Kumho Ecsta LE Sport

The Kumho Ecsta LE Sport is a Ultra High Performance Summer tire designed to be fitted to Passenger Cars.

Dry Grip 77%
Wet Grip 72%
Road Feedback 73%
Handling 72%
Wear 70%
Comfort 74%
Buy again 61%

Tire review data from 33 tire reviews averaging 71% over 375,408 miles driven.

The Ecsta LE Sport is ranked 88th of 143 Summer Ultra High Performance tires.

Latest Tire Test Results

2018 Auto Review 225/45 R17 Tire Test - 10th of 11 tires

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2015 AMS Performance Tire Test - 9th of 9 tires

  • Positive - Short braking distance on dry roads
  • Negative - Poor resistance to aquaplaning, poor dry handling, high rolling resistance
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2013 Auto Review Performance Summer Tire Test - 9th of 9 tires

  • Positive - High resistance to aquaplaning, low rolling resistance, price
  • Negative - Grip on wet and dry roads, handling on wet and dry roads
  • Overall - The Kumho Ecsta LE Sport is most disappointing on wet roads. This applies to the braking, and the reactions to the actions of the wheel. Dry running isn't much better, with poor high speed stability. Good resistance to aquaplaning gives the Kumho some plus points.
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2018 Tire Tests

  • 10th: 2018 Auto Review 225/45 R17 Tire Test (225/45 R17)
  • 2015 Tire Tests

  • 9th: 2015 AMS Performance Tire Test (225/50 R17)
  • 2013 Tire Tests

  • 9th: 2013 Auto Review Performance Summer Tire Test (225/45 R17)
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    Top 3 Kumho Ecsta LE Sport Reviews

    Given 69% while driving a Ford Falcon FGX XR8 (275/30 R19) on mostly town for 10,000 spirited miles
    Found the wall strength to be poor. If hit a pothole or small object, tire would bubble on the wall.
    Helpful 24 - tire reviewed on March 14, 2023
    Given 79% while driving a Audi A6 Avant 2.0TDI (225/50 R17 W) on mostly country roads for 50,000 average miles
    Bought these to replace the Conti Sport Contacts which were OEM fitments and the only real differences for "normal" driving are that the Kuhmo's are cheaper and last longer so overall much better value
    Helpful 76 - tire reviewed on December 18, 2015
    Given 47% while driving a SEAT Ibiza Cupra 1.4 TSI (215/40 R17 V) on mostly country roads for 30,000 spirited miles
    I run them on a Seat Ibiza Cupra. As as daily they are okay. Comfort isn't really the best. Wear is okay/good with 30k miles and they have 3mm left Feedback is okay but nothing special. You can tell when they start to loose grip on the racetrack. Wet grip is for sure better than dry grip. I run them twice on a trackday. They tend to overheat quite fast
    Helpful 36 - tire reviewed on June 13, 2020
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    Latest Kumho Ecsta LE Sport Reviews

    Hyundai (205/55 R16) on a combination of roads for 10,000 average miles
    Asymmetric design on tires gives asymmetric grip, on wet roads and Will be dangerous when braking. I've change position (outside/inside) on right side of the car,puting The mark"exterior" on The left side on all four tires. Perfect grip! Low noise, Low consumption, good comfort.
    Helpful 18 - tire reviewed on April 30, 2022
    Given 61% while driving a Audi TT MK2 TFSI (225/45 R17 W) on a combination of roads for 30 spirited miles
    I'm replacing these for Goodyear's F1 Asymmetric 5s all around. The Kumho were fitted to the rear by the previous owner of my TT MK2. They still have 5.5mm left after 30K miles approx so not bad but I only had the car for the last 2.5k miles. They're good on dry roads but I feel the car too light on high speed or on wet roads which is why I'm not waiting any longer to have them replaced.
    Helpful 20 - tire reviewed on October 1, 2020
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    Given 47% while driving a Hyundai coupe 2.0 gls (215/45 R17) on a combination of roads for 5,000 average miles
    Just about to replace these on the front (driven wheels) of my car. Previous owner had put them on (at what mileage I don't know)and had good tread on them at that point but I can't say how long they've lasted. Ive done just over 5k miles on them and they're at about 3mm so I've probably used them for the best part of their tread life. However, this isn't really a tire to be recommend...wet grip is fair at best and a little better in the dry. Quite safe in aquaplaning depth water though. As with magazine tests reports found the steering to be lazy and slow with them. They're not overly noisy and not that comfy either. Definitely a numb feeling from the steering. Quite a heavy tire as well by modern standards.
    Don't think there will be many interested in a review of an old tire design like this but for what its worth there is much better out there for the same money,,, got my eye on the new Apollo Aspire XP for much cheapness or Bridgestone Turanza T005 for a bit more dosh. In summary...not a catastrophic tire but don't bother buying them.
    Helpful 23 - tire reviewed on March 4, 2019
    Given 93% while driving a BMW Z4 3.0Si (255/30 R19) on mostly country roads for 800 spirited miles
    I bought these to replace a worn pair of Nexen's on a Z4 3.0Si I've not long had, the Nexen's were great so I done some research instead of just buying the usual premium brand, The Kumho rears have been on for roughly 800 miles now and I cant believe the level of grip from a so called budget tire. I recently had a very spirited club run in some pretty horrible weather and despite the majority of the group twitching all over the road I had no issues at all.

