The Kumho Winter Craft WP51 is a mid-range touring winter tire that drivers often rate highly for confidence in snow and ice, especially given its price. However, independent tests frequently place it in the lower part of the class, mainly due to weak wet-road performance and only average dry dynamics. In short, it can feel like a strong-value winter companion in real-world use, but it is outperformed by newer rivals when measured in controlled testing.
The quick answer
Owners say78%from 15 owner reviews71% would buy againRead the reviews
Strengths & weaknessesIce, ComfortValue, DryRelative to its rivals across every test we hold
Built from every independent test result and vetted owner review we hold for this tire - the evidence is all further down the page. Data updated August 2025.
How good is the Kumho Winter Craft WP51 in the wet?
Across the 3 wet-braking tests it has featured in, the Kumho Winter Craft WP51 stops 13.3% longer than premium rivals, 4.5% longer than mid-range rivals and 10.1% shorter than budget rivals. It has a Tire Reviews wet score of 36/100, and owners rate it 7.4/10 in the wet from 15 reviews.
How good is the Kumho Winter Craft WP51 in the dry?
Across the 2 dry-braking tests it has featured in, the Kumho Winter Craft WP51 stops 3.4% longer than premium rivals, 2.5% longer than mid-range rivals and 4.3% shorter than budget rivals. It has a Tire Reviews dry score of 10/100, and owners rate it 7.7/10 in the dry from 15 reviews.
How good is the Kumho Winter Craft WP51 in the snow?
Across the 3 snow-braking tests it has featured in, the Kumho Winter Craft WP51 stops 2.8% longer than premium rivals, 1.2% longer than mid-range rivals and 0.6% shorter than budget rivals. Across the 1 snow-traction test, it is 9.9% worse than premium rivals, 7.3% worse than mid-range rivals and 10.7% worse than budget rivals. It has a Tire Reviews snow score of 37/100, and owners rate it 9/10 in the snow from 15 reviews.
How good is the Kumho Winter Craft WP51 on ice?
Across the 1 ice-braking test it has featured in, the Kumho Winter Craft WP51 stops 1.9% shorter than premium rivals, 3% shorter than mid-range rivals and 4% longer than budget rivals. Across the 1 ice-traction test, it is 2.8% better than premium rivals, 6.8% better than mid-range rivals and 7.5% worse than budget rivals. It has a Tire Reviews ice score of 76/100, and owners rate it 8.4/10 on ice from 15 reviews.
How fuel efficient is the Kumho Winter Craft WP51?
Across the 2 tests measuring rolling resistance, the Kumho Winter Craft WP51's rolling resistance is 7.6% higher than premium rivals, 11% higher than mid-range rivals and 5.6% higher than budget rivals.
More questions about the Kumho Winter Craft WP51(5)
What do owners say about the Kumho Winter Craft WP51?
Across 15 owner ratings the Kumho Winter Craft WP51 averages 78%. Owners rate Snow Grip highest at 9 out of 10 and Road Feedback lowest at 7. 1 of those reviews come from owners past 10,000 miles. 69% of owners score it 70% or better.
How comfortable and quiet are the Kumho Winter Craft WP51?
Owners rate the Kumho Winter Craft WP51 8.4 out of 10 for comfort and noise across 14 reviews.
How well do the Kumho Winter Craft WP51 wear, according to owners?
Owners rate the Kumho Winter Craft WP51 7.9 out of 10 for wear across 14 reviews. 1 of those reviews come from owners past 10,000 miles, and the typical review covers 3,500 miles.
Would owners buy the Kumho Winter Craft WP51 again?
71% of owners say they would buy the Kumho Winter Craft WP51 again, based on the 14 owner reviews that answered the question. 29% of them gave it the highest possible answer.
Questions and Answers for the Kumho Winter Craft WP51
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Most drivers report the Kumho Winter Craft WP51 excels in snow and ice with strong traction and confidence, and many praise its value and durability/wear. Wet grip is generally good but with some mixed feedback on braking/initial tread block movement, while dry performance is adequate in cold but poorer in warm conditions with reduced feedback. Noise and fuel consumption are slightly higher than average. Overall sentiment is positive, with minority complaints about wet braking/handling and dry grip/feedback.
What owners mention most counted across 13 reviews
Tap one to read only the reviews that mention it.
Owner ratings averaged from 15 ratings
Owner score78%
Snow Grip90%
Ice Grip84%
Comfort84%
Wear79%
Dry Grip77%
Wet Grip74%
Handling71%
Road Feedback70%
Featured reviews
Most helpful 92%
“I have bought several sets of these tires for different cars over the years. 2 VW Golfs and a Skoda Fabia. I live in a rural area with a lot of hills and when it snows it snows. These tires cope in even the worst...”
