Kumho Ecsta KU31
The Kumho Ecsta KU31 is a Ultra High Performance Summer tyre designed to be fitted to Passenger Car
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Tyre review data from 164 tyre reviews averaging 76% over 2,645,523 miles driven.
Latest Group Test Results
2014 Auto Review Max Performance Tyre Test - 7th of 7 tyres
- Positive - Price
- Negative - Grip and control on wet pavement, low resistance to aquaplaning, grip and handling on dry pavement
- Overall - The Kumho KU31 looks smart, but unfortunately doesn't deliver in test. On wet roads the performance is mediocre with plenty of understeer and poor aquaplaning performance, and in the dry the braking distance from 62 mph is almost 4 meters longer than the best on test, which means when the Continental had stopped, the car would still be travelling at near 20 mph! Not the best option for road or track.
2010 EVO FWD Tyre Test - 9th of 9 tyres
- Negative - Good dry pace
- Overall - Poor wet performance, lowest subjective score.
View All Tests >>
Size |
Fuel |
Wet |
Noise |
Weight |
195/45 R15 78V |
E |
A |
70 |
7.54kgs |
195/50 R15 82H |
E |
A |
70 |
8.07kgs |
195/50 R15 82H |
E |
A |
70 |
8.21kgs |
205/50 R15 86V |
E |
A |
70 |
8.78kgs |
205/50 R15 86V |
E |
A |
70 |
8.57kgs |
185/55 R15 82V |
E |
A |
70 |
8.06kgs |
185/55 R15 82V |
E |
A |
70 |
7.86kgs |
195/55 R15 85V |
|
|
|
8.44kgs |
205/55 R15 88V |
E |
A |
70 |
9.00kgs |
205/55 R15 88V |
E |
A |
70 |
9.09kgs |
195/65 R15 91V |
|
|
|
8.90kgs |
215/65 R15 100V XL |
C |
E |
71 |
11.03kgs |
215/65 R15 100V XL |
C |
E |
71 |
11.12kgs |
215/40 R16 86W XL |
E |
B |
71 |
9.06kgs |
215/40 R16 86W XL |
E |
B |
71 |
8.80kgs |
165/45 R16 74V XL |
E |
B |
70 |
6.01kgs |
165/45 R16 74V XL |
E |
B |
70 |
5.81kgs |
195/45 R16 84V XL |
E |
B |
71 |
8.57kgs |
195/45 R16 84V XL |
E |
B |
71 |
8.23kgs |
205/45 R16 87W XL |
C |
B |
71 |
9.02kgs |
205/45 R16 87W XL |
C |
B |
71 |
9.01kgs |
225/45 R16 89W |
E |
B |
70 |
9.73kgs |
225/45 R16 89W |
E |
B |
70 |
9.60kgs |
195/50 R16 84W |
E |
B |
70 |
8.58kgs |
205/50 R16 87W |
E |
B |
70 |
9.47kgs |
205/50 R16 87W |
E |
B |
70 |
9.25kgs |
225/50 R16 92W |
E |
B |
70 |
10.38kgs |
225/50 R16 92V |
C |
B |
70 |
10.19kgs |
225/50 R16 92V |
C |
B |
70 |
10.35kgs |
225/50 R16 92W |
E |
B |
70 |
10.61kgs |
245/50 R16 97W |
E |
B |
70 |
12.60kgs |
245/50 R16 97W |
E |
B |
70 |
12.35kgs |
195/55 R16 87V |
F |
E |
70 |
11.25kgs |
205/55 R16 91V |
C |
B |
70 |
9.43kgs |
205/55 R16 91V |
C |
B |
70 |
9.34kgs |
205/55 R16 91V |
G |
C |
73 |
