Sumitomo vs. Kumho

[Greg the dogsitter]

TireRack.com has narrowed down my ideal tires to either Kumho ECSTA ASX or Sumitomo HTR+ for my 2000 Civic Si.

Recommendations?

[space-time]

get two of each, put a pair in the front, one in the back, drive, rotate wheels after 1000 miles, drive again 100o miles, decide which ones you like in the front and leave the others in the rear?

[archipirata]

I have Kumho ECSTAs on my MINI and have so far been very happy with them. They are far better than the original Dunlops. Mine are runflats so it may not be accurate to compare them with regular ones though.

[onthedownlow]

You'll be fine with either. I just purchased four Sumitomo for an import I have just a month ago. Previously had Perilli's and at one time Bridgestones on it. So far, so good...rides and handles great.

I was in the same boat...deciding between these two, and I spoke with some 'tire experts' (install guys are area dealers) and the consensus was that Sumitomo's are great tires and are making a killing right now because of the price and the quality versus even the higher-priced name-brands (i.e. Michellin, etc.) - also, they would get them as well over something more expensive. So instead of trying to sell me something even more expensive, they had a fairly unbiased opinion to lend me.

[Filliam H. Muffman]

Kumho is a little more interested/involved in the best performance. The Ecsta ASX is not the highest performance grade, but it seems to be the best All-Season tire in the 195/55-15 size around that price. There are better performing tires--depending on what tradeoffs you are willing to make--but you would have to bump up to 16" rims and maybe deal with speedometer error. The reader survey also implies it is a quieter tire.

[Mac1337]

I bought Kumho based solely on price. I don't think there is really any other reason.

[(vikm)]

I've been putting Kumho MX's on my Supra for a few cycles now. Good price/performance imo.

[mrbigstuff]

got Kumhos for my Camry a couple years back. They were a great improvement, but that's entirely subjective assessment. Also, they have changed the models constantly so there 's little direct comparison possible, I believe. Unless, the tires are really the same and only the names have changed. ??