One of the top ten tire manufacturers in the world, Kumho Tires, flexed its collective muscle with a comprehensive launch event held at BeaveRun Motorsports Complex in Pennsylvania. Heralding the debut of the Kumho Ecsta SPT ultrahigh performance tire, the much-awaited replacement for the Ecsta Supra 712, the event featured off-roading, auto crossing, drifting, rallying and lapping around BeaveRun's famous North Course.
Besides sampling various forms of Jesus Juice after hours, editors braved the Eastern time zone for a chance to experience the entire Kumho lineup. The outlying forest and shrubbery of Pennsylvania provided the perfect venue to experience the capabilities of the Kumho rally tire and the Road Venture MT truck tire. Enjuku Racing was out displaying the red-smoking visual wonders available from the MX-C drift tire, while the auto cross course was assembled to truly test the SPT tire.
With half the course dry as a bone and the other half laid slick by a water truck, two BMW Z4s and one Porsche Boxster were let loose. Drivers rotated between the Dunlop Sport Maxx, Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 and the Kumho SPT rubber. The results were exactly as Kumho planned. The Michelin tires came out just tenths of a second faster than the Kumho SPT, while both dusted the Dunlops. But the whole point of it all? The Kumho is marginally slower than the Michelin, yet costs substantially less. At press time, Kumhos were priced 40-percent lower than Michelins at some retailers.
Although lacking the all-out dry grip of a tire such as the Kumho MX, Falken Azenis or the BF-G KD, the SPT tire packs pretty good dry-weather grip along with excellent behavior in the wet. Building upon the success of the 712 tire-albeit with newer technological advancements-Kumho has created a winner with the SPT. It's the new king of bang for the buck. Check it out yourself: www.kumhotire.com.
Import Tuner And Amp'd Mobile Go WirelessAmp'd Mobile, a new youth-oriented mobile wireless service provider, has announced the launch of its services later this year. Amp'd will feature standard and pre-paid mobile phone service, along with online-accessible customization capability. Hit the Web, pick the phone you want and the service you need; get what you want, and leave out what you don't. Amp'd is also promising that service and coverage will be better than every other crappy, zero-bar, no-signal service provider still in business today.
Who cares though? What's the big deal, you say? Amp'd has also teamed up with Import Tuner to deliver exclusive automotive content to users including games, video clips, photos, ring tones and access to the free WaveWatch network. A godsend for technological surfers, WaveWatch allows real-time, Internet-based surf-condition forecasting using a Web-based camera system. One of the first games available for the Amp'd service is Asphalt: Import Tuner Edition, a 3-D racing game featuring heavily modified cars blasting through road blocks, police barriers and helicopter chases. Just like in real life, kinda. Update: www.ampd.com.
Scion Smashes Into Drag RacingNotoriously hip Scion has decided to delve into the one realm that has managed to escape its current lineup-outright speed. Ready to campaign immediately in the NHRA and NDRA ranks, Scion Racing has built two drag tCs, one with Christian Rado of World Racing and another with Leslie Durst of Horizon Motorsports.