Kumho Ecsta Tires

Initial Review, 35,998 Miles on Tires
April 24, 2012

This Tire at the time I bought it has a very high consumer reports rating, and it proved its self. I traveled 6,000 plus miles in the first 2 months of having them, In April from California to Florida, up thru Georgia on backroads, and thru Kansas to Denver. and back to northern California. Dry wet hot cold ice hail snow, this tire far out performed any tire I have ever owned . I traveled thru the extreame rain and wind that hit St Louis Mo and Kansas late April May of 2011, with the tornado force winds and rain so heavy you could not see to drive well, and had no issues with traction or lose of control at all.
This will be the ONLY tire I will ever buy again, this tire is the best of the best.

Initial Review, 15,000 Miles on Tires
April 30, 2012

These tires were on my car and slightly used when I purchased it a year ago. About 12,000+ miles I've added. Dry traction is very good. My 95M Miata handles extremely well with these. Dry traction is very good. These tires loosen up quite a bit when wet. Actually just loose enough to make wet road driving alot of fun at about the speed limit on spirited scenic drives. If your up for that. They reject hydroplaning rather well. Was forced to drive all winter with these in nothern WV. They performed better than expected in the snow on a rear wheel drive vehicle, but you better be a good driver to avoid getting stuck. However, even my spouse could handle snow under 1 inch and plowed roads. We did burn up our rear tires in >3 mild months of winter, we contend with many hills to climb. And we did climb them in the snow with these tires all winter. I'd reconsider using these if being used on a true performance vehicle with muscle. My stock 95M Miata can spin them at will and powerslide with mildly spirited driving if just a little wet. Fun for me, but dangerous at higher speeds/horsepower. These are one of the very few all-season tires available for the stock 95M Miata BBS rims. 195/50 15. Upon an inspection today I did find an outward bulge the one of my sidwalls about 2" in diameter. QC may be an issue? Overall for the price, I'm quite pleased with the performance of these tires. Can't completely say how much of it is the car and how much is the tire. But these tires are giving me exactly what I expect from my Miata and I can afford to burn them up having a little having fun. Also, they look good enough. I'm buying 2 more rear tires. Zoom-Zoom

Note: these are directional tires

Dry Traction = very good+
Wet traction = ok, safe at moderate speeds, good highway, easily pushed to fun limit
Snow traction = just good enough
Hydroplaning rejection = very good
Braking = good

Initial Review, 1,200 Miles on Tires
May 05, 2012

I bought this tire for one reason, dry traction, and it has unbelievable stick. I have yet to break this tire loose from the pavement unless there was gravel/sand present on the roadway. I've been upgrading my tires over the last several purchases one pair at a time, replacing only the fronts with stickier rubber and moving the old set to the rear. My car is front wheel drive and doesn't have much horsepower but the suspension and chassis are built for the twisties. I have taken sharp right handers and broken the rear loose with BFG KDW's while the Kuhmo XS didn't even get fazed in the front. One of my favorite loops (banked merging ramp) I could exit no higher than 56 with the KDW's before the front would scrub and understeer. With the Kuhmos, I've attained 63 with no tire scrub and the speed is limited by my lack of horsepower, not traction.

I didn't rate the ride comfort or noise level of the tire because, frankly, if that matters, you probably shouldn't be looking to purchase this tire. I also have not had to drive on them in the rain yet but when I do I'll be taking it easy as it isn't rated for wet use. It is purpose built for dry traction and doesn't disappoint. Traction is great when they're cold and amazing once they're warmed up. Looking forward to testing them at the track.

Initial Review, 100 Miles on Tires
May 16, 2012

So far I am loving these tires. I had a set of Goodyears with not many miles on them, and the front tires started to split where the tread meets the sidewalls (factory defect, but useless Goodyear didn't give a d*mn). I had to buy new tires and was always happy with the Michelin MXV4+ tires, but I found these Kumho's for $60 less and the same ratings (Better in some categories). My first few trips with these tires made me very happy I got them. They are super quiet, very comfortable. Their traction is top notch. They look great too. Its too early to tell how they affect mileage and how the treadwear is, I will update again with more miles on them. But compared to the old Goodyears, they were nearly $100 less per tire, they have much better traction and speed ratings, and the wear rating is better too. I got the Goodyears for the quite ride and the traction and I must say these Kumho tires out perform the Goodyears. I would very much recommend these tires, you can't beat the price and they perform above and beyond any other tire at this price, even better than some tires that are twice as expensive.

