Kumho Ecsta SPT KU31

Adequate tyres – Purchased a set of these Kumhos for my Toyota Caldina when I imported it 18 months ago and got around 35,000kms out of them which I thought ok. During that time they were hard to fault on wet and dry roads and reasonably comfortable and quiet on the highway. They were 215 45 17s. What I did notice on my initial drive up from Brisbane to Cairns was… Read more

fairly severe "tramlining" where the car follows slight dips and camber changes in the straight ahead. I played around with the tyres pressures between 30 and 45 psi and it didn't make any difference so I thought it may be the car being unfamiliar with one of these and being set up for Japanese roads. So I took it in to Fulcrum for a check and alignment when I got to Cairns and they could not find anything obviously wrong with the set-up. So I put up with it for the next 18 months and have just replaced them with Bridgestone Potenzas. Guess what - no tramlining - sits nice and straight on the road without constant little steering adjustments. So after having gone through a couple of dozens different tyres brands and sizes over the years I can fairly assuredly say that these Kumhos were the worst tramlining tyres I have ever come across. Twisty, winding roads great, but stright ahead highway driving not so.

Some good some bad, mostly excellent – I was sick of putting extremely expensive German tyres on my CL600 Benz and getting around 15,000k from them. Someone suggested trying ku31's and I thought, nothing to lose. The first 3 sets I put on were to put it bluntly, fantastic. I run 275/30/19's on rear and 255's on front and have to run 34ps in the back tyres to get even wear without… Read more

taking the center out. The rest of the tyre wears great, they don't scrub corners off and protect the rims fairly well. The fronts are fairly stiff with 37ps in them, but arent noisy and always turn in precisely even on wet bitumen. The grip levels are fantastic, wet or dry.

Some of the other comments are interesting, the guy with the "big heavy powerful' Senator, well, I have a big heavy car , on the same size rims and tyres, it's got a 6 litre V12 with 370 kw at the wheels and more torque than an Enzo Ferrari. The Enzo makes 657nm @5500rpm and the Benz makes 800@4100. Yes, the later versions of this motor are electronically 'limited' to 1000nm, otherwise they make 1400 and blow up gearboxes and diffs. just imagine how it should rip these tyres up if they were as rubbish as some reviewers seem to think. I can't make the traction control light up on dry bitumen, these tyres just grip and slingshot me up the road (different story in the wet). The same stopping. This car has brake assist, so if it thinks you aren't pushing the brakes hard enough in an emergency stop, it just puts them on full for you. Yes, I had to play with it when I first got these grippy tyres on, and I always like to see where the limits are before I need them in the real world. The brake pedal sucks out from under your foot and the car stops like the hand of god just grabbed you. I have never had a tyre so stable under extreme braking, or accelerating other than a slick, or semi slick. The lateral handling limits are excellent, so I can only think you must have had the tyres very underinflated. It does happen sometimes when tyres are fitted to the car makers spec. Often car manufacturers spec a much lower pressure than is optimum for the tyre because it makes the car ride very comfortably and most people don't notice the degraded tyre performance, or just blame the tyres. These tyres seem to work better with more pressure in them.

The other comment I saw on 'rotating' the tyres. These tyres are 'directional' in the tread pattern. They can't be swapped left to right, as that reverses the rotation on a tyre that has already taken a wear 'set', plus they would be rotating in the 'wrong' direction to what they were designed for. This would cause anything from extremely noisy operation, to quick, or uneven wear. I think I noticed a couple of people complaining about that. I can't swap front to rear as the size is different, so they stay put till they wear out. It doesn't seem to bother them.These really are excellent tyres, regardless of price, or any other tyre you compare them too, they are stable in tight low speed corners and and at speeds over 250 (if we were allowed to do that of course), the unbroken centre tread block/ strip and longitudinal grooving probably is what makes them track so well.. I really am annoyed Kumho has ceased production of them( I have been told), maybe they were just too good at the price they were.

