okay, this is my official comparison on moving from a uhp summer tire to a uhp all-season. i don't approve of a tire review without a basis for comparison so i will be using the toyo summers, which you can assume is the standard in this comparison, we'll call it a 10 (not that it's the best tire around but for the purpose of the comparison an all-season shouldn't be able to surpass a summer radial). the first noticable change in day to day driving with the kuhmo tire was of course less lateral grip, don't get me wrong it grips very well, especially on an all-wheel drive, it's just not quite as confidence inspiring as the softer compound. this is to be expected when you move from a wear index of 220 to around 400. on lateral grip i give the kuhmo an 8 to the toyo's10. next up is steering response, where the toyo tire would bite down like a preachers son on promnight. the kuhmo understeers slightly more, but it also oversteers more easily when you really grip it and rip it. in oversteer it feels a little less predictable than the toyo, but it's completely controllable. there is a particular turn on la france st. that i like to heel-toe on my way to kroger, it's nice, no houses just the back lot to lowe's (which is usually empty at night). i drive this road once a day, i don't hot dog it or anything but i take the turn at a good pace. with the toyo the car steps out ever so slightly but stays on its line, with the kuhmo you lose the line a little upon entry but it's easily compensated for. however i've been taking the turn 2-5 mph slower with the kuhmo. on steering response we'll call it another 8. quietness, let s just say compared to the toyo at highway speeds it gets an 11. on the limit it's a little more squeely which i consider a plus ( i love communication!) so we'll say that's a 10. so i guess in sound it outperforms the toyo. for civiility, combined with prodrive springs it's about the same ride harshness as the toyo, but a little more highway friendly and better tread life. an easy 10. Braking. like in steering response the toyo just has so much front end bite there is no question about which tire had the better stoping distance, in the kuhmo's defense it breaks traction predictably under the command of the abs and still manages to stop hard. so another 8. all around the kuhmo is an awesome tire and since they are in the 50-80 dollar range on tirerack.com. they are a perfectly practical alternative to a tire that is changed with the season. i wish i had a chance to compared the two in the wet but for that i need rain. over all the tire's average in comparison is 8.8 to 10. i can safely say, for those on a budget this is a great choice. JLP
"bite down like a preachers son on promnight" !? They must have been into S&M... How's about "more grabby than a preachers son on prom night" ? (j/k) Thanks for the review!
I also went from Toyo to the AGX. I had the Toyo f4 maybe? They gripped HARD!! The AGx from what I can tell does a pretty dang good job too though. I never screached in a turn with the Toyos. I drove them pretty hard in the corners up in the mountains...auto-x sunday with the agx. We will see how they do.