SUV drivers have an extra reason to feel safer: Goodyear‘s UltraGrip Performance SUV Gen-1 winter tire delivers shorter braking distances on dry, wet and icy roads.[1]
Continuously improving its top-notch winter tire technologies, Goodyear launches a new tire aimed at SUVs: the UltraGrip Performance SUV Gen-1. The youngest member of the UltraGrip winter tire family is available from May 2016.
SUV drivers often feel safer in their bigger vehicle, particularly when equipped with four-wheel drive, hence tending to think they don’t need winter tires. It is however even more important for these vehicles to be equipped with appropriate tires in winter conditions.
Making SUVs actually safer
Due to their size, SUVs and 4×4’s increase the drivers’ confidence. These vehicles are however heavier and their center of gravity is higher than that of passenger cars. As a consequence, forces applying to the tire are stronger, making braking and handling more challenging. A paradox that Goodyear has solved.
Alexis Bortoluzzi, Goodyear’s Marketing Director Consumer EMEA: “With SUVs, we were facing a real paradox. So we leveraged both our experience in SUV tires and our top-notch winter tire technologies and we enhanced our award-winning UltraGrip Performance line for SUVs. Thanks to its modified design, the UltraGrip Performance SUV Gen-1 delivers enhanced[2] grip and therefore safer driving on wintery roads.”
Main technologies and features of the UltraGrip Performance SUV Gen-1
Interlocking sipes and tread design
- Goodyear’s engineering explained: In order to balace the higher load (or weight) of the vehicle, the tire needs to be more rigid (“stifnesss”). This bigger stifness of the tire blocks enhances, amongst other benefits, the handling on dry roads. Despite the stifness, however, the blocks remain flexible (due to the particular design of the sipes), which enhances grip on snow.
- Technology: 3D BIS (Block Interlocking System)
- Benefits: Better balance between dry handling and snow performance