A warning; My first 3 sets were bought through a reputable dealer that I know and have bought tyres from for years, in fact it was him that recommended them, despite being a Bridgestone dealer. I got roughly 35,000 a set, or 3 sets over 100,000kms. I ran out of the last set during the summer break and he was closed, so I bought a set online. Great service, great price, saved nearly 100 bucks a tyre. The tyres were marked as the same, ie, ku31's, but the tread was slightly different. I put it down to possibly an update. The tyres had similar levels of grip and handling, so I was unpleasantly surprised when I noticed they were nearly half worn at just over 5,000 km?? What the!! Buyer beware if you shop on line. They don't take them back, and god knows where they get them from, or what they really are.

ps. I was lucky enough to take the 450kw /1000nm 'monster' for a quick (pun intended) test drive. As good as the trick traction and stability control is in the CL 65AMG (twin turbo V12) it struggles for traction everywhere. Unfortunately it suffers from undersize rear tyres, having to 'make do' with a 275 when it really needs a 335, but it has no-where to put a tyre that large. Even ku31 don't help, my guess is slicks might just about be enough, maybe. Still it was fun, just not sure why the sales guys face went a funny grey shade.

Much improvement from the OEM Bridgestone – I bought 4 tyres of KU31 225/50R17 as the replacement for OEM Bridgestone E370 (or E300 in the current Bridgestones catalog) in my Accord Euro. I had my doubt on Kumho as I never used them before. I always used Bridgestone, Yokohama and Michelin in my current and previous cars. I wanted to get Bridgestone RE002 but the load rating is 94 instead of… Read more

98. Bridgestone RE050 is too expensive in my opinion. So after a few asking around and reading generally favourable review on KU31, I decided to take a punt on Kumho. I consider myself as a confident driver with over 25 yrs driving experience. I tend to push the car a bit in the countryside but not aggressively. In the city, I have a relaxed style.

Initial impression after 1000kms, KU31 am very happy on my decision. Immediately, I notice a much improved grip, braking distance, and quiet ride. The dry grip seem to be better above 10 degree Celcius. I guess it is related to the optimum tyre temperature characteristics of KU31. Wet grip, while understandably less aggressive than in dry, is also assuring, at least better than the previous tyres. As for the noise, even my 12-yr old boy could tell that the level of noise from the tyres has been reduced. My wife observes a more comfortable ride. With my previous tyres, there was a slight understeer especially in the in the sharp bend or in the wet condition. I don't see any understeer at all with KU31. The compound in KU31 appears to be softer than Bridgestone. This probably contributes to the better grip. The tyre wall stiffness is equal to Bridgestones. However, it remains to be seen if Kumho can last longer in the tread wear than my previous Bridgestones (lasted 40K). The reviews that I have read so far seem to indicate that KU31 is quite durable. I spoke to the manager at Bob Jane, he thought my new tyres should last at least 40K mms at the very least. With softer compound in KU31, I guess I'll have to see after 20K mms if this is the case. Excellent grip in dry and good in wet, good braking, comfortable ride, and low noise. Can't really tell as I've only driven it for about 1000 kms.

Amazing for the great price – Picked up four of these from Taleb Tyres for $440. Fitted to a Forester. Great tyres! Didn't expect much for the price, but they're quiet and handle well. So glad I didn't spend triple the price for the factory dunlops. Definitely recommend these tyres, a great budget option for any car  Show details

Great value for money – The Kumho Ecsta SPT KU31 is an awesome tyre for your money. I feel that it is designed for a sporty feel which will grip well, but be noisy and decreased life. For the same money you cannot buy any street tyres that will grip as hard as these tyres. I have used these on a race track and the performance was what I expected for the price.  Show details

Amazing tread wear – I have no idea about the other reviewers wearing out the tires after only 5000kms but I've had mine for 90000kms (yes 90 thousand kms no typo) and they still have tread left on all 4 tires. I would defs buy them again as I've saved $500-$600 since I haven't had to replace my tires at the usual 40-50k kms mark.  Show details

Good Grip - Noisy - Poor Wear – Purchased these tyres for 2012 Aurion in Nov 2014. Have just changed them as they are worn after 20,000klms. They had plenty of grip - were a little noisy but really - 20K of wear till I had to change them is not even close to what you would need to get to warrant the cost. I was happy to give them a go but won't be buying again. Have moved to a much quieter tyre Michelin Primacy 3 ST - quietest tyre I have ever had.  Show details

Great when new – these tyres are great when new ,after little wear I thought my diff was going to fall out or I had all wheel bearing going to fail the noise was too much for me I had to change them ,I would not recommend them or purchase again .I have now purchased Nitto NT830 and I can now drive in complete silence its feels like a new car .KU31s were purchased from bob Jane who no longer sells them for that reason .  Show details

Fair, but very soft side walls – Got a set for a MiniCooper S 205/50 R17. The grip is good on wet a and dry, comfort is ok, however, the side walls are very soft and is very noticeable when cornering fast or at high speeds (after 170 km/hr) on straight line, the car tends to float a lot. There are better options out-there, specially for a Minicooper S.  Show details

on my 3rd set – Dont expect any more than 20k from these (i do work them hard) however for the price they are a fine performer wet and dry . Road noise is quite acceptable , dry grip is excellent and wet grip surprisingly good . I am what the book refers to as a "spirited" driver so I give the tyres a fair workout and have not been let down by them. Even though… Read more

it's common sense they need to be replaced when you hit the wear marks, once they're down to that they start to get a bit slippery .

