BF Goodrich KDW vs KD

[GeoffP]

Anyone who's owned KD's and KDW's, I'd love to know your opinion regarding the handling differences between the two. Specifically, I'd like to know KD vs KDW 1's not 2's. I know that KD's are side specific and that they have a treadwear rating of 200 rather than the KDW's rating of 300. I know nothing other than that. I've currently got a brand new pair of 245/45-17 KDW 1's on the front of my 68 and am shopping for a good replacement for the 275/40-17's on the rear. Currently they are Sumi HTR-Z's (original HTR's). They're about worn out, plus they don't meet the treadwear requirements to compete in the Auto-X at RTTH, so I'm shopping for tires. I would really appreciate anyone's opinions on this because I had planned on buying new KDW 1's for the rear except that I can't find them anywhere anymore. They were semi-abundant in Feb when I bought the fronts at a great deal. One thing to know is that I have a very minor rubbing issue on the driver's side rear with the Sumitomo's, so I'm not 100% sure a 275 KDW would even fit without a 1/4" spacer added to the rear. I'm considering 255/45's as an alternative too. I hope someone will chime in on this as I want to place the order for something on Thursday.

Thanks!!

[overZealous1]

i have not run the kd's. i just run the kdws, and have for years. before that, ran many other tires. the kdw outperformed (imo) any other tire i have run. i have run both the 1 and 2 version. i used to autocross in my vette with kdw's 1 and got better times than 50% of the group running hoosiers on the same vehicle. just did kdw2's on my viper and it doesn't spin nearly like it used to with michelin rears. performance is great with them and hardly any warm up time is needed. amasing for a tire that DOES last longer than any other performance tire i have run.

[CamaroAJ]

the kdw2 is now the kdw and its the only way you can get it unless someone has the old left over kdw's.

i bought a set for my camaro build. the girlfriend has them on her cts-v. good tire for the price.

[GeoffP]

What about KD's? I found an eBay seller with KD's in 275's for a good price, but they are 200 treadwear instead of 300. I prefer 300 since I want something that will last a while. Are the KDW's really wider than most other tires? I would love to see someone to post a measurement of the actual width in inches. I don't want to get into a situation where I have to buy spacers for clearance.

[GeoffP]

I ended up with Nitto NT-05's at Jon from Driver's Inc's suggestion. Thanks Jon!