Kuhmo ESCTA 712 & Bridgestone RE730 - followup part 2.

[David Chien]

    Well, months after my first post earlier to this group regarding
these two tires, lots of driving basically confirm what they can do:

1. 712's are simply a nice, fat 'regular' road tire.  Higher performance
than stock because of the wider profile (I'm using 205/15's.), decently
quiet for a 'higher' performance tire, soft/comfy ride, and otherwise
good to go for long stretches of 405 freeway driving.

    RE730's are very different animals.  Very stiff, harsher ride, and a
bit of whine above 50mph.  Not fun for long, daily commutes on the 405
beyond 15 miles because they're stiffer and harsher.

2. 712's will scare you do death after driving on the RE730's.

    Why?

    If you recall the video game Ridge Racer 4, there's only two types
of  cars - grip and drift.  RE730's have AMAZING amounts of grip, and
you really, really have to push the car well beyond 90% to get them to
slip or skid about.  RE730's are so reliably grippy, they'll actualy
save your butt and amaze you when you get into some trouble in turns and
fast corners with their extra reserve of grip.

    On the other hand, the 712's are scarry like hell when you're used
to simply knowing and relying upon gobs and gobs of grip on the RE730's.
  Instead, the 712's will fool you at first with some softness, so maybe
you set the level of slip a bit than expected with other tires.  But the
moment you get into some trouble, they fall flat on their face and
suprise you by slipping, skidding, and generally failing to grip like
you expected they should, even at a lower level of expectation!

    Now, that doesn't mean the 712's aren't useful.  Just like the drift
cars  in Ridge Racer, you have to simply accept that the back end will
fly all over the place in hard cornering and breaking, and if that's
your thing, then there you go - wonderfully easy drifts (albeit squishy
because of the softer sidewalls) all day long.

    But since very few of us drive over dirt roads ala rally drivers,
and since most of us want the assurance and safety that comes with
having lots of spare grip rather than less, the 712's will scare
high-performance drivers to death at first if they're moving over from
higher performance tires like the RE730s.  You'll find yourself
wondering suddenly what to do when you measured out xx feet for a fast
stop, only to hear the 712's start skidding earlier than they ought to,
or finding your tail swinging wide in a fast turn unexpectedly.

    Loss of grip comes quick and sometimes a bit quick and unexpectedly,
so you'll have to quick to compensate.  Once the grip goes, good luck --
it'll take a while of slowing down before they grab again.  (good if you
like watching the swirling scenery, bad if you're quickly swinging into
a tree)

    However, once you've played with them awhile and realize that
they're simply nice 'road' tires, then you'll be fine.  Just drive more
like a fast grandma and you'll be safe.

    RE730's simply put you into another realm of happiness.  They'll
take away the soft, cushy commuter ride of the 712's, the quieter, more
tolerable ride noise, and so forth, and simply give in return, gobs and
gobs of smile inducing grip and stiff performance.  You really have to
do something incredibbbbly stupid to get these tires to fake you out,
and they'll always save your butt with an extra suprise of hidden spare
grip when things get hot.

    They're like the most reliable dogs on the planet -- push them hard,
and they'll run where you want to go.  Push them over the edge to where
they start to lose grip, and you simply have to let up a nudge for them
to immediately grab hold of the asphalt again.  Even when they're
sliding, you can feel that they'll grab hold the instant they can find
something and that they're always pushing you back into non-drift mode.

    The RE730's are the sort of tires you get if you really want to make
full use of those 205/15 sized rims you've bought and really love to
spacerocket that Sentra around corners like a go-cart on hot sauce.
Performance is basically the same new to old, and you can start
whip-lashing yourself from day one.

    The 712's are the sort of tires you get if you're tired of hearing
all that road hum, and want to have a cushy, soft freeway commute daily
without much worry about being rocketman, but want something more than
the stock tires.  They also take a bit of time to break in, so expect
perfomance to change as they wear.  Less grip at first, then as they
break in, more.

    In the end, we'll see how another couple thousand miles do.  The
712's do have a 'decent' roadwear life thus far, and they haven't worn
down as quickly as let's say the RE91's.

    But I'll probably go straight back to the RE730's after the 712's
wear out despite a harsher ride -- the 712's are nice, but they're not
fun.   The 730's are simply FUN, FUN, FUN! -- besides, I hate it when my
rear end goes loose on the 712's.

    d =)