Road Test:
           

by Hib Halverson

Statistics show that you stand more of a chance of being in an automobile accident during weekday driving within five miles of home than you do driving your Corvette on weekend outings. Add inclement weather to this equation and the stats stack-up even more against you.

In many cases of impending traffic collision, an emergency evasive maneuver, such as swerving around another errant driver who's cut you off or using full ABS braking to get stopped before hitting someone who runs a red light in front of you can make the difference between wrecking and driving on with nothing more than a pumping heart. Traction—regardless of road conditions—is what you need to maintain control of the vehicle in situations like that and how much traction you have is greatly influenced your tires, a fact which may give pause to some who believe buying cheap tires for everyday, high-risk driving is a smart thing to do.

To date, my tire tests have been of ultra-performance radials on Corvettes and other performance cars or off-road tires on trucks and SUVs, however, I became curious about tires on passenger sedans when my fiance, the Fairest Sandra the Red, needed new tires on her 1996 Toyota Camry.

In April of 2004, the Assurance replaced Goodyear's previous, premium tire, the Aquatred 3. I asked why, after marketing Aquatred through three product life-cycles, the Akron, Ohio company, which is the world's largest tire maker, discontinued a name which was familiar to consumers. Goodyear's PR Manager, Jim Davis, told me that, because some customers identified Aquatred as a rain tire, the company believed, if it changed the name, sales of its high-end, broad-market products would improve in areas where regular or significant wet weather was unusual.

Goodyear's research, also, shows many of its customers still want good, wet traction and hydroplaning resistance, so the "rain tire" issue remains important, however, this new tire, through its so-called "Triple Tread Technology", is also better on snow and ice and has improved dry handling without compromising its capabilities in the wet. I guess you could say this new tire is an "any-weather" tire, rather than just a wet weather tire.
 

One Tire which is Three Tires.

 What is "TripleTred Technology"? This version of Assurance (there is another, less-expensive iteration called "ComforTred") has three "zones" spanning its tread width, each having specific tread configuration and compounding which Goodyear says enhance the tire's traction on different surfaces.

At the center, is the "Ice Zone". Its key features are an interlocking tread and a tread compound which has a mix of ground pumice and glass fibers blended into it. The pumice gives the surface of the tread a rough, texture. As the tire wears, the grit works out of the tread compound leaving tiny cavities. The very thin layer of water which covers ice when the temperature is above or near freezing, migrates into these cavities allowing the tread to better contact the ice. In addition, the cavities serve as "traction edges" which further increase grip. The tiny glass fibers protrude from the rubber, making a sort of "stubble" which "digs into" the ice, aiding traction even more.

On either side of this Ice Zone are "Water Zones," the design of which is a little more traditional. Influenced by the tread configurations of some of Goodyear's Ultra-Performance tires, such as the F1 GS-D3, the F1 GS EMT (O.E. on C5) or the F1 GS EMT-2 (O.E. on C6), the Assurance Water Zone consists of, so Goodyear says, "...deeply-carved Aquachutes..." which force water away from the tread as it rolls on wet surfaces. This water-channelling action has been a key feature of Goodyear's racing rain tires and performance street tires for more than 20 years. Proof that racing technology improves tires we use on Toyota Camrys and other daily drivers is that kind of special tread grooving has been common on Goodyear's up-level, broad market tires for more than ten years and, also, has been used by several, other tire companies

The outside edges of Assurance are (what else?) Dry Zones which feature reinforced shoulders for better dry traction during aggressive maneuvering around curves, potholes, unexpected road debris or stupid drivers cutting in front of you. In addition, Assurance is the only broad-market Goodyear to use a derivative of  the tread compound on the F1 Supercar (on 01-04 Z06es) and F1 Supercar EMT tires (on '05 Z51s and which will be on 06 Z06es).  Lastly, the mold shape of the Assurance is taken from Goodyear's ultra-performance tires and is particularly obvious when looking at the edges of this new tire.

