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Head-to-head Updated

Bridgestone Potenza S-04 Pole Position vs Kumho Ecsta PS31 — Compared

Relative Score (0–100): 60% professional tests, 40% owner reviews.

Ecsta PS31 leads, 67–66 Narrow edge

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Tire BKumho

Ecsta PS31

Summer

Tests – · none yet Owners 64 · 259 reviews

Category by category

Relative Score per category, 0–100. Open “Why this score” for the tests and owner ratings behind it.

  1. 71

    Dry

    Potenza S-04 Pole Position +5
    66
    Why this score
    SourcePotenza S-04 Pole PositionEcsta PS31
    Reviews found online7164
  2. 68

    Wet

    Level
    68
    Why this score
    SourcePotenza S-04 Pole PositionEcsta PS31
    Reviews found online6867
  3. –

    Snow

    No comparison
    58
    Why this score
    SourcePotenza S-04 Pole PositionEcsta PS31
    Reviews found online–50
  4. 66

    Comfort

    Ecsta PS31 +1
    67
    Why this score
    SourcePotenza S-04 Pole PositionEcsta PS31
    Reviews found online6365
  5. 67

    Noise

    Level
    67
    Why this score
    SourcePotenza S-04 Pole PositionEcsta PS31
    Reviews found online6667
  6. 57

    Treadwear

    Ecsta PS31 +9
    66
    Why this score
    SourcePotenza S-04 Pole PositionEcsta PS31
    Reviews found online5065
  7. 69

    Handling

    Potenza S-04 Pole Position +1
    68
    Why this score
    SourcePotenza S-04 Pole PositionEcsta PS31
    Reviews found online6968
Scores at a glance
CategoryBridgestone Potenza S-04 Pole PositionKumho Ecsta PS31
Relative Score 66 67
Dry 71 66
Wet 68 68
Snow – 58
Comfort 66 67
Noise 67 67
Treadwear 57 66
Handling 69 68

Higher is better. The Relative Score follows your weights below; category scores do not change.

Weight the categories that matter to you

Wet grip and treadwear start at “Important” — the two things buyers rank highest. Move the sliders and the scores update instantly.

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Important
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Neutral
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Neither tire has a score here yet, so this weight changes nothing.

Less important
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Less important
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Important
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Neutral
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Recomputed
Headline score

Potenza S-04 Pole Position

Ecsta PS31

Only categories both tires have data for count toward the headline score.

Pros, cons & observations

Themes extracted from owner reviews found online — not the opinion of TireWheelGuide.

Tire A Potenza S-04 Pole Position

Pros

  • Excellent dry handling and cornering stability
  • Competent performance in wet conditions
  • Unexpectedly high levels of ride comfort for a performance-oriented tire

Cons

  • Rapid tread wear rate
  • Audible road noise or humming on certain surfaces
  • Wet-weather performance is good but outperformed by some direct competitors
All owner themes in the Potenza S-04 Pole Position review

Tire B Ecsta PS31

Pros

  • Excellent price-to-performance ratio
  • High levels of ride comfort and low road noise
  • Strong dry traction for daily and spirited street driving

Cons

  • Soft sidewalls lead to vague steering response and 'squirm' during aggressive maneuvers
  • Inconsistent wet weather performance reported by some users, particularly in deep standing water
  • Tread life can be shorter than expected for some driving styles
All owner themes in the Ecsta PS31 review

Specs side by side

Attribute A · Bridgestone Potenza S-04 Pole Position B · Kumho Ecsta PS31
Category—Summer
Vehicle typePassenger Car / CrossoverPassenger Car / Crossover
Sizes available—4
Rim diameters—17″ – 18″
Tread depth—10/32″
UTQG—460 A A
Sidewall—Blackwall
Max pressure—51 psi

Which one should you actually buy?

Bridgestone Potenza S-04 Pole Position

Kumho Ecsta PS31

Too close to call: Bridgestone Potenza S-04 Pole Position and Kumho Ecsta PS31 are within 2 points overall. Bridgestone Potenza S-04 Pole Position is stronger on dry. Kumho Ecsta PS31 is stronger on treadwear.

Pick tire B You want the longest tread life

Kumho Ecsta PS31 scores 66 vs 57 on treadwear.

Pick tire A You want the most grip on dry roads

Bridgestone Potenza S-04 Pole Position scores 71 vs 66 on dry.

Tire A · Bridgestone Potenza S-04 Pole Position
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Tire B · Kumho Ecsta PS31
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How do we compare tires?

Every category score blends two independent signals. 60% comes from professional tire tests (braking distances, lap times, noise measurements), each result compared with every other tire in the same test and newer tests counting more. 40% comes from owner reviews found online, adjusted for how generously each site rates. Both use one scale: the average tested tire gets 70, the best 100. When a tire has only one of the two, the missing half is estimated from the other and the score stays closer to average; with no road test and fewer than five owner reviews it gets no score yet.

Community buzz from Reddit and forums is shown for context only — it never changes the score.

67

Narrow edge

Ecsta PS31

Amazon