Tests 71 · 1 test Owners 67 · 93 reviews
Hankook Ventus V12 evo2 vs Kumho Ecsta PS91 — Compared
Relative Score (0–100): the weighted average of the categories below, each 60% road tests and 40% owner reviews (comfort 40/60). Based on 1 + 6 road tests and 93 + 485 owner reviews. How we score
Ventus V12 evo2 is ahead, 69–61
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Tests 77 · 6 tests Owners 42 · 485 reviews
Best test result: #1 of 11 in 2023 AUTO Straßenverkehr 2023 Summer Tire Test R18 (exterior noise)
“Putting some Kumho Ecsta PS91s on. Curious how they’ll do since my go to Falken rt660 doesn’t come in the oem 18” sizes”
Category by category
Relative Score per category, 0–100. Open “Why this score” for the tests and owner ratings behind it.
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71
Dry
Ventus V12 evo2 +566Why this score
Source Ventus V12 evo2 Ecsta PS91 Professional tests (TWG score) · 1 / 6 tests 71 77 Reviews found online 71 51 Ventus V12 evo2: 60% × 70.9 + 40% × 70.9 = 71
Ecsta PS91: 60% × 76.7 + 40% × 51 = 66
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71
Wet
Ventus V12 evo2 +368Why this score
Source Ventus V12 evo2 Ecsta PS91 Professional tests (TWG score) · 1 / 6 tests 69 79 Reviews found online 73 52 Ventus V12 evo2: 60% × 69.2 + 40% × 72.9 = 71
Ecsta PS91: 60% × 78.8 + 40% × 51.5 = 68
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–
Snow
No comparison38Why this score
Source Ventus V12 evo2 Ecsta PS91 Professional tests (TWG score) – ≈ 53 (est.) Reviews found online – 15 Ecsta PS91: 60% × 53 (est.) + 40% × 15.1 = 38
No road tests of snow for Ecsta PS91. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.32).
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66
Comfort
Ventus V12 evo2 +1254Why this score
Source Ventus V12 evo2 Ecsta PS91 Professional tests (TWG score) ≈ 68 (est.) ≈ 64 (est.) Reviews found online 65 48 Ventus V12 evo2: 40% × 68 (est.) + 60% × 64.9 = 66
Ecsta PS91: 40% × 64.5 (est.) + 60% × 47.7 = 54
No road tests of comfort for Ventus V12 evo2. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.20).
No road tests of comfort for Ecsta PS91. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.20).
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73
Noise
Ventus V12 evo2 +1162Why this score
Source Ventus V12 evo2 Ecsta PS91 Professional tests (TWG score) · 1 / 3 tests 77 70 Reviews found online ≈ 66 (est.) 50 Ventus V12 evo2: 60% × 76.8 + 40% × 66.3 (est.) = 73
Ecsta PS91: 60% × 70.2 + 40% × 49.5 = 62
No owner ratings of noise for Ventus V12 evo2. The owner half is the owners’ average (66): owners’ noise ratings barely follow the road tests, so the tests say nothing about how owners would rate it.
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61
Treadwear
Ventus V12 evo2 +1744Why this score
Source Ventus V12 evo2 Ecsta PS91 Professional tests (TWG score) ≈ 64 (est.) ≈ 53 (est.) Reviews found online 58 30 Ventus V12 evo2: 60% × 63.6 (est.) + 40% × 58.3 = 61
Ecsta PS91: 60% × 53.5 (est.) + 40% × 30 = 44
No road tests of treadwear for Ventus V12 evo2. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.36).
No road tests of treadwear for Ecsta PS91. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.36).
