Firestone Firehawk Sport vs Kumho Ecsta PS71
In this article we will be looking at independent tyre test data, and real world driver reviews of the Firestone Firehawk Sport and the Kumho Ecsta PS71 to find out which tyre is best for your own driving.
The good news is that both the Firestone Firehawk Sport and Kumho Ecsta PS71 are Ultra High Performance Summer tyres designed to be fitted to Passenger Cars, which means comparing the two tyres is relatively simple.
Both tyres are hugely popular in the market place with drivers, and both have been featured in independent tyre tests.
Test Results
Independent comparison tyre tests are the best source of data to get tyre information from, and the good news is there have been three tests which compare both tyres directly!
| Tyre | Test Wins | Performance |
|---|---|---|
| Firestone Firehawk Sport | one | |
| Kumho Ecsta PS71 | two |
While it might look like the Kumho Ecsta PS71 is better than the Firestone Firehawk Sport purely based on the higher number of test wins, tyres are very complicated objects which means where one tyre is better than the other can be more important in real world use.
Let's look at how the two tyres compare across multiple tyre test categories.
Dry Braking
Looking at data from three tyre tests, the Kumho Ecsta PS71 was better during three dry braking tests. On average the Kumho Ecsta PS71 stopped the vehicle in 1.88% less distance than the Firestone Firehawk Sport.
Best In Dry Braking: Kumho Ecsta PS71
See how the Dry Braking winner was calculated >>
Dry Handling [Km/H]
Looking at data from one tyre tests, the Kumho Ecsta PS71 was better during one dry handling [km/h] tests. On average the Kumho Ecsta PS71 was 1.43% faster around a lap than the Firestone Firehawk Sport.
Best In Dry Handling [Km/H]: Kumho Ecsta PS71
See how the Dry Handling winner was calculated >>
Wet Braking
Looking at data from three tyre tests, the Kumho Ecsta PS71 was better during three wet braking tests. On average the Kumho Ecsta PS71 stopped the vehicle in 9.3% less distance than the Firestone Firehawk Sport.
Best In Wet Braking: Kumho Ecsta PS71
See how the Wet Braking winner was calculated >>
Wet Braking - Concrete
Looking at data from one tyre tests, the Kumho Ecsta PS71 was better during one wet braking - concrete tests. On average the Kumho Ecsta PS71 stopped the vehicle in 5.26% less distance than the Firestone Firehawk Sport.
Best In Wet Braking - Concrete: Kumho Ecsta PS71
See how the Wet Braking - Concrete winner was calculated >>
Wet Handling [Km/H]
Looking at data from one tyre tests, the Kumho Ecsta PS71 was better during one wet handling [km/h] tests. On average the Kumho Ecsta PS71 was 3.39% faster around a wet lap than the Firestone Firehawk Sport.
Best In Wet Handling [Km/H]: Kumho Ecsta PS71
See how the Wet Handling winner was calculated >>
Wet Circle
Looking at data from one tyre tests, the Kumho Ecsta PS71 was better during one wet circle tests. On average the Kumho Ecsta PS71 was 2.32% faster around a wet circle than the Firestone Firehawk Sport.
Best In Wet Circle: Kumho Ecsta PS71
See how the Wet Circle winner was calculated >>
Straight Aqua
Looking at data from two tyre tests, the Kumho Ecsta PS71 was better during two straight aqua tests. On average the Kumho Ecsta PS71 floated at a 4.73% higher speed than the Firestone Firehawk Sport.
Best In Straight Aqua: Kumho Ecsta PS71
See how the Straight Aqua winner was calculated >>
Curved Aquaplaning
Looking at data from two tyre tests, the Kumho Ecsta PS71 was better during one curved aquaplaning tests. On average the Kumho Ecsta PS71 slipped out at a 3.28% higher speed than the Firestone Firehawk Sport.
Best In Curved Aquaplaning: Kumho Ecsta PS71
See how the Curved Aquaplaning winner was calculated >>
Subj. Comfort
Looking at data from one tyre tests, the Kumho Ecsta PS71 was better during one subj. comfort tests. On average the Kumho Ecsta PS71 scored 8.51% more points than the Firestone Firehawk Sport.
Best In Subj. Comfort: Kumho Ecsta PS71
See how the Subj. Comfort winner was calculated >>
Noise
Looking at data from two tyre tests, the Firestone Firehawk Sport was better during two noise tests. On average the Firestone Firehawk Sport measured 2.08% quieter than the Kumho Ecsta PS71.
