October 13, 2020
Using the right tire can transform your driving experience. Whether the goal is improved safety in inclement weather, lower lap times around the local track, or a quieter and more comfortable ride, proper tire selection is an essential consideration. Tire Rack has been helping drivers make the best decision for how, where, and what they drive for decades, and product differentiation is our specialty. So, when Goodyear announced the launch of the Assurance ComfortDrive, which is the second flagship Grand Touring All-Season tire in their lineup, we were eager to get our hands on a set and see how it compares to the competition.
As the name implies, Goodyear’s new Assurance ComfortDrive is focused on delivering absolute comfort and refinement, plus delivering top-level traction in wet conditions. Utilizing Goodyear’s ComfortFlex technology allows the Assurance ComfortDrive to effectively absorb impacts, and the noise-reducing tread pattern helps to reduce airborne noise. With such an emphasis on comfort, we knew the perfect benchmark competitor for our preview drive: the Bridgestone Turanza QuietTrack. The Turanza QuietTrack also focuses on ultimate luxury, and our testing has proven it is one of the category leaders in on-road refinement.
Testing on real-world roads revealed the Assurance ComfortDrive is a serious competitor in the realm of comfort, and also that the two products in our test had surprisingly different personalities. Ride comfort was a particularly strong point for the Assurance ComfortDrive. Where the Turanza QuietTrack had a nicely controlled, slightly firm, and somewhat sporty-feeling ride, the Assurance ComfortDrive felt more focused on smoothness and isolating the vehicle’s occupants. The Assurance ComfortDrive delivered ride quality that made impacts less of an event, nicely rounding over large bumps and mitigating the smaller ones. Yet despite the added comfort, there was no less sense of motion control over imperfections or road undulations. Sound quality was another strength for both tires. The sound created by the Turanza QuietTrack may have been slightly louder in volume, but the tones blended together into a subtle, white noise that immediately faded into the background. The Assurance ComfortDrive was arguably quieter, though the medium-pitched tones stood out slightly to some of our testers. Noise quality from either tire would undoubtedly satisfy even the most discerning drivers. On our BMW 430i test vehicles, the steering feel of the Turanza QuietTrack was nicely weighted, with linear response to inputs and a satisfying buildup of effort. In contrast, the Assurance ComfortDrive featured steering that was light and fast, with much less effort required to elicit a similar response. While perfectly acceptable for a touring product, the overall feel was more disconnected and not quite as satisfying as the Bridgestone, which admittedly features some of the best steering feel in the category.
Goodyear put an emphasis on wet traction during the development of the Assurance ComfortDrive, and it delivered a commendable performance in our wet track testing, leading the test in every objective metric. Overall, the additional traction could be felt everywhere around our test track, and those incremental gains combined to create a nearly one-second advantage in average lap time. While it may not sound like much, a second is significant around our track, and represents a difference that could be felt by any driver. In aggressive maneuvers, the strong front-end authority and quick steering response could have a tendency to overwhelm the available traction from the front tires, but this is highly unlikely to be encountered during day-to-day driving on the road.
| Wet Track | Average Time Slalom |
Average Time Total Lap |
Lateral g-forces |
50-0 mph ABS Stop |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bridgestone Turanza QuietTrack | 6.00 | 36.44 | 0.67 | 129.0 |
| Goodyear Assurance ComfortDrive |
Though dry track performance is hardly a priority for Grand Touring All-Season tires, the Assurance ComfortDrive performed admirably in that testing, as well. The light and fast steering made the tire feel alert and responsive on the track, giving the car a nimble character through the slalom and fast transitions. In addition to the steering, a noticeable step up in traction allowed slightly faster cornering speeds and enabled our drivers to get back to the throttle sooner on corner exit, delivering average lap times that were .66 second faster than the Bridgestone. Similar to what we found in wet testing, .66 second may not sound like much, but around our dry track, it represents a noticeable advantage in lap times and feel.
| Dry Track | Average Time Slalom |
Average Time Total Lap |
Lateral g-forces |
50-0 mph ABS Stop |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bridgestone Turanza QuietTrack | 5.43 | 31.46 | 90.4 | |
| Goodyear Assurance ComfortDrive | 0.87 |
Initial impressions indicate Goodyear could have a winner on their hands with the new Assurance ComfortDrive. Between the luxurious refinement on the road and wet traction that is sure to satisfy nearly all drivers, the new tire looks like it may fit nicely with the top Grand Touring All-Season competitors. As always, we will hold final judgment until we put the tires through an official Tire Rack test, but we have high expectations for when that happens.
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