Kumho Ecsta V730 Extreme Performance Summer Tires in 235/35R19

Best value tire of the market, hands down. Fantastic dry grip and seems to maintain it's consistency far better than the "super 200's". I used both my Nankang CRS v2 and Kuhmo v730 for 3 track days each, and then did a back to back comparison and found almost a second of laptime when switching from my used CRS to my used v730! They will last a lot longer, and are already a bargain on the price. I think I found my new go-to tire, I'm very impressed.

I use these on my Time Attack Impreza wagon. Car weighs 3200# with driver and 400whp. These tires have incredible grip once warmed up. Can take more laps than the RE-71rs before getting to hot and feeling greasy on track. Shaved 2 secs off PB with these tires. The wear is slower than the Bridgestone and appears will last an entire SCCA time trial season. Don’t let the price fool you these tires are great!

I bought this tire or daily use as well as track days. They performed better than expected throughout a track weekend at Watkins Glen. On the last session of each day they would be a bit greasy but still predictable and gripped very good during hard breaking. Never locked up gave out raking or turning. It started to rain midday and I was surprised with how well they maintained grip. During daily use I have gone through rain storms and never hydroplaned, they again exceeded my expectations wet. For the price, the V730s are awesome tires, and I will buy another set.

Do not buy this tire. These have lasted two months, and I am going to have to replace them soon. The only positive about this tire is its price compared to other Super 200s in this size.

These tires are unsafe in the wet. Even with nearly full tread depth, I was experiencing hydroplaning events on saturated road surfaces WITHOUT standing water. The tread pattern wears to a two-groove slick, which means the wet behavior of this tire has only gotten worse with time.

Wear has been the worst I have experienced in this category. The tires are down to 2/32" after only 3 hours of track time and ~20 autox runs, both in moderate 60-80F temperatures. The mileage has only been driving to/from events and a few in-town errands. This is on a 3300lb car with 3.2/2.3deg camber F/R on 255/40-17. The tread shows notable longitudinal cracking on the outer shoulder and middle rib, and I am concerned about delamination. Compare this to the RT660 where I ran similar track time in hotter temperature, probably 100+ autox runs, a few thousand miles of road trips, and perhaps another thousand miles of in-town errands, all while being faster in all conditions and maybe lasting 1-2 laps less on track before getting greasy; I still had 4/32" left on the 660s.

The tire compound is very sensitive to loading and feedback to the driver is inconsistent. These would be workable characteristics if they were capable of generating the same peak traction as the A052/RE71RS, but the V730 is generally a full second off the top tires on a ~50s course in addition to being harder to drive. Auditory feedback is confusing: higher pitched tones can either indicate insufficient loading or overloading while lower tones can either indicate being at or greatly over the limit of adhesion. Feedback through the steering wheel and chassis is muted, and the tire is especially sensitive to axial forces of braking and power. The lack of effective feedback makes this tire especially poor at the limit.

They are fast and consistent. Over the course of a 20 minute session they slow down but not substantially. Tread is shallow and disappears quickly, after which they become super sketchy in the wet. They do need to be warmed up before they begin to grip. After four weekends they were completely bare but still felt good. They probably had another 1-2 weekends left in them but I ended up puncturing one and replacing the set.

This was a very quick wearing tire, however the dry performance was exceptional. My 95 Neon could not lock up the stock brakes when equipped with Hawk pads when these tires were new. The cornering was excellent with great feedback. However, as expected the tires were less than ideal in the rain. If the temps got low, they were ice skates until warmed up even when it was 40-50 degrees out. We were hit with an unexpected cold snap and some light snow one day and my wife requested a switch to her snow tires immediately upon returning from work that day. Having driven it briefly in those conditions, I don't blame her.

Bottom line is that these were tires which offered exceptional dry performance with all the expected tradeoffs. I wouldn't have bought them initially if I wouldn't have scored such a deal on them. At the end of the day, I'd do it again for a summer only tire.