|
205/55 R16 91W |
|
|
|
9.54kgs |
215/55 R16 97W XL |
E |
B |
71 |
11.05kgs |
215/55 R16 97W XL |
E |
B |
71 |
11.02kgs |
225/55 R16 99W XL |
C |
B |
71 |
11.48kgs |
225/55 R16 99W XL |
C |
B |
71 |
11.40kgs |
205/60 R16 96V XL |
E |
E |
71 |
10.10kgs |
205/60 R16 96V XL |
E |
E |
71 |
10.33kgs |
215/60 R16 95V |
|
|
|
10.78kgs |
235/60 R16 104V XL |
E |
E |
71 |
12.19kgs |
195/40 R17 81W XL |
E |
A |
71 |
8.26kgs |
205/40 R17 84Y XL |
E |
B |
71 |
8.88kgs |
215/40 R17 87W XL |
|
|
|
8.73kgs |
255/40 R17 94W |
G |
C |
72 |
|
205/45 R17 88W XL |
E |
A |
71 |
9.36kgs |
205/45 R17 84V |
G |
C |
73 |
|
225/45 R17 94Y XL |
C |
B |
71 |
10.61kgs |
225/45 R17 91W |
F |
C |
70 |
12.38kgs |
235/45 R17 97W XL |
C |
B |
71 |
11.45kgs |
245/45 R17 95W |
E |
B |
70 |
11.90kgs |
245/45 R17 95W |
|
|
|
14.82kgs |
255/45 R17 98W |
C |
B |
72 |
12.77kgs |
255/45 R17 98W |
C |
B |
72 |
12.77kgs |
205/50 R17 93W XL |
F |
C |
71 |
12.53kgs |
205/50 R17 93W XL |
|
|
|
10.19kgs |
215/50 R17 95W XL |
C |
A |
71 |
11.05kgs |
215/50 R17 95W XL |
C |
A |
71 |
10.87kgs |
225/50 R17 94W |
F |
C |
70 |
14.48kgs |
225/50 R17 98W XL |
C |
A |
71 |
11.27kgs |
225/50 R17 98W XL |
C |
A |
71 |
11.73kgs |
215/55 R17 94W |
C |
A |
70 |
10.83kgs |
215/55 R17 94W |
C |
A |
70 |
10.33kgs |
225/55 R17 101W XL |
E |
A |
71 |
12.01kgs |
235/55 R17 103W XL |
C |
B |
71 |
13.04kgs |
235/55 R17 103W XL |
C |
B |
71 |
13.33kgs |
225/40 R18 92Y XL |
E |
B |
71 |
10.99kgs |
225/40 R18 92Y XL |
E |
B |
71 |
10.67kgs |
225/40 R18 88W |
G |
C |
73 |
|
235/40 R18 95Y XL |
E |
B |
71 |
11.15kgs |
245/40 R18 97Y XL |
E |
B |
71 |
11.93kgs |
245/40 R18 93Y |
G |
C |
74 |
|
275/40 R18 99W |
|
|
|
13.86kgs |
215/45 R18 93Y XL |
E |
A |
71 |
10.35kgs |
215/45 R18 93Y XL |
E |
A |
71 |
10.77kgs |
225/45 R18 91Y |
E |
A |
70 |
10.66kgs |
225/45 R18 91Y |
E |
A |
70 |
11.17kgs |
235/45 R18 98W XL |
C |
A |
71 |
11.84kgs |
255/40 R19 100Y XL |
E |
A |
71 |
12.87kgs |
245/45 R19 102Y XL |
|
|
|
|
235/30 R20 88Y XL |
E |
A |
71 |
11.41kgs |
275/30 R20 97Y XL |
E |
A |
73 |
13.32kgs |
285/30 R20 99Y XL |
C |
A |
71 |
14.06kgs |
225/35 R20 90Y XL |
E |
A |
71 |
10.67kgs |
235/35 R20 92Y XL |
E |
A |
71 |
11.66kgs |
255/35 R20 97Y XL |
E |
A |
71 |
12.75kgs |
235/30 R22 90Y XL |
E |
A |
71 |
12.66kgs |
265/30 R22 93Y |
|
|
|
13.92kgs |
Questions and Answers for the Kumho Ecsta KU31
2019-03-06 - How to identify the manufacture date on my KUMHO 185 55 R15?
There will be a two digit code on the sidewall, like 4318 which would mean week 43 of 2018.
