Federals?

[RBPOWA-(TJ)]

RE001's for the win. Decent in the wet and the dry, good directional tread and nice feedback through corners... and the best bit for me in low road noise!

just did black spur and Mt Buller in the pouring rain on a set of these, not once did i understeer or lose any traction

+1

[scotty nm35]

have you ever driven on KU36's ?

or have you just regurgitated shit you have read on the forums from retards that drive @ 101% in the wet?

just this weekend i drove up mt buller road in the wet (hours of hard rain) with KU36's in my gtst. from bottom to top the car was pushed hard, rarely dropping below 5k in second and 3rd gear and seeing a lot of redline with 285rwkw and 6/8kg greddy coilovers set to maximum damper and slammed. traction was not even close to an issue.

along with me were 3 or 4 other cars with 250+rwkw and KU36's, NONE of which had issues

I agree, 300awkw in the torrential rain we had a few weeks back and the KU36's held very well, no aquaplaning good feedback. I do run 40psi though.

Suspension setup may have a lot more to do with grip in the wet than tyre choice I believe. Mine is fairly soft now compared to what I would usually run.

[fiend.]

Heard the Kumho Ecsta KU31 are good up front, or the RE001 Adrenalins.

Don't rate the Federals in the wet honestly.

[joeyjoejoejuniorshabadoo]

federals (if we are talking the ss's) aren't good for anything except drift

[AnDyStYLe]

Hijack alert!!!

Any got hook ups for well priced RE001's in Eastern suburbs? Particularily 235/45R17?

I've previously bought RE001's through JaxQuickFit in Caulfield (Nathan the store manager is an awesome bloke) and he usually looks after me with fitting my rubber etc.

Just be great to get price comparisons!

Cheers,

Andy

[frozenpod]

actually KU36's are nowhere near the best tyre i have had fitted to my car, they are just what's on there at the moment.

sound's to me like you cars setup leaves a lot to be desired, but there's no point arguing with you, as you can never be wrong.

they are not a death trap in the wet... and that's all there is to it

I have KU36's fitted to two of my cars one with 100% stock suspension the other with aftermarket coilovers. Keep in mind using them on two cars shows how much I like them.

Suspension setup on both cars are very good and this is not an issue.

As to never being wrong I have been wrong plenty of times but on this topic I am as sure as I can be not wrong, KU36's offer terrible wet performance.

As per the other posts and 300rwkw in the wet.

KU36's had suitable aquaplanning resistance for a tyre of this design and this certainly isn't there problem. They offer lower grip in both straight line accelleration and braking less than ideal but they are livable in this area and noticing a spining tyre due to excessive accelleation is dam obvious even with KU36 offering poor feedback. They still put down 270rwkw at 120km/hr coming onto the main straight at PI without a problem in the pooring rain but then again so would any other tyre I have driven on...

So the question remains with the above not being there problem, what is there problem?

The problem with lack of grip and feedback is key to one area of there performance, rear end of the car whilst turning. The easiest way to see this is by on a constant radius corner whilst balancing the car maintaining speed with with no changes to driver input the back end will suddenly and unexpectedly let go. When they let go they are not progressive/controlable they let go in a big way. Note this is issue exactly what has been commented on in the tyre tests and it is what I have personally experienced, one of the few times I would actually agree with comments made in tyre tests.

On track performance they were 3.5 seconds per lap faster around PI than RT615's and they didn't overheat anywhere near as quickly (in the dry) but they were 11 seconds per lap slower in the wet and very hard to drive with at the limit.

(Same car no setup changes other than better (higher temp) brake pads installed when I was running the KU36's.)

If you don't take my word for it a number of other people that I know which run KU36's one of which has won numerous race champinionships in his younger years (ie he is an exceptional driver with race resutls to prove it) also agrees that KU36's for dry conditions offer exceptional bang for buck but are very poor in the wet.

Given you haven't experienced this I can only conclude that you are only about straight line driving and don't know how to balance and feel a car around corner. Very common of people that own turbo cars they putt around corners well below what speed you could be driving at then once in a straight line apply WOT. People like this often only concern themselves with how much HP they can put down in a straight line being the limit of how good there tyres are.

Now I could be wrong on this point particularly given your comements of mountain runs so if this isn't the case please correct me; please expalin to me where I am wrong and if you think KU36's do offer good feedback whilst cornering and balancing a car please show me/give me an example so that I might be able to work out what I am doing wrong so I can change my driving or setup to get the best out of them.