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70
Handling (owners)
Ventus V12 evo2 +1753Why this score
Source Ventus V12 evo2 Ecsta PS91 Reviews found online 70 53 -
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Efficiency
No comparison47Why this score
Source Ventus V12 evo2 Ecsta PS91 Professional tests (TWG score) · – / 3 tests – 47
Scores at a glance
| Category | Hankook Ventus V12 evo2 | Kumho Ecsta PS91 |
|---|---|---|
| Relative Score | 69 | 61 |
| Dry | 71 | 66 |
| Wet | 71 | 68 |
| Snow | – | 38 |
| Comfort | 66 | 54 |
| Noise | 73 | 62 |
| Treadwear | 61 | 44 |
| Handling (owners) | 70 | 53 |
| Efficiency | – | 47 |
Higher is better. The Relative Score follows your weights below; category scores do not change.
Weight the categories that matter to you
Wet grip starts at “Important”. Treadwear starts at “Neutral” here: road tests measured it for at most one of the two tires, so it rests on owner reviews. Move the sliders and the scores update instantly.
Only one of the two tires has a score here, so this weight changes nothing in the head-to-head.
Only one of the two tires has a score here, so this weight changes nothing in the head-to-head.
Ventus V12 evo2
Ecsta PS91
Only categories both tires have data for count toward the headline score.
The professional test results behind the scores
Per discipline: the average % of the best tire over every test both tires were in, and how many of those tests each one won. “Different tests” rows compare results from separate tests.
| Discipline | Category | Ventus V12 evo2 | Ecsta PS91 | Δ | Head-to-head |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dry Braking | Dry | 97% #4/5 · 2017 Car and Driver UHP Tyre Test | 80% #5/10 · 2023 AUTO Straßenverkehr 2023 Summer Tire Test R18 | – | Different tests |
| Dry Handling | Dry | 97% #4/5 · 2017 Car and Driver UHP Tyre Test | 98% #7/10 · 2023 AZ UHP Summer Tyre Test | – | Different tests |
| Wet Braking | Wet | 88% #4/5 · 2017 Car and Driver UHP Tyre Test | 70% #9/10 · 2023 AUTO Straßenverkehr 2023 Summer Tire Test R18 | – | Different tests |
| Wet Handling | Wet | 95% #4/5 · 2017 Car and Driver UHP Tyre Test | 97% #5/10 · 2023 AZ UHP Summer Tyre Test | – | Different tests |
| Noise | Noise | 100% #1/5 · 2017 Car and Driver UHP Tyre Test | 94% #8/10 · 2023 AZ UHP Summer Tyre Test | – | Different tests |
| Also published by the testers (not in the score) | |||||
| Overall Ranking | Overall | #4/5 2017 Car and Driver UHP Tyre Test | #9/10 2023 AUTO Straßenverkehr 2023 Summer Tire Test R18 | – | Different tests |
Pros, cons & observations
Themes extracted from owner reviews found online — not the opinion of TireWheelGuide.
Tire A Ventus V12 evo2
Pros
- Excellent value and cost-to-performance ratio compared to premium brands
- Strong, reliable grip in both dry and wet conditions with good aquaplaning resistance
- Comfortable ride with low initial road noise
Cons
- Soft sidewalls can cause a floaty feel or roll during aggressive cornering and track use
- Road noise increases noticeably as the tires wear down
- Treadwear is relatively fast, leading to shorter overall mileage
Tire B Ecsta PS91
Pros
- Exceptional dry and wet grip providing high confidence during spirited driving
- Significantly more affordable than premium flagship alternatives while offering comparable performance
- Stiff sidewalls enhance steering response, cornering stability, and feedback
Cons
- Accelerated tread wear and shorter lifespan, particularly with aggressive driving or on heavier vehicles
- Stiff sidewalls result in a firmer, less comfortable ride that transmits road imperfections
- Tendency to tramline or follow road grooves on straight highways
What real owners are saying
From Reddit, forums and review threads. Not part of our score
Hankook Ventus V12 evo2
We haven't collected enough community discussion about this tire yet.
Kumho Ecsta PS91
The community views the Kumho Ecsta PS91 as an attractive, budget-friendly max performance summer tire that offers decent street traction, low noise, and a tread pattern resembling higher-end options like Michelin. However, opinions are split; while some drivers praise them as a great value alternative for daily driving and light spirited use, enthusiasts note limitations regarding rapid wear, subpar track endurance, and inferior grip compared to top-tier performance tires.
