KUMHO ROAD VENTURE MT51

LOOKS aren’t everything, which is lucky, because the muddies sold by Korean tyre company Kumho don’t have that same unforced masculinity of some rivals. Known as the Road Venture MT51 and manufactured in Vietnam, they’re a value-focused tyre that retails at $283 per corner.

Tread blocks climb subtly down the sidewall, but as with the face of the tyre there’s nothing too aggressive; depending on your taste or purchase criteria, that could be good or bad.

The design does have its benefits, most notably with noise. Our noise meter and Stokell’s ears had the MT51S as the quietest of tyres. There was nothing like the whirring or humming that inflicts so many muddies, the restrained tread instead proving gentler on the bitumen.

The Kumhos also performed well from a grip perspective, leading the MT field in one of the wet and one of the dry corners. That they were close to the money in the rest helped maintain their above-average level.

Stokell was also impressed with the progression on the limit, especially with water on the road.

“They’re very predictable in the wet … they let go very controllably.”

It was only in wet braking that the Kumhos were less than impressive, taking a couple of metres longer to stop than most.

One big question mark remained, though, and that was how they would perform off road. That less aggressive tread seems to help on road, but it may not fare as well once rocks and mud enter the equation.