A lot of that ^^ sort of problem can be traced back to running the wrong tire pressures for the load the tires are carrying & the way they are being used, as well as your expectations. ANY tire run at pressures that are too high for the load it's carrying/the way it's being used will hydro-plane in some conditions &/or have poor traction on any/all surfaces, and many drivers/riders just don't realise how critical the difference of as little as just 1psi in their tires might be to the traction & ride/handling characteristics of said tire. So unless you've seriously tried adjusting your tire pressures to suit your load/riding style & provide the optimal balance of traction & ride/handling from that tire, blaming the
tire for a lack of traction or otherwise is not a realistic response.... :shocked:
Still, the compound (or compounds - some tire manufacturers use two or more compounds across the tread face of the tire) that are used in the tread of the tire can have a big impact on how well a particular tire grips & behaves, altho if you bother, you as the operator can manage that behaviour to a large degree by adjusting your tire pressure to produce various desireable results or to reduce the un-desireable results. Kumho's (in general, altho there are specific exceptions in their line-up) tend to use more of a 'longer lasting' compound than some other brands, (including Yokohama, which in general are more of a softer compound using performance brand) which means that to provide the same degree of traction & to avoid hydro-planing, it is very likely you'll need to run lower pressures in a Kumho so that the tire compound will heat up more & become 'stickier' than you would in the same sized/tread type Yokohama. But you
can achieve very much the same traction by adjusting your pressures suitably, altho it will likely be at
some cost in terms of the potential tire life (probably countered by the longer life harder compound tho) - broadly speaking, the stickier you make your tires the quicker they will wear, altho lighter construction &/or softer compound tires will generally flex more & get hot quicker & thereby wear quicker than heavier construction/harder compound tires....
With a little effort, you can manage your tire pressures to get the best balance of performance, ride, handling, & traction from whatever tires you run if you want to, & maybe even learn how to pick a brand/construction of tire that best suits what you want from your tires; all it takes is learning how to vary your tire pressures to do so & then making the effort.
OR you can just treat your tires as black round things that keep the metal bits off the road & just set & forget your tire pressures, blaming the tire itself for your lack of effort & thereby significantly effecting things like potential tire life, traction, ride, handling, etc & possibly even your riding enjoyment. Many people who do the latter even change the brands/tread patterns of their tires often until they stumble (generally by pure fluke) across one that works sorta OK for them despite their lack of involvement/input into such a critical part of their ride enjoyment & safety....
Your choice
hyea:
