Kumho Tires

I had a number of Kumho tires back in the day... a set of ECSTA SPT, a few sets of ECSTA AST, and a set of Platinum LX

They were good for what they were... budget tires. The Platinum LX were a step above budget tires, but not quite the level of Michelin, Continental, etc.

Sure, with a 6-speed manual and a tuned ECU, I had to be a little careful with starting from a stop in the wet with the Platinum LX, but they wore without issues on my Passat, which that platform was notorious for feathering tires.

These days, nothing from Kumho appeals to my needs
 
Well got an unexpected call from the local DT store. Seems the Kumho tires I ordered although on their website are not available. The guy tried to upsell me another more expensive set of Falken tires. Told him I've had Sumitomos (Falken parent company) and didn't like them. He finally said I could have a set of Cooper Endevours for the same price. I agreed. Looked at the price for the Coopers and they are way more plus Cooper has a $50 rebate started on 1 March. Purchased the tires 2 March so no question about the rebate. Couple that with a military discount, 5% and I went through the Shell Fuel Rewards portal to DT which gives me a $1.20/gal discount on 20 gallons of gas. DT is a good place to buy tires.

Sometimes unexpectedly the deal can just keep getting better and better.
 
I have Kumho Crugen Premium on my '17 RDX (I bought used and selling dealer installed them). I have 46k miles on the tires. Overall, they're OK. They've gotten louder the last 5k miles. I'll need to replace later this spring.
 
I was looking at Crugen HT51 at one point for Sportage but went with Sumitomo Encounter HT due to low load rating for Kumho. They have good tires, far from all, but same goes with any tire brand. I do not like Kumho for the name thou, they may have had better sales if they renamed it for English speaking countries just like Russia did when they were selling Lada abroad as opposed to Zhiguli on domestic market that many found sounding too close to gigolo.
 
I've had a pair of Kumhos on my DD and my girl's DD maybe 10 years ago and both sets wore quickly vs. more premium brands that we had prior (Bridgestone for mine and Goodyears for her). They were fine, just wore quickly.
 
I had a set of Solus TA-71 on my Impreza. They were solid and had decent tread left when l traded it in after about 20k miles on them.

The previous "top-tier" brand replacement tires never balanced properly after many attempts, but the Kumhos balanced perfectly the first time.

A family member has 40k miles on OEM TA-31 and doesn't have any complaints.
 
I had Kuhmo Crugen tires on my SantaFe and they did really well. But that was about 12 years ago. Not sure if they have changed.
 
I was looking at Crugen HT51 at one point for Sportage but went with Sumitomo Encounter HT due to low load rating for Kumho. They have good tires, far from all, but same goes with any tire brand. I do not like Kumho for the name thou, they may have had better sales if they renamed it for English speaking countries just like Russia did when they were selling Lada abroad as opposed to Zhiguli on domestic market that many found sounding too close to gigolo.
of course with the Sportage you really needed not to be concerned with the weight rating. The tires couldn't have been that far off from one another. You didn't buy then because of the name- OK there are far more stupid reasons.
 
Nothing wrong with them (KH25+KA31, my experience) but if you switch to a premium brand, you can feel the ride quality improves.
 
We sell a fair amount of kumhos and always have good luck with them. They balance well etc. Recently we've noticed a few pairs of Michelins that have been harder to balance for whatever reason.
 
Had a set of Kumhos on my folk's 98 Accord LX; it just didn't get much use. I thought they were OK, but they seemed to get outta round or something. Poor ride; I thought it was the car. I don't think I would buy them again. Just my experience.

If your budget allows, buy good rubber. They make your car better because the ride is just plain better. Tires are important.
 
I have Crugen ht51 on my GMC sierra. Took a chance at literally half the price of Michelin Defenders.Just turned 70K miles on them. I did get uneven wear on the insides of the treadin the last 10k miles. Not sure if its alignment or tires fault but overall happy with them.Will i get another set? probably not , price has gone up on them. Going to try Continental terrain Contact H/T most likely. Michelin is a very good tire but over priced right now!
 
Years back I had a set of Kumho HR rated tires on a 1998 Acura RL and have now run Kumho Road Venture AT51 tires on my Ridgeline for four years. Not a single issue with either set. Overall Kumho is a solid brand and should not be lumped together with any no name brands from China. But like most tire companies, Kumho does make some budget rated tires.
 
Last edited:
It looks like those who have issues with Kumho tires are an exception and they are decent tires.
 
We test drove the 2020 Connect with the Kumho tires for 1 week and found them to be very dangerous because of over flexing side wall issues. The van has a very sharp turning radius which causes these tires to overflex. Often making the tire appear as if it's going to pop off the rim edge. Although these tires may suit your car/truck, I would not suggest anyone with a Connect mount these tires on their van.
 
Back
Top