Review of the Goodyear UltraGrip Ice + tire.
Having picked up the baton of leadership among the top class non-studded winter tires, the Ultra Grip Ice + tire shows the highest development of the well-known GoodYear model line. As well as the early models of the family, as soon as it appeared on the market, this tire immediately gained wide popularity and became a hit of sales. It incorporates the latest achievements of the company in the field of tire technology and the development of universal models aimed at maintaining the tire's high running parameters, both in extreme winter conditions and in the warm winter conditions of the southern part of the European continent. The first places won by this model at the same time in many multidirectional tests are a significant achievement of the company in general, and the scientific laboratory in particular. Without the use of the most modern technologies and materials used in the development and manufacture of a new tire, such high results would not have been achievable.
The “Goodyear UltraGrip Ice +” light winter tire is one of the most successful attempts by the American auto giant to develop an ideal tire, which is primarily designed for the harsh conditions of the Scandinavian countries, the Baltic countries, Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. It was proudly presented to the discerning public by Goodyear managers in early spring 2010 in Geneva, Switzerland. The company's official press release states that UltraGrip Ice + is "the best tire for Russian winters." Such a bold statement can only be based on independent research data. At the beginning of last year, the reputable organization Test World, which independently evaluates cars and car tires, conducted a series of comparative tests of several winter tires. UltraGrip Ice + then competed with the products of other equally famous tire companies - Continental ContiVikingContact 5, Nokian Hakkapeliitta R and Michelin X-Ice XI2. The test drives were carried out on a VW Golf VI with a 2.0 liter turbodiesel engine, on which the indicated tire models of 205/55 R16 standard size were installed. According to the test results, "Test World" noted the indisputable advantage of "UltraGrip Ice +" when braking on snow (the braking distance was 3% shorter than that of competitors), handling on ice (the advantage was also 3%) and the length of the braking distance on wet asphalt. In the latter case, Goodyear outperformed the competition by 11%. But at the same time, according to the statements of "Test World", the tire "UltraGrip Ice +" when tested on dry asphalt pavement took the middle lines of the rating. This circumstance further emphasizes the Nordic nature of the tires and clearly defines the sales markets.
"UltraGrip Ice +" is produced in more than two dozen of the most popular standard sizes, ranging from 13 to 17 inches. This allows it to be used on most modern small and medium-sized cars.
During difficult weather conditions typical for northern Europe, Russia and Ukraine, motorists are often faced with a wide variety of weather and road conditions that place very high demands on the tires of the car. Slipping on snow or ice remains the most dangerous driving factor in winter. Black ice is considered especially insidious. An increase in temperature during the day and a subsequent sharp drop in it at night leads to re-freezing of melting snow and ice, which leads to the creation of the most dangerous and unfavorable driving conditions. The most difficult conditions in such conditions are braking, turning and driving uphill. Rising temperatures add to the list of potential hazards. The surface layer of water on the road can cause wheel breakdown in aquaplaning, characterized by the loss of contact of the car with the road surface and its transition to an uncontrollable state. Quite often, weather conditions are accompanied by very low temperatures and humidity.Under these conditions, traditional winter tires often do not perform well. In turn, UltraGrip Ice + has a number of elements specially designed to help overcome these difficulties.
Technologies used in development and production.
"Active Grip" (active grip).
"UltraGrip Ice +" is the first winter model, in the production of which the North American tire giant has applied one of the latest developments, namely - active grip technology "Active Grip". This technology consists of a whole range of technical solutions that are aimed at ensuring excellent performance even in the most difficult Scandinavian winters, as well as increasing the life of the tire.
Dual Cap Compound.
Everyone knows that at low temperatures the rubber compound loses its most important advantage - elasticity, and this has a very negative effect on its adhesion to the road surface. That is why all tire manufacturers add special components to the rubber composition, due to which the necessary elasticity is provided at low temperatures. Goodyear is no exception. Unlike most competitors, the UltraGrip Ice + has a two-layer tread. The upper is made of a more elastic rubber compound, and this allows the tread to fit more tightly at low temperatures all the irregularities that are present on the road surface. The bottom layer is made of a denser and harder rubber. Due to its stiffness, the backing layer provides the tire with excellent winter performance on dry surfaces at higher temperatures.
Hybrid Sipes.
This term refers to the presence of two different types of sipes that have been used in a tire at the same time. As mentioned above, the tread has a two-layer structure, in which each of the layers contains sipes of a certain type. The top layer is equipped with zigzag lamellas located transverse to the direction of travel. Such zigzag sipes, due to the tight fixation of the walls, increase the structural rigidity of the tread blocks. Their main difference is that in addition to increasing the rigidity of the tread blocks, they form many additional sharp edges that easily penetrate the water film on the ice cover and cling to even small irregularities. This eliminates the need to equip the tire with many metal studs, which favorably affects the riding characteristics on asphalt surfaces. The lower tread layer is equipped with a large number of prismatic sipes. They are a further improvement of the 3D-BIS technology. One of the main design features of prismatic lamellas is the presence of special grooves and protrusions on the walls of each lamella. This design allows the lamella walls to be tightly fixed to each other during contact with the road surface. This achieves a high rigidity of the bottom layer, which significantly improves handling characteristics on dry surfaces.
Snow Grasper.
This innovation further enhances another well-known Goodyear technology, the V-TRED technology used in the Goodyear Eagle F1 tires. It includes a new V-shaped design with a symmetrical directional tread pattern. The main design difference of the new technology from the previous version is the increased number of sharp edges. This is achieved due to the more compact size of the tread blocks, which makes it possible to significantly increase their number.The increase in the number of tread blocks can significantly improve the basic performance of the tire, especially on slippery surfaces. In addition, the drainage system of the UltraGrip Ice + tire has a large number of grooves, which significantly improves its performance on a wet track.
Key Features.
Ensuring optimal contact of the tire with the ice surface is achieved through the use of active grip technology during production, which provides a two-layer tread, which is equipped with two different types of sipes. This tread design provides excellent traction and grip on all winter surfaces. Due to this, the tire has excellent handling even on dry asphalt surfaces at elevated temperatures. In addition, this technology allows a higher level of torque realization during active acceleration to be achieved. Zig-zag and prismatic sipes due to the increased tread rigidity throughout its depth allow the tire to show excellent traction on snow and ice surfaces throughout the entire service life. The optimized V-shaped symmetrical directional tread pattern has wide lateral grooves to effectively remove water and melted snow from the tire-to-surface contact patch. The small radius of the shoulder areas of the tread allows for an increase in the contact patch area and an even distribution of pressure over it, which provides improved grip on any type of road surface and uniform tire wear.
Thanks to these design features, the Goodyear UltraGrip Ice + tire is one of the most efficient and reliable models for driving in difficult weather conditions and provides a comfortable movement of the car on all types of road surfaces.
