Kumho Solus TA -- Anyone with experience?

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jwarren3768
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Kumho Solus TA -- Anyone with experience?

Post by jwarren3768 »

Since we here in South Central PA are having what is likely the last gasp of Indian Summer (can I still say that?) here with sunny skies and warm 70+ days this weekend, I decided that I wanted to take Ringo out for his first spin after finally getting all of the paperwork and plates from the PA motor vehicle folks. Unfortunately, when I went out to the garage I saw he had an exceptionally flat tire.

I pulled it off and did a quick visual inspection. Not seeing anything other that alot of dry rot, I decided to try to figure out just how old his shoes are. Turns out they are about 10 years old. Not good. Not good at all. Searching here I found that buying new tires for a 55 year old car, particularly with the hopes of just replacing the tires and not upgrading the rims, was going to be a challenge. The general consensus here is that 13" tires, particularly in the OE replacement size, are virtually impossible to find. Joy.

Anyone who has already read my introduction will recall that I do not currently have a long term plan for Ringo, other than wanting to play with him for a little while. That said, I want to minimize any expenditures that I put into him for the time being. So at this point I am not going to replace the rims and I'm going to stick with just buying new tires.

Long story short: here is what I found: Kumho Solus TA 185/70R13. Set of 4 shipped to a local installer. Yes, I know they are smaller than the OE tires and yes I know that's going to throw off the speedo. Frankly, that isn't a concern for me. I don't plan to drive him frequently or far from home and a +/- 3 mph difference should not raise the ire of local law enforcement.

I've always been a Goodyear or Michelin guy. It doesn't appear that either of the companies make a tire in this size that isn't a trailer tire (which is a no-no for a passenger vehicle). Has anyone used Kumho tires? Does anyone know anything about them?

As far as price goes, I think there are two options.

TireRack.com http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp ... tab=Survey has these available for about $300 total for 4 tires, shipping to a local installer and a couple of sheckles to the installer to properly install them.

TireBuyer.com http://www.tirebuyer.com/tires/kumho/so ... 8nJv3r3DIw has them for $203 with FREE shipping to a local installer and estimated installation costs.

I know people who have used tirerack.com and been pleased. I've never heard of tirebuyer.com. Has anyone worked with them before? They have a toll free number, they are a google trusted store, and they show the BBB, SEMA, bizrate and other logos so the appear legit. I'd like to be able to save the $100, but if the company will be a hassle then it isn't worth the cost.

Appreciate your input.
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sailadams
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Re: Kumho Solus TA -- Anyone with experience?

Post by sailadams »

I have used 14x185/70 Kumho Solas on my MGBs, very satisfactory all around. I have a 13x185/70 set on my Monza, ready to go, but not driven yet, so I can't speak to the particular application yet. Don't know anything about tirebuyer as I have great retail dealer here, gran turismo east, who can get anything on the market.
1966 Monza coupe, 1967 Buick Special Deluxe hardtop coupe, 1967 MGB GT, 1976 MGB roadster, Kurzweil PC3, Martin 0 custom, Martin 00 Tweedie, Larrivee OMV-9, 1996 Parker Deluxe
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jwarren3768
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Joined: Wed Sep 21, 2016 8:07 am
Location: Hanover, PA
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Re: Kumho Solus TA -- Anyone with experience?

Post by jwarren3768 »

sailadams wrote:I have used 14x185/70 Kumho Solas on my MGBs, very satisfactory all around. I have a 13x185/70 set on my Monza, ready to go, but not driven yet, so I can't speak to the particular application yet. Don't know anything about tirebuyer as I have great retail dealer here, gran turismo east, who can get anything on the market.
Your comment about having a local dealer made me think about keeping money local and make relationships with local shops so I took a ride out the Firestone dealer that was the "recommended installer" from tirebuyer.com. Turns out that he was able to order the Kumhos in the size I wanted and it would only be a few dollars more per tire and they'll be in the shop in a few days.

The downside is that due to work and other committments I won't be able to get Ringo up to the shop until next week (unless I get home early from work one day) so it would seem the tires fall into the category of "hurry up and wait." Seems to be a recurring theme to me.
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