Tire: AVID Ascend
Category: Standard Touring All-Season
UTQG (treadwear): 800 A B
The AVID Ascend is a low rolling resistance tire, that is built for longevity and economy by Yokohama. This was the first tire in the United States to use Yokohama's patented Orange Oil technology and it earned their BluEarth (not to be confused with the BluEarth S34) branding. This tire can be fitted to coupes, sedans, wagons, minivans and crossovers...so pretty much any passenger vehicle. Low rolling resistance tires typically have great longevity and actually can increase your fuel economy. However this comes at the expense of some traction, especially on wet pavement or snow. This is really fairly common. Even though this tire comes with some great technology including 3D Adaptive Sipes, it's just very hard to overcome the long life tread compound and design used on low rolling resistance tires.
Reviews of the AVID Ascend are good to mixed, and it ranks roughly midpack in the standard touring all season performance segment. Drivers note the great treadwear and you'll get around 75,000 miles out of a set. However the mixed aspect of the review stems from the tire's lack of wet traction. While not the worst (or even close), it probably isn't up to par with the top tires in this category and for the money...it should just be better. Dry weather traction is good though, so if you don't see a lot of wet weather, I'd say this is definitely a good tire to consider. Overall, and considering the high number of miles you can put on a set, this tire is probably one of the most cost effective on the market. I wouldn't let the wet traction bring you to a full stop on considering this tire, but it's just something to keep in mind depending on where you do the bulk of your driving.