Good for the price, but that's about it – Pros: Great price for decent tyres, reasonably durable, tyre noise average. Enough grip in the dry, feels dependable while at speed. Been using a set for 20k kms and still 70% thread. Cons: Wet weather performance questionable (slight understeer on a roundabout), really need to back off or it could be unpredictable.  Show details

Have had these tyres before – Purchased these to replace OEM tyres that where on my car as the original tyres were a very disappointing tyre only getting 24K & costing approx. $440 each But I have these Kuhmo's on another car currently & am very satisfied with handling particularly in the wet & have travelled nearly 40K so far hence buying the same ones for the other vehicle … Read more

Best thing about these tyres about from great ride is the price as these are 40 to 50% cheaper than the OEM tyres so shop around to find the best deal

Be careful – Bought two of these from Ozzy tyres, first 5,000kms were good and then they became gradually noisy. They are now 50% thread left and terribly noisy and will have to replace them soon, will never again buy Kumho tyres :( not bad in wet though. The tyres I got were made in Vietnam.  Show details

Like driving on plastic wheels! – I bought a set of 225/40 18's for my supercharged Toyota 86, terrible grip laterally when cornering, and very hard to get the power down. Bad tramlining as others have mentioned, and quite noisy. Half the tread gone in 5000km which I wouldn't mind if they had decent road grip but they don't... Won't be buying another set thats for sure.  Show details

terrible wear rate – Have crossfire srt6. Put a set of 255/40/19 on the rear. These tyres lasted only 5400 kms. Yes just over 5 k. Took off when hardly any tread but worn right across. Stick well in the dry, average in the wet but tramline bad. Will never buy again. Not impressed at all. Wouldn't mind if I drove hard, but I mainly sit on the speed limit in cruise control' .  Show details

Great value performance tyre – IMpressive grip, great for taking off at the lights without traction control, it allows me to take off much faster than before. Great cornering too, just doesnt loose traction easily so you can drive hard with more confidence. 2 downsides some tramlining on worn roads as has been mentioned, and the tyres get noise above 100kph, but the stereo solves that. I use these on my Jag 6.0L V12.

Best value tyres on the market – I have these tyres on two of my cars. My BMW E30 325iS handles very well on both wet and dry roads, even performed well on track days

So far been a great tyre – Had the KU31 for some time & have clocked up approx 20k & have performed very well Do tram line a little on certain surfaces but that is expected on a directional tyre Great in the wet & dry Update Aug 16 .Have now done over 30000ks on them & still plenty of tread on them I see some people are saying they are through them quickly but I am not a hard driver so maybe the reason they have lasted so long  Show details

Good grip good value – Ku31 275/30/19 where on e46 m3 when I got it, they where 85% worn. I've done another 5000k and still going. They are a good tyre, on a less powerful car they would be excellent. Will be getting ku39 next, they are the new model and should be even better.

Great service and unbeatable price! – Needed tyres for my Subaru impreza, after getting a few quotes I found these guys on ebay, I was wary on buying tyres online as I know a lot of sellers are backyard importers and you don't get any warranty with their products, that and then having to pay for shipping and fitting balancing tyre disposal etc it all adds up. I found their listing for… Read more

225 40 18 kumho ku31 and after calling them up managed to save an extra $10 per tyre on the already fitted and balanced price they had listed which was already cheaper than anyone else locally. Was please when I saw they are an actual brick and mortar workshop and hwere able to offer full warranty which was important to me.

The tyres are great thus far, I saved over over $60 per tyre shopping with them and I can safely say I know where I'm sending my wife for her Toyota kluger tyres which they quoted cheaper than anyone else I found in Brookvale! Top service and great price

Excellent Tires – I bought a set of 235/45/17s for my 2003 Magna and they have been the best tires I have ever had. I had a set of Good Year tires on my car before and they would slide all over the road and i always had to be careful going around corners because the car would slide. Especially in the wet. The KU31s never slid. I was able to plant my foot taking… Read more

off at lights and the tires would grip straight away.

