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[yorad]

Tire Make/Model: Kumho Ecsta SPT
Size: 205/50/ZR17

Review: First I will say, at $95/each from Tirereck.com, the price it pretty great. I had the tires in 24 hours too, shipping was very reasonable. I think it's strange I haven't seen another review of the SPTs on here yet, but this is my 2 cents.

Highs: Straight-line traction is exceptional. I was spinning through the majority of 2nd with my old Kumhos (I forget the model, but they were hi-performance summer as well) and now they stick like crazy. I can still feel them hunting for traction and chirping a little if drop the hammer while in the sweet spot of the torque curve, but they catch pretty quickly. First gear holds MUCH better as well and I can launch way harder than ever before. No track time yet, but it's night/day difference.

Wet traction is great as well. 2nd gear in the wet is almost as good as it was in the dry with the old tires.

I've only had them on for a couple hundred miles so far, so too soon to comment on treadlife. If it sucks you can be certain I'll be back here to bitch though! My current mods are: S1, S2 WGA 20/14 PSI, Perrin SRI, NGK 4306s gapped .40, Mopar Performance wires, Mopar BOV, PTP check valve, PTP FPR mod and crapload of zipties and clamps.

Lows: I don't autocross and I haven't tested a ton of tires like Stowaway, but I've driven hard enough and long enough to know when a tire corners well and when it doesn't. While ultimate cornering grip seems to be pretty decent due to the stickiness of the compound, the sidewalls seem a bit weak. I'm running about 35 PSI all the way around and the initial turn-in and steering feel is pretty lousy compared to the old tire. I understand some of that is due to the height of the tread blocks on the new tires vs the old ones which were almost to the wear bars, but it's more than that. The car is much slower to respond to steering input, and tends to keep moving around a bit after your done with your input as well. This also upsets the balance of the car a when braking heavily if you're not pointed dead straight.

Summary: Traction for acceleration is very good.
Braking distances are undoubtedly good, but at the expense of some stability when any lateral motion is involved.
Cornering grip seems acceptable, but turn in and steering feel are sub-par.
Wet performance is great.
Treadlife summary pending...