Initial Review, 2,000 Miles on Tires
April 24, 2012

Second only to the Yokahama S Sports I had in cornering (which was VERY good), but these are MUCH quieter - a HUGE plus in a Scion XB. Very good in what little rain we get around here. Very smooth and tight on highway 33 - the road of multiple turns (lots of fun for a "toaster" w/ swaybars/ lowered suspension). I was hesitant as Kumho not my first choice, but Tirerack Rep. on phone highly recommended them........thanks for that

Initial Review, 20,000 Miles on Tires
May 03, 2012

I drive an '03 Ford Focus ZX3 with a Ford SVT suspension kit. My commute to work takes me over a very winding 2 lane road and the traction and predictability is great. They work well in wet conditions until they get below half tread life at which point they also become a littl noisy. They are still completely usable and the noise isn't a problem for me. I now drive less miles and on straighter roads than I used to so this set of tires will probably last a lot longer than the previous set. I'm very happy with them and you can't beat the price for the performance.

Initial Review, 2,000 Miles on Tires
May 03, 2012

I just purchased these to replace Michelin Pilot Exaltos that were at the end of their life and I'm very happy with my choice. The car has 165,000 mile on it it and rides like new even with control arms that need replacement soon. Don't let the low price put you off. Great grip, handling, and quieter then the Michelins.This is a summer only tire, but for the price difference you can pay for a good portion of a set of winter snow tires and have the best of both worlds.

Initial Review, 50 Miles on Tires
March 28, 2012

I have less then 100 miles on these tires but so far the ride is better then my OEM Michelin's, I will add to review with more miles under my belt. I want to say that the whole sales process and instalation through a third party worked perfect. I odered my tires on a Friday and the instalation location, a sears auto, recieved them on Tuesday. I am in chicago and the Tire Rack dist facility is in South Bend Indiana, but still excellent service. The sears auto service was quick and very resonably priced at 48.00 for all four. Overall I am very please with Tire Rack and their choice in third party installers.

Initial Review, 3,000 Miles on Tires
May 13, 2012

This is definately one of the better tires I've purchased.I put them on our S40 Volvo, and two days later put them on the S60. Great bang for the buck. I have no major complaints. they are firm enough to handle well, and also give a decent ride comfort. You can still fell the road, and have a comfortable ride. I've seen no significant tire wear in the 3,000 miles or more that they've been on either car. We swap cars every other week, so i've driven both cars with the tires. I LIKE Theme. Probably purchase them again, unless they come out with something different.

Initial Review, 29,760 Miles on Tires
May 01, 2012

I have almost 131,000 miles on my M45 and this will be my third set since the originals(Potenza's) wore out at 30,000. My buddy has a 2005 with Michelin Pilot's and the only difference in performance is Kumho's don't like heavy rain but, at $120 less per tire, and in the Florida heat, the Khumo's are outstanding- even at 120+ they are glue and I can't complain about averageing 35,000 miles per set. - N

Initial Review, 2,000 Miles on Tires
April 26, 2012

I purchased a set of these tires to replace the worn out set of Sport Pilots that were on my car that had achieved 27K miles, complete with at least 4 track days (one of which was a rainy day) and still they were not quite down to the wear bars. Clearly though, the old set was work hardened and not performing well at the track or comfortably on the road.

What a HUGE difference these new Sport Pilot PS2 tires made to the track handling and overall driveability and comfort of the car! Wow! Over the years I have tried other tires, Conti Sports, Bridgestones Pole Position, Kumho Ecsta XS and frankly none of them can hold a candle to the Michelin Sport Pilot series of tires in terms of overall performance. I'm not saying that the other tires aren't good tires for the money but, if you want outstanding performance in a tire that you can drive on the street in comfort and flog to the limits and beyond on the track and still get some mileage from then the Sport Pilot is the best one out there and the PS2 is even better. My car sticks like glue around Willow Springs - utterly amazing. These tires are very predictable when driven to the limit and very forgiving when pushed beyond those limits. Very little scalloping of the outside and little to no roll up of rubber along the outer 1/3 of the tires - a common sight on all of the other tires that I have run at the track and see on other similar cars at the track. This is also a marked improvement over the earlier Sport Pilot version of the tire.

At the same time, the these tires are also excellent driving around town and very comfortable driving down the freeway, low noise and comfortable over the miles of expansion joints. They have excellent traction without requiring warm up, have excellent wet road traction and performance. In the wet, with DSC off it takes some extra effort to spin the rear wheels and they have predictable understeer when pushed around corners. You will be pleased with these tires!

