All-season UHP segment shows industry's quiet evolution

ATLANTA — Professional driver Bryan Germone uttered instructions under his breath as we traversed a wet track recently at Atlanta Motorsports Park in a 2023 Subaru BRZ to experience Bridgestone's new Potenza Sport AS.

"Brake hard," he said. "Turn. Back. Gas."

Germone, of RealTime Racing, was one of several drivers at a recent Bridgestone track event set up to aid the media in trying out the four tires in the Potenza ultra-high performance (UHP) line-up, specifically the new Sport AS.

The test site for the Sport AS — as in "all season" — was a tight, short circuit, sprayed down by a water truck. After driving for an extended time, each lap pushing the BRZ a little more, I asked Germone to take the wheel and show me how an experienced driver would take the course.

He was more than happy to honor the request. Maybe better known as "Flyin' Bryan," Germone was a fixture of the NASCAR Southwest Series in the 1990s, winning a championship in 1997.

I learned there's a big difference between an everyday driver and a professional one. He found his lines quickly and optimized every chance to go faster. He was very much in control, and there was never a feeling that the tires wouldn't hold their grip.

"That's a fun little car right there," he said when we pulled back into the pits. "I might have to get me one of those when I grow up."

While you can't necessarily look at a tire to know it's going to perform, you can feel it.

The tire industry is evolving in interesting ways, and the all-season UHP segment is one example.

Will Robbins, director, consumer product strategy at Bridgestone Americas Inc., noted the all-season segment is the "biggest and most important," and the company wanted to find a way to add the "Potenza DNA" into an all-season product.

"All-season UHP" almost seems like an oxymoron. UHP tires invoke thoughts of semi-slick racing tires meant for dry handling and braking.

All-season tires are meant to perform well in all weather, especially when it's wet.

How do you combine the two?

Bridgestone's reps said the key is new technology that allows tire makers to get the best of both worlds.

Enliten is a suite of technologies the company has developed. Part of Enliten is PeakLife, a synthetic rubber compound aimed to expand the performance envelope with longer wear and reduced rolling resistance by helping silica bond with polymers.

Davis Adams-Smith, director of communication at Bridgestone Americas, described PeakLife as the "silver bullet" that takes the existing "envelope" of capabilities and expands it.

Continental A.G. changed the all-season market around a decade ago, when it added winter traction to its all-season lineup with the DWS (dry, wet, snow).

In 2021, Conti debut its newest version, the ExtremeContact DWS06 Plus, which replaced the DWS06. The tires' tread patterns are nearly identical, but Conti used its SportPlus technology in the new version to offer better performance in all categories, compared with its predecessor. This included a 9% improvement in wet braking, an 11% gain in snow traction and improvements to ice traction, tread life and noise reduction.

They aren't alone. This is a segment with a lot of buying power. Tire Rack's top-rated products in this segment include tires like the Pirelli All Season Plus, the Vredestein Hypertrac All Season, Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4, Yokohama Advan Sport A/S+, Falken Azenis FK460 A/S, Goodyear Eagle Sport All Season and many more.

The tire industry is evolving, but it isn't happening in front of our eyes, and maybe that's why the industry — from outsiders — seems slow to change.

To the average person, the look of tires hasn't really changed since it was discovered over a century ago that carbon black would make tires more durable — and black. And unless airless tires evolve to dominate the market, "the look" is not likely to change.

Those in the tire industry could certainly point to many physical changes in the complexity of tread patterns, but the average consumer sees the same black "circle" they drew in crayon as a child.

But as most mothers told us as children, "Don't judge a book by its cover."

You may not be able to see the improvements, but when it comes to tires, you'll feel them on the road.