The South Korean tire maker, Kumho Tire has been rolling out quality tires since 1960 under different categories including all-season, all-weather, winter, all-terrain, mud-terrain, rugged-terrain, and UHP. Its latest product, the Kumho Ecsta Sport S PS72, was introduced in the US in November 2024. The Ecsta Sport S PS72 is a performance tire designed to provide a dynamic driving experience for sports cars, performance sedans, and coupes. It strikes a balance between sporty handling, impressive grip, and a comfortable ride for everyday use.

While its asymmetric tread pattern features large shoulder blocks that enhance cornering grip and stability for confident maneuvering, the Kumho tire’s four wide circumferential grooves efficiently channel water away from the contact patch to boost wet traction and reduce the risk of hydroplaning. The solid center rib of the Kumho Ecsta Sport S PS72 contributes to straight-line stability and precise steering response, providing a connected feel to the road.

Kumho utilizes a high-grip silica compound in the Ecsta Sport S PS72, which optimizes both wet and dry performance. This rubber compound, combined with the tire's optimized construction, helps deliver shorter braking distances and enhanced grip during acceleration. While primarily focused on performance, Kumho has also engineered the Ecsta Sport S PS72 to offer a relatively refined and quiet ride for a performance tire, making it a practical choice for enthusiasts who also value daily driving comfort.

So, is it worth going for? Let's try to answer in this Kumho Ecsta Sport S PS72 review.

Features and Benefits

Performance tires are designed for high-torque generating coupes, sedans, and sports cars. These tires offer extraordinary grip, traction, handling, cornering, and stability in dry and wet conditions on streets and tracks. Kumho’s latest tire promises the same performance along with a longer tread life. Let’s check its features and benefits:

• Excellent handling and cornering: The Sport S version of the Ecsta series boasts improved stability and handling at high speeds in dry and wet conditions. Thanks to its strong inner and outer tread blocks and stiff rubber compound, the Kumho tire returns accurate steering response, optimum cornering ability, and great high-speed control. Meanwhile, the reinforced construction boosts its cornering prowess along with handling.
• Superb traction and grip: Backed by max grip resin, the Kumho Ecsta Sport S PS72 results in improved braking, traction, and grip in dry and wet conditions, ensuring you’ve a confident ride whenever you plan to play around with your hot wheels. The asymmetric tread pattern with broad ribs and zigzag grooves grips the surface firmly to deliver surefooted traction, braking, and control.
• Electric vehicle compatible: The special tread design of the Ecsta Sport S PS72 features an unorthodox tread pattern with zigzag grooves to suit the demanding conditions of high torque and high traction of modern EVs and high-end internal combustion engine vehicles.
• Cutting-edge sound absorbing tech: Kumho uses the latest technological advancements to restrict road noise and vibrations for a quiet and comfortable ride quality, even at high speeds. It’s K-Silent technology utilizes a sound-absorbing mechanism to deliver a quiet and peaceful cabin experience while on the move.
• Long-lasting performance: The Ecsta Sport S PS72’s stable contact area promotes uniform wear across the tire, leading to a longer tread life. The range of HLC tires (high load capacity) is specially designed to withstand heavy loads of EVs and hybrid cars with large batteries. Lastly, the high-performance tire is backed by a solid 30,000 mile limited manufacturer tread life warranty.
• TUV SUD certification: The Kumho UHP summer tire comes with the prestigious TUV SUD certification – a third-party endorsement by a globally known brand. The analysis of the German-Austrian inspection company reveals that the tire is excellent when it comes to dry handling and driving straight in water, while the ratings are great even in wet handling and dry braking categories. However, wet braking performance is slightly moderate compared to its other traits.

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Pros and Cons

We have seen the features and benefits of the Kumho tire in detail; now let’s take a quick look at its pros and cons before summing up this Kumho Ecsta Sport S PS72 tire review.

PROS:

• Backed by a 30,000 mile limited manufacturer tread life warranty
• Unique tread design to meet the demanding needs of EVs and bulky vehicles
• K-Silent ring technology to ensure a quiet and comfortable ride
• Low rolling resistance to return high fuel efficiency and a decent tread life
• Reinforced sidewall construction for a solid cornering experience
• Advanced grip resin for optimum grip on dry and wet surfaces
• Wide range of tire sizes to suit most performance vehicles

CONS:

• It cannot be driven in extreme winter conditions with temperatures below 45 degrees Fahrenheit
• It cannot be taken off-road due to its soft rubber compound

SimpleTire’s view on Kumho Ecsta Sport S PS72 tires

In a nutshell, the Kumho Ecsta Sport S PS72 seems to be a great option for drivers looking for a performance tire for their performance-oriented coupes, sedans, hybrids, and electric vehicles. It has got the looks, grip, traction, stability, steering feedback, control, technology, and durability to make up for an efficient UHP summer tire, and that too, at an aggressive starting price of $192. The Ecsta PS72 represents a competitive option in the performance tire segment, offering a blend of sporty characteristics and everyday usability.

With an 8.6 average SimpleScore, the Kumho Ecsta Sport S PS72 returns a reassuring 8.8 in traction, an exceptional 9.1 in handling, and a modest 8.0 in longevity. Overall, it proves to be a great bet in the performance tire category.

The Kumho Ecsta Sport S PS72 competes with the likes of Lexani LX-Twenty, Nitto NT05, Sumitomo HTR Z5, and American Roadstar Sport AS.

Vehicles the Kumho Ecsta Sport S PS72 is a good replacement tire for

Once the tire of your vehicle wears down, you can put the Kumho Ecsta Sport S PS72 on your vehicle, which could be Dodge Challenger, Chevrolet Corvette, Audi A6, Tesla Model 3, Ford Mustang, and similar others.