If it wasn't for the fact that these tires aren't available for my new wheels, I would buy them again and again. Not overly expensive and easy to get Not very much rim protection.

Not the best – Only been on the car for just on 12 months and done about 30000kms all highway travel. All 4 tyres are bubbled and separated, they just fell to pieces. The place I bought them (off eBay) said too bad so sad. I think they were seconds and stuffed to begin with. Have now gone back to Maxiss tyres, will not buy Kumho again. Good grip in wet and dry Fell to bits.

Keep the pressures up! – Running 245/30/20's on a WM Caprice. The tyres have done just over 50000kms and they have lasted well as the car is used on the highways only. All 4 tyres have now started to fall apart, but running 36psi to improve the ride from the 20" wheels will do that! The tyres have performed well, and if I was running them at 40-42psi they would have gone… Read more

another 10000kms I would say. Bought them off ebay, saved lots of dollars, just keep them balanced and rotated every 10000kms and they should last well. Good tyres I think. great grip in the wet or dry, and seemed quiet on the road. Once they wear, they will tend to seperate and fall apart before wearing out.

Average – Replaced some Toyos with these Ku31 on colt ralliart 205/R17 fairly loud, average grip, grip levels fell off noticeably as time passed , lots of tyre squeal, soft sidewalls, and a performance envelope thats just average. They were reasonably priced so suit a car thats not overly sporty. The wear is OK without being terrible or good. cheap, look nice noise, soft sidewalls, handling, response, enjoyment.

OK, but – I fitted 245/50R18 KU31s to my 2010 Subaru Outback at about 2000 kms. They've lasted very well having just changed them at 78,000kms - with a fair bit of tread remaining. The wet and dry grip was very good, and the noise was OK, until the last 10,000kms when they started getting a bit noisier. The steering resistance also increased towards the… Read more

end. The reason I rated the tyres as just "OK" is because of the terrible tram lining effect they had on poor road profiles - especially where heavy vehicles had compressed "wheel grooves" into the surface. I thought the problem may have been suspension and wheel related, but having just fitted a set of Falken Avensis PT722 tyres (same size), the problem has Completely gone, which was a pleasant surprise. I certainly wouldn't fit these tyres again. High levels of wet and dry grip Terrible tram lining

Quiet & excellent grip in dry & wet – New set of KU31 205 55 R15 on my 99 Celica. Much quieter than previous set of Bridgestone Potenza (but to be fair, the RE001's did give 90,000km!). Grip has been excellent in dry & wet. Have completed 4000km, and no signs of wear, even after some firm cornering. Very happy with the Kumho tyres so far. Low noise, and excellent grip in dry & wet  Show 2 replies

Best tyre I've ever put on my performance 200sx S15 – Excellent grip in both wet and dry, my sumitomo HTR Z2’s, maxxis MA-V1s and other decent mid range brands I’ve tried do not compare. The difference in grip and handling is so marked that even if you aren’t a car enthusiast you would notice. I drive a highly modified s15 200sx for a daily approx 190rwkw (on 235/40/18s), and can guarantee… Read more ·  3

these are awesome.

Haha, I actually recommend these to all my friends & colleagues when I find out they need new tyres. I push people to buy them coz I think they’re so good. Lol

Best bang for buck you’ll come across.

Do yourself a favour and buy a set. excellent grip wet and dry, best bang for buck, reasonably quiet rim protection average, but not a major concern to me

Excellent – They're fitted to an 89 Honda CRX, and chassis-wise it just has cheapie eBay coilover springs and light magnesium wheels. Grip limits are much higher than my previous Falken ZE326s (even when they were new) in wet, dry and damp conditions. I was going to list this as a con, because this amount of grip puts more G-loading on my ageing body (not… Read more

kidding) and is showing up minor deficiencies in my suspension setup.

Also maybe the seats.

Somehow, the lower grip afforded by my previous tyres made driving a little more fun -- at *around* legal speeds, in the dry, it was possible to get little four-wheel drifts happening. Not any more!

Will take some time to adjust driving style and explore their limits.

