Tire: Ultra Grip Winter
Category: Studdable Winter / Snow
UTQG (treadwear): Not rated
In the very small category of studdable winter tires, Goodyear has had a stalwart tire in this category in the Ultra Grip Winter tire. This tire comes in a very wide size range and has been manufactured to fit many coupes, sedans, minivans, crossovers, SUVs, and even some light trucks. So that covers a lot of the passenger vehicles on the road today. The Ultra Grip Winter has a unique winter compound that was developed to provide winter traction, and accommodate the use of optional metal studs to help increase traction on ice and packed snow. These tires were built to meet the industry standard for severe snow service and Goodyear recommends that you only install them in sets of four.
This is a tire that if you really need it, you must be facing some pretty serious winter conditions. Even without the use of the studs, it'll provide an amazing amount of grip. I've had drivers of rear wheel drive vehicles tell me that you can drive through a foot of unplowed snow without any hint that the car would get stuck. Now obviously with this amount of grip there are going to be some trade-offs. Two main ones would be longevity and road noise. You'll notice that these tires will not last a terribly long time. So if you get 25,000 miles out of a set, I'd call that a win. In terms of road noise, you'll definitely hear it, and especially so at highway speeds. Also had a number of people complain about the lack of steering response after installing these. But hey, those things are what you sacrifice so you can plow through snow and ice like it wasn't even there. So if you live in a place where you have snow on the ground for months at a time, I'd say these Goodyear Ultra Grip Winter tires should definitely be a candidate.
