As the PDK of the Porsche Cayman GT4 RS downshifts, I nose into a mid-speed sweeping left at maximum lateral Gs. As I do, the rear end swings out. I countersteer and dab the throttle to keep things steady and dance through the corner with stress-free poise. But these sliding tires aren’t a set of track day Michelins. Rather, they’re the new Kumho Ecsta Sport S holding on to the track and keeping the Porsche on pavement.

Leaving the frozen Michigan north behind, I headed to Atlanta Motorsports Park, a private racetrack, and spent the afternoon testing three new tires from the Kumho Ecsta Sport line. Kumho mounted the new tires on a variety of cars to test them on an autocross, wet skidpad, and indeed lap the track to see how they feel — and to find out if they built a worthy alternative to the best from Bridgestone, Michelin, and Pirelli.

In short: Kumho built a solid all-around tire in the Ecsta Sport line. Even the all-season tire holds the road well for a bit of tire squealing fun. Grip holds steady even as the tire slides. It also maintains satisfying adhesion to the road in wet conditions. The Sport and Sport S summer tires lean a bit more toward peak performance in dry conditions but still offer good balance. Michelin offers tires with more performance, but at a much higher price.

Kumho Ecsta Sport Tires Review

At first glance, the new Ecsta looks like the old Ecsta and, indeed, like a tire. It’s black and round. But a closer gaze reveals several interesting details. To start, not seen, but felt, Kumho changed the polymers and silica in the compound to improve both grip and treadwear. Both good things.

Kumho also played with the tread design and the shape of the tread blocks to improve performance. To mitigate tread block deformation while cornering, Kumho added ridges at the base of the block in the center of the tire to add reinforcement. Clever. It also developed interlocking sipes, or cuts in the tread, such that each block moves less. Kumho calls this a K-sipe.

Finally, to reduce the amount of noise the tire generates, Kumho rounded the edges of each tread block, reducing the slapping effect as the tire rolls down the road. It looks like each tread block has a beveled edge. Individually, each change seems small. Altogether, you feel a tangible improvement in tire performance.

Driving the All-Season Ecsta

Kumho provided many Mustangs to experience the all-season tire: 2024 Ford Mustang GTs, roaring in V8 glory. One Mustang sat in line at a roughly 20-second-long autocross course in nice and dry conditions. Three others made the rounds on a wet skidpad course with a downhill braking zone for a bit of added drama.

My first turn of the wheel came on the autocross course, which included three tight hairpin corners with a couple of quick flick slalom-like bits in between. The lap ended with threshold braking. Considering the roughly 480 horsepower on tap, it proved easy to overwhelm the rear-end and wag the tail from one hairpin to the next.

The all-season tire provided so-so ultimate grip. At the same time, grip stayed quite consistent, whether you kept things tidy or slid all over the place. That made it easy to keep blood pressure down and enjoy yourself.

And, considering the soaking wet conditions provided by the sprinkler system, the all-season tire performed admirably on the wet skidpad. Push too hard, and the front end washes away, but the understeer is manageable and easy to correct. Also, even in the wet, the Kumho still offered lots of stopping power.

Oh, we saw the all-season in one additional place: on the rear axle of a couple of drift cars. Strapped into the passenger seat, pro drifters offered me a wild, tire-smoke-filled ride around a chunk of the track. Again, not tons of lateral load. But the consistency of the tire’s performance impressed, even when shredded to their cores.

The all-season is not a track tire, but it proved a solid all-arounder that can take a lot of abuse.

Driving the Kumho Ecsta Sport

Things quickly got interesting when experiencing the ultra-high-performance summer tire versions of the Ecsta. Kumho bolted them up to a variety of Porsche Cayman and 911 sports cars plus a Mini Cooper GP3. The lone front-wheel-drive car of the bunch, the Mini lapped the autocross course in a tidy fashion.

Frankly, the Ecsta Sport clung to the road as well as any performance summer tire short of a Michelin Cup. That held true for a 2016 Porsche Cayman GTS, too, also lapping the autocross.

Wearing the same Ecsta Sport tire, the Cayman gripped the road with what felt like a full g of lateral load. It also delivered a nicely balanced chassis, just as a Michelin or Pirelli-clad Porsche would.

Sport S Is for Hot Laps

Feeling bold, Kumho also mounted its Ecsta Sport S tires on a 2016 Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport, a full-on track car replete with neutral chassis balance, strong brakes, and a stiffly sprung chassis. It then parked it at the pit entrance of Atlanta Motorsport Park, tossed me the keys, and said, “Have fun.”

Much like the autocross course, Atlanta Motorsport Park includes multiple long sweeping corners with a few quick flicks in between. Unlike the autocross course, you bound over 100 feet of elevation change as well as on- and off-camber corners as you lap the track.

And on the Kumho Ecsta Sport S, the GT4 struggled. Too stiffly sprung for the tire, the front end washed away with quick steering inputs. The rear quickly stepped out as I applied power.

Here’s the thing: even with all the sliding, I didn’t lose a ton of grip and easily kept control. The consistency of grip and performance throughout the session truly impressed.

After a few corners, I got a sense of grip levels and really enjoyed having my own little mini drift session in a high-end Porsche track car. I had a ball!

Kumho Ecsta Sport Tire Review: Summary

All three types of new tire, the Ecsta Sport all-season, Ecsta Sport, and Ecsta Sport S, come in the 225/40R18 tire size. At the Tire Rack, the All-Season goes for $154, the Sport summer costs $168, and the Sport S summer goes for $155. That compares quite favorably to the standard-bearer of performance tires, the Michelin Pilot Sport. The all-season Michelin costs $195 per tire, and the 4S summer tires go for $233 in the same size.

And the Michelin and Kumho lines offer similar specs. The all-season Kumho offers a 50,000-mile warranty, a treadwear rating of 560, AA for traction, and an A for temperature. The Michelin all-season instead offers a 45,000-mile warranty, a treadwear rating of 540, and the same AA and A for traction and temperature. The summer tires across the board offer a 30,000-mile warranty, and similar treadwear, traction, and temperature numbers.

In my personal opinion, the Michelin still feels better underneath you, especially while at the track. But the Kumho gets close, provides impressive consistency, and costs a lot less for a set. If budget plays a role in your tire choice, the Kumho Ecsta Sport tire line makes a compelling case for itself.