Kumho  Solus KL21

These tire came with my Tucson and the first thing that impressed me about these tires was wet traction. When it came to slamming on the brakes, it almost made no difference if the pavement was wet or dry, thats how good these tires grip. Taking a corner at high speeds while raining is no problem for this tire. These tires perform pretty good in light snow. I was even caught in a nasty snow storm where the snow got deep and I was able to get home without any problems, however, a set of winter tires will perform much better. After over 15k on them, there is very little wear so with that said, these tires will last me a good while.

These tires came standard on my car. These are the smoothest tires I've evern experienced and tread wear is very impressive. Wet traction is one of the best I've experienced; even on wet pavement I can take corners quickly with ample confidence. I've done several long distance road trips with my Tucson including a trip up the Yukon on the Dempster highway which is over 1500km long, and 1500km going back. The reason I mention this highway is because its a tire shredding dirt highway running through one of the most remote regions of the Canadian arctic. These Kumho's surived the trip without any issues at all which is impressive considering their simply all season tires designed mainly for the pavement. Decent traction in snow, but snow tires would provide improved traction over these. I still have almost 50% tread left and the tires still roll smoothly. This is my first experience with Kumho's and I must say it definitley performs like a premium tire.

I'm reviewing the KL21's now after it has been replaced by Pirelli Scorpion Verde's. My review will be using the Pirelli's as a comparison. Simply put, I miss the Kumho's. The Kumho's were a bit noisier, stiffer, and not as fuel mileage friendly as the Pirelli's but they have a handling characteristic that I prefer over the Pirelli's. For a SUV touring tire, the KL21's respond quick and holds its line on fast highway exits and sharp turns. It has a stiffer sidewall which makes it a responsive tire but not as smooth of the bumps. I also noticed it tracks better than the Scorpions on bumpy sufaces...less prone to bump steering. That is probably due to the stiffer sidewalls. Never squealed around corners unless I was pushing it real hard...I mean excessive cornering speed for an SUV. In the wet it handles well with moderately aggressive driving; experienced no understeer. My year Sorento is outfitted with stiffer suspension than later models and I think goes well with the KL21's. To me it made my SUV handle more like a car. So if handling performance is your thing, these tires deliver in my opinion, better than the Pirelli's. Yeah I said it. The KL21's have average noise, average comfort, and average fuel mileage. Wear is average as well. Despite being average everywhere, they have that sporty feel. I didn't know what I had until it was gone and replaced by a "true" SUV tire. Even when worn down to near tire wear indicators, the KL21's still had decent dry weather performance.

These tires came OEM on my car. They are excellent on dry pavement and are very quiet. Cornering and steering fee is very good. Thread life has been excellent so far; I have no doubt these tires will last for a long time.



Snow/ice traction is non-existent with these tires. I drove on them briefly before I installed my winter tire and I was not impressed. The slightest amount of snow resulted in skidding and poor cornering. I would please these tires in the Three Season category.

Replaced a set of 5yo Summitumos with some belt problems. Ran Kumho as a cheap truck tire before, and figured for a 200K daily driver, "good" tires weren't an option.

I've been VERY surprised by the quality of this "cheap" tire. Took very little weight to balance, very responsive in cornering, good wet and dry traction, and after mounting them on Wed., we had severe storms for 2days straight, and it became apparent very quickly these tires handle rain/puddles VERY well.

Two thumbs up.

Only have about 1K miles, but so far, these are one of the best tires I've ever run on my "superColt" daily driver.

Haven't got a lot of miles but very pleased so far. Wet traction is superior to the previous Michelins. No snow or icy road tests yet. Ride is very quiet and comfortable. They have a somewhat "soft" feel going into turns but are very stable through them. No indication of wear yet but shouldn't be.

