Goodyear grows Assurance line with WeatherReady 2

AKRON/GARRETTSVILLE, Ohio — The excitement, it seems, was contagious among those wearing blue polo shirts embossed with the Goodyear logo.

"It's just a well-rounded tire," Nick Gullatta, a performance test driver for the tire maker, said.

"We really worked hard on this," one man said, as he maintained safe driving distance on the test track.

"This is just a huge step up from where we were," Jenny Paige, director, consumer product marketing, said.

The Akron-based tire maker and its employees like the latest all-weather replacement product — the Assurance WeatherReady 2 — so much that the company invited more than 300 customers and media to test drive it during a ride-and-drive event the week of Aug. 12-16.

The first part of the ride-and-drive was held at Goodyear's test track in Akron, where participants got to experience both the WeatherReady 2 — which replaces the Assurance WeatherReady in the tire maker's portfolio — and the ElectricDrive 2 for electric vehicles. The EV product was revealed in January at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

The final part of the ride-and-drive was held at Southington Offroad Park in Garrettsville, where Goodyear's Wrangler DuraTrac RT tire was put to the test in muddy, rocky and sandy conditions. The Duratrac RT was released to dealers last September.

Attendees also got a first-hand look at Goodyear's V1 Grade DiM250 Dynamic Driving Simulator along with its AI-powered SightLine technology that monitors each tire and can predict and neutralize difficult road conditions. 

The Assurance WeatherReady2, however, took center stage. Drivers tested the new offering for wet handling, wet braking and dry performance, along with a competitor's product.

The tire carries the industry's Three Peak Mountain Snowflake designation (signifying the tire meets or exceeds standards for snow traction) and is equipped with a tread compound that adapts to any weather condition. The WeatherReady 2 also features Goodyear's AquaTred Technology, a feature that dates back to the 1990s that improves wet performance, along with its Evolving Traction Grooves that help move water and slush away from the tire.

The directional tire, available to dealers now, is available in 58 sizes, fitting rim diameters from 16 to 22 inches. It has a limited 60,000-mile treadlife warranty, with a 60-day satisfaction guarantee.

The tire fits a range of vehicles such as the Chevy Traverse, Ford Explorer, GMC Acadia, Honda Accord and CR-V, Hyundai Santa Fe, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Kia Telluride, Mercedes GLE, and Toyota Camry and RAV4.

Paige said engineers developed a product that increased wet performance by more than 15% over the previous product.

"The grip on the wet with this thing is just amazing," Paige said. "It's a huge step from where we were, and a lot of that has to do with the tread pattern."

Paige said the angle of the lugs are designed to help plow through wet and slush while the angle of the directional tread pattern channels water through and out. As the traction grooves wear, they actually widen, "so you just don't have that wet performance when you buy the tire new, but as the tire wears, you maintain that wet traction through the life of the tire."

She said this marks the first Goodyear product made with the Evolving Traction Groove technology. And the tire also features a ride comfort technology in the sidewall that "helps dampen the road disturbances."

The tire has a wear gauge that indicates how much tread depth remains.

The WeatherReady 2 is manufactured in North America, Paige said, including at Goodyear's plant in Napanee, Ontario, where Goodyear recently announced a $400-million-plus investment to expand the facility.

"We have really raised the bar in wet performance," Paige said.

Ride-and-drive participants drove EVs equipped with the ElectricDrive 2 on various road surfaces, one with a tire with noise-deadening foam (Goodyear's SoundComfort technology) and a second time along the same surfaces on tires that didn't have foam. Most participants identified the foam tire easily.

The ElectricDrive 2, an all-season tire features sustainable materials, reduced rolling resistance and a long-lasting tread life to maximize EV performance, the company said. It contains at least 50% sustainable materials per tire by weight, including the use of soybean oil in the tire's construction, rice husk ash silica and sustainably sourced natural rubber.

The tire is available in 17 sizes, designed to fit popular EV sedans and CUVs, including the Audi Q4 e-tron, Chevy Bolt, Ford Mustang Mach E and Models Y, 3 and S.

The tire features foam inserts that help reduce interior vehicle sound. It also has an asymmetric tread pattern for better handling in wet or dry road conditions. Both features, according to research done by Goodyear, are important to EV owners.

The DuraTrac RT, an all-season on- and off-road tire for light trucks and SUVs engineered for rough terrain, joined the tire maker's Wrangler portfolio nearly a year ago.

Participants drove Jeeps equipped with the product on the Southington course on various conditions, including thick sand.

The successor to the DuraTrac has a layer of aramid fiber in the tread are for protection against damage and a three-ply sidewall with Durawall compound to help resist punctures, abrasions and cuts in rough, off-road conditions, Goodyear said.

The tire also features the 3PMS designation for traction and control in winter conditions and features a tread pattern with biting edges for enhanced grip.

It comes with a 50,000-mile limited treadwear warranty and is available in 42 metric, LT and flotations sizes, covering 16- 18- and 20- and 22-inch rim diameters / 30- to 35-inch outside tire diameters in both metric and LT sizes.

The product fits several popular pick-up trucks and SUVs, including the Chevrolet Silverado and Tahoe, GMC Sierra and Yukon, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Ford Super Duty and F-150 and Ram 1500.

Metric sizing starts at 265/70R16XL and ranges up 265/50R22; LT sizing starts at LT245/75R16 and ranges up to LT305/55R20. There also are a pair of flotation sizes: 33x12.50R20LT and 35x12.50R20LT.