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Since having a full 4 wheel track and new rear tyres in Dec 2007 at 11,438 miles a tread check at 23,123 miles today, 29 Dec 08, shows I still have about 8mm depth left. (Kumho Ecsta Sport KU31 - 215/50ZR17 95W XL tyres).

Looks like the tracking setup I have, as previously posted, has done the trick regarding the original excessive tyre wear.

Just wish I had claim compensation from Fiat.

Nick /////

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How highly do you rate the Kumhos Nick? They were fitted as OEM to my wife's car but that's a bit different to the Croma.

I recently fitted a set of "as new" 159 wheels 225 x 50 x 17 with Michelin Primacy HP's, total cost £300. About 2mm less diameter than the original 18's, but better on the road for me.

DoIDon'tI said:

How highly do you rate the Kumhos Nick? They were fitted as OEM to my wife's car but that's a bit different to the Croma.

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Interesting question.

When I had the back tyres fitted they seemed no worse for noise and handling compared to the original bridgestones. (bearing in mind the front / rear mix).

I did have an interesting puncture that I drove on and wrecked a new tyre with only 100 miles on it. I had a slow crawl from my house for 2 miles to the motorway at speeds of 20 mph max. When I started off from cold in the morning I could hear a squeeking noise from the rear which I put down to standing overnight and weather change. The squeek soon went away but some 6th sense told me something might not be right. As soon as I got up to about 45 mph on the motorway I know something was wrong. I inflated the tyre with an electric pump and went back to the tyre shop. Outside of the tye looked ok but once it was off ground rubber fell out. Large screw through centre of tyre belt. Grrrrrrr

Where is this going......I think the higher sidewall rating of the Kumhos help masked the puncture at slow speeds. Given exactly the same again but with the Bridgestone I don't know whether I would have been able to spot a flat on those either.

With Kumhos on the front now the noise and handling are again no worse than the Bridgestone. Overall I think the Kumhos will out handle the Bridgestones. I do occasionally drop into race/rally mode in both the wet and the dry and neither tyres have let me down. Point to note is that the 'K's are directional tyres so cross wheel swopping, except in an emergency is not possible.

I do have a possible, very very slight balance issue with the "K's on the front.
This last weekend we drove from Soton to Gatwick. Krys my better half drove first there and she was the first person to take the car over 60mph on the new tyres. Most of the run was cross country so speeds of 70mph+ were rare and certainly very few steadt stright line sections at speed.

I drove one the way back, Mway and dual carrage stuff, and on those times I got above 70mph (say 75 to 85 mph) I could detect a very slight vibration on the steering wheel. I had the tyres checked and one did need to be rebalance but not by much.

Since this rebalance I think I can just, on occasions, detect a very very slight tremor in the steering wheel but not always. Seems to vary with turn radious, carriage way camber, drive power and only at 81 or 82 mph. Also you have to almost will the sensation and be paranoid at the same time

This is such a narrow window I'm tending to think that it is just the way the tread rolls/cuts the road and a natural steering/suspension resonance.

I've decided to run some more miles on the tyres to let them bed, and if I still think I can detect something then get them checked and balanced at another tyre place.

Finally, the "K"s are repspectable budget/cheaper tyres by some 40+ percent. Also the "B"s on the front lasted 24K miles including towing a caravan for 6K miles. I rate this as exceptional performace. The Croma rear geometry problem is what killed the original "B"s in 12K miles and at that time nobody knew if the wear problem could be sorted. That is why I went with the "K"s as an experiment. I certainly wasn't expecting to get to 12K miles with next to zero tyre wear even after my full retrack. Having been more than happy with the "K" rear I took the gamble of "K"s on the front.

I'm up for my second 24K mile service this week. I've asked the garage to check for driveshaft/CV joint wear as when fully warm and driven for say an hour I think there is a little excess play/backlash. It could be that there is driveshaft vibration coming up though the steeering wheel which sort of tallies with steering anlge/camber and drive when this very very slight vibration occurs.

Hope that answers your question.

Nick /////

Thanks Nick, pretty much the same sort of performance they gave on my wife's car. On the subject of your vibration, there are quite a few of the Vectra-C folk who have front end vibration problems and there doesn't seem to be a standard 'fix'. The Kumhos are a heavy tyre and need to be balanced well but it seems possible that you're experiencing early symptoms of driveshaft inner joint wear. Might be worth repacking them with new grease to see if the symptoms change?

I'm glad you're not driving near me if you can take your eyes off the road for long enough to work out if you're doing 81 or 82 MPH...

Then again, that would explain some of the driving I see on my way to work...

DoIDon'tI said:

Thanks Nick, pretty much the same sort of performance they gave on my wife's car. On the subject of your vibration, there are quite a few of the Vectra-C folk who have front end vibration problems and there doesn't seem to be a standard 'fix'. The Kumhos are a heavy tyre and need to be balanced well but it seems possible that you're experiencing early symptoms of driveshaft inner joint wear. Might be worth repacking them with new grease to see if the symptoms change?

I'm glad you're not driving near me if you can take your eyes off the road for long enough to work out if you're doing 81 or 82 MPH...

Then again, that would explain some of the driving I see on my way to work...

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Well I was sort of reluctant to post what I did last night as for me there were some possibly unanswered points in my mind. I drove my machine with some extra gusto this evening (depsite the sub zero temps) and was in no way concerned about the "K"s. Even got to just 80 mph at one point for a short time with nothing to report.

Me drive you....not a problem I can assure you. To watch the speedo at 81 or 82 mpg exactly was not done unless I have a clear 50+m to all side and 100+ clear ahead on all lanes. One of the reason it took me so many runs on the Mway to get clear conditions and right speeds.

Interested in your comments re "K"s being heavy and reported Vectra-C vibrations. I'll have to try and bear that in mind.

As for driving on the limit I can modestly claim to have done over 6000 miles foot to the floor track driving starting from novice and progressing over the years and never crashed or dented a single vehicle.

Would still be doing my MSport today were we still able to afford it AND save for retirement. Both me an the other half (also 6K+ miles) did this together in our own cars and so our bills were doubled as was the wear and tear on my body prepping the cars every other weekend with full wheel and brake strip downs, thorough all wheels off safety checks etc. etc. Track fees, tyres, brake pads and fuel costs really ramp up when you are having regular fun. To drop into part time mode seemed such a waste. "One for all or all for none" as one says.

Nick /////