If you are looking for a better performing tire than the Road Venture KL51, this tire model is the right choice. For the price, it is slightly higher than Radar Tires AS-8 and Nankang SP-9. However, you are paying for quality better than KL51 and Firestone FR710. So you think it is a better choice?
Here, we are going to have an in-depth review of this tire and how its features translate to better performance for straight-line driving, cornering, and tread wear. For its features, we are going to look at its tread designs, compound, warranty, and size. Meanwhile, for performance that will be on dry, wet, snow, off-road, noise level, and comfortability factors.
About Kumho Tyre
Kumho Tyre got their name in 1996 while their previous name was Samyang Tire. The current chairman of the company is Park Sam-Koo. This company is the second-largest tire company in South Korea where there North American demand is around 20 percent of their overall sales.
Their current headquarter in the U.S. is in Atlanta, Georgia where their average tire production capacity is 4 million tires per year. They invested in research and development to create innovative tread designs and compounds that meet the market’s dynamic preference.
Kumho Crugen HT51 Features
There are things to gripe and admire from this tire which we are going to see in its features covering dimension, tread designs, compound, and warranty service. It is a good way to start evaluating its credibility and quality.
Dimension and Size
This tire can fairly fit for your crossovers, light trucks, minivans, and SUVs. Its section width, rim size, tire aspect ratio, and weight are the following – 235-mm, 17″, 60, 29.1 lbs, respectively.
Likewise, it has a UTQG rating of 720-A-A which is better than Firestone FR710. Its tread wear is 7.2 times stronger than the regular 100 rating tire. It also has a high rating for traction and temperature performance.
Tread Patterns
Overall, this tire has both similar and different tread patterns on its five-rib tread blocks. The three central rib tread blocks have similar zig-zag patterns in one direction while its two terminal or shoulder rib blocks have zig-zag patterns oriented in opposite direction to the three central blocks.
It also has four circumferential grooves and some 3D sipes on various sections of the tread compound. Likewise, its sidewalls have zig-zag patterns which contribute to its noise reduction properties.
Compound
Its tire compound has enhanced silica components which increase dry, wet, and light snow traction. In 2017, it gained a brand of three-peak mountain snowflake (3PMSF) to prove their tires can effectively take on light snow conditions. There is better stiffness of this material to enhance tread life aspect.
In its internal composition, it has two steel belts and two-ply polyester cord for balanced tread wear even running at higher speeds.
Warranty
The tread life warranty of this tire is 6 years or 70,000 miles for Euro, P-metric sizes while 45,000 miles for LT-metric sizes. The uniformity warranty service covers the first 2/32-inches of wear.
Performance
Now, let us look into the performance aspect of this tire as it is more practical in gauging its value for money. We are going to evaluate its dry, wet, off-road, snow, quiet ride, and comfort factors.
Dry Traction
The overall dry traction performance of this tire is 60 percent effective. We can attribute that to its unsymmetrical tread patterns, that is, the zig-zag designs on its five-rib tread blocks.
Likewise, the 3D sipes come useful in having a better biting grip on dry paved surfaces. The silica components of its compound also have a significant contribution to it.
Off-Road Performance
For an all-season highway tire, its off-road capabilities are 50 percent effective. We can attribute that to its four circumferential grooves which can fairly keep up with muddy surfaces. The zig-zag patterns and 3D sipes also ensure decent grip on gravely and rocky surfaces.
Wet Traction
This tire has an excellent 80 percent effective wet traction performance. The circumferential grooves and zig-zag patterns help increase aquaplaning performance by redirecting water away from the tire surface. Meanwhile, the 3D sipes create a significant wet biting grip on paved surfaces.
Snow Traction
It has an 80 percent effective traction on light snow surfaces. We can link that to its 3D sipes and silica component in its compound. They provide better traction on icy surfaces. Likewise, its grooves have enough depth and width to have self-cleaning action so the snow does not stay and build-up.
Noise Level
It has several tread block pitches on its sidewall which helps cut down noise in every spin. Meanwhile, the three central rib tread blocks also ensure balanced handling which also results in a quieter ride. Overall, it has 90 percent effectivity on the noise reduction feature.
Comfortable Driving
The five circumferential rigid tread blocks contribute to its straight-line driving, balanced handling, cornering, braking, and accelerating abilities. These tread engineering aspects and its firm silica-rubber compound contribute to its 90 percent effective comfortable riding performance.
Pros And Cons
Before you make any purchase, try to see the good and bad side of this tire so you can weigh things better. Here are the pros and cons of this tire.
The Pros:
- The improved compound or material composition which effectively drains away water from the surface to prevent slippage
- Microscopic pores within each layer of the compound – it helps in providing better grip and traction
- Large and small grooves: This helps channels out water from the tire and provide a better biting edge on the surface
- Silica: Enhance flexibility to prevent superb stiffening of the tire in extremely low temperatures. Also the source of microscopic pores.
The Cons
- Tread life for some might be an issue depending on the surface where it runs over. Likewise, once the nanotech pro and multi-cell compound (making up 50-60% of the tread) completely wears off, then the winter ability of the tire is gone.
Let Us Wrap Up
Seeing the features and performance of this tire, we can say it can fairly replace the Kumho HT51. The level of comfort and quieter riding performance of this tire is exceptional for the price. Tread life feature has also been dramatically improved for this one.
The highlight features of this tire are its five circumferential tread blocks, zig-zag patterns, 3D sipes, and enhanced tread compound. Nevertheless, the final choice is yours for the taking. You can do your research now to verify other details.
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