Edited November 2, 2010 by frozenpod

[joeyjoejoejuniorshabadoo]

people could start by realising that they are a cheap tyre, and offer more performance than other's in their price bracket.

stories about them being dangerous in the wet are just retarded, and for some reason people seem to expect a set of KU36's to turn their car into a fully prepped race car, rather than driving to the conditions.

they are a brilliant street tyre for what you pay and offer more than enough performance wet or dry for the money.

as for my driving style, i certainly do not wait for the straights to put my foot down. I actually used to live on mt buller during the winters and have driven the road literally hundreds of times. I know every corner of that road well before i get to it and as such was driving on the very limit from bottom to top. The KU36's showed no signs of letting go at any stage past what i would expect form any street tyre in the wet.

the tyres provided me with enough feel to be able to get on boost early through the corners and hold the car right on the edge of sliding, without losing the rear.

as i said they are not a great tyre... but for the money i just cant go past them as my car is still driven on the street. in the dry they can hold the power and in the wet i have never had a problem in the short time i have been running them

[jfk]

im also running ku36 atm 225/45 255/40 17' payed $1100 fitted and shit........i find they work pretty good when u start to get some heat into them......... but in the wet the car seem's to single out alot more than other brands iv had like yokies and michelin the yokies wer def the best in the wet cant remember the mod............... but im happy with them for the price

the tires are only as safe as the driver it comes down to getting to no ur car and wot she will do wen she feels like it!!!!!

[some_cs_student]

Just FYI, the Federal 595 RSR's, I've found them brilliant in the dry, ok in light rain, not so good in heavier rain. While driving at 100km/h down the freeway and changing lanes slowly, I could feel one wheel gently drift a little to the left or right occasionally (possibly a tiny bit of aqua planing).

It also happened while traveling in a straight line...

[joeyjoejoejuniorshabadoo]

that's where KU36's and Nitto NT05's etc are better in the wet as they have 2 huge water channels that help massively with aquaplaning

and jfk what michilens and yokies?

I have had pilot sport 2's and they were better in the wet, however I have also had yokie A-drive and they are much much much worse..

need more info than that before any sort of comparison can be made

[Birds]

just did black spur and Mt Buller in the pouring rain on a set of these, not once did i understeer or lose any traction

+1

Can attest to this lol...despite his FWD advantage, the only time I stayed with the N/A Pulsar was when he saw me ice skating on 595's lol.

federals (if we are talking the ss's) aren't good for anything except drift

Traffic light heroism in the dry isn't bad...after 3 DECAs and 15,000km of daily driving I still get decent dry traction, but yeah, by all accounts not a fantastic tyre. I guess they like them for drift because they are cheap as shit and light up when you want them to.

[joeyjoejoejuniorshabadoo]

they also have very even wear without delamination... whilst providing decent enough grip for a ~$100 a corner tyre

[Peter89]

ku36s in 235s are out of stock nation wide.

option1 is out of stock RSRs in 235s. other stores wanted at least $75 more per tyre.

ordered a pair of federal evos from option1 for $142/each + $33 shipping.

[jfk]

goin to see ricky at tyer power now bout setting up for deca ill ask what mod the yokies wer? and im trying to find the michelin i had on it when i got the car in 2002 they are discon

[jfk]

the yokies were es100 and the michelin gtx virage 235/45/17 255/40/17 like to get my hands on these again

[LNah]

IMHO, I do agree that good tyres and shit tyres do have a difference between them. They're just like a pair of shit soled runners and a pair of high grip soled runners. Although the high grip runners will offer a good grip in all weather running, it doesn't mean you can go sprinting like a mad man in the wet because a reduced friction on the grounds is a dead set fact and the risk of slipping will always be there. Similarly, regardless good or shit tyres, having super grip tyres doesn't give you the reason to become careless in the wet where a loss of traction will always remain a threat the driver. For me, I'll be taking 100% care in the dry and 150% in the wet, regardless of the tyres I have.

[frozenpod]

people could start by realising that they are a cheap tyre, and offer more performance than other's in their price bracket.

stories about them being dangerous in the wet are just retarded, and for some reason people seem to expect a set of KU36's to turn their car into a fully prepped race car, rather than driving to the conditions.

Yes they offer great bang for buck and they are great dry weather tyres but I do not and cannot agree with you about there wet weather performance. They are close to dangerous in the wrong hands and I consider myself to be an above average driver I find them quite a handful in wet conditions, does this mean I went spining off the track or have crashed with them when it rained no it didn't but there are many other tyres I would much rather be driving with in wet conditions. If Kuhmo improve this area of the tyre for the next model they will have an all round fantastic tyre.

Further to this I could and have driven on tyres with no tread slicks on a wet track it was dicy and difficult but I didn't crash it can be done, again this doesn't mean due to there much better dry performance that slicks are the best way to go for daily use.

they are a brilliant street tyre for what you pay and offer more than enough performance wet or dry for the money.

Again brilliant street tyre for the dry with what you pay for, there are other tyres with similar price which offer much better wet weather performance and feedback.

as for my driving style, i certainly do not wait for the straights to put my foot down. I actually used to live on mt buller during the winters and have driven the road literally hundreds of times. I know every corner of that road well before i get to it and as such was driving on the very limit from bottom to top. The KU36's showed no signs of letting go at any stage past what i would expect form any street tyre in the wet.

the tyres provided me with enough feel to be able to get on boost early through the corners and hold the car right on the edge of sliding, without losing the rear.

