I just got some Kumho ASTs in the 205/50-16 from the tirerack. Boy are they cheap @$56 each. I just drive the car mostly, though it will take a corner fairly good with this size tire compared to the winter stock size tires. I had firestones on the wheels and they were about gone....they were very responsive. These are a little mushey but part of that is full tread compared to the old ones, they are not as bad as the stock size tires of course.
These have a tread wear of 400, but at the price I don't expect them to last too long. I might try them this winter when they are new. As most of you know, I think they forgot road noise insulation in early contours and you can hear everything. These do make some low pitched thrum from say 35 to 55, but not real loud. What they will do is ride on the center tread, then when you turn a little the side parts hit and make a different noise. I only have a few hundred miles on them so maybe they will wear in some. Nothing objectional mind you. They also do that center thing on corners; they feel like a narrow tire then the sides hit and progressivley they get more bite.
I ran in some good water standing on the road, aimed right at puddles doing 60mph and didn't even notice the water was there on a divided highway. Ride is good until you hit a pothole or RR tracks/etc, they 'wap' on sharp bumps. Typical of this profile though, and some of the roads here are brutal.
They look real cool, I've had nice comments on them. They are supposed to be a high performance all season. I wanted that, and its hard to find in this size, because of spring and fall here when you have rain and lower temps. Also I don't need mega performance, and I wanted something that would last more than a year.
('95 GL ATX 2.0)
