Kumho Ecsta Sport PS72 review
A refined and economical new tyre that is great to drive in the wet and dry, and out-performs more established rivals.
An impressive first outing for the new Kumho, which delivered great performances on both the wet and dry handling circuits and was refined too. It didn’t get off to the best start, though, recording the eighth-best wet braking score.
It was no better in wet cornering or in the aquaplaning tests, coming in eighth in the straight-line test, and joint eighth in the curved test, well short of the standard. And yet, when lapping the wet circuit it hardly put a wheel wrong. Traction was great, it was stable and allowed fine adjustment of its handling balance, so that it was on the best line everywhere and set the fourth-fastest lap time.
It was similar in the dry, a poor braking result contrasted by a great performance on the track that saw it claim equal fourth. It needed to be steered hard to find the best lines and was rather noisy under pressure, and while it wasn’t the most agile and willing, it had good traction. It topped the table in refinement, recording the lowest noise levels on both the reference surfaces and took the sting out of abrupt impacts. Rounding off its performance, it delivered the second-lowest rolling resistance, adding economy to its list of strengths.
Blackcircles.com says…
“This tyre has had positive reactions: 4.8/5 overall. Reviews highlight great grip in wet or dry conditions and a quiet ride.”
Results
| Kumho Ecsta Sport PS72 | ||
| Overall | 99.1% | |
| Price | £84.99 | |
| Wet braking | 88.7 | 8th |
| Wet handling | 99.0 | 4th |
| Wet cornering | 97.4 | 8th |
| Straight aquaplaning | 95.0 | 8th |
| Curved aquaplaning | 82.5 | =8th |
| Dry braking | 92.3 | 8th |
| Dry handling | 99.2 | =4th |
| Noise and refinement | 100 | 1st |
| Rolling resistance | 95.1 | 2nd |
