Kumho is attempting to claw its way into the performance tire market with a new line of Ecsta rubber, launched late last year. The Ecsta Sport A/S, the Sport, and the Sport S make some big promises, with the brand telling media it outperforms big-name tires from tiremakers like Michelin, Bridgestone, and Pirelli, all while undercutting on price.
After a brief series of tests at Atlanta Motorsport Park, the Ecstas show good signs of being able to hold their own in a variety of limit-handling scenarios. While it’s impossible to say whether Kumho has made a superior tire without comparing it back to back with competitors, it’s clear this rubber is progressive, communicative, and easy to approach.
The Kumho Ecsta Sport A/S
The Ecsta Sport A/S is considered an "Ultra High-Performance" all-season. That means it can perform in bad weather when it needs to, whilst delivering superior grip versus your run-of-the-mill all-season tire. Its main competitor is the enormously popular Michelin Pilot Sport 4 All-Season, which comes standard on cars like the Chevy Corvette.
Kumho showed media a few data points discovered by third-party testing, comparing the Sport A/S to the Michelin (cheekily defined as “M Brand” in Kumho’s presentation). According to the data, the Kumho performed better in wet braking tests and scored identically in the noise department. It fell short only in the "Steering/Highway Handling" test.
In practice, the Sport A/S feels like quality rubber. Kumho tossed us the keys to a trio of sports cars equipped with the tires to rip around an autocross course, allowing us to get a feel for the performance. Autocross is the perfect place to test the limits of a tire, as you always have to be at or beyond a car’s abilities to squeeze out the best time. Doing so requires a tire that communicates to you, and doesn’t snap when pushed hard.
The Sport A/S performs commendably, with lots of noise at and above its grip limits. You can rely on it for quick transitions, too, which was nice for the course’s tight chicane. Kumho also let us rip around a wet skidpad to show the tire wouldn’t fall over on itself when presented with water. And it didn’t, performing nearly as well, albeit without the same noise.
The Kumho Ecsta Sport
The Ecsta Sport is Kumho’s mainline ultra high-performance summer tire, meant to compete against the Bridgestone Potenza Sport or Goodyear Eagle F1. That means huge shoes to fill. On first impressions, it doesn’t crumble apart when faced with real track time.
Kumho’s third-party testing suggests big things. According to the data shown to the media, the Ecsta Sport can out-brake the competition in the wet and dry. It’s also better at tread life and wet handling. It’s even quieter. On paper, it’s one of the best tires in this segment.
From behind the wheel, the Ecsta Sport feels like it could live up to these lofty claims. Kumho gave me the keys to a 991-generation Porsche 911 Carrera 4S for some lead-follow laps behind a Miata equipped with the same tires. With such a performance delta it was impossible to reach the limits of the tire, but the Sports showed promise, with lots of feedback through the steering wheel.
More importantly, the Sports didn’t fall off with regards to performance at any point, even with a full day of lapping with journalists. At this level, longevity is just as important as performance. Buyers will likely use these tires as daily drivers, so it’s important they last more than a few laps on a race track.
The Kumho Ecsta Sport S
The Ecsta Sport S is Kumho’s equivalent of Michelin’s Pilot Sport S 5, the most popular performance tire on the planet. Like the normal Sport, Kumho’s third-party testing data claims the Sport S can out-brake its Michelin counterpart, out-handle it in the wet, and match it on tire noise.
Instead of letting me test the Sport S on a road car, Kumho chucked me into the driver’s seat of a Porsche 718 GT4 Clubsport—a full-on factory race car—for a few laps around AMP. Sadly those laps were also paced by a Miata, so reaching the rubber’s real potential wasn’t exactly on the menu.
Still, the Sport S tires didn’t lose any of that approachability I found in the Sport, and they weren’t snappy or unpredictable, even when strapped to a real race car. We need more testing, but these limited impressions were positive.
Because there were no Michelins (or any other brand of tire) at this event to compare back-to-back, I can’t say the Kumhos are superior. The data shows they very well might be, at least in some important aspects. And they feel nice to use, which is equally as important as the numbers.
Where the Kumhos win biggest is price. Even if the Michelin were the better tire overall, it’s still about 50 percent more expensive, depending on sizing. If you’re flush with cash, sure, splurge on the French stuff. But if you want most of the performance and want to save a few bucks, the Kumhos are a solid choice.