    The wear level may be worse than premium brands (will find out in due course) but for budget price and premium performance I'll be sticking to these from now on.
    Helpful 36 - tire reviewed on July 30, 2018
    Given 44% while driving a Mercedes Benz E250CDI Coupe Automatic (235/40 R18 W) on mostly motorways for 30 easy going miles
    I have just changed the Kumho tires after 2 years and 30k the rear didn’t last quite as long as the front, being a rear wheel drive car. Generally an average tire that doesn’t perform beyond expectations. The front pair, changed today for Firestone’s, had 3.5 mm left but were castellated and we’re becoming noisy. It is only now with the Firestone’s that I notice the difference. The drive now is quieter, smoother and the steering is lighter.
    The Kumhos were £90 each fitted, I wouldn’t buy them again as there are better tires for the same money or a few quid more (Firestones £100 fitted): I suppose getting 30k I shouldn’t knock them but I don’t drive with too much enthusiasm so I can’t really rate wet and dry performance and I would expect that sort of mileage from any tire.
    Helpful 23 - tire reviewed on March 21, 2018
    Given 96% while driving a Audi A4 2.0 TDI 177bhp quattro (255/35 R19) on mostly country roads for 11,000 spirited miles
    Had these fitted since laat april almost a year. Fantastic in the dry. And excellent in wet albeit on my quattro. But i find i can still push and push and cant fault them. Definately buy again
    Helpful 26 - tire reviewed on February 14, 2018
    Given 93% while driving a Alfa Romeo 1.9 JTD M (215/45 R17 W) on mostly country roads for 30,000 average miles
    I have these tires for my Alfa Romeo 147 1.9 JTD. I bought them one year ago and i'm very happy with them. Why? Well... The tires are quiet. A lot of grip. And the wear is good. Some people in this review complain about the grip that its not good. I have a message for you; If i drive around 200km/h and i go from left to right, the tires give you a safe feeling couse i never slipped out of the corner. The same with rain; No unsafe feeling if you go speeding on a corner.

    I have these tires for 50.000km(!) and still a profile on it. Mayby i can reach the 60.000km with it. And i drive most of all sportive. Earlyer i have Toyo Proxes T1R and i driven 15.000 - 20.000km and the tires are completley gone!!

    I want to buy them again for sure!
    Helpful 18 - tire reviewed on October 28, 2017
    Given 60% while driving a Vauxhall Astra 2.0 cdti vx line (225/45 R17) on mostly motorways for 20,000 average miles
    20,000 miles and gubbed no hard driving thought i would get more out of them
    Helpful 20 - tire reviewed on July 31, 2017
    Given 40% while driving a Ford Fiesta Zetec S (225/45 R17 W) on mostly motorways for 9,000 average miles
    Do not buy, grip lasted for around 2000 miles on a Ford Fiesta Ecoboost, Not good on wet road, or slippy conditions, just caused me to slide into a parked car causing ££££ of damage to mine and theirs! Emergency braking results in skidding even on dry roads. Not sure how this tire is even allowed on the market!! previous set were budget tires and had greater performance on the road. Would rather spend the extra money and get some decent branded tires next time.
    Helpful 20 - tire reviewed on January 26, 2017
    Given 71% while driving a Alfa Romeo (225/45 R17 W) on a combination of roads for 12,000 spirited miles
    I had 4 of these on my Alfa 147 1.9 diesel. I really liked the handling in wet and dry conditions, they really stuck to the road at the limits, and being a progressive tire you know when the limit is being reached. So handling and grip wear spot on.
    Biggest problem was wear - after about 12000 miles the front tires were done. To be fair I did drive quite hard, and the 1.9 engine has a fair bit of torque to put down, but I felt a bit short changed that I only got 12k out them.
    They are pretty cheap though so would buy again if stuck on budget.
    Helpful 17 - tire reviewed on May 27, 2016
    Given 87% while driving a SEAT Leon FR 2.0 TFSI (225/40 R18 W) on a combination of roads for 2,500 spirited miles
    These tires were on the back of my Seat Leon FR TFSI when I bought it and after 2500 mainly wet miles they are very good. Dry grip and wet grip is excellent with plenty of feedback. When pushed hard they start to drift slightly but it is progressive with plenty of feel as to what the tire is doing. In fairness I've not pushed them too far in the wet as the Kumho Ecsta XTs on the front offer very little grip, but they feel fine especially in comparison.
    Road noise is acceptable, they drive well and don't tend to follow changes in road surface and the only real criticism would be their tendency to squirm under heavy braking.
    Tires had about 6mm tread when I got the car and they only seem to have used about 1mm in 2500 miles, will probably put them on the front when the front XTs wear out and buy a new set for the rear.
    Helpful 20 - tire reviewed on May 3, 2016
    Given 84% while driving a Vauxhall (225/45 R17) on a combination of roads for 20,000 average miles
    Moved on to these from coati-sport with limited knowledge of tires..... or embarrassingly enough how they affected performance. I still swung the car round corners and round-a-bouts and didn't feel any different. They are down to the limit now; and although i don't drive the car as much, under braking tends to squirm a bit. Can't say it's the tires fault, more mine for letting them get so low. All in all wouldn't slander but after reading this website clearly don't score to high..... Not sure why though
    Helpful 21 - tire reviewed on April 1, 2016