Initial Review, 8,000 Miles
September 27, 2013

very pleased with these tires considering I have only put about 8,000 miles on them. Really great wet weather tire, tracks straight through water puddles without loosening control. Quiet and very comfortable ride. Hard cornering/handling is a little soft/loose, but seems common with all ECO tires. Mpgs have stayed the same and tires balanced well, no vibrations, etc only downside is the air pressure fluctuates. I like to run 35psi, but they always settle down to 32psi after a month or so, no biggie and has had no effect on control/drivability of my truck. Would buy these tires again.2012 GMC Canyon CC Z85 2WD, 17x7.5 rims 235/65/17 KL21's. Lafayette,Louisiana

update, June 27, 2014 now around 18,000+ miles on these tires and like others have mentioned, are noticeably louder and a tad stiffer ride. Air pressure has stabilized and is consistent at 34 psi. I also installed a front/rear sway bar kit, which has increased the handling/stability/cornering considerably of the truck, so the "loose" feeling was not attributed to the tires. I've rotated the tires only once, and they are wearing perfect with no balancing vibration issues. Traction in wet weather is still way above average compared to others I've owed. These are still the 3rd best tires I've owned. Michelin Latitude & LTX, Cooper Discover H/T, Kumho KL21's.

This was the factory tire on a Kia Sportage fwd, rotated every 5,000 miles. After 3 years 49,000 miles there is 4/32 tread left, tires wore even and ride is still good.

These tires came on my vehicle when I bought it brand new in 2013, I have put 61,000 miles on them and I still have 4/32 left of the tread wear. These tires have been great, I would definitely recommend them to everyone.

By far the best OE tires we've had yet. They just work, and the treadwear has been fantastic. They're just about to the wear bars now at just over 72000 miles. We could definitely push them further, but a trip up north that's going to likely involve snow and we'd prefer a bit more tread depth. If we weren't doing that trip, we'd run these through this winter and likely next summer as well. These tires seem to like a little bit higher pressure than the car recommends, especially in the front - 40-ish instead of 35psi. Wear is even across the tread on all four tires and at all four corners.

These tires are used mostly in city driving day to day, but have gone on multiple 1000-2000 mile road trips. We've been caught in snow with them a couple times and they performed fine - as well as I would expect an all-season tire to perform.

For clarity, ratings are in the context of/relative to all-season CUV type tires, not specialized tires. They're not winter snow/ice tires that will let you plow through 18" drifts over ice without issue. They're not summer UHP tires, they're not mud terrains. They're a great compromise tire for a daily driven small SUV that performs well and lasts a LONG time.

This is probably the first time when replacing tires that we didn't even bother to shop around - no questions asked going with the same thing.

I have a completely different experience with these tires then I guess many others. I think they are great. Wet and Dry condition great though on fast execeleration from stop they may spin a little. I have a FWD car and in snow they may slip a little but not really bad. I have 51K on these tires and just had them rotate today. I asked the tech should I get new tires instead of rotating them again between 58K and 60K ? He said there is still a lot of tread on these and I don't you really need to.

These tires are NOT good in any type of snow. Granted I have 38k on them, but the tread wear has been very good so far. These are the original tires on the vehicle. They stay balanced and ride very nice, but this is the first real winter where snow has been prevalent and they are not good in the snow at all. Would buy again if I lived in southern climates, but not for Ohio. I will be replacing them in the next week as I don't feel the vehicle is safe for my wife in the snow.

Great tire for everything except snow.
I have been driving AWD vehicles in Chicago/Michigan for 12 years, and have never had a problem in light snow before. The snow traction with these is just awful, there is none. I was going less than 10 mph when making turns in a 2" snow fall, and went sideways. Stopping was impossible. I thought there was something wrong with the brakes. Cars on both sides of me stopped fine, and I slid thru the intersection.
After reading these reviews, I know it was the tires and not the SUV.
I will be tire shopping this weekend.

this tire came with my kia i drove it home from the dealership and the next day i went to drive it to work and their was a light snow i mean verry light in i was slideing left and right and doing donuts in the middle of the free way.