Just a short hop but a very fun bit of road

[tigerdog]

Took Smaug from San Diego to Palm Springs this week and never touched a motorway. Everything was the equivalent of an A- or B- road. This particular stretch of the "Pines to Palms Highway" is fun. After tooling along above 3000' (1000M) elevation for an hour, the highway dives to sea level in the space of a couple of miles. Sadly, there was an overturned truck causing one-way traffic control and a painfully slow Mazda 6 in front of me once I passed it.

[steve matthews]

And the new rubber performed how
Steve

[tweetdriver63]

And the new rubber performed how
Steve

Ummm....Getting a little personal, aren't we?

[tigerdog]

Hard to say how much is due to the new Kumhos and how much due to a dramatic improvement in chassis/wheel alignment but the car felt like a dream. Bearing in mind I'm comparing the Kumhos to 10 year old Pirelli PZero Neros, here are my impressions:

quiet: kumhos have much less road noise than the old pirellis. They also have much less tread pattern
ride: surprisingly, more compliant. Road seams and pavement irregularities are much less annoying
dry grip: no comparison! The Kumhos stick like glue. So far, nothing I've done have unsettled them in the least. I think I will run out of cojones before they run out of grip.
braking: if I was smart, I would have measured. That said, the car stops a whole lot harder. Makes me appreciate the big brake kit in a way I couldn't before.

I don't expect they will perform well in the wet; they don't have the tread pattern for it. I also wouldn't want to get them anywhere near freezing temps. All that said, I feel like I just got a new car. As long as your Elan is a fair-weather drive, I'd give the Kumho KU36 Ecsta Xs a look.

I want to go find more twisties now!