Review on Goodyear Ultra Grip Ice 2 205/50 R17 93T winter by Wiktor Krzysztof Kor ᠌

Name: Goodyear Ultra Grip Ice 2 205/50 R17 93T winter
Item: Goodyear Ultra Grip Ice 2 205/50 R17 93T winter
Rating: 4

May 24, 2023

I'm completely satisfied with the product, it works.

This is my first Velcro, before that I had ContiIceContact2 and Pirelli Ice Zero studs. In general, I didn’t expect a miracle on a winter road, it didn’t happen, it’s better on spikes. But on asphalt, Velcro wins.
Summing up - an excellent tire for St. Petersburg (well, probably Hong Kong time), where real winter happens for several days per season, and then everything melts. For other regions where winter is straight winter, I do not recommend it. On a snowy road, you need to be more careful, rubber does not allow you to relax at all. How to accelerate. So far, I do not regret the purchase, but perhaps the next rubber will still be studded again.
I'll try to ate my review after the end of the season.
So it goes.

Pros

1. About the noise. November, already cool, went to change the car. As soon as I left the tavern, I could not believe my ears . Quiet. It's incredibly quiet here. I hear my engine, I hear the wind blowing on the car, I hear the rubber on neighboring cars, but I don’t hear my rubber at all. The summer one, which I thought was quiet before, turned out to be very noisy, compared to the Goodyear. 2 days went without music at all, enjoyed absolute silence. 2. About comfort. At the same moment, as soon as you left the tavern, another shock overtook you - you drive, but there are simply no joints, bumps, and other minor defects on the road, the rubber swallows everything. Neither Conti, nor Pirelli, nor summer Toyo were so comfortable, the car simply changed. Yes, this leads to a drawback, the sidewall is really soft, even to the touch, but so far no problems have arisen from this. But potentially, of course, they can. 3. Behavior on asphalt. November and December 2/3 were quite warm. From +5 to -5 degrees, on dry and wet pavement, the rubber feels very good, excellent grip, no questions about the behavior of the car. 4. About a typical winter in St. Petersburg. Riding on porridge for 4+. Not perfect, the car throws a little, but not critical. Derzhak is good, there is no desire to slow down.

Cons

5. About driving after freezing rain. Here everything is not so rosy. In principle, I didn’t really expect from Velcro that it would ride the same way as spikes on ice, and it happened. They are slippery, the ABS starts working almost immediately, you can drive with the flow without problems, but kept the distance much longer than usual. I drove onto the bridge without problems, but if I gave it a little more gas, it immediately skidded. People on spikes in the same conditions skidded much less. 6. About driving on a typical winter road, during an average snowfall. This is exactly why I am writing this review. Having driven around the city, I went out of town, just to understand what to expect from Velcro. And I didn't go in vain. On a winter track, with typical 2 ruts of snow, you can normally drive only at a speed of 60-70, then it becomes scary, it was a surprise for me. Just get out of the rut - starts to throw the car. Braking on loose, but already rolled snow is almost useless. Turns passed only by greatly reducing the speed. On overtaking, too, adrenaline - drove into the oncoming lane, stepped on the gas, the wheels began to slip at a speed of 80 (the engine is only 107 forces). Yes, there was snow under the wheels, yes, then I crossed the snow track, but there was practically no such thing on the spikes, only if the road was completely covered in snow. There wasn't much snow here. In corners, on loose snow, everything is also not very good, the front carries almost immediately, normally you can go through a turn only by stepping on the gas.