Tests – · none yet Owners 51 · 11 reviews
Kumho Ecsta XT KU37 looks discontinued: no new owner reviews or road tests in five years and no current EU tyre label.
Head-to-head
Updated
Kumho Ecsta XT KU37 vs Hankook Ventus S1 evo3 — Compared
Relative Score (0–100): the weighted average of the categories below, each 60% road tests and 40% owner reviews. Based on 0 + 19 road tests and 11 + 3,359 owner reviews. How we score
Ventus S1 evo3 is ahead, 71–56
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Tests 77 · 19 tests Owners 59 · 3,359 reviews
Best test result: #1 of 45 in 2019 Summer 53 Tyre Braking Shootout (wet braking)
“Tire preferences? My MK8 has a little over 18,000 miles now and the stock tires look like they’ve already gone to sh*t? Hankook Ventus S1 evo3 aren’t as good as they advertise? What do you recommend for tires?”
Category by category
Relative Score per category, 0–100. Open “Why this score” for the tests and owner ratings behind it.
-
56
Dry
Ventus S1 evo3 +2076Why this score
Source Ecsta XT KU37 Ventus S1 evo3 Professional tests (TWG score) · – / 18 tests ≈ 60 (est.) 85 Reviews found online 49 63 Ecsta XT KU37: 60% × 60.2 (est.) + 40% × 49.1 = 56
Ventus S1 evo3: 60% × 85 + 40% × 62.9 = 76
No road tests of dry for Ecsta XT KU37. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.40).
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57
Wet
Ventus S1 evo3 +2481Why this score
Source Ecsta XT KU37 Ventus S1 evo3 Professional tests (TWG score) · – / 18 tests ≈ 60 (est.) 89 Reviews found online 53 69 Ecsta XT KU37: 60% × 60.3 (est.) + 40% × 52.8 = 57
Ventus S1 evo3: 60% × 88.8 + 40% × 68.9 = 81
No road tests of wet for Ecsta XT KU37. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.56).
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61
Comfort
Ventus S1 evo3 +162Why this score
Source Ecsta XT KU37 Ventus S1 evo3 Professional tests (TWG score) · – / 4 tests ≈ 66 (est.) 65 Reviews found online 52 59 Ecsta XT KU37: 60% × 66.2 (est.) + 40% × 52.4 = 61
Ventus S1 evo3: 60% × 64.7 + 40% × 58.8 = 62
No road tests of comfort for Ecsta XT KU37. The test half is the tested tires’ average (69): owners’ comfort ratings barely follow the road tests.
-
–
Noise
No comparison73Why this score
Source Ecsta XT KU37 Ventus S1 evo3 Professional tests (TWG score) · – / 14 tests – 77 Reviews found online – ≈ 67 (est.) Ventus S1 evo3: 60% × 77.1 + 40% × 67.3 (est.) = 73
No owner ratings of noise for Ventus S1 evo3. The owner half is the owners’ average (67): owners’ noise ratings barely follow the road tests, so the tests say nothing about how owners would rate it.
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57
Treadwear
Ecsta XT KU37 +255Why this score
Source Ecsta XT KU37 Ventus S1 evo3 Professional tests (TWG score) · – / 4 tests ≈ 61 (est.) 61 Reviews found online 51 45 Ecsta XT KU37: 60% × 61.2 (est.) + 40% × 51.4 = 57
Ventus S1 evo3: 60% × 60.7 + 40% × 45.4 = 55
No road tests of treadwear for Ecsta XT KU37. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.31).
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49
Handling (owners)
Ventus S1 evo3 +1160Why this score
Source Ecsta XT KU37 Ventus S1 evo3 Reviews found online 49 60
Scores at a glance
| Category | Kumho Ecsta XT KU37 | Hankook Ventus S1 evo3 |
|---|---|---|
| Relative Score | 56 | 71 |
| Dry | 56 | 76 |
| Wet | 57 | 81 |
| Comfort | 61 | 62 |
| Noise | – | 73 |
| Treadwear | 57 | 55 |
| Handling (owners) | 49 | 60 |
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.
Important
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Important
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Less important
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Less important
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Only one of the two tires has a score here, so this weight changes nothing in the head-to-head.
Neutral
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Less important
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Recomputed
Headline score
56
/ 100
Ecsta XT KU37
71
/ 100
Ventus S1 evo3
Only categories both tires have data for count toward the headline score.
Pros, cons & observations
Themes extracted from owner reviews found online — not the opinion of TireWheelGuide.
