Kumho has expanded its range of off-road tires
Kumho Tire has a sufficiently wide range of off-road tires, united in the Road Venture family, but previously it did not have tires in the Rugged-Terrain category, and now this omission has been rectified, as the company releases the new Kumho Road Venture RT tire to the American market, which occupies a position between the A/T and M/T class models and combines good off-road capability, including on gravel and in mud, with improved comfort on paved roads, and another of their advantages is one of the highest warranty mileage in the class — 80,000 km.
To improve off-road characteristics, the tire is equipped with an aggressive tread pattern, which includes reinforced blocks with serrated sidewalls, as well as alternating shoulder lugs of varying shapes, which increase traction during off-road driving, while the grooves and lamellas arranged at different angles create additional traction edges, increasing the effectiveness of the tires on snow, and the inter-block bridges increase the stiffness of the tread, also improving traction properties. In addition, there are protrusions on the bottom of the grooves, which, for aesthetic reasons, are made in the form of cracks in dry earth, and their purpose is to prevent stones from getting stuck in the tread and reduce the likelihood of damage to the carcass.
To improve the qualities of the tires on asphalt, a number of other solutions were used, and, for example, the design of the central blocks increases the stiffness of the tread, which has a beneficial effect on directional stability, handling at high speeds, and steering sensitivity. In addition, the design of the sidewalls has been optimized for effective shock absorption and improved ride comfort, and the variable pitch of the tread reduces noise levels.
Since the tire should provide a high level of safety, including on wet asphalt, the volume of the tread grooves has been optimized to accelerate water drainage, while the high-dispersion microsilica in the rubber compound also enhances grip in rainy conditions.
The developers have also improved the uniformity of load distribution in the contact patch, which prevents abnormal tire wear and increases their service life. In addition to this, to increase the resistance of the tread to wear and chipping, functionalized butadiene-styrene rubber of solution polymerization and high-structural technical carbon with a large specific surface area have been added to the rubber compound, while the high-strength metal cord breaker improves puncture resistance.
The design of the sidewalls has not been left without attention, with additional blocks placed on them, which are not only intended to make the overall appearance of the tires more aggressive but also have a shape that has been refined to repel stones.
Kumho Road Venture RT will enter the market in September 2025 in 27 sizes with a rim diameter from 17 to 22 inches, and in 2026, additional sizes will be added to the lineup. The tires are designed for vehicles such as the Ford Bronco, F-150, F-250, and F-350, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Toyota Tacoma, Dodge Durango, Toyota Land Cruiser, and so on.