kumho kr21?

[FritzR]

Looking to upgrade my tires on my 88 crx hf. I am using the tires that came with it Lemans 175 70 13. I'm averaging 45 mpg on these at 40psi. The tread width is 6" and the grooves in the tire are only 3/16" each for four grooves. The 155 80 13 Kumhos go to 44psi which is rare for 155s and if you subtract out the width of the grooves look to have less than 50% the rubber in effective tread width. They also are rated at 85K tread life. Anyone have experience with these? Or should I get the 165 Sumi T4s for about the same price?

[cems70]

I have the Sumi T4s 175/70/13. Not the best in terms of traction and braking (no problem in 10k + miles so far, but noticed they aren't as grippy as my previous Firestones on current DX or Nokians on my previous VX), but since it had the best possible rating for low rolling resistance in the Consumer Reports article, I would choose these in a 165/70 over the Kumhos in a 155/80. Wish I had bought the 165s instead of the 175s, but Sears was having a sale on almost all sizes of T4s except the 165 when I bought them in May, so I saved $45 w/ the 175s.

[brucepick]

Looking at those tires in your size on TireRack.com - they look like a good deal. Long treadlife, 44 psi. I wish they were more of a ribbed tread instead of a block type tread but practically all tires nowadays have a block tread.

I've been using KUMHO SOLUS KH16 on my car since summer. Got them from TireRack. I put them on the front first, then a 2nd pair on the rear. Terrific rain traction. 44 psi sidewalls. Running them at 50 psi now and I like them that way.

I kinda wish the tread (mine) were rated a bit longer wearing. I think it's rated about 440 which is decent but not super high. The 21's you're looking at are rated longer.

Usually longer tread life = harder rubber = lower rolling resistance. In view of the fact that theres nearly zero current information on rolling resistance, I'll take the tread life number as a decent indicator.