Kumho V710s...anyone flip them over?

[dmdirks]

I know of a couple folks who dismount and remount their V710s backward on the wheel at least once during the lifetime of the tires.

The V710 is not a directional tire, however there are "SIDE FACING INWARD/OUTWARD" notations.

The wear indicators on mine show some depth on the insides. No cords are showing on the outsides (surprisingly, especially after MMP!)

Anyone understand this tire well enough to convince me not to do this?

Thanks!!

[Snymo]

I've never used the 710s, but I used to do it with Victoracers and Ecstas all the time. I still do it with the Toyo RA1s I am currently using. I don't see why the 710 would be any different. You can usually get another couple days or more after flip-flopping them.

Rick

[MHISSTC]

I believe you will be fine flipping the tire.

Here's how I understand it. The grooves on the inner half of the tire are the minimum "tread" required to allow them to be DOT-legal tires. This leaves the outer section completely smooth in order to perform more like a true racing slick...especially during cornering. That is why there is an "inner" and an "outer" side to the tire. If you flip the tires to get more life out of them, you may not be able to get the absolute maximum grip out of them, but the difference should be negligable.

I've run Victoracer V700s, which have a more pronounced directional "tread", on my Cobra. I was told I could flip those without noticing any difference. I never did notice any difference.

I can't remember if it was Tire Rack, Kumho, or someone on another racing forum that told me this, but here's what I was told about the V700s being labled as directional, but why it really didn't matter. The original V700 had a carcass design and construction that made them more durable in one direction of rotation than the other. The molds used to form the sidewall and tread were marked as such. The carcass was later redesigned and no longer had a difference in direction of rotation, but the sidewall and tread molds were never changed.

[dmdirks]

:cool:

Thanks, guys. That's the kind of information I was looking for.

[GaryM05]

...

I've run Victoracer V700s, which have a more pronounced directional "tread", on my Cobra. I was told I could flip those without noticing any difference. I never did notice any difference.

I can't remember if it was Tire Rack, Kumho, or someone on another racing forum that told me this, but here's what I was told about the V700s being labled as directional, but why it really didn't matter. The original V700 had a carcass design and construction that made them more durable in one direction of rotation than the other. The molds used to form the sidewall and tread were marked as such. The carcass was later redesigned and no longer had a difference in direction of rotation, but the sidewall and tread molds were never changed.

Here's a page at TireRack that mentions this:

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=61