Goodyear Ultra Grip Ice WRTs, TireRack Closeout

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For anybody who might be interested, these tires are now on closeout at Tirerack.com. I bought these for my Forester and have been very pleased with them...this winter has not been too challenging in New England so far, but they got me through a really bad one last year. These tires have good user reviews on Tirerack, but they did not do very well in that site's own testing versus the WS70, Xi3, and ExtremeWinterContact. In the OEM size for my car (225/55/18), they are only $81.10 per tire, and I paid almost $150 per for them in 2014 (which was still substantially cheaper than the Xi3 at that time). Good dry/wet highway manners are important for me in a winter tire, and these were much better than the last two sets of Blizzaks I had on my old RAV4.

FWIW...I was not happy to see that Tirerack ranked these so low in their testing, but they have been doing the job for me so far.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Virtus_Probi
For anybody who might be interested, these tires are now on closeout at Tirerack.com. I bought these for my Forester and have been very pleased with them...this winter has not been too challenging in New England so far, but they got me through a really bad one last year. These tires have good user reviews on Tirerack, but they did not do very well in that site's own testing versus the WS70, Xi3, and ExtremeWinterContact. In the OEM size for my car (225/55/18), they are only $81.10 per tire, and I paid almost $150 per for them in 2014 (which was still substantially cheaper than the Xi3 at that time). Good dry/wet highway manners are important for me in a winter tire, and these were much better than the last two sets of Blizzaks I had on my old RAV4.

FWIW...I was not happy to see that Tirerack ranked these so low in their testing, but they have been doing the job for me so far.

They will be better then best AS tire in snow.
However design indicates that GY tried some "voodoo" engineering here. That tread does not stand chance against Blizzak's, Xi3 etc.
Also, GY has much more capable tires in EU, so as usual, they are trying to rip off American buyer.
 
Originally Posted By: edyvw
Originally Posted By: Virtus_Probi
For anybody who might be interested, these tires are now on closeout at Tirerack.com. I bought these for my Forester and have been very pleased with them...this winter has not been too challenging in New England so far, but they got me through a really bad one last year. These tires have good user reviews on Tirerack, but they did not do very well in that site's own testing versus the WS70, Xi3, and ExtremeWinterContact. In the OEM size for my car (225/55/18), they are only $81.10 per tire, and I paid almost $150 per for them in 2014 (which was still substantially cheaper than the Xi3 at that time). Good dry/wet highway manners are important for me in a winter tire, and these were much better than the last two sets of Blizzaks I had on my old RAV4.

FWIW...I was not happy to see that Tirerack ranked these so low in their testing, but they have been doing the job for me so far.

They will be better then best AS tire in snow.
However design indicates that GY tried some "voodoo" engineering here. That tread does not stand chance against Blizzak's, Xi3 etc.
Also, GY has much more capable tires in EU, so as usual, they are trying to rip off American buyer.
+1 on the European Goodyears.
 
Originally Posted By: HerrStig
Originally Posted By: edyvw
Originally Posted By: Virtus_Probi
For anybody who might be interested, these tires are now on closeout at Tirerack.com. I bought these for my Forester and have been very pleased with them...this winter has not been too challenging in New England so far, but they got me through a really bad one last year. These tires have good user reviews on Tirerack, but they did not do very well in that site's own testing versus the WS70, Xi3, and ExtremeWinterContact. In the OEM size for my car (225/55/18), they are only $81.10 per tire, and I paid almost $150 per for them in 2014 (which was still substantially cheaper than the Xi3 at that time). Good dry/wet highway manners are important for me in a winter tire, and these were much better than the last two sets of Blizzaks I had on my old RAV4.

FWIW...I was not happy to see that Tirerack ranked these so low in their testing, but they have been doing the job for me so far.

They will be better then best AS tire in snow.
However design indicates that GY tried some "voodoo" engineering here. That tread does not stand chance against Blizzak's, Xi3 etc.
Also, GY has much more capable tires in EU, so as usual, they are trying to rip off American buyer.
+1 on the European Goodyears.

Before I moved to the U.S. I used their UG 5, 6, 7. Only Continental TS 830 was better winter tire I had.
What they sell here is pure garbage.
 
Originally Posted By: edyvw

Before I moved to the U.S. I used their UG 5, 6, 7. Only Continental TS 830 was better winter tire I had.
What they sell here is pure garbage.