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Top Kumho Ecsta KU31 Review
I have never encountered a tyre that slips as much as this tyre - Cant make it for a few hundred meters without the tyres slipping when I press the gas pedal...
Latest Kumho Ecsta KU31 Reviews
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Review your Kumho Ecsta KU31 >>
Given
77%
while driving a
MINI Cooper S
(205/55 R15 V) on
mostly country roads
for 40,000
spirited miles
Fitted these tyres to Mini Cooper S using 15" tyres and they were great. Dry and wet handling is great, especially after the changes to the suspension and proper wheel alignment with proper corner weighting. You could really pushed the car to the limit and when they do understeered, you could really unwind the wheel and it would tuck in again. Great value for money vs performance. Quite playful too, could invoke lift off oversteer with these tyres. It hasn't got the outright grip compare to Potenza RE002, but you don't really need it with Mini Cooper S because the chassis with proper alignment and coilover is fun will smaller less grippy tyres.
Trying to pick the very best winter tyre? Watch this!
Possibly the shittest tyre known to man. Had a couple of these now. The previous of which blew out. More recently my Passat developed a horrendous vibration. Turns out the tyre's no longer round. It had more bulges than a porn hub special, bukake waiting queue. Had my car shaking like a shitting dog. Horrendous. Thinking of buying a set? Think again! Buy yourself a pack of Trojan XL, use them and glue them to your alloy wheel instead. Guaranteed a smoother ride.
Given
80%
while driving a
BMW 530D M sport
(285/30 R20 W) on
a combination of roads
for 0
spirited miles
Not sure about the wear but I don't care because its all about safety. When I say safety I mean it does grip very well in dry and also wet. I've 290bhp BMW (rear wheel drive of course) and no issue. I dont see why pay double the price for Michelin and other "good" brands. Will definitely buy again but i can see that price is going up. obviously tyre maker know's its good and selling more every day.
Given
77%
while driving a
BMW 116i
(205/55 R16 V) on
mostly country roads
for 10,000
average miles
I bought these tyres in November 2011 on a deal at £100 for a pair to fit to the front of my BMW E36 323i replacing a pair of 225/50 Pirelli P6000.
The Kumho's transformed the front end giving so much grip the rear would now swing around like hinge every time I really gave it some throttle. Before it would understeer slightly making the rear easier to control but now the front even in winter conditions could be thrown into corners with gay abandonment. At the time the front end of the old beemer was as good if not better than anything I had ever owned with these on.
After that car was retired 2500 miles later I put the wheels and tyres into storage until I purchased the BMW 116i and fitted some brand new Hankook Ventus Prime 3 to the other pair of wheels.
I bought the car at the beginning of summer and fitted the wheels with the Kumho's to the rear of the car figuring it would be better to wear the older tyres out quicker. The combo of Kumho's on the rear & Ventus Prime's up front was awesome. Turn off traction control and I could almost drift the rear of the car around roundabouts as the feedback was excellent and the grip & feel on the front was also rock solid. Come winter though and traction control was a must as the short wheelbase 1 series would constantly snap out on the cold tarmac.
I swapped the tyres around as the Ventus Primes had won the 2018 Auto Bild test and the Kumho's had proved brilliant on my old car. This sorted the handling, you still needed TC but the car definitely handled better and the Kumho's had almost as much grip on the front as the Hankooks.
So to sum up, the Kumho's work great on the front of a BMW as the weight of the engine increases grip and they have great feel on the rear in summer. They tend to snap out easily on the rear of a rear wheel drive car in winter so not suitable for that application.
The only other fault I have is that once the tyres were down to 6mm (after about another 7000 miles, around 10,000 in total) they were prone to aquaplaning. Maybe this wouldn't have happened on the 323i as it was heavier on the front but it certainly does happen quite a bit on the 116i.
These are an old tire now and technology has moved on so I doubt I would buy again, I also have a feeling they may become dangerous well before reaching the legal limit but they were great in 2011 for the price. They may not aquaplane as much on a heavier car, a 205 section tyre is quite big for a car the size of a 1 series.