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.

Purchased these tires thru TireRack to replace the P Zero Nero's on the X3 when I bought it used. (96K miles, now at 103K after 4 months!) We took the X on a 1200-mile road trip with the Pirellis still on it, then changed to the PA31s just before the winter driving season. (Oregon allows AWD passenger vehicles with M&S tires to opt out of chains when otherwise required, but I wanted new, deep tread to feel comfortable!) Driving away from the tire shop after the changeover, the difference in the feel became apparent at the curb, pulling onto the street/highway. Literally. The ride with the M Sport package was expected to be firm, even downsized to 235/50-18, but with the Pirellis it was still pretty jarring. This tire was instantly more comfortable, both from a ride and noise standpoint. Road trip to San Diego (2000 miles R/T) was very smooth, and the tires were equally at home at 80 on the freeway and through sweeping curves. Absolutely no tramlining on grooved pavement, which we hit several times on that trip. The first snow of the year was followed by very cold air, which kept snow on the ground for a week -- very unusual for this area, but a great chance to try out the tire and the AWD on the X3. Both excellent in over 6" of snow. Not Blizzaks, to be sure, but I was pleasantly surprised with test stops, up to activating the ABS. Haven't measured tread depth after 6K miles but still look and feel very good. I was nervous about buying Kumho for this demanding an application, but have since bought a set for my son's Subaru, and will consider for other vehicles as well. Pretty unbeatable for the money.

Awesome wet and dry traction. Better than expected snow traction. Comfortable quiet ride for a 45 series tires.

I've had these 4 months driving an 2006 Acura TL manual transmission in Denver, Colorado.
Pros:
- Quiet, much quieter than I expected. I don't think I've heard a single squeal in 4 months. WAY more quite than the awful Bridgestones I used to have.
- Good wet traction, including snowy slush
- Attractive price
- Good dry traction
- Decent snow traction, I guess the most you can expect from a non-winter tire in a FWD stick shift. I've only driven in the snow once in these tires, in about 4-6 inches. Given my car's power train, it is easy to overpower the tires in the snow so I have to go easy, but hey, they aren't winter tires!

Cons:
- Sidewall flex: When you are going around a corner or bend at 40 MPH or above, these tires have a sidewall flex that makes you feel like you are going slightly sideways or off at an angle at which you really aren't going. At the same time you are feeling this, you feel a bit floaty. It's a strange feeling that I've never felt before, and everyone in the car can feel.

Overall: I would definitely buy these again!

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.

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.

Great tire for the money. I put 64,000 miles on them.