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[Frampton]

i ordered Kumho Ecsta XS's from Tire Rack through the local track who installed them. I put somewhere between 500 and 1,000 miles on them in the Texas heat. I took them to the local track and did one 20 minute session around a track that takes about 38-40 seconds to lap in my car. After the session i noticed a very large chunk of tire missing and a perpendicular "slice" which looks like the tread is ready to peel off like an 18 wheelers retreads. I originally thought it was just the front right tire, which is stressed a bit more than the rest because the track is more lefts than rights, but one of my rear tires on the left had the same slice but with no chunking. Has anyone seen this from the Kumho's?

[removed the rant]

Thanks!

[timhatimay]

Never dealt with their claims department before, but in general tire rack has excellent customer service. I've bought many different tires from them and its always been a pleasure.

That does happen to tires (losing chunks of rubber) occasionally, so you are not alone, but you might want to check the warranty policy for "off-road" use (i.e. the track). If its excessive, it probably is something that should be addressed by the manufacturer. I'd be surprised however if Tire Rack doesn't work with you and try to make it right...hopefully they do!

I'd say call. That is always the quickest way to get a response. There is also a forum member here that can be of assistance with Tire Rack issues (Gill).

Good Luck,

Tim

[Lubo]

I do not think that is really covered by a warranty, I also do not think that manufacturer is going to cover that as it is not the tires intended use. If you were to do similar to Hoosier R6 it is different, but still your driving technique could be the real culprit and hard to prove as manufacturers defect.

Anyway give Gill a call, he is really great with returning calls. I've personally done more than 6 purchases with tirerack, and have recommended them to family and friends who also had positive experience.

[Gary@TireRack]

PM me your contact information and I'll see what's going on.

[Frampton]

got an email this morning from them, they said it looks like a warranty issue but they will have to sinpect them in person so I'm sending them back today

i always heard they had good customer service not sure what happened

[Frampton]

Originally Posted by Lubo

I do not think that is really covered by a warranty, I also do not think that manufacturer is going to cover that as it is not the tires intended use. If you were to do similar to Hoosier R6 it is different, but still your driving technique could be the real culprit and hard to prove as manufacturers defect.

Anyway give Gill a call, he is really great with returning calls. I've personally done more than 6 purchases with tirerack, and have recommended them to family and friends who also had positive experience.

could have been my driving for sure but that tire is an extreme performance summer tire and the guys at the track use them on every single one of their cars and never saw that problem before. who knows, i'll give them another shot though

[Frampton]

how do you edit the title of the thread so its not so harsh? never mind figured it out

[DriveHard]

Originally Posted by Frampton

how do you edit the title of the thread so its not so harsh? never mind figured it out

Ahh...some one figured out that you really do catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar..

TR is top notch... been buying tires from TR for Years.. Track and strret, even snows.. out of all had 1 bad tire, replaced in days ...after claim... always good... no, GREAT service

Good luck with your claim.. let the pros decide..

[Lubo]

Originally Posted by Frampton

could have been my driving for sure but that tire is an extreme performance summer tire and the guys at the track use them on every single one of their cars and never saw that problem before. who knows, i'll give them another shot though

my message was more in line. Sure people use them on the track and have very good results, but the manufacturer didn't intent to sell this tire as a competition tire, so that might go out the window if it will be found that the tire was "abused". Good luck with your claim though.

[Frampton]

just got back from the track, dropped off all 4 tires, they think its a manufacturers defect. I actually found that 3 of the 4 tires had the issue. It looks to them like a delamination issue that might have happened to that batch.

they are actually going to contact kumho directly and try to get me a new set of 4.

its a great tire for the 20 minutes of track time i got on them. i posted a consistent 1 second faster lap times with the kumho's than i was able to produce today on my yokohama s drives.

[VMRWheels]

Any photos of the cut and peeling you are experiencing? What were the temps that day? What were your tire pressures hot?

-Charles@VMRWheels

[Frampton]

Originally Posted by VMRWheels

Any photos of the cut and peeling you are experiencing? What were the temps that day? What were your tire pressures hot?

-Charles@VMRWheels

i've got photos, just have to put them up at some point when i get some time

outside temps were 85, hot pressures were RF - 50, LF - 45, RR - 40, LR - 40

right front tire was maxed out so i didn't kill the shoulder of the tire since the short course is almost all left turns, once i install my coilovers and camber plates this weekend i'll be able to drop the front pressures closer to 40

[VMRWheels]

Originally Posted by Frampton

i've got photos, just have to put them up at some point when i get some time

outside temps were 85, hot pressures were RF - 50, LF - 45, RR - 40, LR - 40

right front tire was maxed out so i didn't kill the shoulder of the tire since the short course is almost all left turns, once i install my coilovers and camber plates this weekend i'll be able to drop the front pressures closer to 40

Your pressures are extremely high. They should be around 35-36 hot max. Iv personally driven on the XS's and they didn't do very well higher then 36 hot.

-Charles@VMRWheels

[Frampton]

i just installed vorshlags and tckline coilovers so once i get my new set of xs's on i'll track it at a much lower pressure. camber was the biggest problem with the stock suspension and had to jack up the pressures to save the outside corners

[VMRWheels]

Originally Posted by Frampton

i just installed vorshlags and tckline coilovers so once i get my new set of xs's on i'll track it at a much lower pressure. camber was the biggest problem with the stock suspension and had to jack up the pressures to save the outside corners

The high pressures definitely sounds like it was the issue. I think you'll like them better once you try them again with lower pressure.

-Charles@VMRWheels

[Frampton]

so after finding some more people that have had the same issue, and dealing directly with Kumho, there is an issue with some of their tires not bonding the seams properly. Doesnt affect all tires but quite a few of them. My track stopped ordering them until kumho redesigns their process for the xs's.

so i ordered some dunlop direzza start specs instead. they seem to be a proven autox and track tire, let's see how well they take the texas heat!

[fourtailpipes]

Originally Posted by VMRWheels

The high pressures definitely sounds like it was the issue. I think you'll like them better once you try them again with lower pressure.

-Charles@VMRWheels

i'm with charles on this one. maybe it isnt the first time this has happened to one of these tires, but 50psi is WAAAAAAAY too much pressure. camber or not, you're definitely not doing your tires any favors running them smoking hot at 50psi. high pressure reduces contact patch and grip, which causes heat buildup, which causes higher pressures etc. this is a positive feedback loop, so it's especially important to keep them in their comfort zone, or who knows what'll happen (like the outer dread separating from the inner structure)

[Frampton]

so only the front right was at 50, front left at 44, and rears were at 40 hot, happened to 3 out of 4 tires. Both rear tires had this issue at 40 psi. I really dont think that's high enough of a pressure to be doing any damage. I completely agree with 50 being too high for sure...

[fourtailpipes]

Originally Posted by Frampton

so only the front right was at 50, front left at 44, and rears were at 40 hot, happened to 3 out of 4 tires. Both rear tires had this issue at 40 psi. I really dont think that's high enough of a pressure to be doing any damage. I completely agree with 50 being too high for sure...

i agree that this wasn't likely the only cause of the issue. i just mean that if i were commenting on whether the tires had been "abused" or not, i'd say the hot pressures you reported constitute more "abuse" than the fact that they've been on the track.

[Frampton]

gotchya, agree on the 50psi tire for sure although it does say on the side of the tire you can run em that high!

[fourtailpipes]

Originally Posted by Frampton

gotchya, agree on the 50psi tire for sure although it does say on the side of the tire you can run em that high!

just curious... what is the pressure max stamped on the sidewall?

[Frampton]

50