I've been told they are replacing the Goodyear Ultra Grip tires. I didn't want to buy the most expensive tires (wife is on maternity leave) and didn't want to buy the cheapest because the vehicle is pretty new compared to the other car.
I had Goodyear Ultra Grip winters, a few cars ago. Pretty good in all respects, rated at Tire Rack as somewhere between X-Ice 2 and X-Ice 3 at the time. If this is a replacement for that, its probably better.
Have the Ultra's on the Fusion at the moment. 6 seasons old (this might even be their 7th winter...hmmm...) - and they have at least half tread on them (eyeballed). But they suck. I had BFG's on before (KSi I think
), and I drove those things into the ground and as far as I can recall, and they never felt as awful as these GYs do at the moment (as noted elsewhere, they tend to go all squirrely if there's ice on one side and not on the other, like the car is being pulled in 3 different directions). I'm seriously considering buying new tires...and after seeing the 3-4 seasons post...maybe that's really all they're good for??? I've got more years on the cheap Chinese crap on the Sonic and they have a LOT of tread left and still stick better than the GYs do.
One thing I don't like about the Ultras is the skinny width. They're the same size as the ones they replaced, but they're probably a good inch narrower. How the hell does that work? I figured, well, they should work better, but they look stupid skinny on my car. Pretty sure I won't be buying GYs again any time soon.
Guess it's time to start shopping.