Most drivers of sedans, minivans, coupes, and crossovers don’t even think about their tires that much. If a set of tires can offer long, even wear (hopefully with a generous limited manufacturer’s tread life warranty), capable and predictable handling, sharp braking performance, year-round grip, and a quiet, comfortable ride, that’s about the extent of their expectations. That little set of bullet points describes all-season tires; they’re a great Swiss Army Knife kind of solution for most drivers, and that’s why they take up the biggest proportion of the tire market.

With all-season tires being such a popular choice, it’s not a surprise that they’re available at every price point, from premium brand tires (at a premium price) to lesser-known brands at a budget price. The good news is that some of those budget tires now offer features, design, and performance that used to only be found on tires that cost far more. The Kunimoto-F20 from Forceland is a great example of an affordable all-season tire that can offer performance and value that far outstrips its price point. Let’s get a closer look at this Forceland Kunimoto-F20 tire review:

Features and Benefits

Here are some of the design features and innovations that make the Forceland Kunimoto-F20 a great value and great performer in the arena of affordable all-season tires:

• All-season tread design incorporates wide circumferential grooves and angled grooves that efficiently route water away from the tire’s contact patch to resist hydroplaning on wet roads
• The tread compound is optimized for wet-weather traction and has great wear properties
• Continuous center rib aids in solid straight-line stability and road manners as well as steering response
• Radial construction with polyester casing, steel belt package, nylon cap ply
• The pattern of sipes multiples the tread’s surface area and traction with hundreds of thin biting edges to slice through snow, slush, standing water
• Tread pitch is randomized and computer-tuned to negate certain frequencies and overtones to provide a muted ride on the highway

Pros and Cons

While the Forceland Kunimoto-F20 has plenty of Pros to bring to the table, it does come with a few Cons as well:

PROS:

• Very affordable price point
• Ride quality is quiet and comfortable
• Handling is predictable and accurate
• Good traction on wet or dry roads, or in light snow

CONS:

• No limited manufacturer’s tread life warranty
• Not good in heavier snow
• Can be noisier on some pavement surfaces

SimpleTire’s view on Forceland Kunimoto-F20 tires

Are you familiar with SimpleScore? SimpleScore is the proprietary ratings system that we here at the SimpleTire team developed to give you a quick at-a-glance idea of a tire’s strengths and weaknesses. We take into account the tire’s technical information, manufacturer info, specs, customer reviews, and other data points, and then we distill all that to a 1-10 numerical score for the categories of traction, handling, and longevity, along with an overall average SimpleScore number. For the Forceland Kunimoto-F20, the SimpleScores break down this way:

Forceland Kunimoto-F20:

• Traction: 7.9
• Handling: 8.1
• Longevity: 7.5
• Overall average SimpleScore: 7.7

When it comes to an all-season tire like the Forceland Kunimoto-F20, you probably know that you shouldn’t expect the kind of handling performance and steering response that you’d get with a summer tire or UHP tire. Still, the Kunimoto-F20 is surprisingly surefooted and quick. One of the biggest considerations in the handling behavior of any tire is the rigidity of its construction; as you make your way into a corner or round a curve, the vehicle’s momentum tries to keep pushing the car in a straight line. Just changing the vehicle’s direction puts a lot of stress on the tire’s shoulder and sidewall, and a less rigid tire will experience tread deformation and “tread squirm,” sometimes with the tire’s inboard side even coming off the pavement altogether. The shoulder blocks of the Forceland Kunimoto-F20 resist tread squirm for cornering that’s crisp and predictable. With its solid center rib, response to driver input is light and crisp without being overly sensitive or twitchy, and straight-line cruising at highway speed is solid and stable but is never numb or sluggish.

On wet pavements, the groove setup of the Forceland is designed for confident traction and helps mitigate any tendency toward hydroplaning. Braking performance and handling are consistent and predictable thanks to the combination of small tread blocks and lateral sipes. Ride quality is fairly refined (although it can get a little firm but controlled on rough pavement), and on rough pavement or irregular surfaces, the Forceland doesn’t start to get jittery or squirrelly. Indeed, this tire doesn’t come with a limited manufacturer’s tread life warranty, but many tires at this end of the price range (or even much more expensive ones) aren’t covered by the factory with a mileage warranty. And the Kunimoto-F20 is affordable, with SimpleTire’s prices running from $49.97 to $108.98 tire.

In many cases with tires at the more affordable end of the price range, there’s a straight-line connection from price point to quality, and most drivers know that right out of the gate. With the Forceland Kunimoto-F20, though, this is a tire that’s capable of easily exceeding expectations in all the areas of features, performance, and overall value. It would be an especially good tire to consider if you have an older vehicle that needs tires, but you don’t want to dump an entire bank account on them. All in all, the Forceland Kunimoto-F20 is a great value and great performer, and we folks here at the SimpleTire team have been fairly impressed by it all the way around.

Vehicles the Forceland Kunimoto-F20 is a good replacement tire for

While the Forceland Kunimoto-F20 isn’t featured as OEM on any vehicles, it would make a great replacement tire for cars, minivans, and CUVs such as these:

• Buick Encore
• Chevrolet Sprint
• Chrysler Pacifica
• Dodge Caravan
• Fiat 500
• Ford Focus
• Honda Civic
• Kia Sephia
• Mazda 6
• Nissan Rogue
• Subaru Outback
• Toyota Camry
• Volkswagen Atlas
• Acura TSX
• Audi A6
• Buick Lacrosse
• Cadillac CT5
• Tesla Model 3
• Toyota Supra
• Jeep Grand Cherokee
• BMW X5
• Dodge Journey
• Jaguar F-Pace
• Lexus RX350
• Volkswagen Taos