New Goodyear WinterCommand Ultra

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A brand new studless winter tire, available later this year.

https://corporate.goodyear.com/en-U...ers-premium-winter-tire-performance.html

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Akron, Ohio, Feb. 3, 2020 - The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has introduced its strongest performing winter tire yet, the Goodyear WinterCommand Ultra. The new tire demonstrates exceptional performance on ice and snow and earned No.1 rankings among leading competitors in wet handling, wet cornering grip, deep water curved hydroplaning and ride comfort.*

Delivering best-in-class performance, the Goodyear WinterCommand Ultra features:

Phenomenal winter performance with a Cryo-Adaptative compound, engineered to improve pliability to let drivers own the road in extreme cold;

V-Tred Technology, featuring hydro dynamic grooves to maximize water, slush and snow evacuation without compromising ride comfort;

Ultimate control and acceleration with ActiveGrip Technology, offering exceptional handling and traction in wet and slushy conditions; and

Active Block Cuts and Adaptive SipeGrip Technology, delivering superior gripping power under slippery conditions caused by rain, snow and ice.

"The performance of Goodyear WinterCommand Ultra is the result of Goodyear's concentrated focus on the revitalization of our winter portfolio," said Ron Henegar, senior product marketing manager at Goodyear. "Investing in new technology and targeting the premium sedan and CUV segment of the market with this product gives us a strong winter line that will help to drive growth in a segment with enormous potential."

The Goodyear WinterCommand Ultra will be available for purchase starting in the third quarter of 2020 in 23 initial sizes, covering 15- to 18-inch rim diameters and focusing on passenger sedans and CUVs.

* Based on internal testing comparing Goodyear WinterCommand Ultra to Michelin X-Ice Xi3 & Bridgestone Blizzak WS90 (215/60R16) on a 2018 Toyota Camry. Actual on road results may vary.
 
Whoa,

They used a '18 Toyota Camry and not included an AWD vehicle in the tests? Or an more popular SUV/CUV?

Interesting...

But it connects into CapriRacer and EdyvW previous comments in that blocks/geometry and compounds evolves.

I'm going to be curious of field reviews after 2-3 years of usage, past 15-20k miles.
 
Looks good. Their current Ultragrip Ice WRT is my favorite snow tire and the pattern on this looks like it'll be even better in the snow.
 
Originally Posted by ofelas
What exactly is a "CUV" ?

Thought most crossovers were CUVs, tending to be mostly car based chassis, both AWD & FWD. Something like an Equinox, Ford Edge, etc.
 
great just what we need in Colorado.
the SUV crowd drives too fast as it is in snow and ice.
now a tire that they think will let them go faster.
oh well probably good for the lawyers,tow truck drivers and body shops
 
The new tire demonstrates exceptional performance on ice and snow and earned No.1 rankings among leading competitors in wet handling, wet cornering grip, deep water curved hydroplaning and ride comfort.*

No mention of how it compares in the snow?
 
They conveniently skipped Viking Contact 7 in their internal comparison. Interestingly why.

KrzyÅ›
 
Originally Posted by Vercingetorix
The new tire demonstrates exceptional performance on ice and snow and earned No.1 rankings among leading competitors in wet handling, wet cornering grip, deep water curved hydroplaning and ride comfort.*

No mention of how it compares in the snow?


There is no way to rank this with snow as a single category. Not all snow is equal depending on how deep, how fluffy vs dense vs wet, etc. There is no tire that can be the best at both deep fluffy snow and slick hard pack snow due to different tread pattern optimization for each.
 
The tread design of the Winter Command Ultra appears to be identical to the northern European market Goodyear UltraGrip Ice2. The Ice2 has been on the market since 2017, or perhaps even earlier. In overseas tests the Ice2 has been a good winter performer, notable for its better than average wet traction.

