Kumho Wintercraft WP72 Review

Winter tires are capable of handling the most severe winter conditions. The slippery winter roads don’t allow for safe high speed performance, but manufacturers developed tires that offer the best of both worlds: safety and performance. This combination ensures the tires’ superb traction and performing ability.

Table of Contents

Quick Review

• Season: Winter
• Type: Performance
• Car Type: Passenger
• Run Flat: NO
• In Stock: No

Winter Tire Performance

Priority Tire offers a wide range of versatile high performance winter tires for sale. One of our stand out models is Kumho’s Wintercraft WP72. This studless tire combined ideal winter traction, controllability and high speed performance to improve the winter weather driving experience.

Winter tires offer excellent winter weather traction in versatile weather conditions. They utilize their detailed tread design and the winter compound to improve the winter weather grip on the road surface throughout the tire’s performance.

Kumho combined an asymmetric tread design and a stronger winter compound when creating the Wintercraft WP72 to significantly increase its winter weather gripping ability. The asymmetric tread design features a high-density siping detail to enhance the grip on the ice- and snow-covered road surfaces. These zigzag and block-shaped sipes ensure the tire’s exceptional winter grip, even without the use of studs. The compound, on the other hand, keeps the rubber flexible in colder temperatures which enables the tire’s excellent traction. In this manner, the tire boosts its winter traction and performing capability, due to which it has received the three mountain peak and snowflake symbol.

The tread design of the Wintercraft WP72 also improves the hydroplaning resistance. The tread features two wide circumferential and numerous angled lateral grooves that channel water and slush away from the footprint, maintaining the tire’s surface contact at all times. Hydroplaning happens when water and slush located on the road cut off the tire’s surface contact, which causes the tire to skid and the driver to lose control over the vehicle. By preventing hydroplaning, the tire ensures the driver’s full control over the vehicle in all winter conditions.

Handling and Maneuvering

Tires must have good controllability even in severe winter weather. These tires are built to conquer winter conditions and to maintain the driver’s control over the vehicle. They combine their tread design and internal structure to improve the handling and maneuvering capability of the models.

The Wintercraft WP72 features an asymmetric tread design and a stronger internal construction which improves the tire’s handling. The asymmetric tread’s wider inner shoulder pattern, continuous center tread block placement and ideal outer shoulder block pattern work together to maintain the tire’s contact with the road surface at all times. This enables the tire to improve the steering responsiveness and the driving stability. The tread’s road contact boosts the steering response time and accuracy to the driver’s commands, while the structure stabilizes the tire against the driving pressure affecting the model. This combination ensures the driver’s full control over the vehicle in versatile winter weather.

The Wintercraft WP72 also enhances its braking and cornering abilities with its tread design. The tread’s special high-density 3D siping detail and angled lateral groove placement boost the braking power. They create friction between the tire and the road surface at the moment of braking. This significantly shortens the braking distance as it significantly heightens the tire’s grip on the road surface to improve the braking power. The optimal outer shoulder tread block placement increases the number of biting edges gripping the road surface during cornering. They enhance the tire’s surface contact and grip to improve the maneuvering capability. As a result, the tire ensures a safer driving experience.

High Speed Performance

Even winter tires are capable of performing at high speeds with ease. These tires are able to safely perform at their best high speed ability, even in severe winter conditions. Such tires are mostly made for performance vehicles.

The Wintercraft WP72 improves its high speed performing ability with the ideal asymmetric tread design. The asymmetric tread manages to ease the driving pressure off the tire by providing a closer road contact and a better winter traction. In this manner, the tire actively prevents heat build-up along the tread area. This is combined with the tire’s optimal internal structure which maintains the ideal tire shape under the high speed driving pressure affecting the tire. This combination enables the model to securely perform at its greatest high speed ability.

Tread Wear Indicators

Tread wear indicators are special tread elements that enable the driver to visually follow the tread wear rate of the tires. This ensures that wear can be easily checked throughout the tire’s lifetime.

The tread wear indicators prevent tires from being used after their intended tread wear. Once a tire’s tread reaches that level, the tires are no longer considered safe to use in their intended weather conditions. The Wintercraft WP72 features special hourglass shapes tread identification elements. This hourglass pattern wears out along with the tread, showing the tire’s specific wear rate. In this manner, when the tire’s low wear can be noticed in time, which prevents the tire from being driven on in its worn-out state.

• Upgraded maneuvering
• Winter weather traction
• High-speed controllability
• Increased cornering capability