Kumho  Ecsta PA31

The Kumho PA31 is a solid tire, especially at the price point. They were a total overall upgrade over the factory Michelin's (which are $220 each btw). They have better grip, better wet traction and were much better in the snow, not great...but much better. The one area they leave some to be desired are on the noise level and ride...a little stiff and a little loud. If you are looking to put them on a sport or luxury car pass them up for the TA's, but for a family sedan they are a great value.

I have not put alot of miles on this set of tires, but so far I am very happy with the performance in all conditions. Much better traction than I expected in snow of about 2 inches. Dry and wet traction is better than I expected for all season tires. Ride comfort is also very good. Turn in seems only slightly less accurate or slower than my extreme performance summer tires. If these tires continue to perform like this I will most definitely buy them again.

Really nice tire, especially for the money. Smooth, quiet ride so far with good response from steering inputs. Wet traction is predictable and in light snow it feels well enough, though a Miata just isn't a great winter vehicle, so a fair snow comparison is hard to make. Definitely would buy again.

Best investment I have made. I live in Chicago and we have harsh winters. I have yet to get stuck. Handels like a dream in snow or rain. And feels even better in dry conditions. Great deal for the price. Would def recomend for everyday city or highway driving.

This is one of the best tires I have ever put on a car! DEFINITELY an upgrade from the stock Goodyear RS-A's!!!! I can get aggressive with my driving & this tire handles it all. Snow traction is well above average, wet traction is spot on & dry traction is just perfect! When it comes to ice, well, ice is ice...there is not 1 tire that can compete with that...however, the PA31 does grip the ice pretty well. Dating back to my last car, this is the 4th set of Kumho's I have put on, & I used to buy from the likes of Pirelli, Yokohama & Toyo. Bottom line, you can't go wrong with selecting this tire.

This tire far exceeds my expectations, particularly when the price is considered. The comfort and quietness of these tires is really outstanding. The wet and dry performance is at least equal to the Toyo and General all seasons I have had on this car in the past. The winter performance is way better than previous tires. It handles so well in snow and ice that for the first time, I will not be putting on my dedicated winter wheels with Yokohama Iceguards. They may not have quite the grip of the Iceguards, but the handling is quite good and very predictable when the tires break free.

Amazing tire for the money. Older Sumitomo LHS tires were so loud it sounded like a bearing going bad. The Kumho PA31s run nearly silent, and ride quality is superior. My Bonneville SSEi now feels like a luxury car again. Dry traction is excellent at a very slight cost in solid cornering. Considering this is a full size car, I don't blame the tire. I have driven just about every tire brand and type made, and overall this is the best tire I have ever purchased considering the price. Outstanding quality!

I was struggling to find a tire that I can enjoy at least a little bit in the summer while still being able to do reasonably well in the snow and ice of Minnesota.

So far, this tire has far and away exceeded expectations. On cold dry roads, the tires are much more responsive and better than the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S Plus that they replaced. I'm sure when spring and summer come around I will notice a bit of handling drop off with the PA31's, but so far they are great.

In the snow it is no contest. These are far and away the best non-snow tires that I have ever driven on that can still maintain some sporting aspects. They are very responsive when playing in the snow, and I almost feel that they grip too well for my childish need to drift whenever possible. Every once in a while, they will want to understeer a little bit in deep snow, but they are still better than any other performance all season I have used.

Ice is ice, and they ---- on ice, along with every other tire that lasts more than 10,000 miles.

The tires are quiet and absorb small bumps better than the Pilot Sports did, which is no surprise as these have a rather soft, but not TOO soft sidewall.

My main gripe with the tire is that it is made in China, and says so quite clearly right on the sidewall. Only time will tell if it is well manufactured, but being a college student on a budget, I'm glad the price is low enough for me to afford.

Even if these tires only last me 35,000 miles, I will probably go with them again. Time will tell how they hold up to my summer driving habits.