Last words: Great value for money -- if you doubt me read the other reviews where owners love them with triple my engines output (but less refined suspension ;) - Quiet, comfortable ride

- High grip characteristics with good progressive nature. You'll feel/hear when the adhesion limits are being approached or exceeded.

- Fantastic value-for-money. Purchased four 195/50-15V tyres at $94 each from a big, well known department store. That's fitted, balanced, valves and old tyre disposal.

- Bargain for a high dispersion silica tyre - Kumho may be a Korean company, but my tyres are made in Vietnam. Price of globalisation I suppose (this is not necessarily a bad thing)

- Can be squealy when pushing hard, but this is also a good thing for safety

- Can also sound coarse in high lateral load situations -- fairly normal

Pretty fair value for money – Have 245/45/17s on '04 Ford XR8 ute. 1200+ km per week 75/25%highway/city driving. Just passed 50 000 km on them and fronts are barely legal, rears well beyond (but I've been lax on the rotation side). Time for new boots. Not too noisy but I wouldn't call them quiet either. Run at 40 psi cold, wear has been exceptionally even across tyre with… Read more

no real feathering, gauling, etc. despite bouts of 'spirited' driving. (I cross the Great Dividing Range 2x daily). I'd call the wear rate reasonable w/out being great.

Dry weather grip has proven pretty good and very predictable. Wet grip is good when new but lessens with age (understandable). I would NOT call rear end predictable in wet but that may be due to 355 HP in a ute....Front however has never let go, wet or dry.

Currently looking around for new tyres but if I can't find anything else that takes my fancy, I've no problem with getting these again. Dry grip, wet grip B4 half worn, even wear, quite comfortable ride Perhaps a little noisy on some surfaces and average lifespan

Fantastic Value for money – Having had some Cheaper tyres on my Ute i was in shock at how much better a tyre can be when it only cost about $40 more a tyre, Above Average Grip in the Wet and Fantastic grip in the Dry, Load rated too for Utes! im currently up to around 45thousand Klms on my first pair, with about another 15thousand in them. Price, easly avalible, Not to noisy on the road, Not alot of Wheel protection.

You Get What You Pay For – I have VE Senator. Big, heavy and powerful. Fronts: 245/40/19 Rears: 275/35/19 I was convinced to buy the KU31's in replacement of the factory Bridgestone RE050 being told that they are just as good, and at half the price I was sold. I went to the tyre shop first thing in the morn and had them fitted. In a straight line and under… Read more

minimal acceleration, they are impressive: comfortable, quiet and grippy. But that is where it ends.

The sidewalls are so soft, as soon as the car gets set into a corner it feels like they are made of jelly, resulting in very poor steering response and removing any feeling of confidence in the drive. Nominal to hard acceleration felt lazy and braking performance was reduced.

I was fed up with them buy the afternoon and took the car back to the tyre shop the next morning.

Explaining my situation, the lads at the tyre shop happily agreed to give me a full refund. They even gave me a great price on a new set of RE050's.

Excellent customer service by Tempe Tyres Sydney. Would highly recommend them.

To conclude, it serves me right for being a cheap skate. You get what you paid for. Comfortable Ride Very soft sidewalls resulting in very poor handling

Great Tyres for the price – Very happy with the kumho KU31 tyre. I have 225/40 R18 on my modified WRX which is running 213KW at the 4 wheels. I replaced Falken tyres which I found to have a soft wall on the tyre and this caused slower cornering speed and also I split one of the walls on the tyre. Happy with the wear and also grip that the KU31's deliver. Would recomend to anyone. Grip in wet and dry Some road noice but only on certain roads

Good – Great tyre, have 235-40-18 inch on a CV8. Very impressed with steering. Price is great to and performance does rival expensive tyres. I would not hesitate to put them on a performance car. You will be pleased overall with price/ performance and overall package. Great grip in both wet and dry. Seem quiet Limited rim protection.

Excellent – For the money, around $120/tyre, they are a very good tyre. No sure on wear yet but so far look OK. Recommend them as a performance tyre. These tyres are a performance bargain. I have 215/45-17" and they are great in the wet, good in the dry, and relatively quiet. The car had Kumho KU23s on when purchased and they are rubbish compared to the KU31s, unless you really like sideways in wet conditions. None to date.

Good – Best value for money tyre I have ever bought. It outperformes tyres at nearly twice the price! You need to pay three times as much to actually get a better tyre. Highly recommended. Great dry grip and good looking pattern. Nice rim rotection as well Wet grip good but not very good. Show 2 replies