Kumho Ecsta ASX Review

[Stealth01]

Got the new tires today. The Kumho Ecsta ASX 215 50 R17s. Discout Tire matched Tirerack's $89 price and I added the road hazard warranty for $16 each. Replaced my VERY worn Bridgestone Potenza G009s, which I liked on dry and wet, but HATED in the snow and ice.

Only had them a few hours, but here's what I think so far:

LOOKS

These tires are a lower profile than the Potenzas and make the wheels look much smaller. Even my wife noticed it and said, "Wow, those are thin." I like the NON-DIRECTIONAL tread, as the tires can be rotated more efficiently to even out the treadwear.

PERFORMANCE

I drove for about 40 minutes on the tires. We had about 3 inches of snow tonight, and driving on the remnants meant some snowpack, with lots of slush and standing water. Some dry, but not a lot. 32 degrees on the dot, so probably some ice, too.

The tires aren't as noisy as I was lead to believe. They were a little louder than the G009s, but not much. Ride quality was better, but that's probably just because these actually have tread, where the G009s were damn near bald.

On dry pavement, the ASXs gave me more skid and wheel hop when I started hard. Surprised me, since I never got that when the G009s were new. However, turning on the dry pavement was nice and crisp, holding the corners FAR better than the G009s, which used to squeal ceaselessly during hard turns. I turned hard on pavement with sand twice and was VERY impressed with the ASX's hold during those turns. No slippage whatsoever. The G009s always struggled with sand and gravel.

On snowpack, they were leaps and bounds better than the G009s. Stopped very nicely, even when I had my 16-year-old daughter drive and slam on the brakes on snow. A little slippage on startups, but not any more than the G009s, and stopping was MUCH better. Slush performance was very good, and in standing water -- simply excellent. I went through several puddles and felt no hydroplaning at all. The water sprayed AWAY from the car. With the G009s, I could hear the water splashing under the car and while they also handled excellently on water, I liked the feel of the Kumhos better.

I had one startup where I really tested them. Crossing traffic, turning left, with a wet start, sand, then snowpack and slush, then back to dry. They did very well. The startup had the wheel spin, which is a bit discouraging, but after that, there was no sliding on the sand and when I hit the snowpack at about 40 (still turning left), there was only a minor amount of slide. The adjustment from snow to wet pavement, then quickly to dry, was smooth, with no sliding and no sudden "jerk" of sudden grip when I hit the dry pavement.

It's only 40 minutes of driving, so take it for what it's worth. I have eleven days of commuting to Denver and back, and some of that will be on snow and ice. So I should have a more complete review then. Overall, I'm impressed with the tires so far. Don't seem as grippy as the G009s on the dry surfaces, especially on hard acceleration, but on the snow, they're better, IMHO.

I'll try to get some good, spirited driving on them with dry roads this week and see how they do.

[Awong124]

215 70 R17s and they're lower profile than the Potenzas?

[Stealth01]

215 70 R17s and they're lower profile than the Potenzas?[/b]

LOL. Typo. 50, of course.

Very interesting. I assumed they were replacing the Potenzas with the same size Kumhos. They didn't.

They replaced them with 225 45 R17s.

[zweetdreamz]

I have these on my ms6. I love them. No snow yet, but handle much much better in the wet. Dry performance isn't up to par w/ the extreme summer high performance stock bridgestones but I love em.

[Stealth01]

I have these on my ms6. I love them. No snow yet, but handle much much better in the wet. Dry performance isn't up to par w/ the extreme summer high performance stock bridgestones but I love em.[/b]

Yeah, I have the feeling that dry, clean road performance will be slightly less than the potenzas, but everything else will be better.

[zweetdreamz]

Yeah, I have the feeling that dry, clean road performance will be slightly less than the potenzas, but everything else will be better.[/b]

and they are 1million bajillion times quieter

[Stealth01]

and they are 1million bajillion times quieter[/b]

LOL. I had them at Eleventy-billion times quieter.

That's kind of funny, since the reviews I read talked about the noise of the tires and a "vibration" when they're cold. I haven't noticed either.

[MZBuckeye]

Kumhos are, without a doubt, the best value in tires right now. I have the SPTs on my nice rims and I love them.

[Stealth01]

Kumhos are, without a doubt, the best value in tires right now. I have the SPTs on my nice rims and I love them.[/b]

Yeah, you certainly can't beat the value, and the Discout Tire guys spoke very highly of them.

I went out and drove a bit today on dry roads, and I may have to upgrade my opinion on them. I'll do a little more driving, but even with TCS off, I got very little slippage on hard starts this time. Might have needed to break them in a bit.

[2poor4MS6]

mine are round