It’s not every day that a new off-road tire gets introduced. Sure, there are iterative updates being make to old models all the time. But to get something that is truly new is a special occurrence. The team at Kumho recently made waves by introducing its all-new Road Venture RT rugged terrain tire. And thankfully we didn’t have to wait long for the tires to start shipping to dealer and for us to get a first crack at trying them for ourselves in the real world.

Inside The New Kumho Road Venture RT

After many decades of offering all-terrain and mud-terrain off-road tires, Kumho Tire U.S.A. has finally stepped into the ever popular rugged-terrain space. The Road Venture RT is designed for off-roaders, overlanders, and weekend warriors who want legit trail chops without sacrificing on-road comfort or mileage. Kumho says that it is tough enough to claw through gravel, mud, and sand, yet remains smooth and quiet enough for the daily drive.

These new tires are packed with features that are sure to make the competition jealous. This begins with the sidewalls, which feature aggressive side biters and stone ejectors to not only protect the sidewall but also aid in clawing through loose terrain. The stone ejectors work with a unique wave shoulder groove to help keep the tread clear of small rocks that would otherwise damage the tire.

A spider web casing design adds a layer of structural protection when airing down and crawling over rocks. And the interlocking center blocks and staggered tread pattern work to help reduce road noise.

The Kumho Road Venture RT is built for wet weather confidence as well with a high-dispersible micro silica tread compound that’s paired with optimized groove channels and sipes. And finally, a proprietary S-SBR compound and carbon black mix gives this tire strong resistance to wear and chunking, and the uniform footprint helps it wear evenly. This means that it’ll last longer, even under tough conditions.

The company is so serious about the tire’s longevity that it is backing the Road Venture RT with a 50,000-mile treadwear warranty, road hazard protection, and a 30-day satisfaction guarantee.

Real World Testing Of The New Kumho Road Venture RT

In order to get a feel for its newest tire, Kumho invited us out to the Hyundai Motor Group California Proving Grounds (CPG) in Mojave, California, where the team had setup four different demonstrations based on typical driving scenarios. These included an autocross with wet and dry pavement, a highway drive, an overland trek across a desert trail, and finally a mud bog.

Kumho fit its new Road Venture RT tires on a fleet of 2024 Toyota Tacoma pickups and Ford Bronco SUVs. Both vehicles utilized the same 265/70R17 size, which measures out to 31.6 inches in diameter and 10.7 inches across. These tires sported an “E” load rating, weight about 55 pounds each, and carry an MSRP of $265 at the time of writing. Kumho divided the vehicles with the Ford Broncos handling the on-road demonstrations while the Tacomas were relegated to off-road duty (there were a couple Broncos on the overland trail as well).

Happily, the company also outfit a couple vehicles for the autocross and mud bog with tires from the most popular brand in the segment, one we’ll call “Brand N,” allowing for a direct back-to-back comparison.

Wet And Dry Pavement Handling

Before you dig out the quill and ink to fire off an angry letter… yes, we are aware that nobody is autocrossing stock Ford Broncos on off-road tires. That said, this demonstration was arranged to showcase the Kumho Road Venture RT’s handling abilities on both wet and dry pavement. Even a simple autocross course proves to be valuable in assessing how a tire will handle during evasive maneuvers along with turning and braking.

We first hit the course in a vehicle shod with the new Kumho rubber and made quick work of the course, with the traction control turned off and in Sport mode, naturally. Pushing the Bronco hard we didn’t notice any odd handling or strange quirks. The vehicle went where we pointed the wheel and exhibited very little over or understeer. We were able to break the rear end free and then quickly recovery traction. And braking in wet or dry was an uneventful affair. To put it shortly, everything just worked.

Admittedly, we didn’t realize just how well everything was working until we repeated the course in a Bronco fit with the “Brand N” competitor tires. Despite being the sales leader in the segment, and with a very similar tread pattern, the difference was immediate and striking. Where the Kumho tires would stick, the competitors would slide. We encountered an alarming amount of understeer in hard, wet, corners, and had a difficult time recovering when the rearend would step out. We headed back out on a second lap with both brands just to verify the results, and the new Kumho RT tires were the most impressive by far.

In addition to the autocross, the team set up a demonstration on a section of road that Hyundai uses to simulate nearly all types of road surface imperfections imaginable. Cruising at speeds between 35 and 65 mph we drove a fleet of Broncos over various humps, bumps, dips, and grooves. Though the road time was relatively short, this demonstrated that the Kumho Road Venture RT’s sidewall offers just the right amount of flex to absorb and deflect road imperfections without being overly squirmy. We also didn’t notice any audible drone from the tire, however, more time on the highway would be needed to properly evaluate this.

Getting Dirty On The Trail

In a cruel twist, the features that we were most interested in testing were displayed in the least interesting way possible. The Southern California desert has some of the best off-road trails in the nation. However, we were taken on a short jaunt along mostly flat two-track housed entirely on Hyundai’s property. The Tacomas were two-wheel drive, the tires were at full street air pressure, and there were no obstacles. The good news in all of this? The tires worked well and got no flats. While we weren’t allowed to drive quick enough to really test traction, we did find a couple loose sand pits where the Kumho Road Venture RT tires did a fine job of keeping us from getting embarrassingly stuck. While we understand the need to cater to the least experienced drivers on these types of programs, we were really hoping for a bit more from the desert trail experience.

Rolling In The Mud

The mud bog was an interesting feature and one that we appreciated. The team simply dug a big hole in the high desert dirt and filled it with water to create a soupy sticky mess. While not quite as nasty as southern clay, this mud had a pretty decent stick to it by the end of the day. This was also the only other place where we got to experience the “Brand N” competitor back-to-back with the new Kumho tires.

With the tires mounted on Tacoma pickups, the team had us drive slowly into the slop, stop hard, and then try to get out in two-wheel drive. Despite the tires’ tread being packed with mud from the previous passes through the pit, the Kumho Road Venture RTs zero issues. The tires quickly clawed for grip and easily pushed the truck out of the pit. Had we been given a bit more time a quick drive on dry dirt would have aided in the self-clearing of the tread. Instead, they remained packed with mud until a bit of wheel speed was achieved, tossing the old mud out in a glorious rooster tail.

Jumping into the competitor truck wasn’t quite as jarring as we found the pavement course to be. Still, there was a clear need for more wheel speed and more slip before the “Brand N” tires would push the truck out of the mud pit. While both got the job done, the Kumho tires simply did it better.

Final Thoughts

There are times in life when it’s ok to not be first. For Kumho, waiting to jump into the popular RT tire market may just prove to be one of those times. While we didn’t have a chance to put the Road Venture RT up against all the competition in the space, getting to experience this new tire up against what is the most popular in the segment was eye-opening. By waiting, the team at Kumho has been able to benchmark the competition and develop a tire that is better in almost every way.

Kumho is launching the Road Venture RT with 27 sizes to start. These range from 30 to 37 inches in diameter for wheels from 17 to 22-inch. They’ll begin arriving at dealers this month and more sizes are said to be coming through 2026.