Goodyear Ultra Grip 8 Snow Tires from the Alps
 |
By Thom Cannell
Senior Editor
Michigan Bureau
The Auto Channel
Car owners in the snow belt have accepted a myth that originated in the ’80, that there are “All Season Tires”. While some all season tires are acceptable, none equal dedicated snow tires. At The Auto Channel, we think every family should carefully consider having snow tires for safety and accident prevention. Only chains, still required in some mountain state passes, provide more grip. Accidents affect more than personal or property injuries, they reduce car value, suck deductibles from your bank account, and elevate insurance rates.
A case in point. Our staff Quattro rides on an excellent All Season tire, one we’ve tested and reported on, and Tire Rack agrees it’s at the top of all season high performance tires. That said, when winter strikes—so do the tires. Traction for acceleration drops like the Times Square mirror ball and braking traction is slipperier than al Quaeda. We love those tires in the rain, sunshine, fog, and mist. But it took less than one city block and a single turn to convince us that Goodyear’s new Ultra Grip 8 Winter Tire was as sticky on snow and ice as our warm weather tire. Where we used to slide sideways there was no slide, not a bit. Where we had had to brake softly to arrive at stop signs and intersections to prevent sliding through, we now had grip. It was like having summer-only tires for the ice!
 |
The reasons summer and all season tires cross the frozen zone of 0°C or 32°F so poorly is in the rubber compound used for the tread, and other less apparent features. The tread of summer tires, in particular, becomes stiff and incapable of gripping snow covered roads. There’s other differences in how a tire tread needs to grip an icy, snow-covered road.
We asked Goodyear for more information on the tire for those of you technologically minded, and those who read ads and wonder about the claims and jargon.
Ultra Grip 8 uses three siping technologies, “Standard, 3DBIS and Hybrid”. Siping is techno speak for incisions in the tire tread to create more gripping edges. Goodyear says the three technologies provide both rigidity snow handling performance.
Hybrid sipes are abundant and full depth for snow handling throughout the tire life. Because of these slits in the normal tread blocks there are more edges to bite into snow or ice. 3DBIS locks the tire blocks together after they pass the biting, rolling edge to create a firmer tread. (Ultra Grip 8 tires are directional, meant to rotate in the forward direction only and can therefore be mounted backwards—we’ve seen it happen.)
Ultra Grip 8 has a rubber compound designed to maintain flexibility in the cold. All manufacturers use mixtures of rubber, synthetic rubber, carbon black, and silica in patented mixtures and all have made huge advances in the last 15 years. Goodyear says their full-silica tread compound uses the latest mixing technology to help maintain the elastic properties of the tire at low temperatures while maintaining adequate stiffness when it’s warmer.
This tire’s tread design has a saw-shaped center rib that, Goodyear engineers tell The Auto Channel, acts like a snow plow; the variable-edge angle of the saw shape assists in snow traction. That 3DBIS locking improves braking footprint and control on ice. When the road is dry, a continuous rib in the center provides “more precise steering and maneuvering” as well as lateral traction. The tire has a rugged appearance with large lateral grooves pointing backwards. Goodyear’s engineers said they’re because “snow is never around without slush.” Those wide grooves are for expelling water sideways, and for spitting out packed snow.
From our early use, we noted the immediate gains in traction, which translated into confidence that we could stop when needed. The Ultra Grip 8s created a bit more noise, felt grippy on snow, ice, and pavement, and rode more softly. New, and mounted on wide rims, there was a bit of what is called “nibble”, the gripping of the surface by biting edges. It is normal for brand new tires.
We've only put a few miles on these tires, yet would unhesitatingly recommend them to any two or four wheel drive vehicle owner. If you can’t stop reliably, something regrettable is nearly inevitable.
