TrackEvo

iTrader: (3)

Hello fellow members! I bought some Kuhmo V700 Track tires from Tire Rack at the beginning of September. They were brand new and not shaved. I used them for one track day at Watkins Glen (Sept 20) and then after the first session at NJMP Thunderbolt I noticed some rubber coming apart out of the middle of the front tires. After the second session I noticed that the inside of the passenger front tire had equal sequential spots wear the rubber had been scrapped away and was missing. The driver front tire had the tread separating on the outside.

I immediately took the tires off due to safety and started communicating with Tire rack to resolve the issue. These tires were new and only had 5 sessions on them total. Below is the response that Kuhmo gave to tire rack.

My understanding is that Kuhmo says that EVO's are not good cars for tire longevity. Kuhmo also states how to drive the EVO so the tires will not get damaged in 4 sessions.

READ and POST YOUR THOUGHTS!!!

Good afternoon,

I have finally received a ersponse from our tech regarding the Kumho tires. Please see his response:

Overall, I don’t see any standout issues with the set up. Negative camber settings look appropriate, and cold inflation pressure looks typical.

The Mitsubishi Lancer has proven to be hard on front tires, at least in several instances of customers using track and Extreme Performance tires at the track that I have ran into. I am not sure what actual heat cycle method was used, as I am not sure what section on the web he refers to (Tire Tech Information/Competition Tire Information Chart). And most importantly, the tires were not shaved. I suspect some damage may have been done during the first sessions, and/or there was still sufficient tread depth remaining in the 3rd session that the tire overheated and blistered during that run.

The wear on the tire tells the story. There is noticeably more wear on the outside shoulder than the rest of the tire, in addition to the blistering on the inboard half of the tread block. The wear rate and the blistering from heat shows this area of the tire is where the most work is being done. Work = heat, heat = wear.

A shaved tire may not have blistered the same way as these tires have. So I would start there, combined with searching for ways to reduce the work load on the shoulder of the front tires. Run higher air pressure to provide better support to the front tires. Tune the suspension to reduce and eliminate any inherent understeer. And based on my own experience tracking a turbo AWD car, resist the temptation to add lots of throttle to try and avoid turbo lag exiting the corner. Doing so often ends in tire grinding wear and tear as the boost climbs, and the front end begins to spin the front tires. This situation combines to punish the front tires much more like a FWD car than a RWD car would.

I recognize the credentials of the customer, but the wear and tear on the front tires tells the story.

If you need further assistance, please contact me at 888-981-3953 ext 263.

I have highlighted some interesting info written from the representative of a competition tire manufacturing company. I am also sending a link of this post to Tire Rack.

n2oiroc

iTrader: (33)

i dont see how tirerack has anything to do with it. if kumho doesnt want to do anything about it tireracks hands are tied. they cant eat the cost of the tires if they arent going to get reimbursed. can you post pics of the tires?

TrackEvo

iTrader: (3)

I do agree that Tire Rack is not the manufacture of the tires and are not responsible for the tire being improperly produced.
However! As a business they choose to sell a specific product. By choosing to sell that product they SHOULD accept part of the responsibility for that product when and if a customer has a complaint with that product.

Example: You by a Black and Decker Power Saw from Home Depot. You use the Saw for the first time and the motor burns up and the Saw no longer works. Do you immediately call Black and Decker to deal with the problem or do you go to Home Depot and tell them what happen and Expect them to fix your problem.

I understand that Tire Rack would have to eat the cost of two of the tries. But I feel that they should accept the loss as part of doing business.

If Tire Rack would reimburse the cost of the two tires, it would clearly show the Motorsports world that they are committed to providing the Customer Service that I and hopefully some other people expect from Global Company of such magnitude. Tire Rack deals with the individual customer as well as the business owner.

Tire Rack's current response to this matter, (from my point of view and everyone may have a different one), is the following:
Yes, we sell Kuhmo tires, but if they are faulty or damaged in anyway after use then we will simply refer you to Kuhmo and wait for their decision. What ever they decide then we will accept that. Since Kuhmo has decided that the tires have normal wear and tear because they were on an EVO and your driving style is not conducive to tire longevity, we are not reimbursing you anything. I take from this if you have any problem with any product that Tire Rack sells, you should not bother contacting their Customer Service Center and just deal the manufacture directly. If this is true then why do we need the middle man in business. WE are not getting the tires at a wholesale cost! Tire Rack buys them at wholesale and then adds a markup for sale to the public. I feel that being in business and handling customer issues is part of that original markup.

I have pics and will post them later tonight!

I would like to thank everyone for reading and adding comments. I have two goals for this post.
1. I want to be reimbursed the $176 dollars for the two faulty tires.
2. I am hoping that Tire Rack will see the opportunity to reaffirm their image to the members of this board as a Good, Reputable company who cares about its customers.

TrackEvo

iTrader: (3)

On the picture with the quarter size spots on the inside edge, the do go all the way around the tire on the same edge.

TrackEvo

iTrader: (3)

Tire Picture

cij911

iTrader: (14)

Bad....

TrackEvo

iTrader: (3)

I wonder if all the Vendors on this board would accept this situation if it was a customer of theirs!

BEISSEN

iTrader: (31)

I don't see any evidence that tire rack would be responsible. You tracked a tire that is more so meant for street use not tracking where the tires can over heat and cause problems. The other thing is you got a Kuhmo tire to track a car with and from the pictures it looks like the wheels were out of alignment as the outside was eaten up more the the inside. Also your example of Black and Decker is that on a Appliance its a defect that can be proven hey it turned on and boom stopped as where you bought a set of tires not meant for tracking really and burned them up with possibly a bad alignment and now want your money back or a new set of tires.
I'm sorry but get real buy some real track tires meant to take the heat and abuse and then see what you will complain about. This is not a case worth even trying to fight and tire rack will not even bother with it either. if you decide not to buy from them well 10 more people will take your place.

Mr Wong

iTrader: (3)

^ i agree with you on this one. and i bought a couple of kuhmo tires and they are good tires. like what people say " what you pay, is what you get"

Smike

iTrader: (8)

With this. This is not a Service Review and complaint was not cleared though an Admin or Super.

Thread closed.

Camber, alignment, cold psi, measured hot psi gradient across the tire...approach into / out of turns...etc.