“Probably the worst off all tires I ever used on my audi A4 and A6 quattro. Wet handling and grip in second season and only 5k km is terrible. Even new one was really bad. Dry is ok. Snow grip is average. It's not loud...”
“I got these tires when I blew one of my previous set Nokian WR D3 and then blew my spare wheel as well after 10 miles so I went to first available tire shop along the road. My Nokians were giving the last of them after...”
Winter tire for snow, wet ok and dry bad.
Suitable tire for real winter snow and ice exceptional.
92%
Member
Skoda
215/45 R16
Mostly Country Roads
Easy Going
I have bought several sets of these tires for different cars over the years. 2 VW Golfs and a Skoda Fabia.
I live in a rural area with a lot of hills and when it snows it snows.
These tires cope in even the worst weather conditions - ice, snow, slush, rain and I can’t recommend them enough.
Cars sliding and stranded everywhere and I breeze past them.
No slipping, no sliding. Just brilliant.
Check out how the BEST all seasons tires perform against premium summer and winter tires!
In the winter they're good, not excellent, but good. Enough grip in snow and rain. The performance reflects in the price, they not the best, but great value for money. The downside is in the dry or in the summer. There's no feedback, no grip and the tire simply melts if you want to take a corner faster. But ofcourse they're winter tires, so not meant to be used in hot conditions, and in the cold they're good. Probably I will buy them again because value for money and wear.
I have had 4 seperate winter tires on my car in the past. These would be my 5th winter season in Canada. I live in NB and winters can be wild at times and completely mild at other points. We experience 25 to 40 cm of snow falls in less then a few hours at times and these tires so far have been the best I've used. I've tried hankook, bridgestone, Rotalla, and Momo and these hands down give me more peice of mind then any if those other brands. They are loud in dry roads and have a very aggressive tread so they do wear on your feul economy but you will feel like a tank on the road in any condition.
Probably the worst off all tires I ever used on my audi A4 and A6 quattro. Wet handling and grip in second season and only 5k km is terrible. Even new one was really bad. Dry is ok. Snow grip is average. It's not loud and relativly comfortable. Overall, total disapointment.
Member
Toyota
195/50 R16 V
2,500 miles
Mostly Town
Quite good on dry and wet on my yaris hybrid 2017. Impressed how they performerd in snow, I have to drive a lot steep uphill and downhill, during the record snowfall of December 2017 I thought I couldn't get home on the evening because roads were horrible and couldn't stay clean for more than 30/45 minutes, I afforded a strong uphill road with some 7 inches slush/snow, in the worst passage the car almost stopped climbing but it somehow managed to get on top and take me home.
I found the kumho tires very good stopping and gripping on ice.
Recently fitted two of these to the rear of my vehicle replacing the summer tires that were on(two Michelin winters were already on the front).Within 10 miles I knew I was going to have to swap them to the front. These kumos suffer from a trate that other mid range winter tires have which is the way the tread block initially moves when steering input is applied, something Michelin manages to avoid. The feeling is unnerving to say the least and if the inputs are exaggerated the back of the car can be made to slide at relatively low speeds,this at a temperature of around 2/3 degrees,so the temperature a winter really should be starting to work. In fact the summer hankook's were far better. Fitting to the front resulted in a poorer turn in and more understeer but ultimately safer than oversteer. Stopping in ice and frost is decent enough but again not a patch on the Michelin's. Can't comment on bone dry surface performance or wear as yet obviously due to lack of miles covered. Result is spend 40 percent more and get Michelin alpin 4 or 5's fitted.
Was driving these tire for around 6k km fitted on a Mercedes E220D without any safety systems. On dry road the tires feel really solid. They have really stiff sidewalls and handle potholes well. Feedback was much better than my Fulda ecocontact HP. Wet grip in cornering is okey, but when you have to stop or go these kumhos are bad. Such a low powered car could easily break traction. In snow they were awesome, the car went nearly everywhere. On icy roads it was really good for a non-studded tire. For 6k km there is hardly any noticeable wear. I think they will easy last around 35-40k km. Comfort was decent. They are good tires for this price, but I would like to try sth new.
These do not seem to perform any better than my pirelli summer tires. I have 2 cars and have been grip testing these in the wet in a car park by going in a circle and they seemed to have the same level of grip as the summer tires. Temperature was about 4 degrees. They seem to cause a bit of noise and you can hear the grip noise change when accelerating or braking vs rolling. They are pretty good. But I get the impression that they will not be great in the snow as I have a 1 liter car and in the wet its fairly easy to get a tiny bit of wheel spin if pulling away fast.
Safe and durable tire. Had no issues with it during 12000km. Warm,cold and wet weathers. Litle bit louder than I expected and consumption is 15-20% higher,but no metter when it is for reliable drive. Recommended to me by salesman in tire shop and told me will not regret. He was right. He owns the same on his both cars. Car Mazda 3 Sport 2.0
