May 24, 2019
If you drive a performance-focused or sporty vehicle, chances are you want a tire to match that personality. If you also drive that vehicle year-round in a climate where you could encounter sub-freezing temperatures, snow, or ice, you’ll need a tire that is designed with the ability to handle those conditions. If winter tires aren’t an option, then something from the Ultra High Performance All-Season category is a great choice, and the top-tier entries from premium manufacturers are becoming remarkably good as a fun-to-drive, one-tire solution.
Goodyear recently introduced the Eagle Exhilarate, a tire they say is a match for the best in the Ultra High Performance All-Season category. To see if the company’s claims would bear out in the real world, we decided to compare the Goodyear Eagle Exhilarate to the Bridgestone Potenza RE980AS, Continental ExtremeContact DWS 06, and the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ in a full test. Our evaluation used 2017 BMW F36 430i sedans fitted with new, full tread depth 245/40R18 tires mounted on 18x8.0 wheels.
Our 6.0-mile loop of expressway, state highway and county roads provides a great variety of road conditions that include city and highway speeds, smooth and coarse concrete, as well as new and patched asphalt. This route allows our team to experience noise comfort, ride quality and everyday handling, just as you would during your drive to school or work.
While their performance-focused personalities typically mean Ultra High Performance All-Season tires can be a little firm and create some noise on the road, they are engaging and fun to drive. Whether you’re a car enthusiast or just someone who occasionally likes to zip along a lonely, winding road, tires from the category, and particularly the four in this group, should be a satisfying addition to your drive.
Michelin’s Pilot Sport A/S 3+ is the most up-front with its performance intentions, which earned it the highest score from our team. The ride is noticeably firm and punctuated with occasional harshness over large, repetitive impacts, and there is some discernible tread growl, particularly at low speed over moderately coarse surfaces. Those minor complaints are overshadowed, though, by the on-road handling. Immediate, precise steering response combined with a nice build-up of effort make the Michelin’s handling our team’s top choice by a healthy margin. The Eagle Exhilarate is an impressive and slightly more balanced overall package on the road. The ride is appropriately taut, yet does an admirable job of minimizing the severity of impacts. The tread creates some audible tones at a moderate volume, but they blend together well enough to fade from thought. Steering feel and light handling are satisfying, as well, with a combination of effort and responsiveness that is natural and intuitive. While a little more motion control would be appreciated, the slightly softer ride of the ExtremeContact DWS 06 earned a high score in ride comfort. Some mild tread growl is present, but not intrusive, and though small inputs are met with a slight steering delay, it mostly tightens up where larger wheel movements are concerned. The Potenza RE980AS doesn’t have any traits that stand out as particularly bad, but its overall road ride score is just a step behind the others in the test. The ride is stiffer than the Continental, but not quite as well controlled as the Goodyear or Michelin, and while the tread noise it creates isn’t at a noticeably higher volume than the others, it is more distinct. Light and responsive steering makes the vehicle feel eager to change directions, but some additional heft would be appreciated. Overall, it is a competent and very capable performer on the road, but it didn’t strike a chord with our team this time around.
Our 1/3-mile per lap test track course includes 90-degree street corners, a five-cone slalom and simulated expressway ramps. Run in both dry and wet conditions, the test track allows our team to experience the traction, responsiveness, handling and drivability normally only encountered during abrupt emergency avoidance maneuvers or competition events.
Despite the Ultra High Performance title, all-season tires from this group aren’t built for track driving or even autocross use. Even so, we can’t help but be impressed by what these tires are capable of in both the dry and the wet, considering the broad range of tasks they are expected to perform throughout their lives.
Once again, the performance-focused Michelin leads the way in lap times and in the score from our team. Very strong grip, precise steering, and balance during fast transitions and steady-state cornering alike make it easy to see why it is a perennial favorite. The urgent steering response of the Bridgestone makes it feel agile and athletic through the slalom, and it confidently turns down to apexes, with a tendency toward understeer helping to keep the front end from overpowering the rear. The Continental feels like dry track driving is lower on its priority list than the other tires here, but it is so benign and easy to drive that our testers enjoy it every time we test it. Don’t rush it, and don’t try to get the tire to do two things at once, and it’s capable of fast, consistent laps. The Goodyear is the most polarizing tire in the test where dry track driving is concerned, with some testers choosing it as their favorite and others placing it at the back of the pack. Ultimately it ended up at the back by the slimmest possible margin, but the objective data shows it is as capable as any tire here. Subjectively, the Goodyear feels very strong under braking and in steady-state lateral grip. The steering has some noticeable gain that makes it somewhat difficult to judge the appropriate input for turns, though, which really hurt its overall score.
