Kumho Road Venture A/T (KL78) Review

Hey Everyone, just recently I have accidentally found myself with a set of these KL78 tires. Long story but to make it short I ordered the Kumho M/T's in a 35x12.5r16 and ended up with a set of A/T's, after a lot of humming and hawing I decided to try them out. Before owning these tires I really hadnt read much about them so I decided to do a bit of a write up for anyone interested. I have almost exactly 12000km on the tires and after a weekend of some serious wheelin' I decided it was time to write a bit of a review. On road these tires very well, for being an A/t these tires are surprisingly luggy so you do get a subtle hum but nothing close to the drone of the BFG KM2's I have owned in the past. The noise level on these tires for being an A/T tire is probably slightly louder then average.The siping on the tires make driving in the rain a piece of cake. No real on road complaints, after 12000km there is very little to no wear noticable (tires rotated twice).
Off road, this tire could have m/t badging on it and I wouldnt ask any questions. While we were on the trail Saturday we got 6 inches of rain total so all the rocks were wet and the dark northern earth made for alot of soupy mud. The tires performed above average in the mud (clearing the mud with ease) and did okay on the rocks. I won't say they did spectacular on the rocks being these tires do not have very much tread on the side walls to help pull the jeep up the side of the rocks. These tires really seemed to shine in a moderate mix of mud, rock and hills.To my surprise these Kumho's out performed my Km2's on every obstacle. They even out performed the km's on the rock and mud pits. These tires in the 35x12.5r16 came in around $290.00/ tire which is relatively cheap for Ontario prices (Nitto trail Grappler 445/tire) I rate these tires a 9 out of 10 for the northern Ontario trails. I cant give it a ten based on the rock performance and that the Nitto's seem to outshine this tire on the rocks from what ive seen. I will never buy km2's ever again. Time will really be the judge on the long term performance of these tires. I apologize I do not have any of my off road pictures as my Camera ended up in the bottom of one of the mud pits. Attached is a picture of the Kumhos as they sit right now with 12 000km on them. Thanks for listening!

Thanks for the write up!! Great info.

Thanks for the write-up and good info. I'm getting ready to put new shoes on my 2012 JKUR and am looking at an aggressive A/T 'cause I'm doing much more road mileage than I thought I would. I had been leaning toward the Falken Wildpeak A/T, but have now added the Kumho's to the potential list. Thanks again!:thumb:

Linebacker said:

Thanks for the write-up and good info. I'm getting ready to put new shoes on my 2012 JKUR and am looking at an aggressive A/T 'cause I'm doing much more road mileage than I thought I would. I had been leaning toward the Falken Wildpeak A/T, but have now added the Kumho's to the potential list. Thanks again!:thumb:

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I would definitely consider them, They seemed to keep surprising me on every obstacle!

UPDATE: I am now currently sitting at 20 000km on my Kumho's and winter has shown its (ugly) face a few times in this area. After driving on snow covered and icy roads I have decided I will be leaving these tires on for the winter! They perform comparatively well to a good all-season tire and in no way feel like a your average off road tire on ice (scary). Still very happy with this tire and after 20000km they are still not showing any signs of wear. I cant say enough how much these tires have pleasantly surprised me... perhaps its because I didnt have very high hopes for them based on price and that not many people are running them. Its kind of nice for a change to be happy with a product im trying out and not disapointed. I find myself being very critical of everything new I run.

Good to know! I ran the Falken Wildpeaks on my last SUV, which Falken considers an "aggressive AT". I'll check these out.

I just checked out the Kumho website. They say that "Select sizes feature aggressive, cosmetic shoulder design."

Linebacker said:

Thanks for the write-up and good info. I'm getting ready to put new shoes on my 2012 JKUR and am looking at an aggressive A/T 'cause I'm doing much more road mileage than I thought I would. I had been leaning toward the Falken Wildpeak A/T, but have now added the Kumho's to the potential list. Thanks again!:thumb:

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Check out the Cooper Discoverer A/T3 also. I run them and are very pleased. Rated #1 with consumer reports in its class. Hard to beat for the price.

DownHillTurbo said:

I just checked out the Kumho website. They say that "Select sizes feature aggressive, cosmetic shoulder design."

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Those are mine exactly... They have the "cosmetic" shoulder design, which does help slightly on the rocks but are not as aggressive as your average mud terrain tire.