Well, what I found to be pure garbage were the OEM Duelers that came on my FXT...they were horrendous in even a tiny amount of snow. The WRTs were a massive improvement over those.
I don't know anything about Goodyear European tires, and I will admit that I might have gone with the Xi3 for ~$100 more if the Tirerack review had been available when I was shopping back in 2014. I am probably off Blizzaks after my experience with two sets of them on another car (meh to scary on the highway). But, these are some hella cheap prices for some snow tires that have pretty good user reviews on Tirerack. And, I know from personal experience that they are limiting those reviews to tires purchased on the site, as my reviews for the OEM tires on my FXT were rejected because they were not purchased there!
 
Originally Posted By: Virtus_Probi
Originally Posted By: edyvw

Before I moved to the U.S. I used their UG 5, 6, 7. Only Continental TS 830 was better winter tire I had.
What they sell here is pure garbage.


Well, what I found to be pure garbage were the OEM Duelers that came on my FXT...they were horrendous in even a tiny amount of snow. The WRTs were a massive improvement over those.
I don't know anything about Goodyear European tires, and I will admit that I might have gone with the Xi3 for ~$100 more if the Tirerack review had been available when I was shopping back in 2014. I am probably off Blizzaks after my experience with two sets of them on another car (meh to scary on the highway). But, these are some hella cheap prices for some snow tires that have pretty good user reviews on Tirerack. And, I know from personal experience that they are limiting those reviews to tires purchased on the site, as my reviews for the OEM tires on my FXT were rejected because they were not purchased there!

- Duealer and Ultra Grip are tires made for different conditions. Dualers are going to be bad in snow period.

- I posted review on Tire Rack of many tires I never bought on Tire rack, including recent ones (Blizzak DM-V2).

- I have had Blizzaks LM-60, have WS 70 on my wives car and DM-V2 on my BMW. What scary? They stay on the road, they do not like warm weather (if winter tire is very good in warm weather, I do not want it on my car). Also, all those tires I bought elsewhere and posted reviews on TR.

- I saw reviews of WRT on TR. "Got me out of deep snow." Any winter tire will get you out of deep snow or uphill. What makes difference is when you drive 70mph and you hit patch of ice while you braking or going through curve. Considering GY built quality for US market (Had two Eagles and on Dunlop) and issues with balancing, flat spots, I would avoid it.

- Michelin Xi3? Not advocating for that tire. Michelin always had issues with winter tires because demands on the roads are colliding with their philosophy of building long-lasting tire that provides good performance from beginning to the end. They are good in ice and packed snow, horrible in deep snow and slouch (actually slush should be WRT's strength).

- In the end: ANY, ANY winter tire (and WRT is definitely not at the bottom of the hierarchical order) is better then BEST all season tire in the winter.
So if funds are issue, I would also get WRT. If not, I would get Xi3, Blizzak, Pirelli's, Nokian.
 
I had the DM-Z3 and DM-V1 on my RAV4 and found them to be just terrible on the highway...had a long commute for a while with them and they frustrated me massively because I had to keep my interstate speed so low to feel stable with them. I'm sure other/newer models could be much better, I am just not inclined to try Blizzaks again at this point.

Interesting about your review experience, I was told in the live chat box that the reason my reviews on the Duelers were not showing up was because there was no record of me purchasing them on TR. Maybe they just wanted me to go away...anyway, I had some different Dueler all seasons that were OK in the winter on my RAV4, the H/L 400s that came on the FXT were definitely the worst all seasons I have ever owned. Still bought snows after one season with the old Duelers because they were only OK.

I basically agree with your final point, the closeout WRTs are about half the price of Xi3s in my size and that is going to mean a lot to some buyers.
 
Originally Posted By: Virtus_Probi
I had the DM-Z3 and DM-V1 on my RAV4 and found them to be just terrible on the highway...had a long commute for a while with them and they frustrated me massively because I had to keep my interstate speed so low to feel stable with them. I'm sure other/newer models could be much better, I am just not inclined to try Blizzaks again at this point.

Interesting about your review experience, I was told in the live chat box that the reason my reviews on the Duelers were not showing up was because there was no record of me purchasing them on TR. Maybe they just wanted me to go away...anyway, I had some different Dueler all seasons that were OK in the winter on my RAV4, the H/L 400s that came on the FXT were definitely the worst all seasons I have ever owned. Still bought snows after one season with the old Duelers because they were only OK.

I basically agree with your final point, the closeout WRTs are about half the price of Xi3s in my size and that is going to mean a lot to some buyers.