Best In Noise: Firestone Firehawk Sport
See how the Noise winner was calculated >>
Wear
Looking at data from two tyre tests, the Kumho Ecsta PS71 was better during two wear tests. On average the Kumho Ecsta PS71 is predicted to cover 20.28% miles before reaching 1.6mm than the Firestone Firehawk Sport.
Best In Wear: Kumho Ecsta PS71
See how the Wear winner was calculated >>
Value
Looking at data from two tyre tests, the Kumho Ecsta PS71 was better during two value tests. On average the Kumho Ecsta PS71 proved to have a 24.02% better value based on price/1000km than the Firestone Firehawk Sport.
Best In Value: Kumho Ecsta PS71
See how the Value winner was calculated >>
Rolling Resistance
Looking at data from one tyre tests, the Firestone Firehawk Sport was better during one rolling resistance tests. On average the Firestone Firehawk Sport had a 17.08% lower rolling resistance than the Kumho Ecsta PS71.
Best In Rolling Resistance: Firestone Firehawk Sport
See how the Rolling Resistance winner was calculated >>
Fuel Consumption
Looking at data from one tyre tests, the Firestone Firehawk Sport was better during one fuel consumption tests. On average the Firestone Firehawk Sport used 3.51% less fuel than the Kumho Ecsta PS71.
Best In Fuel Consumption: Firestone Firehawk Sport
See how the Fuel Consumption winner was calculated >>
Abrasion
Looking at data from one tyre tests, the Firestone Firehawk Sport was better during one abrasion tests. On average the Firestone Firehawk Sport emitted 5.37% less particle wear matter than the Kumho Ecsta PS71.
Best In Abrasion: Firestone Firehawk Sport
See how the Abrasion winner was calculated >>
Real World Driver Reviews
Tyre Reviews also collects real world driver reviews for the Firestone Firehawk Sport and Kumho Ecsta PS71.
In total the Firestone Firehawk Sport has been reviewed 6 times and drivers have given the tyre 76% overall.
The Kumho Ecsta PS71 has been reviewed 82 times and drivers have given the tyre 78% overall.
This means in real world driving, people prefer the Kumho Ecsta PS71.
I've always used kumho because the price well reflects in proformance if only they didn't need constant rebalencing.
I've had 4 duff pairs, ku31 x 2 pair, ku 39 x 2 pair that had to come off in the end they were so bad.
No amount of balencing can sort an egg shape tyre.
These new ps71 are very soft, squishy, feel like running on 20psi with 30g wheel wobble even after twice rebalencing them & 1 of them is egg shape.
I am worn out with trying to get them right & think after years of kumho on... Continue reading this review using the link below
Conclusion
In conclusion the Firestone Firehawk Sport performed better in noise, rolling resistance, fuel consumption and abrasion, while the Kumho Ecsta PS71 performed better in dry braking, dry handling [km/h], wet braking, wet braking - concrete, wet handling [km/h], wet circle, straight aqua, curved aquaplaning, subj. comfort, wear and value.
Interestingly, both tyres performed equally well in dry handling and wet handling, showing that they are closely matched in these areas.
Which tyre is best for you depends a lot on your driving style and situation, plus what you want from the tyre. Comparing all the data in the tyre reviews database, on balance Kumho Ecsta PS71 seems to be the best tyre overall.
However, it's important to note that both tyres have their strengths.
Remember, the best tyre for you might depend on which of these factors are most important for your specific driving needs and conditions.
Overall Winner: Kumho Ecsta PS71
Based on the tyre test data and user reviews we have in our database, the Kumho Ecsta PS71 has demonstrated better overall performance in this comparison. However, as you can see from the spider diagram above, each tyre has its own strengths which should be considered in your final tyre buying choice.Similar Comparisons
Looking for more tyre comparisons? Here are other direct comparisons involving these tyres:
Footnote
This page has been developed using tyre industry testing best practices. This means we are only comparing tests which have had both tyres in the same test.
Why is this important? Tyre testing is heavily affected by things like surface grip levels and surface temperature, which means you can only compare values from the same day. During a tyre test external condition changes are calculated into the overall results, but it is not possible to calculate this between tyre tests performed on different days or at different locations.
As a result you will see other tests on Tyre Reviews which feature both the %s and %s, but as they weren't conducted on the same day, the results are not comparable.
Lots of other websites do this sort of tyre comparison, Tyre Reviews doesn't.