First review with only 50 miles on these Ecsta PA31, but I can attest to comparing them with the previous Michelin Primacy MXV4 they replaced: PA31 are butter smooth and nicely balanced, where the Michelins were always out of round throughout their life. PA31 a tad off-center feel compared to the linear Michelins, although not disturbingly so. Ride comfort and noise are noticeably better than the Michelins, which were pretty good already. I have only driven in wet surfaces and dry so far. Looking forward to next review after more environments are tested. Initial impression is extremely good, especially considering the price difference.

I've only had these tires since mid-summer, but have been very impressed with them. They remind me of Michelin tires in that they have a very comfortable, almost luxurious ride quality. My car has the sport suspension with 17" wheels, so the ride has been harsh, but the Kumho's really take the edge off while still feeling very responsive. I've also noticed better highway gas mileage. According to other reviews these should do well on snow, and in the upcoming months I'll have a chance to find out. These tires seem like a very good value, and I was also impressed with the recommended company that I used to have have them installed.

I purchased a set of 4 of these tires for my wife's car - to replace Yokohama ZR tires. Since we're not hitting speeds higher than 75mph, the trade off for touring tires was welcomed. Got these installed and can certainly state that they drive very smoothly and quietly. The difference is obvious in the city, but very obvious on the highway. I would also expect MPG to be positively impacted since rolling resistance has been lessened. Overall, a very good experience so far.

All things relative, i have worn Kumho's on my M5 for 150,000 miles. mostly Supra SPT and got 8000 miles per set, consistently....heavy car, lots of HP, heavy foot. These PA31's were chosen for the all season tread on the TDI. they handle great, don't squeal, are great in wet/dry, and i don't see any tread wear in 6000 miles, lots of those miles at 100+ mph cross country. like them, will reorder when these wear out.
If you don't like these tires there's something wrong with your car/driving style/whatever.

I've had these tires mounted on my little Scion for several years now. They're served me well when I used to live in Massachusetts and dealt with the winters there (including one winter in which we got a total of 14 feet of snow), and I used to commute to New York at least once weekly. I now live in Pennsylvania and the tires are finally in need of replacement, almost 50k miles later.

When new, they have great dry traction afforded by the softer compound rubber. The nice deep siping and tread pattern afford a good deal of water evacuation. The downside is that they produce a good amount of road noise at highway speeds. When I first got them, I remember a quiet whistling noise at highway speeds. The tread pattern also tends to squirm for the first few thousand miles before they're worn in, likely due to those nice deep sipes.

I am a pretty aggressive driver, so the treads seemed to wear down much faster than I thought they would, but after almost 50,000 miles and a treadwear rating of 500, I can't complain. Being pretty well worn at this point, their performance in certain areas has diminished. In heavy rain at highway speeds, they will hydroplane pretty easily. Luckily I don't drive on the highway much, I definitely don't feel safe driving during heavy rain. Snow traction is pretty terrible, but that's to be expected given that I've pretty much worn the tread off of them; any tire will do that. Light rain and dry traction remains excellent, however. They are just as sticky as when they were first broken in.

I'd recommend these tires if you are on a budget. Reading other's reviews seems to suggest that the quality may be inconsistent, but I certainly got a great set that have survived a great amount of abuse under my lead foot. For my next tire I will probably move to something in the Grand Touring All Season category with a harder compound for better tread life and fuel economy. These tires did lower my average economy just a hair, but otherwise I loved them.

Let me preface by saying, when I got these tires, I wasNOT gentle on them. Random road trips, often to go hooligan around the closest set of curves, hard launches, hard braking, things of that nature. When I saw a warranty of 50,000, I planned on needing to buy a new set by 25,000. At 10k, they're still going strong. Lately, I have slowed down (a bit), I don't whip through corners as hard, and I rarely break them loose. That said, in my experience, if you're chewing through a full set of any tire in less than hapf of the rated warranty, it's not the tire's fault. Go get an alignment.