longer and cost less.

These tires have exceeded my expectations. Great very predictable dry grip with great responsiveness and great treadware. The tires don't talk much when the when you find their limits but maintain enough grip to recover. Wet traction is decent on a damp track but switch to rain tires if there is standing water or a downpour.

Used for autocross on my heavy FWD. Extremely Traction limited when the tire is cold, spins in 2nd gear, needs 1 to 1 and half run of 30sec autocross track to warm up, does not handle greasy and wet conditions very well as tires lacsk confidence in those conditions, so couldn't imagine full rain. However on a completely dry and sunny day these tires shines way above any 300tw tire you can imagine. And for the price I really can not complain, the tire also wore fine, did an entire day of autocross school plus 5 run of autocross the next day with 100+miles of highway, it didn't really wear either. Whether if you are a novice or pro driver this tire also gives rich confidence in terms of performance as well.

I have multiple autocross events wet and dry on these V730, and fair amount of driving on the streets as well. They are pretty well behaving tires on the street, the sidewall is very firm so it's a bit harsh over the bumps but it's not loud and tracks nice and straight on the freeway. These tires do require some amount of heat to be very grippy but even cold this tire has a lot more grip than the hankook rs4. The wear on this tire is superb, making this an ideal tires for road course but can be competitive at autocross also if the temperature is warm/hot. You'll notice that the outer half of the tread is basically slick, like pilot cup 2 tires. Once you go through few events, these outer half tread will turn into slick and give you immense amount of lateral traction and feedback, but will not wear just the edge like RT660 or RE71R. Even if you have limited cambers this tire would wear pretty evenly due to the tread design. The inside half has pretty deep rain grooves, and it does pretty well against standing water however, due to outer half being completely tread-less design, once you start steering in the rain you'll immediately plow. There is almost no cornering traction in the wet and by far the worst and slowest 200tw tires I've ever tried in the rain. It's acceptable amount of traction as a tire, but no where good enough in the rain to be competitive. If you live in an area where it rains often, I do not recommend these tires. But if you live in an area where it's nice and sunny all the time, I strongly recommend these tires. The grip level is superb, once it heats up a bit they will outgrip the RT660 and RE71R. They aren't as grippy as A052 but the crisp steering feedback makes up for it. The best characteristic of this tire is that you can over drive the crap out of these tires. It is so forgiving in the dry and you can drive 120% capacity of the tires and still be able to make the turn. Just don't try in the rain.