You are comparing apples and oranges. You cannot compare Dualer and WRT. I have on Tiguan DWS which are Ok in some light snow. Still it is all season tire, and purpose is not same as WRT. It is different compound, tread design etc.
The worse snow tire will be better then best all season tire in snow, period. That is no brainer.
 
Originally Posted By: edyvw

You are comparing apples and oranges. You cannot compare Dualer and WRT. I have on Tiguan DWS which are Ok in some light snow. Still it is all season tire, and purpose is not same as WRT. It is different compound, tread design etc.
The worse snow tire will be better then best all season tire in snow, period. That is no brainer.


I was comparing two different Dueler all seasons, the ones that I bought for my RAV4 that were OK in the winter (Alenzas, maybe??) and the H/L 400s that came on my FXT that were terrifying in a couple of inches of light snow. I agree, I have never had snow tires that were not better than any of the all seasons I have owned when it came to winter driving.
 
Originally Posted By: Virtus_Probi
Originally Posted By: edyvw

You are comparing apples and oranges. You cannot compare Dualer and WRT. I have on Tiguan DWS which are Ok in some light snow. Still it is all season tire, and purpose is not same as WRT. It is different compound, tread design etc.
The worse snow tire will be better then best all season tire in snow, period. That is no brainer.


I was comparing two different Dueler all seasons, the ones that I bought for my RAV4 that were OK in the winter (Alenzas, maybe??) and the H/L 400s that came on my FXT that were terrifying in a couple of inches of light snow. I agree, I have never had snow tires that were not better than any of the all seasons I have owned when it came to winter driving.

I have DUalers on BMW (came new when I bought it). Tried them in half an inch of snow (my winter wheels were ate in delivery) and almost hit my garage. Parked car and drove wife's Tiguan with WS70 until my wheels arrived.
 
Originally Posted By: edyvw
I have DUalers on BMW (came new when I bought it). Tried them in half an inch of snow (my winter wheels were ate in delivery) and almost hit my garage. Parked car and drove wife's Tiguan with WS70 until my wheels arrived.


Bought my FXT in late March, had a little snow while we were up spring skiing and I very nearly slid off the road on a mild curve near my condo. I was taking it easy because I didn't know the car/tires at that point, and I have never had any trouble at that same spot before or since in dozens and dozens of instances. The OEMs on my RAV4 wore out quickly, but they got me through one winter without terrifying me before I bought snows. Those H/L400s were just the pits...the reviews on the OEM tires that came on my daughter's Impreza were so bad that I put General Altimax RT43s on the car immediately after purchase, felt OK with all seasons for her as she will not be driving in storms as a student (school will be cancelled).

Just before I was through with my Outback, I put some cheap snows on it to get me through my last winter with it. Don't even remember what they were, they were clunky but immediately gave me confidence in bad weather. Was heading into work one day and thought it looked black ice-ish, tested my brakes on my street and I did slide a ways. Felt like I was being careful, but then turned down the big hill out of my neighborhood and saw that half a dozen cars were crashed at various points on the way down. I was not going slow enough and went into a slow slide...some lady whose SUV was off the road walked in front of my car and started waving her arms and telling me to stop!! I started screaming that I was trying to stop and she'd better move, but she didn't get it. I slid for about 15 feet or so and then got it under control, she comes to my window and tells me that it's slippery and I should be careful. THANKS!!!
Pulled the car over and checked to see if anybody needed help, but it looked like all those cars needed to be towed. The waving lady told me that she couldn't see why I stopped and nobody else did, so I told her I had new snows on the car. She told me she had new brand new tires, too, so she should have been fine. I asked if they were snows and she looked at me like I was stupid and said of course they were not...I suggested maybe that was why I stopped and she didn't.
I decided to head into work and the lady said I should go the other way (back up and over the hill), but I would eventually run into even worse downhills that way. I kept it in L and crept down the hill with no trouble as all the crashed drivers stared at me like I was some kind of stunt driver holding it on two wheels.

The moral of my long, boring story...cheap snows>>all seasons in the winter.
 
Happens to me all the time, I have blizzaks on my minivan and in icy and snowy conditions, I have passed jeeps, suvs and trucks going up a hill while they spun all 4 wheels into the ditch and I have also crept down an icy hill with the same who have spun out in the ditch.
 
Looks like the WRTs sold out on TireRack.
I have been poking back there now and again as I have no summer tires and need to get a set this spring...mercifully, my crummy OEM tires wore out last fall. So, I have visions of Michelin Premiers, General RT43s, GY Eagle Sports, and Cooper CS5s dancing in my head...
 
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