Dry grip and value are the clearest strengths of the Kumho Ecsta KU31 in generally positive owner feedback. Wet grip also attracts substantially more praise than criticism, though some drivers find it less reassuring in rain. Tread life and noise are usually viewed favorably, with later-use accounts including good mileage, but both also draw a sizeable minority of complaints. A smaller group reports increasing noise as the tread wears, sometimes alongside uneven wear. Most returning owners remain positive, while two are less satisfied in later accounts, so there is no uniform ageing pattern. Several replacement-mileage accounts support useful life without establishing one dependable lifespan.
What owners mention most counted across 141 reviews
An excellent tire at a very competitive price. Brought these to replace Michelin primacy's on the front. In my opinion they were better. Driven with a combination of average and spirited driving which it handles both very well. Excellent on long motorway journey's, very quiet. Dry grip is very good. They gave me confidence in the wet although if pushed would sometimes cause the traction control to cut in. Wear was impressive. Considering they wear on the front end of a heavy Audi A3 Diesel I managed to get 18000miles out of them. I would buy them again (Although Have upgraded to the phenomenal Uniroyal RS2) and would recommemend them if you want a quality tire but dont want to pay the extortinate prices of Conti's/Michelins/Bridgestone etc...
Overall I am pretty satisfied with these tires. Wear rate is looking OK and they do grip well in the wet as well as the dry. My only negative is that they do appear to be prone to tramlining!
Check out how the BEST all seasons tires perform against premium summer and winter tires!
Initialy these tires were very quiet, but after a few thousand miles I might as well have been driving an old army Land Rover as they were so noisy. I've come to the conclusion that my car doesn't like directional tires because of the suspension set up, as there is an awful lot of feathering going on front and back. The alignment is spot on by the way and it never did this on the OE Bridgestone RE050A. It's a shame because in every other way the tire is very good. Grippy in the dry, in the wet and the wear rate seems good. The car is so silent in every other way I'm afraid they have to go. Rather an expensive mistake I'm afraid.
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I ended up getting the Kumhos as I picked up 2 punctures on a Saturday morning. I was planning on fitting a set of Eagle F1s or Birdgestone RE050As but, the punctures meant I needed tires fast and since the Forester has a less common tire size, my choice what was available locally was a bit limited.
However, I'm very glad that my hand was forced into getting them!
They took a bit longer that I expected to scrub in but once done, they proved to be a fantastic tire - very stable in a straight line, good steering response, great grip levels, good in the wet and dry. They also proved to be very durable - I covered 14000 very spirited miles (the Forester was tuned to 280bhp and had significant handling modifications) and they still had 5 - 6mm of tread left on them.
I don't think they're quite up to an Eagle F1 in the wet (though you'd need to be going some for that to matter) but in the dry, I'd say they're easily as good.
They're not just a good tire for the money, they're a good tire full stop. I was so impressed with them, that I bought a set for my Cooper S too and not because of price.
Replaced my standard Pirelli P-Zero Nero's with these and they made a huge difference to the car's handling. Better grip in the wet, more responsive in the dry and SO much quieter. Would recommend these to anyone. At the fraction of the price of my old Pirelli's they've proven a great purchase, just got my second set fitted.
Only down side is the wear, they lasted just over 12,000 miles on the front compared to the 18,000 of the Pirelli's. But the pro's outweigh the con's...
In many ways seem better than the original Continental sports contact 3 tires (quieter, more feedback and better wet grip) and also the later fitted Michelin tires
Fitted these to my peugeot 308 diesel sport , they have made such a diffrence i had dunlop sport maxx on before and these are better in both wet and dry , and i cant belive how quiet they are there is just no road noise except on the motorway . they have transformed my car from a boring family car to a bit of a hot hatch they just hold the road and dont let go and at ?70 fitted per tire on 225/25/17 bargain especally when i would have paid ?100 for more dunlops
these tires started life very well and in the snow of early 2010 were excellent.but as the tread has worn so has the grip.the tires now have approx 3mm left on them and i now consider them to be dangerous due to being able to wheel spin in 3rd gear admittedly in the wet but not pushing that hard.i know thet arent premium tires and im not going to slag them off,they have been good middle of the road tires that have faulterd just at the end.
SO 16k on these tires. A great tire , good grip in both wet and dry. Feedback through steering was ok and they lasted well (3mm at disposal) If it wasn`t for a difficulty in picking up another pair I would still be on these . They are a premium ability tire at just above budget prices. I`m on the next generation Nexen tires and happy at moment but will go back to Khumo if not happy.
81%
Member
215/40 R17 W
15,000 miles
Mostly Country Roads
Spirited
ive driven on alot of tires very hard and living in ireland roads can be bad these tires are very good and priced very well dry grip very good, wet the same and let u now when they going to let go. i do some track days no bother to them and have weared very well buying an other set at momment having 350+ bhp tires never let me down buy them try them any one say diffrent is talking bull
I use these on my Citroen Saxo VTR daily driver and they are great tires. They are grippy in the wet and dry and as an added bonus are only ?48 each fitted.
I drive a 1.8 16v 02 Laguna and have found these tires to be an excellent purchase. I replaced all four corners at same time for a cost of ?239 bought vea ebay and fitted for free as I have a mate that was kind enough to fit them at his garage. I am a partially sporty driver and I do many twisting and winding Scottish roads and every now and then I go in to a corner a bit fast but tires give good feedback and inspire confidence. The tires I got are XL extra load ones which was recommended by people on Renault forums to help protect rather soft 17" alloys, and did firm up ride a very small bit but made for a sharper cornering, and allow me to haul grater weights safely.
I found tire pressure made a big difference but I now have 33PSI front and 30PSI rear and this works well for me.
I like how this tire was developed in the UK, they cut though wet roads well, road noise is very low after 500 ml run in esp on motor way and good road surface, some rim protection and look nice, all in all very good value for money.
A happy driver.
