Kumho tires vs Michelin: Kumho is one of the big 3 Korea tire brands which was founded in1960 as part of the industrial revolution after the Korean war. In the tire world, Kumho tires was well known for having financial difficulties during 2015 as a whole bunch of rumors circulated on who will eventually buy over the company. This issue was finally settled in 2018 as Double Stars acquired a majority stake in Kumho to become its new owner. Kumho currently ranks 18th in the world as it closed out 2021 with a total revenue of 1,932 million Euros.
Michelin on the other hand is the highest revenue tire manufacturer with over €23.7 billion in tire sales. Michelin is currently the de-facto technology leader as they have showcased over the years with multiple award winning products while Kumho has been consistently been a mid tier tire product focusing on value at a lower price point. Instead of having a general outlook of comparison, we will stack Kumho tires vs Michelin same segment products and compare them head to head.
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Evaluation Methodology
The right way to compare tires is of course to test them 1 v 1. However it is not always possible to do so due to a high volume of different tires out there in the market and the restriction of the number of tire sets you can do in one go. Instead of having a traditional head to head test results comparison, we will utilize Tire Rack’s tire rating charts to rank Kumho tires vs Michelin.
Segmentation: Kumho tires vs Michelin
Max Performance Summer
- Kumho ECSTA PS91 vs Michelin Pilot Sport 4S
Kumho Ecsta PS91 is a relatively old tire as it was launched in 2013 while Michelin’s Pilot Sport 4S has been around since 2017. Michelin being the technology leader, clearly transmitted top notch technology in Pilot Sport 4S as it has the highest overall score of 9.1/10 while Ecsta PS91 only just managed 6.3/10. Pilot Sport 4S was better in all testing criteria such as wet, dry, comfort & treadwear.
Overall from the assessment data, it is clear that Pilot Sport 4S has a better performing tire in all testing categories!
| Average | Wet | Dry | Comfort | Treadwear | |
| Kumho Ecsta PS91 | 6.3 | 7.7 | 8.7 | 7.8 | 6 |
| Michelin Pilot Sport 4S | 9.1 | 8.9 | 9.6 | 8.8 | 8.3 |
Ultra High Performance All-Season
- Kumho Ecsta PA51 vs Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4
Pilot Sport All Season 4 was launched in 2020 with sizes primarily above 16″ while Kumho Ecsta PA51 has been around since 2017. Michelin once again showed its edge by beating Ecsta PA51 in all 5 performance categories with the biggest difference coming in winter/snow performances. Once again Pilot Sport All Season 4 is clearly the stronger tire.
| Average | Wet | Dry | Winter/Snow | Comfort | Treadwear | |
| Kumho Ecsta PA51 | 7.4 | 8.3 | 8.9 | 5.9 | 8.1 | 7.7 |
| Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4 | 9 | 9.1 | 9.3 | 7.4 | 8.8 | 8.6 |
Grand Touring All-Season
Michelin once again shows its innovation by revolutionizing the all season segment with its highly successful 3 peak mountain certified Cross Climate in 2015. At that time, all season markets were predominantly sold in America with poor winter performances. Cross Climate showed that it is possible to be marginally worse in summer performances while being extremely dominant in winter performances. After the initial success of Cross Climate, every tire manufacturer scramble to launch their own similar segment products but none are still as well balanced as the latest Cross Climate 2 !
In comparison with Kumho’s Majesty Solus, Cross Climate 2 top the charts with an average score of 9/10 while beating Majesty Solus in all performance categories. Clearly, Majesty Solus is playing second fiddle to the mighty all season innovator.
| Average | Wet | Dry | Winter /Snow | Comfort | Treadwear | |
| Kumho Majesty Solus | 6.8 | 8 | 8.7 | 5.1 | 7.6 | 8.6 |
| Michelin CrossClimate2 | 9 | 9.4 | 9.4 | 8.9 | 8.9 | 9.1 |
Crossover/SUV Touring All-Season
- Kumho Crugen HP71 vs Michelin CrossClimate SUV
Any tire manufacturer would know that the largest portion of vehicle types in America belongs to the SUV segment. Hence with a hot battleground of SUV tires, Michelin’s Cross Climate SUV stands strong among the competition with outstanding wet & dry performances. Crugen HP71 on the other hand finished in the mid pack with a total average score of 7.5/10 while being worse in all other testing categories. Based on the results, Michelin CrossClimate SUV is definitely the winner of this duo !
| Average | Wet | Dry | Winter /Snow | Comfort | Treadwear | |
| Kumho Crugen HP71 | 7.5 | 8.4 | 8.9 | 7.6 | 8.4 | 7.7 |
| Michelin CrossClimate SUV | 8.6 | 9.4 | 9.5 | 8.7 | 8.8 | 8.6 |
On-/Off-Road All-Terrain
- Kumho Road Venture AT51 vs Michelin LTX A/T 2
If there is one segment which demonstrates Michelin’s weakness it would be the off-road segment. As Michelin uses the BFGoodrich brand to lead its product portfolio in the off-road segment, it usually leaves its products untouched for many years. Michelin’s LTX A/T 2 was released in 2007 and it is still being sold in the market! While Kumho’s Road Venture AT51 was launched in 2015 which makes it look relatively new.
Even though Road Venture AT51 scored a lower average points (6.9/10) compared to LTX A/T 2, it was still better in off-road and winter/snow capabilities. If off-road is your main requirement, Road Venture AT51 definitely looks like a value buy in this case.
| Average | Off-Road | Wet | Dry | Winter /Snow | Comfort | Treadwear | |
| Kumho Road Venture AT51 | 6.9 | 8 | 8.3 | 8.7 | 8 | 8.1 | 7.5 |
| Michelin LTX A/T 2 | 7.5 | 7.6 | 8.6 | 8.8 | 7.7 | 8.6 | 8.4 |
Summary
Overall in a David vs Goliath story, Michelin is clearly the far superior tire manufacturer compared to Kumho tires with outstanding products such as Pilot Sport 4S and Cross Climate 2 leading the way. Kumho tires had a silver lining in the form of its off-road segment with Road Venture AT51. However it is needless to say that Michelin is the clear winner in this duel !