Kumho Road Venture AT52 – Tire Review

Living out in Utah takes me to some great places, but to get there, you’re on dirt and gravel roads, some with more rocks than others. That had led me to desire a more all-terrain tire to have peace of mind when getting to trailheads and campsites.

The AT tire market is competitive, to keep their edge, Kumho revamped their AT tire offering releasing the successor to the AT51. I got a chance to check them out on my 2015 Subaru Outback. Let’s dive into the Kumho Road Venture AT52 review!

Kumho Road Venture AT52 Key Features

• Mild & harmonic pattern (5-Rib)
• Long wear & durability
• On/off-road & snow traction
• 3PMSF Rating for winter travel
• Detailed tread and rib designs for enhanced traction and confidence 
• Three-tread design reduces the compromise of typical all-terrain tires

Performance

This is my first AT tire, so I expected some noise and a bit of a floaty steering feel. The AT52s surprised me in many ways, they are balanced, corner well enough, and feel stable at high speeds (80+ speed limits here in Utah). I’ll get into the road noise in the next review section. 

The AT52s have been on 2 road trips with me since we put them on the car, and about 15,000 miles total. In those 15k miles, I have noticed nearly zero tread wear, which indicates a strong life to the tires. We’ve been everywhere from beaches to dirt roads to winding mountain roads to fast, straight highway miles, and I have to admit, the AT52s did not feel like a sacrifice compared to a touring tire. 

For me, the extra confidence when we’re doing light off-road driving is well worth minor sacrifices in noise and handling. 

On wet roads, I didn’t notice the AT52s suffer from any hydroplaning issues. Water cleared well from the tires. Unfortunately, I only saw a brief bout of snow for about 30 minutes during my testing period (late spring to early summer), so I cannot speak to snow handling, but these tires do come with a 3 Peak Mountain Snowflake rating, which is the minimum requirement for 4WD/AWD for the Utah traction laws.

Road Noise

Road noise is a major concern in the AT tire segment due to the aggressive tread blocking and tread patterns that can create excessive droning at different speeds. While there is more road noise than a touring tire or typical all-season tire, I was happy with the noise level of the AT52s. 

What I observed:

• The tires are most noticeable at 40-50mph. I feel the speed is high enough to get some low-level humming, but not fast enough to get wind noise. 
• Below 40mph, the speed isn’t enough to create the hum. 
• Above 50mph, you start getting wind noise balancing out the hum. At least in our Outback, 50+mph was no worse than 50mph. 

Kumho spent a ton of effort designing the tread pattern to get this result. There are three components to the tread, shoulder blocks for traction, middle blocks for straight-line noise reduction and comfort, and then a stiff center block for longevity on the main contact point and a solid backbone for cornering. 

Comfort

The AT52s are overall plenty comfortable, and I would say perhaps incrementally more comfortable than your standard touring or all-season tires that tend to be a little stiffer and more performance-oriented. The AT52s are forgiving, without sacrificing cornering performance. 

The sizing likely plays a role here, as I run some taller sidewalls. I run 17-inch rims on my Outback, which gave the AT52s a healthy sidewall to absorb bumps and road imperfections on road, and off-road vibration dampening as well as rock absorption. 

Kumho spent a lot of effort getting the comfort right on the AT52s, and a large part of this is due to the triple tread block design mentioned above. The overall shape of the AT52s keep the main center rib touching the road when driving on the highway allowing for minimal rolling resistance aiding in the comfort. You certainly do not feel that floaty, wandering side effect of other common AT tires.

Value

At $180-190 a tire – depending on the retailer and tire size – the Kumho Road Venture AT52s land right in the middle of the pack as far as pricing is concerned. For a tire that has been completely redesigned for longer tread life, better road feel, and overall performance-retention properties, the AT52s are an excellent choice in the world of AT Tires. 

The Kumho AT52s ticks all the boxes for a perfect every day, off-road, and mountain tire for the ranging Utah climate and will happily service drivers across the country.