Initial Review, 6,000 Miles on Tires
April 28, 2012

I have driven on Michelin Alpin, Bridgeston Blizzak, and older Continental WinterContact winter tires before on my previous cars and minivan. I must say that these Continental ExtremeWinterContact winter tires are definitely the most quiet, best handling, and most comfortable ones from my experience. My commute is about 40% city streets, 30% freeways, and 30% curvy mountainous highways. It is because of the mountainous roads that I must travel on regularly which prompted my winter tire research for a high performance winter tire. The Tire Rack website and review was very influential in my decision to try out these ExtremeWinterContact winter tires. I must say that the reviews are quite accurate as my last set of Bridgestone Blizzak WS60 compared very similarly to me as the Tire Rack review comparison. One difference I should point out was that I found the ExtremeWinterContact tires on my Honda Odyssey minivan worked best for the road I typically traveled when inflated to 42psi on the front and 40psi on the rear. These tire pressures yielded the best balance between cornering performance, ride comfort, and road noise.

I had finally removed these ExtremeWinterContact tires for my all-season tires (Kumho ECSTA Platinum LX... also excellent tires) even though our weather in Vancouver, BC has warmed up to over 15C. The ExtremeWinterContact tires worked so well in the dry that I had forgotten they were winter tires that should be swapped out for all-season tires. In summary, I highly recommend the Continental ExtremeWinterContact winter tires for anyone looking for the best performance winter tires for ice, snow, wet, and dry conditions.

Initial Review, 3,000 Miles on Tires
April 30, 2012

too new to really be critical...
this is a faster tire than the previous on the car...
a little more noisy... but more stable... at higher speeds...
i am very satisfied with the purchase...

Initial Review, 100 Miles on Tires
March 20, 2012

Great service, Ordered on Sunday, here on Tuesday! Just put them on, inflated at 40psi. As some might know, Protege 5's are "rolling death" in the rain, and it does rain a lot here in Florida. Original Dunlop SP5000 lasted 20k miles and were suicide when the roads were wet. Ran cheap Definity HX700'ds for three years with somewhat acceptable results, they really did work well for the money, but wanted a OEM size like the original Dunlops. This car has a rare tire size, glad Kumho supports it. The Definity tires, while a good value and quantum leaps better than the Dunlops in the rain, were starting to become problematic as they aged (58k miles!). The car was telling me it was time for new rubber before summer rainy season. The 4X's came highly recommended. First impressions are very positive, they are much quieter than the Definity rubber, but still need to be broken in. The Kumho's really look great on this car. A review here stated the 4X's were really harsh riding... They dont seem to be on my car, with factory stock suspension. We will see how these stack up to what I previously had as they break in. Again, superior, painless service from Tire Rack. My first purchase, will be back!

Initial Review, 29,000 Miles on Tires
April 17, 2012

I bought a set of these for my 2007 Mazdaspeed 3. I use this car as my daily driver. My commute is 35 miles each way. I don't do any track days and my driving style is very conservative compared to most people that drive this car. This was my 3rd set of tires in 50,000 miles. I chose them because I wanted something that would last longer than 22-25k miles. When it's cold it takes a long time for them to warm up and they ride like Flintstone rock tires until then. I did get 29 k out of them and they looked like they'd go another 5. The weren't to the wear bars yet but I suffered a catastrophic failure on one of them. The tread separated from the tire. The dealer said the alignment and rotation was not the problem, all the tires were worn the same. I understand tires fail but there was no way I was going to get to 50k miles on these so I don't trust their mileage ratings and I surely won't buy another set.

Initial Review, 6,000 Miles on Tires
April 20, 2012

This is the best tire I've bought for the price. I've recommended this tire to other Porsche drivers and they love them. My car has a lot of noise but the tires are very quiet. In the winter we get a lot of rain in British Columbia and the Kumho's perform excellent.

Initial Review, 200 Miles on Tires
April 16, 2012

While I have low miles on these tires and have a lot more testing to do to update this rating, they have GREATLY improved the ride quality of my Mazda 3 Grand Touring which had rubber band Toyo's that made my kids sick. Cornering seems equivalent amazingly enough and the AA traction rating is reassuring. This is the max size you can put on this car and I had only one rubbing incident while turning very hard. Ride quality and build quality seem to rock.

Initial Review, 500 Miles on Tires
April 17, 2012

I have only had these tires for about a month now, with about 500 miles on them. So far I love these tires, smooth riding, low noise level, handle great, and look nice. Nice tread pattern.

Initial Review, 1,000 Miles on Tires
April 16, 2012

I live in florida, so no winter ice/snowy driving, tires seem pretty good to me, but I don't put many miles on this show car. 1992 Formula, with only a little over 60,000 miles, I am original owner.