Where the Goodyear was not polarizing, however, is in our wet track testing. After the first turn, it was apparent the tire has excellent wet traction. It led the test in every objective measurement we take, and it is easy to drive at the limit, with none of the edginess we often find in high-level wet performers. The Michelin has all the wet traction most anyone would need on the road, though at this point it has been eclipsed by newer tires on the market in terms of outright capability. Still, combine the great traction with balanced handling, precise steering, and authoritative braking, and it’s no surprise it found a lot of favor with our team. Just like in the dry, the Continental combines very high limits with an easy-to-drive nature in the wet. The secure, planted feel at both axles and a tendency to understeer if pushed too hard inspires confidence and belies the fast laps the tire is capable of. Bridgestone’s entry is also impressive in what it has to offer in terms of wet traction. It isn’t as easy or as satisfying to drive in the wet, though. The very rapid steering response combined with handling that leans toward understeer means it takes care to avoid overpowering the front end. The resulting push through turns is frustrating, and it can lead to over-application of the throttle, and power-on oversteer, as a driver tries to make up for the lost pace. Even so, when driven in an appropriate manner on the road, a consumer is unlikely to want for more.
When it comes to driving in winter conditions, Ultra High Performance All-Season tires typically offer adequate, but modest capability, even top-tier competitors like those in our test group. The Pilot Sport A/S 3+ was the test leader in both objective acceleration and braking and subjective feel around the track, providing acceptable levels of traction for limited light snow mobility. The Eagle Exhilarate was a step back in overall ability, with relatively strong results in longitudinal performance and subjective ratings that were just OK. The ExtremeContact DWS 06 felt reasonably good to drive on the track, allowing the tire to set the fastest lap times. Its results in braking and acceleration were a close third place. Another noticeable step back brings us to the Potenza RE980AS, which struggled somewhat and delivered performance figures and subjective ratings at the back of the pack.
The results of our ice testing essentially mirrored what we found in the snow, with the Michelin leading the way in both acceleration and braking and the next-closest Goodyear a step back in both disciplines. The Continental and Bridgestone were at the back of the pack and closely matched, the Continental with the advantage in acceleration, and the Bridgestone in braking.
Our Real World Road Ride features a relatively flat 6.0-mile loop of 65-mph expressway, 55-mph state highway and 40-mph county roads along with three stop signs every lap. Our team drove each tire approximately 500 miles over the course of several days. Since we wanted to compare fuel consumption results that typical drivers would experience, our drivers were instructed to maintain the flow of traffic by running at the posted speed limits and sustain the vehicle’s speed using cruise control whenever possible. They did not use hypermiling techniques to influence vehicle fuel economy.
| Tire | Test MPG* | Gallons/Year @ 15,000 Miles |
% vs. Most Efficient |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bridgestone Potenza RE980AS | 27.9 | 537.6 | -6.5% |
| Continental ExtremeContact DWS 06 | 29.4 | 510.2 | -1.0% |
| Goodyear Eagle Exhilarate | 29.4 | 510.2 | -1.0% |
| Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ | 29.7 | 505.1 | -- |
| *Our evaluation used Race Technology DL1 data loggers to record true distance travelled. | |||
Fuel economy is a consideration for most drivers, and within this group we found a 1.8-mile per gallon disparity between our lowest and highest observed fuel economy. This difference would result in an additional 32.5 gallons of premium gasoline used per year for a vehicle driven 15,000 miles annually.
It’s important to note our test’s fuel consumption measurements follow consistent procedures designed to minimize variables that could influence the results; however, they do not represent an exhaustive long-range fuel consumption study. While our procedures require the test vehicles in each convoy to run under the same prevailing conditions, the week-to-week differences in ambient temperatures, barometric pressures and wind speeds that we experience over a season of testing can influence vehicle fuel consumption and prevent the absolute mpg values of this test from being compared directly against those of others.
Larger differences in consumption between tires may indicate a difference that might be experienced on the road, while smaller differences should be considered equivalent. As they say, your mileage may vary.
The Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ puts the "Ultra High" in Ultra High Performance All-Season, never leaving any doubt as to its mission as a performance tire. Best-in-class dry performance and sharp, responsive handling on the road combined with excellent wet traction and test-leading light snow capability strongly outweigh a minor lack of refinement in the form of a slightly rough ride and the audible interaction between the tread pattern and road surface. Goodyear’s Eagle Exhilarate sets the new standard for wet traction, with a clear advantage in our wet testing, even over the three very capable performers in this test. On-road performance is highlighted by an athletic yet refined ride and unobtrusive tread noise, and the light snow traction is competitive for the category. On the dry track it is very capable, but not completely satisfying for all drivers. Having participated in many previous tire tests, the Continental ExtremeContact DWS 06 feels like an old friend at this point. It always performs at a high level across the board, whether on the road, the track or in the snow. In this group, the Continental doesn’t feel as performance-focused as the others, but it is easy to drive, even when pushed on the track. The Bridgestone Potenza RE980AS is a solid, three-season option. Quick steering response should lend a sporty feel to nearly any vehicle on the road, and it has the traction to back up that promise in the dry or the wet. Some noticeable growl over all pavement types and a firm ride are small negatives, along with on-track performance that doesn’t feel quite as cohesive or balanced as the best here. Additionally, the light snow traction leaves us wanting more, even from an ultra high performance product.
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