It still sounds to me from your post as though you are not at the limit of cornering grip but at the limit of accellerational grip but I'm glad you are happy with them and didn't crash, ps perhaps take it a little easier next time on a public road and save that type of driving for the track.

as i said they are not a great tyre... but for the money i just cant go past them as my car is still driven on the street. in the dry they can hold the power and in the wet i have never had a problem in the short time i have been running them

As per the tyre tests they are down 5-10% in all areas in wet conditions and 1 second per lap slower on a 30 second lap, with directly compariable tyres, might not seem like much but this is considerable as often the difference with brand new comparable tyres between average tyres and great tyres is less than 3%.

"In the wet, however, the Kumhos were nothing short of diabolical, which kept them from victory. They had slightly more grip than the last-place Ling Longs but were, in fact, more difficult to drive because once they let go, there was a long, hairy slide before recovery, and the point at which they would give up was impossible to predict. Around the constant-radius turn, they kept us guessing, with a tendency to flip-flop between understeer and oversteer for no apparent reason. "

I agree 100% with the above statement whilst the understeer is present I have no issues with feedback or controlling this the oversteer on the other hand is a totally different situation.

As to how long you have had them I have found they have become considerably worse with age both when cold and in wet conditions and I would have considered them liveable just in wet conditions when they were brand new but not now.

Can attest to this lol...despite his FWD advantage, the only time I stayed with the N/A Pulsar was when he saw me ice skating on 595's lol.

This is something I didn't think about and it is a very valid point, given the N16 pulsar my daily the rear just follows the front almost regardless of what you do I would think the N15 would do the same which would most likely mean you wouldn't suffer the same issues or to at least a much lesser extent with KU36's.

[joeyjoejoejuniorshabadoo]

I had nitto NT05's on the front so there is no point discussing how much the fronts could hold, hence i'm simply talking about acceleration out of the corners, and the feel of the rears, which were also a 235/40/18 on 9.5" rims, and would hence have less sidewall flex than the tyres in the tests i spose, which will change things up quite a bit.

on a side note, the nitto's required quite a lot more than i expected to get to the edge of their grip in the wet

long story short, the kuhmo's performed adequately in the wet for a ~$200 tyre.. which is all my point was. not amazing, not deadly

[limpus]

Everyone seems to have their own opinions here so i'm not looking to sway anyone...but i'll give my own experience with the KU36s...

A few months ago i went to a set of KU36s on my supra...245 fronts and 275 rears...and they were terribly dissapointing...harshness on the road and tyre noise were horrendous....but i could live with that...what i could not live with was the wet weather grip...IT WAS ALL OVER THE PLACE...i used to love driving in the wet but these tyres made me so uneasy that i had to literally baby the car around when it rained similar to nismoid...even in the dry i had trouble putting the power down to the ground and they used to just light up after 4000rpm in 1st, 2nd and 3rd...and furthermore...the axle tramp was terrible with these tyres...i dunno about the rest of you but i'd rather sacrifice a bit of outright grip and not break anything in my driveline...

Also...the rear KU36s lasted only 4000ks...which is weird because they are usually meant to last a bit longer...i had them on during the cold wet winter months and didn't do anything untoward to chew them out and they still wore out across the the whole width of the tyre...it was so weird that i actually pulled them off and sent them back to kumho for them to look at...still waiting on a reply there...but its suspected that it could be a defective batch...So with the KU36s off i decided to go with a set of cheapo 595SSs to tide me over...and i was really pleasantly surprised...where the car used to have trouble putting the power down it just squats and takes off...albeit with some slight squealing from the tyres...outright wet weather grip has also improved but the tyre doesn't give much warning before it finally lets go...axle tramp has also totally disappeared...both in the dry and wet...however...the 595SSs do have VERY soft sidewalls which makes the rear of the car quite vague when cornering...but its a trade off i guess...soft sidewalls help with tramp but don't help cornering...

Back to the KU36s on the front...not long after i got the 595s on the rear...i pulled the fronts off and went back to my old slightly worn hankook evo s1s and instantly felt the difference too...it was just more direct and gave so much more feedback...so much so that i'm thinking of leaving them on for the next deca instead of running the KU36s up front...

So thats my experience with the KU36s...i really expected more from them and they were a tad disappointing...they do seem to work very well for some people but i guess it doesn't really suit my setup...and with the 595SSs...for their price they are a brilliant STREET tyre suited for daily and some spirited driving...but don't expect too much when you start asking more from them at the track because thats not what they're made for...

[Sarumatix]

I had heard on the grapevine, that the particularly cheap batch of KU36 that were sold recently in AUS were a defective batch with a poor composition that resulted in very high wear rates. My set seem to have lasted well but i'm not sold on the wet handling. As limpus points out they seem unpredictable in the wet. Nothing on the RE01s that came with the car .