Founded in 1960 and headquartered in South Korea, Kumho Tire is owned by the Chinese tire manufacturer, Doublestar. Its US-based subsidiary is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia and the tire brand sells tires for passenger cars, CUVs, SUVs, light trucks, performance cars, commercial vehicles, and so on.

The Kumho WinterCraft Ice WI31 is a studdable winter tire made for use on passenger cars, CUVs, and smaller SUVs. It is designed to offer better traction, driving comfort, and control on snow and ice-covered roads alongside providing solid grip and handling in wet and wintry conditions. For all those looking for a winter tire for their vehicle, we’ve done a detailed analysis in this Kumho WinterCraft Ice WI31 tire review to help them make a well-informed choice. Read on to know the features and benefits, pros and cons, and many other details about this winter tire!

Features and Benefits

The common attributes of a winter tire are that they have flexible rubber compound, have the ability to provide consistent grip on roads when the temperature goes below 40 degrees, and can conquer ice, snow, and slush with either their standard or studdable design. The Kumho WinterCraft Ice WI31 is built to do the same things mentioned above. How this tire rides easily during the winter, let’s find out by knowing its features and benefits:

• Improved grip and traction – This tire is offered with an advanced directional tread design and utilizes a new-gen winter compound for optimum winter weather performance. The high-density 3D honeycomb siping on the tread provides a better grip on ice and snow, whereas the flexible rubber compound allows the tire to perform at its full capacity even in colder temperatures and offers solid traction in snow and ice. Additionally, the WinterCraft Ice WI31 can be pinned with studs (where permitted) for improved grip on ice and snow.
• Better handling and controllability – The innovative tread design of this tire provides better handling by maintaining constant and maximum contact with the road, even while cornering. The overall tire sturdiness and its impressive water dispersion ability ensure faster steering response.
• Reduced braking distance – The 3D honeycomb siping creates friction between road and tire and the directional pattern grooves provide a good number of biting edges that boosts the braking power on snow and ice-covered roads, thus allowing the vehicle to come to a halt in a lesser time and at a minimal braking distance.
• Enhanced driving comforts – The WinterCraft Ice WI31 is made for enhanced highway driving during the winter season, and therefore, it is very well optimized to offer enhanced driving comforts. The low profile design of the tire doesn’t allow the airwaves to enter in the tread area, thus keeping the noise levels minimal.

The Kumho WinterCraft Ice WI31 isn’t backed by any limited manufacturer tread life warranty, but they provide standard warranty coverage if the tire becomes unserviceable due to defects in workmanship or materials if certain terms and conditions are met. This winter tire is available in 13- to 19-inch rim sizes, some of which are mentioned below:

• 165/80R13
• 185/65R14
• 195/65R15
• 215/65R16
• 225/45R17
• 245/40R18
• 225/45R19

Pros and Cons

Having covered the features and benefits of the Kumho WinterCraft Ice WI31, let’s know the pros and cons of this tire to provide a comprehensive view. Let’s check out the pros first:

• Provides solid traction in extreme winter weather conditions
• More durable than many other winter tire choices available in the segment
• Comfortable and smooth rides on paved roads
• Better braking ability on snow and ice-covered
• Longer tread life than its competitors
• Wet weather performance is much better than many of its rivals
• More affordable than many of its counterparts

While the Kumho WinterCraft Ice WI31 boasts many good qualities, like any other tire, it is not perfect in all areas and falls short on certain fronts. Let’s have a look at its cons:

• Not backed by any limited manufacturer tread life warranty
• Noise levels are relatively higher than many similar tires in the segment
• Peers have better braking ability in wet conditions
• Handling and maneuvering in challenging winter conditions is not good
• Cannot be used when temperatures are consistently above 45 degrees Fahrenheit

SimpleTire’s view on Kumho WinterCraft Ice WI31 tires

The Kumho WinterCraft Ice WI31 is an affordable and reliable winter tire with many admirable capabilities. It does a great job when it comes to providing traction in extreme winter weather conditions. Be it ice or snow, the overall performance of the tire is satisfactory. The tire is designed to withstand the driving pressures in winter weather conditions, and therefore, the construction is adequately durable. It provides comfortable and smooth rides on the tarmac and its braking efficiency on snow and ice-covered roads is better than many of its competitors.

However, in wet conditions, the braking ability isn’t that great. The noise levels of the WinterCraft Ice WI31 are higher than most other options available, which might spoil the driving pleasure. As far as the tread life is concerned, this tire lasts longer than many of its peers, but sadly, the purchasers will have to buy it without any limited manufacturer tread life warranty. The handling and maneuvering of this tire are not that great in extreme winter conditions.

The WinterCraft Ice WI31 contests with other winter tires like the Bridgestone Blizzak DM-V2, Nokian Hakkapeliitta R2, Toyo Observe G3-Ice, or Goodyear Ultra Grip Ice WRT.

Vehicles the Kumho WinterCraft Ice WI31 is a good replacement tire for

The WinterCraft Ice WI31 can also be used as a good replacement tire for vehicles like the Subaru Impreza, Mazda MX-5 Miata, Audi A6, BMW 525i, Ford Mustang, Lincoln LS, Mercedes-Benz 300SL, Mitsubishi 3000GT, Toyota Avalon, Honda Fit, and Kia Forte.