Kumho Ecsta V730 Extreme Performance Summer Tire for Competition & High-Output Sportscars in 225/50R16

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.

This is an EARLY review of these tires. I put them on 1,500 miles ago. These were purchased for my 2014 Cadillac CTS V-Sport TwinTurbo V6. Stock is 420hp, with intent to run HPDE and auto-x from time to time. My car is tuned to about 500hp at the crank. When tires are warm and on high grip surface, it is hard to spin the tires, like I gotta brake stand and work at it. I am running TSW wheels on a 18x9.5" setup all around with 275/35/18 setup on my car (vs the stock 245/40 up front) for better auto-x turn in. I will report back after having the chance to get these on a course somewhere.

Size Impressions: These tires are NOT as chunky as Falken Azenis RT660, but they are also not pinner little skinnies. They have good wheel lip protection and come moderately wide for their size.

Wear and Grip impressions: The outer tread patter (the super shallow portion) still remains clearly, which I am surprised at because it looks SO SHALLOW. I have had a road rally with about 35 miles of HARD driving in backcountry, canyon roads. The road was significantly tighter and rougher than Angeles Crest Highway with more surface transitions and a rougher surface and composition. The maximum cornering traction available was, in a word, astounding. Keep turning the wheel, the car keeps cornering harder. I have been PLEASANTLY surprised. These are a great bang for the buck.. . . VALUE!! They stick. They do not seem to telegraph what the front axle is doing super well, but about as well as the Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 3+tthat I purchased my car with.

Ride and comfort impressions: The sidewalls are robust and and work well on my 4,000lb car. I run OEM recommended pressures on these, 32f/36r, and the comfort and sound in the cabin has been indistinguishable to the Pilot Sport AS 3+, so far at least.
I hoped to buy Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar 3, but they were NOT available and these were more affordable anyway.

Overall Grade at 1,500 miles: A

Great tires for HDPE and track/race events. I did 8 track days on my first set and still had plenty of rubber left. Hydroplaning resistance is magnificent when the tires are new and still have tread, and okay when worn. The treads do disappear quickly, and with it rain/wet performance. The good news is the less treads, the faster the tires get in the dry. I changed out my first set for fresh, heat cycled tires for a 5 hour trip with two days on the track at Watkins Glen NY. Day 1 was wet and rainy all day.The tires were consistent but slower in the wet. Second day was low 70s and dry, and the tires came alive. Well over 1.2 sustained lateral Gs (stock suspension with camber adjustable control arms), lightening fast steering inputs and response, and very high grip. These tires don't get greasy like some do, and are able to run on-pace for 30 minutes no problem. The Nankang CR-S are faster, but just don't last like these tires do and they don't handle heat as well. You can expect at least 50 heat cycles out of the V730s.

Great tire for HPDEs and track events. Highly recommended.

Simply, love these tires and a big step up from version 1.0 (which I did NOT have any issues with). I use them only for track days, including driving to and from each event. The mileage listed is approximate, but doesn’t matter. These tires perform really well across all dimensions and warm up pretty quickly (about two laps). While a little slower on turn in that prev. owned Nitto NT01 and Toyo R888 they are more predicable through and out of the turn, and very progressive as they move up to and through their ‘traction budget.’ I run pretty grabby brakepads on the track and these work well again up to and through the traction budget. Finally, I’ve found the wear to be borderline amazing with plenty of life left. I’ll attribute this to the tread pattern which essentially turns to full slick across half the tire after about 1 mm of wear. While I’m always wanting to try another tire (Nangang on the list) I’ve no rational reason to switch for next season.

These lasted much longer than Falken 660 without giving up any drivability. Race at WGI on these for 8 hrs and on the Falkens for 8 hrs lap times were very comparable Best lap times by only thousands were on the Kuhmo’s

I drive these exclusively on track, turning 2:15-2:20 laps at VIR. This set of tires has lasted 18 track days, 40-50 laps/day and are not fully worn out. As an amateur HPDE driver I am more concerned with durability than that last second of speed, but I find my times very consistent from lap to lap, and grip remains consistent and predictable as well. They seem very tolerant of a wide range of ambient temperatures from near-freezing (once warmed up) to 95+ without getting greasy. I consider these as dry tires only; they get squirrelly on a damp surface, wet and rain are a no-go, or a go-off. Overall very pleased, just mounted another set for this season.

I decided to give this tire a go on my STX-Prepped Mazda RX-8 for Autocross. As a street-tire, these tires aren't all that great as they are stiff, rather loud, and are quick to aquaplane. If you are an avid autocrosser, the TL:DR is that these act like a better-feeling BFG Rival-S

My first test and tune was sunny, over 60*, and had relatively low downtime between runs. In that environment, the V730 did well. The steering-feel was excellent and the grip was on par with the RE-71R's that I previously ran.

The day after during our first event, the weather took a turn for the worse and it dropped to 50*, no sun, and I had a relatively long amount of downtime between runs. With no tire warmers, I wasn't able to keep temperature in the tires and my times suffered because of that. My best raw time of the day was after a re-run where I still had temps in the tires, and even though the surface was damp from rain, I was able to cut almost .5s off my best.

The sidewall seems quite stiff on this tire as well. Even at 23psi, I couldn't get enough flex in the tire to get down to the triangle on the sidewall.

I think once the temps start getting into the 70's and above, these tires will come into their own and start performing better. Are they as good as the RT660 or the A052? I don't know for sure but I don't think they are going to be at the top of the timing charts but can be close. That said, I think they are a competent budget tire and based on what I see, they will wear pretty well. I currently don't see any signs of weird and/or abnormal wear like the V720, but I didn't get them all that hot yet either.

Based on what I see on my setup and how the tire acted, I think these might work well in camber-limited fwd/awd street cars that can get some temps into a tire (Like the BFG Rival does). They run narrower than the A052 so that combined with the lack of sidewall flex, the V730 shouldn't get the outer tread-block breakdown that the Yokohama does.