Head-to-head Updated

Kumho Ecsta KU39 vs Kumho Ecsta PS91 — Compared

Relative Score (0–100): 60% professional tests, 40% owner reviews.

Ecsta KU39 is ahead, 69–61

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Tire AKumho

Ecsta KU39

Summer

Tests – · none yet Owners 69 · 125 reviews

Best test result: #11 of 11 in 2011 AMS Ultra High Performance Tyre Test (overall ranking)

Tire BKumho

Ecsta PS91

Summer

Tests 76 · 6 tests Owners 47 · 485 reviews

Best test result: #9 of 10 in 2023 AUTO Straßenverkehr 2023 Summer Tire Test R18 (overall ranking)

“Follow up on new wheels/tires for ZHP Well new wheels and tires are on aswell as aligned. I love the tire and fitment setup but really do not like the gunmetal grey color especially on imola. I will feel it out for a while but probably eventually powder coat to OEM silver. Wheels specs are 18 x 8.5 x ET50 with 255/35/18 Kuhmo Ecsta PS91 all around. -2.5 camber in the front and -2.8 in the rear.”

Category by category

Relative Score per category, 0–100. Open “Why this score” for the tests and owner ratings behind it.

  1. 70

    Dry

    Ecsta KU39 +2
    68
    Why this score
    SourceEcsta KU39Ecsta PS91
    Professional tests (TWG score)–76
    Reviews found online7257
  2. 71

    Wet

    Ecsta KU39 +2
    69
    Why this score
    SourceEcsta KU39Ecsta PS91
    Professional tests (TWG score)–77
    Reviews found online7255
  3. –

    Snow

    No comparison
    38
    Why this score
    SourceEcsta KU39Ecsta PS91
    Reviews found online–17
  4. 70

    Comfort

    Ecsta KU39 +9
    61
    Why this score
    SourceEcsta KU39Ecsta PS91
    Reviews found online7053
  5. –

    Noise

    No comparison
    66
    Why this score
    SourceEcsta KU39Ecsta PS91
    Professional tests (TWG score)–75
    Reviews found online–54
  6. 64

    Treadwear

    Ecsta KU39 +15
    49
    Why this score
    SourceEcsta KU39Ecsta PS91
    Reviews found online6337
  7. 69

    Handling

    Ecsta KU39 +12
    57
    Why this score
    SourceEcsta KU39Ecsta PS91
    Reviews found online6957
Scores at a glance
Kumho Ecsta KU39 vs Kumho Ecsta PS91: scores by category (0–100)
CategoryKumho Ecsta KU39Kumho Ecsta PS91
Relative Score 69 61
Dry 70 68
Wet 71 69
Snow – 38
Comfort 70 61
Noise – 66
Treadwear 64 49
Handling 69 57

Higher is better. The Relative Score follows your weights below; category scores do not change.

Weight the categories that matter to you

Wet grip and treadwear start at “Important” — the two things buyers rank highest. Move the sliders and the scores update instantly.

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Neutral
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Neither tire has a score here yet, so this weight changes nothing.

Less important
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Less important
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Neither tire has a score here yet, so this weight changes nothing.

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Recomputed
Headline score

Ecsta KU39

Ecsta PS91

Only categories both tires have data for count toward the headline score.

The professional test results behind the scores

Each result is shown as % of the best tire in that test. “Same test” rows are the strictest comparison: both tires were measured side by side.

DisciplineCategoryEcsta KU39Ecsta PS91ΔBoth?
Overall Ranking Overall 9% #11/11 · 2011 AMS Ultra High Performance Tyre Test 20% #9/10 · 2023 AUTO Straßenverkehr 2023 Summer Tire Test R18 −10.9 Different tests

Pros, cons & observations

Themes extracted from owner reviews found online — not the opinion of TireWheelGuide.

Tire A Ecsta KU39

Pros

  • Exceptional value for money compared to premium competitors
  • Strong wet and dry traction
  • Outstanding ride comfort and low road noise

Cons

  • Inconsistent tread life, with some users reporting premature wear
  • Soft sidewalls can lead to a lack of steering sharpness or 'squirm' under heavy load
  • Performance can drop off noticeably as tread depth approaches 3mm
All owner themes in the Ecsta KU39 review

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
All owner themes in the Ecsta PS91 review

What real owners are saying

From Reddit, forums and review threads. Not part of our score

Tire A

Kumho Ecsta KU39

We haven't collected enough community discussion about this tire yet.

Tire B

Kumho Ecsta PS91

Mixed

The Kumho Ecsta PS91 is widely praised as an affordable, budget-friendly summer tire with attractive styling and respectable wet or daily street performance compared to pricier rivals like Michelin. However, several users express frustration with poor tread life, rapid wear, and insufficient grip or heat endurance under hard driving and track conditions. Others also note issues with sketchy handling, flat-spotting, or vibration when cold.

r/CarTrackDays ·1 upvote ·2026-07-20

“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”

s197forum.com ·2017-03-29

“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.”

rennlist.com

“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.”

Top themes
#budget performance value#rapid tread wear#wet and dry traction#track and heat limitations#ride quality and appearance#Michelin alternative comparison

Based on 45 community posts

Specs side by side

Attribute A · Kumho Ecsta KU39 B · Kumho Ecsta PS91
CategorySummerSummer
Vehicle typePassenger Car / CrossoverPassenger Car / Crossover
Sizes available41
Rim diameters17″ – 19″19″
Tread depth—9.5/32″
UTQG—260 A A
Sidewall—Blackwall
Max pressure—50 psi

Which one should you actually buy?

Kumho Ecsta KU39

Kumho Ecsta PS91

Winner: Kumho Ecsta KU39 — better treadwear, handling and comfort. It leads or ties in every category we score.

Pick tire A You want the longest tread life

Kumho Ecsta KU39 scores 64 vs 49 on treadwear.

Pick tire A You enjoy sharp, responsive handling

Kumho Ecsta KU39 scores 69 vs 57 on handling.

Pick tire A You want the most comfortable ride

Kumho Ecsta KU39 scores 70 vs 61 on comfort.

Tire A · Kumho Ecsta KU39
Tire B · Kumho Ecsta PS91

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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.

Community buzz from Reddit and forums is shown for context only — it never changes the score.

69

Leads

Ecsta KU39

Amazon