Tire A Ecsta XT KU37
Pros
- Excellent value for money compared to premium brands
- Low road noise levels
- Good dry-weather stability and cornering
Cons
- Inconsistent wet-weather grip and confidence
- Lack of steering feedback and road feel
- Tendency to lose traction under hard acceleration
Tire B Ventus S1 evo3
Pros
- Exceptional grip and confidence in wet and dry conditions
- Low road noise and high ride comfort
- Competitive pricing compared to premium tier-one brands
Cons
- Faster-than-expected tread wear, particularly on rear axles or heavy vehicles
- Soft sidewalls leading to reduced steering feedback and precision
- Vulnerability to sidewall damage or bubbling from potholes
What real owners are saying
From Reddit, forums and review threads. Not part of our score
Tire A
Kumho Ecsta XT KU37
We haven't collected enough community discussion about this tire yet.
Tire B
Mixed
Hankook Ventus S1 evo3
Community sentiment toward the Hankook Ventus S1 Evo 3 is mixed, with users frequently praising its strong dry and wet grip, comfort, and competitive pricing. However, notable drawbacks include relatively fast tread wear, reports of increasing road noise over time, and mixed experiences with OEM specs versus premium competitors like Michelin.
jaguarforums.com
“I had Hankook tires on my XKR, and thought they were the noisiest tires I had ever heard on a car, and I had to get rid of them as I couldn't stand it.”
insideevsforum.com
·2022-12-19
“So, I was conversing on a Canadian EV group on Facebook and someone said their SE arrived with run flats…Hankook Ventus S1 evo3. My Mini also has Hankook Ventus S1 evo3 and I was not aware they are considered run flats. So I looked them up online and it appears that in 205/45R17 XL it says Run Flat…Y on . Was anyone else aware of this? Should it say run flat somewhere on the tire?”
r/BMW
·2026-02-14
“Hankook Ventus S1 evo 3 uneven wear I’ve been using this tyre and have been satisfied with its performance on my BMW G30. Just that I realised that there is an uneven thread wear on the outer side. The main thread has still some thread about 2mm from the thread wear indicator. This is the right front tyre. All other tyres thread wear looks fine. Is this particular tyre still safe to be used for another 10,000km? Or urgently needs to be changed? Anyone has any experience with uneven wear like this? Read more”
Top themes
#Wet and dry grip#Value for money#Road noise levels#Tread wear and longevity#OEM fitments and EV variants#Run-flat identification confusion#Ride comfort
Based on 33 community posts
Specs side by side
| Attribute | A · Kumho Ecsta XT KU37 | B · Hankook Ventus S1 evo3 |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Summer | Summer |
| Vehicle type | Passenger Car / Crossover | Passenger Car / Crossover |
| Sizes available | — | 110 |
| Rim diameters | — | 17″ – 22″ |
Which one should you actually buy?
56
/ 100
Kumho Ecsta XT KU37
71
/ 100
Hankook Ventus S1 evo3
Winner: Hankook Ventus S1 evo3 — better wet, dry and handling. Where the Kumho Ecsta XT KU37 is ahead, it is by less than 3 points. Kumho Ecsta XT KU37 rests on little evidence so far (0 tests, 11 reviews), so read this result as provisional.
Pick tire B
Your priority is wet-weather safety
Hankook Ventus S1 evo3 scores 81 vs 57 on wet.
Pick tire B
You want the most grip on dry roads
Hankook Ventus S1 evo3 scores 76 vs 56 on dry.
Pick tire B
You enjoy sharp, responsive handling
Hankook Ventus S1 evo3 scores 60 vs 49 on handling.
Tire A · Kumho Ecsta XT KU37
Tire B · Hankook Ventus S1 evo3
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Ecsta XT KU37 or Ventus S1 evo3?
Which is better in the wet, Ecsta XT KU37 or Ventus S1 evo3?
Hankook Ventus S1 evo3, 81 vs 57 on our wet score.
Which grips better on dry roads, Ecsta XT KU37 or Ventus S1 evo3?
Hankook Ventus S1 evo3, 76 vs 56 on our dry score.
Which is more comfortable, Ecsta XT KU37 or Ventus S1 evo3?
Neither, by our numbers: 61 vs 62 on the comfort score, within 3 points.
Which lasts longer, Ecsta XT KU37 or Ventus S1 evo3?
Neither, by our numbers: 57 vs 55 on the treadwear score, within 3 points.
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