The all new Goodyear Ultra Grip 9 is set to replace the Goodyear Ultra Grip 8 that is highly recommended by many. The latter left a high benchmark on winter performance and little room for Ultra Grip 9 to improve on. For larger tyre size and better performance, you can opt for the Goodyear Ultra Grip Performance Gen-1 instead.
Our team decided to take the new tyres and two cars to the mountain of Ankara, Turkey to test out these new winter tyres. We fitted the Goodyear Ultra Grip 9 to our Scion FRS / Subaru BRZ / Toyota 86 and Volkswagen Golf. The first thing that you will notice is how quiet and comfortable these tyres are, they are as comfortable as summer tyres.
It is a breeze to drive around snowy road conditions with these tyres without having to worried about skidding or getting stuck. As we drive uphill through the steep slopes and narrow streets, we were able to maneuver confidently while breaking on point to avoid any potential crashes. However, these tyres are not suitable for sporty drives as it tends to understeer due to its soft sidewalls that also undermines the steering feedback.
The other drawback of the Goodyear Ultra Grip 9 is when the temperature rise above 10-15 degree Celsius, the tyre performance is significantly different. It does not steer as good or break as confidently as it did in snow, but these tyres came to life again under heavy rain. The wet grip is just extraordinary. From our overall driven test, Goodyear Ultra Grip 9 are great for snow and wet conditions under 10 degree Celsius, but when weather changes to dry or the temperature rises, do change back to summer tyres for better performance.
The main features demonstrated in the Goodyear Ultra Grip 9 includes RunOnFlat technology, 3D-BIS Technology and Hydrodynamic Grooves.
RunOnFlat
This technology lets you drive up to 50mph on a flat tyre. This deters the need for roadside tyre changes and reducing risk of motorway blowouts.
3D-BIS Technology
The new 3D-BIS technology helps the Goodyear Ultra Grip 9 to gain more grip, reducing braking distance and improve handling. This technology locks all block elements together, ensuring tread stiffness is maintained for improved steering stability and improve comfort on wet and dry roads. This technology allows increase number of sipes at the same time for improved grip on snow and ice.
Inside an opened sipe, there are raised rubber pyramids and corresponding holes on each side of the sipes.
When the tread blocks contact with road, the sipes lock tightly with its special waffle shape tread. This provides the required block stiffness for excellent handling and steering response on dry and wet roads.
High sipes density gives extra grip because sipes provide edges that bites onto the snow and ice for strong grip and traction as the opens up right before coming in contact with the road surface.
Hydrodynamic Grooves
The hydrodynamic grooves consist of many small sipes that guides water into the deep grooves to actively resist aquaplaning.
The Goodyear Ultra Grip 9 covers tyre sizes from 14" to 16", while for those looking for larger tyre sizes of between 15" to 21" can opt for the Goodyear UltraGrip Performance Generation 1.
What do you think about the Goodyear UltraGrip 9? Let us know what you think about this product in the comments below.