Tire: iceGUARD iG51v
Category: Light Truck/SUV Studless Ice & Snow
UTQG (treadwear): Not rated
I'll start of first by saying that if Yokohama needs someone on their team to name tires, I'll volunteer my time. The iceGUARD iG51v is a mouthful of a name, and if you can manage to say it 5 times fast to the salesmen and get a set put on your light truck, crossover, or SUV, I don't think you'll be disappointed. This is a great tire for helping your rig get through a tough winter. It hasn't been on the market for a terribly long time (this review in December of 2014), but it is developing a good reputation already. It is a well engineered tire that uses a couple cool things to help you stay on the road including a Variable Angle Center Rib and Central Zigzag Circumferential Grooves to help move water, snow, ice, and slush out of the path of the tire tread. This is a tire that meets the industry standard for severe snow service, and due to it's superior traction, Yokohama implores you to only install these tires in sets of four.
I've had a few drivers who run these tires report to me their experiences. Unplowed roads, even for 2wd vehicles doesn't seem to be an issue as long as your ground clearance is high enough. This tire also doesn't suffer too much from the sway factor that many other winter tires have due to softer sidewalls. Many drivers have noted that this tire appears to be very competitive with the best options on the market in this performance segment. You can also find these tires priced at or oftentimes below the competition as well. As with every other snow/winter tire on the market, you'll notice some increased noise. Because this tire is pretty new to market, I don't have an estimated tread life as I do for other tires on the site. I will hope to update this review next fall with more information on that aspect.
