Kumho Ecsta PS71 vs Kumho Ecsta PS91 — Compared

“Steve; have a look at Kuhmo Ecsta PS71s. I just fitted a set on my new wheels for my 440i. Weapon of choice for the 'non tyre snob' IMHO. Much cheaper than the 'big' brands, heat up quickly and they also look really nice (for a black round tyre). Can't comment on noise, as the exhaust on mine is so noisy I can't hear the radio, let alone tyres!”

“Kumho PS71 Question Replaced an older (2021 or 2022 production) set of ps71 with a new set (production 39-42 week of 2024) and noticed something on the new sidewalls I hadn't seen on the old ones. The new ones have ps71 with either a 1 or a 2 under it right above the bead in very small text. I'm curious what they mean if anything at all.”

“On Blackcircles all the 245/40 R19 ditch finders cost around £100 and have a poor wet grip & all the decent mid range cost around £170 and have A rated wet grip. Would you risk it for £240? I know I wouldn't. The cheapest A wet rated is a Kuhmo Ecsta PS71 at £136 if you really want to keep the cost down. If you want a relatively soft comfortable tyre then a Hankook S1 Evo 3 is an excellent choice.”

“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.”