Kumho ESCTA 712, Bridgestone RE730, RE93 - quick notes

[David Chien]

Having gone thru the older Bridgestone RE93, RE730 and now running on
the 712's, here's a few notes (test size 205/50/15):

1) All are cheap <$100 low-profile, higher-performance tires.  You can
find and buy somewhat better for more, but these bargins are the best
'starting' choices around.

2) Ride goes from harsher to softer from the RE93 to the 712's.  Same
with quietness.  Braking performance is great on the RE730/93's, but
diminished on the 712's due to their softer construction.

3) Handling response is crisp on the RE93/730's, soft on the 712's.
   Basically, if you're looking for something with a very crisp response
when turning, stiffer sidewalls, and all-the-road-imperfetions jiggling
your seat feel, then the RE93 and slightly, slightly softer RE730's are
the ones to buy.
   On the other hand, if you're looking for a touring tire that's
plusher, but has better performance than the narrow originals, the 712's
are the way to go.

4) The RE730 improves on basically all aspects of the stiff sidewalled
RE93 with crisp performance, slightly lower tire noise, better wet
performance, etc.  Might as well toss out the RE93's today from your
checklist because the RE730's basically replace and succeed them easily.

5) If you're driving lots of freeway miles daily, and not racing much,
then the softer, quieter  712's are the way to go.  They're smooth when
compared to the RE730/93's, and are the choice to buy if you hate
jiggly-wiggly stiff freeway rides.  If you want performance and that
go-kart feel, RE730's are the way to go.

6) If you go from the RE93/730's to the 712's, prepare yourself for a
BIG adjustment period!
For a few days/weeks, you'll be wondering what happened to that crisp,
tight, go-kart response, wonder why braking super-hard takes longer than
expected to stop, and wondering why tossing the sentra around corners
fast feels scarry now on the softer 712's with less feel than the
RE730/93's.  Basically, it's like coming down to earth again or regular
width tires.

7) Because the 712's are softer than the 730/93's, if you downgrade, be
prepared to have a period of 'adjustment' to get used to more 'normal'
performance and less than 40+MPH left hand turns ;)

   The road grip on the 730's are just stunning (for the price) and you
can really push the poor Sentra hard and still not worry much about
flying off the road.  The point where the 730's do lose their road grip
is very high, and when they do, a simple adjustment in speed or
direction brings their grip back right away.  A predictable, safe tire
for tossing the Sentra around if you do crazy things.  Stiff sidewalls
also let you know what's going on down there at all times.

  712's are like touring tires - softer, numb feel.  You can push them,
but never know if they're just mushy, or if you're really reaching their
limits of road grip.  They just don't tell you when they'll break off as
well as the 730's, so you'll have to do some serious testing before you
get wild with these tires.  The softer feel takes away from at-limit
road feel, so some surfaces the 730's attack easily are scarrier with
the 712's because you don't know if the surface can handle the speeds or
not, dont' know if they'll break away without warning or not on you.

 93's are basically like 730's but a bit more noisy, a bit less wet
grip, a bit less all around, but nowhere as soft as the 712's.

8) Burn through the 93's super-fast - under 10K miles of fun go-kart
driving.  730's are better, 10-12k miles.  Will see how long the 712's
last as they're currently being tested.

9) Oh, watch out about the 712's break-in time!

   The RE93/730' run fine fresh.  Top performance and handling right
away without any break-in time at all.  The 712's however take a few
hundred miles before they break-in and lose that initial softness/lack
of grip/slick feel.  Toss the 712's around the first couple hundred
miles is scarry because their performance is constantly changing and
haven't settled in yet.  RE93/730s pretty much go-go-go right out of the
box, and they stay consistantly good most of their lifespan.

  So, in the end, if you like a grippier ride, but not harsh, the 712's
are the way to go if you're only doing freeway driving and commuting
about.

  If you really don't care about harsher rides, louder tires, and really
want that go-kart feel, the RE730's are the way to go.

  d =)