Here is a photo of the European Ice2:
http://www.rengasvertailu.fi/kitkarenkaat/goodyear-ultra-grip-ice-2

For the last decade, Goodyear never sold their European winter tires in North America, AFAIK. So it is interesting to see them change their mind, as Continental did last year.

More about the WinterCommand Ultra:
https://www.moderntiredealer.com/news/737259/goodyear-unveils-consumer-tires-at-conference
 
Originally Posted by marine65
great just what we need in Colorado.
the SUV crowd drives too fast as it is in snow and ice.
now a tire that they think will let them go faster.
oh well probably good for the lawyers,tow truck drivers and body shops


grin.gif

Don't get too excited, these are just mfg claims on a tire that needs a few million miles of user ratings and tests. For sensible drivers, maybe a tire that makes stopping and starting out safer and less excitable though ? Double-edged sword.
- What's your take on cars and trucks with 400 + hp and 190 mph top speeds ?
cheers3.gif





Originally Posted by Dave9
Originally Posted by Vercingetorix
The new tire demonstrates exceptional performance on ice and snow and earned No.1 rankings among leading competitors in wet handling, wet cornering grip, deep water curved hydroplaning and ride comfort.*

No mention of how it compares in the snow?


There is no way to rank this with snow as a single category. Not all snow is equal depending on how deep, how fluffy vs dense vs wet, etc. There is no tire that can be the best at both deep fluffy snow and slick hard pack snow due to different tread pattern optimization for each.


Someday, tirerack will have a complied list of user comments and categories for that new tire and that will allow for some help in digesting the ratings.
I've perused such info (among others) for years and typically, the top 3 to 5 tires in a given category - IF - represented by millions of miles sampling, offer very helpful insight.
You can also source tire comments by the vehicle the driver owns and what part of the country / "climate" they relate to.
 
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- What's your take on cars and trucks with 400 + hp and 190 mph top speeds ?
there's not a lot of them around.
But we sure have a lot of SUV drivers.
And quite a few are from warm weather states and haven't figured out how to drive in snow and ice or just depend on technology to save them.
I drive back and forth 5 days a week from Golden to Aurora 21 miles each way for 15 years and I've seen every knuckle headed move you can think of.

When the roads are snow packed or icey I slow down and watch for spin outs ahead and then slow down.
Come to think about it they help me stay a little safer.
Carry on knuckle heads.
 
Originally Posted by marine65
-
When the roads are snow packed or icey I slow down and watch for spin outs ahead and then slow down.
Come to think about it they help me stay a little safer.


+
Learn based on experience; "Someone else's !"

I won't say there is any magic or guarantee for those trained or experienced in winter driving such as Michigan's 5 months of lingering snow and ice of the 70's driving rwd well before fwd became popular, but a keen understanding of the 'flatlands' versus moving here to the hills, mountains, curves, off-camber surfaces and understanding fall-line really makes a difference. Being a skier ties it in well also.
 
Originally Posted by bachman
Someday, tirerack will have a complied list of user comments and categories for that new tire and that will allow for some help in digesting the ratings.
I've perused such info (among others) for years and typically, the top 3 to 5 tires in a given category - IF - represented by millions of miles sampling, offer very helpful insight.
You can also source tire comments by the vehicle the driver owns and what part of the country / "climate" they relate to.


I find owner comments mostly useless because they tend to tell you how their brand new tire did compared to their old, hardened, worn out tire. At least with independent tire testing, you know how they perform head to head with other new tires in the specific test scenario.

Check out this BFG KO2, with over 500 reviews and nearly 13 million miles, but where it gets 8.7 winter and 8.7 wet performance scores. Anyone knowledgeable about tires would have to be smoking meth to rate it high in these categories, unless only contrasting against even more aggressive AT tires. Even then, it should score little better than a 5 out of 10. I get it, this is a per-category rating, but it's still misleading information if the worst in the category isn't scoring closer to zero.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=BFGoodrich&tireModel=All-Terrain+T%2FA+KO2#RatingsReviews
 
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