Tire Test Results

Tires Tested

• What We Liked: It's a quiet, comfortable on road companion.
• What We'd Improve: An increase in wet traction would help its overall package.
• Conclusion: While missing some wet grip, it's a competitive option.

• What We Liked: It's consistent in the dry and wet with test leading winter traction.
• What We'd Improve: It never really stands out in any specific metric.
• Conclusion: It gets the job done at a high level without protest.

• What We Liked: With the highest wet and dry traction and best handling, it edges out the competition in warm conditions.
• What We'd Improve: We would like a mild increase in ride comfort and winter grip.
• Conclusion: It's a very capable tire that's comfortable to drive as well.

What We Learned on the Road

Our 6.0-mile loop of expressway, state highway and county roads provide a great variety of road conditions that include city and highway speeds, smooth and coarse concrete, as well as new and patched asphalt. This route allows our team to experience noise comfort, ride quality and everyday handling, just as you would during your drive to school or work.

This time around on the road, the Endeavor Plus and Crugen HP71 had very similar subjective evaluations from our team, but got there in slightly different ways. The Kumho delivered very consistent tones and pitches that blended into the background noise well and all but disappeared on fresh asphalt. Its on-road steering and handling also led the test, feeling sporty and quick with good weight and accuracy through the corners. The ride was certainly comfortable, but our drivers noted the Crugen HP71 would transmit the undulations and larger bumps a little more than the Cooper, which claimed the highest subjective ride evaluation. The Endeavor Plus felt more poised over the same road imperfections and ultimately felt more cushioned and isolated from bumps. With similarly quiet noise levels as the Kumho on fresh pavement, the Cooper emitted lower overall volumes but with slightly more mild resonance over some coarser surfaces, which our team thought was similarly satisfying. Our drivers noted the Endeavor Plus had nicely weighted steering that felt reassuring but was also a little vague when it came to significant inputs and would have benefitted from a little more response to match its hefty feel. Close behind its competition, the Ziex CT60 A/S matched them in noise comfort with lower volume tones punctuated by a little more cyclical pattern noise that was present, but never really intrusive. The Falken's ride was the tautest of the group, transmitting more bumps to the driver but with minimal secondary motion after the jolt, which helped the ride maintain composure. With less accuracy and feedback in the corners, the Ziex CT60 A/S rounded out the group in steering, but our drivers mentioned it was still perfectly appropriate for a Crossover/SUV Touring All-Season tire even on our sporty, high-performance test vehicles.

What We Learned on the Test Track

Our 1/3-mile per lap test track course includes 90-degree street corners, a five-cone slalom and simulated expressway ramps. Run in both dry and wet conditions, the test track allows our team to experience the traction, responsiveness, handling, and drivability normally only encountered during abrupt emergency avoidance maneuvers or competition events.

With wet traction being a significant priority for drivers, the wet portion of our evaluation put each tire to the test. The Crugen HP71 made it clear it came prepared by sweeping the objective tests with the highest lateral traction and shortest stopping distances. Not only did it have the mechanical traction drivers demand, but our team gave it the highest subjective marks for its handling around the track. With sharp front-end authority yielding quick changes of direction and the aforementioned lateral and longitudinal grip advantage, lap times were significantly quicker and dramatically cleaner than the competition. Not far behind, the Ziex CT60 A/S delivered competitive lateral grip compared to the Kumho and braking distances within a couple feet. It struggled a bit more with driving dynamics through the turns though, with our team noting they wanted quicker steering response and more accuracy in the tight sections. Regardless, the Falken also made quick work of the wet course and crossed the finish line only a few tenth of a second behind the frontrunner Kumho. A little over half a second behind, the Endeavor Plus delivered consistent but slower times. It struggled with slightly lower lateral traction and commensurately longer braking distances. Our drivers found it still very capable with good driving dynamics at the limit but the inability to add throttle or brake with any amount of steering still in the wheel essentially forced them to separate their inputs. This lack of combination grip encouraged understeer in almost every corner and in the end, the only solution was to slow down.

Dry lapping doesn't fall into the same priority for drivers like wet handling does, but nonetheless, our team and customers want to know how the tire might react if emergency situations on the road dictate aggressive handling maneuvers. Once again, the Kumho felt remarkably sharp and capable around the track along with delivering the highest objective traction of the test. Our drivers mentioned the Crugen HP71's ability to control the momentum of our large, powerful test SUV really made it stand out from its rivals. The Ziex CT60 A/S maintained competitive traction levels but suffered from a little more understeer than initially expected. While the slightly slower front end didn't delight our team as much as the Kumho, they noted the Falken's ability to feel very planted in the slalom and sweeping turns would certainly satisfy drivers on the streets. The Endeavor Plus essentially matched the Falken in its subjective evaluation but trailed the group in braking distances and traction around the skidpad. Luckily the Cooper maintained its poised handling and assuming the driver stayed within the slightly lower traction limits, laps were drama free and easy to navigate, which is important for drivers on public streets.

Driving in Winter Conditions

Once in the snow, the Ziex CT60 A/S delivered a strong performance in acceleration to twelve miles per hour in about 16.5 feet and braking to a stop from twenty-five miles per hour completed in 66.2 feet. Right on its heels, the Endeavor Plus took just under a foot longer to get up to speed and came to a stop just under two feet further, which were both good examples of capable winter traction from the Crossover /SUV Touring All-Season category. With capable acceleration, no doubt aided by the test vehicle's all-wheel drive system, the Crugen HP71 got to speed within a foot of the Cooper, but long braking distances revealed a large gap in longitudinal traction. The Kumho needed almost 12 extra feet to get the test vehicle to a stop compared to its closest counterpart. While still acceptable, the lack of initial bite on the brake application felt by our test team was a noticeable pre-indicator of the measured drop in grip.

On the ice, the story was a similar one. The Falken had a nice advantage on the slick surface, bringing the test vehicle to a stop from twelve miles per hour in 64 feet. Just over 5 feet later the Cooper came to a halt, and the Kumho got the job done after an additional 5 feet beyond that.

Summary

Each of these tires delivers remarkably close evaluations that should please drivers looking for the satisfying blend of ride and noise comfort and traction the Crossover/SUV Touring All-Season category is known for. They achieve their high marks in slightly different ways, though, and while our team of drivers separates their personal preferences from the scoring process, each driver has their specific traits that they either value more, or less, much like customers. This is once again why finding just the right tire for where, how, and what the customer drives can and should be more finely tuned than a simple subjective ranking. The Kumho Crugen HP71 delivers a strong performance that impresses our team at every turn and in every turn. With test leading traction and handling in the dry and wet, it checks all the right boxes and should satisfy Crossover/SUV Touring All-Season drivers who don't put a significant emphasis on winter grip. The Cooper Endeavor Plus also puts on a good performance on the road but loses some ground in wet traction. While our drivers still found it capable, they couldn't help but crave a bump in grip to complement the Cooper's balanced feel. The Falken Ziex CT60 A/S matches the group in noise comfort but seems to trade some handling and ride quality traits for it compared to the other two benchmarks. The Falken's traction is competitive with the best in the test in the dry and the wet and leads by a fair margin in the winter, an impressive feat which has no doubt helped establish itself in the category as a strong, well-rounded option.