“my turbo came with a set of Kumho Ecsta PS91 in the OEM widebody sizes that were around a year old and had maybe lost 15% wear. coming from someone who loves PS4S, i hated them. grip was subpar. it felt wasteful to toss them though since they were relatively new and had decent tread left so i toughed them out. i got maybe 2k miles out of the rears before they needed replacement just from normal street / occasional spirited driving. they are not a great handling tire and they are quite bad from a wear perspective as well. just buy michelin or even continental and don't look back.”
“Pretty terrible idea, the PS91 will not have the same heat capacity as the V730, so your front/rear grip balance will change wildly during a session. With the non-200s on the front, at least you’ll understeer instead of oversteer/spin, but not ideal. An experienced driver might be able to work around this, if you’re new, this would be a dangerous situation. Similarly, I wouldn’t mix something like a yokohama AO52, which delivers all of its grip from cold and tends to overheat within a couple laps, with something like a hankook RS4, which famously takes some time to warm up and then delivers consistent grip for a long time”
“I've only got a couple thousand on them and just spirited driving in the mountains. I think they will easily go over 10k even with a few track events. I am thinking about getting a set for my SVT focus as I autoX with that car, much easier to drive at the limit than a turbocharged S197.”
Based on 46 community posts
Specs side by side
| Attribute | A · Hankook Ventus V12 evo2 | B · Kumho Ecsta PS91 |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Summer | Summer |
| Vehicle type | Passenger Car / Crossover | Passenger Car / Crossover |
| Sizes available | 38 | 1 |
| Rim diameters | 15″ – 21″ | 19″ |
| Tread depth | — | 9.5/32″ |
| UTQG | 320 - 380 A - AA A | 260 A A |
| Sidewall | — | Blackwall |
| Max pressure | — | 50 psi |
Which one should you actually buy?
Hankook Ventus V12 evo2
Kumho Ecsta PS91
Winner: Hankook Ventus V12 evo2 — better treadwear, handling and comfort. It leads or ties in every category we score.
Hankook Ventus V12 evo2 scores 61 vs 44 on treadwear.
Hankook Ventus V12 evo2 scores 70 vs 53 on handling.
Hankook Ventus V12 evo2 scores 66 vs 54 on comfort.
Hankook Ventus V12 evo2 scores 73 vs 62 on noise.
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Ventus V12 evo2 or Ecsta PS91?
Which is better in the wet, Ventus V12 evo2 or Ecsta PS91?
Hankook Ventus V12 evo2, 71 vs 68 on our wet score.
Which grips better on dry roads, Ventus V12 evo2 or Ecsta PS91?
Hankook Ventus V12 evo2, 71 vs 66 on our dry score.
Which is quieter, Ventus V12 evo2 or Ecsta PS91?
Hankook Ventus V12 evo2, 73 vs 62 on our noise score.
Which is more comfortable, Ventus V12 evo2 or Ecsta PS91?
Hankook Ventus V12 evo2, 66 vs 54 on our comfort score.
Which lasts longer, Ventus V12 evo2 or Ecsta PS91?
Hankook Ventus V12 evo2, 61 vs 44 on our treadwear score.
How do we compare tires?
Every category score blends two independent signals. 60% comes from professional tire tests (braking distances, lap times, noise measurements), each result compared with every other tire in the same test and newer tests counting more. 40% comes from owner reviews found online, adjusted for how generously each site rates. Both use one scale: the average tested tire gets 70, the best 100. When a tire has only one of the two, the missing half is estimated from the other and the score stays closer to average; with no road test and fewer than five owner reviews it gets no score yet.
Handling is the exception: road tests measure it inside the dry and wet scores, so its own row comes from owner ratings only and starts as less important.
Community buzz from Reddit and forums is shown for context only — it never changes the score. Full methodology