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Kumho Ecsta PS31

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Location
San Jose
#1
There is a TLDR at the bottom.

Installed some new tires in the OE size on OE rim s a few weeks ago, I intend to update the thread at the tires age and give additional impressions as time goes on.

I’ll be comparing these to the only other tire I’ve had on this car, the Michelin Pilot Sport AS 3+, which is a high performance all season tire that I wasn’t particularly fond of.

So when I initially bought the car, as a CPO from a Ford dealership, I’d noticed that two tires on the car had DOT codes ending in 14, meaning that the tires where manufactured in 2014. The other two tires had a DOT ending in 18, meaning they were built in 2018. The amount of grip they offered was acceptable for an all season tire, they made a ton of road noise and felt like the sidewalls were super stiff, meaning that the steering felt great but they also weren’t very compliant. Kind of a weird mix of traits for an all season tire.

I don’t take my Fiesta on track, although I may at some point in the future, and I haven’t gotten around to autox but I do go for weekly (sometimes even more often than weekly) canyon drives. Being that I live in a climate that rarely drops below 40 degrees, I elected to search for a summer tire, reasoning that a summer tire should be able to easily outperform an all season tire with a 40k mile warranty. Once I started pricing tires out, I found that Walmart’s website had the lowest price on two tires that I was considering, the Kumho Ecsta PS31 and the Federal Evoluzion ST1. I ended up shying away from the federal because they seemed really hard to find anyone who could even get them, and no one ever had them in stock. For $2 more per tire, Kumho offered infinitely more availability, and everything I’d read about it suggested it was a good street tire, but would likely let me down on the track. It seemed ideal.

Walmart had all 4 tires at my apartment within about 7 business days, the tires were installed at a local shop, who also aligned it (apparently my front toe was out of spec and they said it was way to much toe in) after install and alignment, total cost of everything was $470.26. I get free alignments for 6 months and free rotation and balances until the tires are toast.

My initial drive home indicated that the tires are a substantial improvement in general driving. When you aren’t leaning on them, they are much more comfortable and the difference in road noise was absurd. These things were damn near silent compared to the Michelins. That said, 2 of the Michelins were 6 years old, so time will tell if these will remain quieter over their lifespan.

Later that week I got the car out into the canyons. The sidewalls must be softer because there is a noticeable loss of steering accuracy, obviously it’s not terrible because the FiST has good inputs to begin with, but the steering wheel feels a little more vague on center. That could also be down to the change in alignment, if the toe was way far in, my steering wheel would constantly be fighting to center itself, so that’s definitely something to consider. As far as grip goes, I’d say the Kumhos are a marginal improvement. The tires start to talk a lot before they actually give up the ghost though, so they actually give me audible feedback which allows me to dial back if I went in a little hot, the Michelins had much more abrupt break away characteristics, they didn’t protest if I was going too fast they just lost traction. Overall I’d say that cornering grip feels very similar, with the Kumhos holding a slight edge. Straight line grip is a big win for the Kumhos. I used to be able to chirp the tires in third on full throttle, the Kumhos limit wheel spin in first and sometimes I can’t even get the tires to chirp in second.

I’m pretty pleased with the Ecsta PS31. There are certainly better outright performance tires, but if you are looking for a performance oriented summer street tire, that is very comfortable I’d highly recommend the tire.

TLDR: for tires that cost about $270 I don’t know that you’ll find a better mix of comfort and performance. There are more comfortable tires and there are better performing tires, but I don’t think there is a tire that does both better.


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Last edited:

Flaco

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Ellijay, GA, USA
#3
I’m pretty pleased with the Ecsta PS31. There are certainly better outright performance tires, but if you are looking for a performance oriented summer street tire, that is very comfortable I’d highly recommend the tire.

TLDR: for tires that cost about $270 I don’t know that you’ll find a better mix of comfort and performance. There are more comfortable tires and there are better performing tires, but I don’t think there is a tire that does both better.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk[/QUOTE]


I've been on these tires for 2 years and love them. For the money their the bomb !
 


NOVA_Ranger

Member
U.S. Army Veteran
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Location
Prince William County, VA
#4
Took a few days, but I got the wheels refinished and painted. I almost went for a bronze, but this color caught my eye at the last moment and I think it will hide brake dust well. Pretty happy with how they turned out and they ride/handle great. I can definitely tell a difference with the lighter wheels.
 


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