Based on several months of subjective testing with Sandy's Camry this past winter, I think the Assurance, is a pretty darn good all-weather tire, however, the first thing I noticed after I installed them and went for a drive was nothing related to handling though it does relate to technology transfer from ultra-performance tires which I spoke about earlier.  It was immediately obvious that this Assurance is noticeably quieter than the tires we replaced, a set of three-year old Aquatreds

The owner of the car, Sandra the Red, is pretty-much a layperson when it comes to subjectively analyzing tire noise, but she, also, noticed this difference right away, terming the new tires, "...a lot quieter." Because the noise difference between the old Aquatred and the new Assurance was so significant, I decided to investigate a bit with an interview of three Goodyear engineers, Sam Landers, Walt Allen and Karl Sundkvist.

Use the term "pitch sequence" and you'll be talking like a tire deep-geek. Imagine a tire tread laid out flat. The tread blocks are such that, when the tire rolls, their length and spacing emit sound of a certain pitch. If the this length and spacing, or "sequence", is the same; the tire makes a lot of noise of a certain frequency or pitch and that noise will be very noticeable. Conversely, if the pitch spacing is varied, by making the blocks and the spaces between them different lengths, the sound has a variety of pitches and sounds more like "white" noise rather than a whine, hum or rumble.

Sophisticated computer modeling and analysis are used to design this pitch sequencing and are backed up with laboratory and proving ground testing. The result is tire noise which is more like "...a waterfall or background sound which can have more (acoustic) energy," Goodyear noise expert, Karl Sundkvist elaborated, "but be less annoying than a whine with the same amount of energy. The pitch sequence was designed specifically for (the Assurance TripleTred). Because the (latest ultra-performance tread designs) are newer, we studied them more and applied some research techniques to look at what was causing the noise. From that we learned and improved the Assurance design as we were developing it."

Driving Assurance.

It’s pointless to drive a base-level, Toyota Camry to the same limits to which I’d test a set of performance tires like I’ve reviewed elsewhere on Idavette, but in brisk driving around town, the Camry felt more responsive to steering input and had more lateral grip in turns than it did when shod with Aquatred 3s. These new tires noticeably improved the car’s dry handling because some their Eagle F1-derived features are valuable in many ordinary driving situations.

Where Assurance, also, shines is in bad weather. The winter of 2005 brought a deluge of rainfall to Southern California–so much rain that eight-months into the July-to-June, "rain year", we'd had almost three times the rain than we get in an average year and second wettest year on record. In late-February, the third major winter storm blew in off the Pacific bringing 15-in. of rain to certain areas of Southern California. My fiance lives in the seaside town of Goleta about 10 miles west of Santa Barbara. When it rains in Southern California, Goleta can get drenched and this storm was a soaker. What better time to go wet test these new tires?

I jumped on US 101, headed west, along the coast, towards Gaviota and cruised at the speed limit for a while. In spite of a constant, moderate-to-heavy rain, the car felt like the road was hardly wet. Then, I decided to take it up to 80. At that speed, the car still felt pretty good. The tires were doing an excellent job of  channeling water away from the contact patch. While I felt the car slow—then I just gave it more gas—when the strongest downpours put a thick layer of rainwater on the road; I felt no hydroplaning. Even through shallow standing water in some spots or drainage flows across the highway, these tires seemed to cut through the water, and stick to the road like glue. In fact, I became more concerned about the Camry’s overworked windshield wipers, which were making a furious attempt to keep the windshield partially clear, than the tires hydroplaning.

The storm became a pounding deluge. Offshore, to the south, I saw lightning strikes on the water.  Wind buffeted the car back-and-forth across lanes. Rain and even a little hail rattled on the windshield and the top. This became more a loosing battle for the wipers against an ever-increasing torrent of rain and, with visibility getting pretty bad so I lifted bit and reestablished a 60-mph pace.

I reached Gaviota, turned around and, on the drive back to Goleta, continued severe weather kept me at about 60 because of the visibility. As I rolled along with the wipers on high, I thought about these tires. Goodyear backs the Assurance with an 80,000 mile tread life, limited warranty and a 30-day, no obligation "trial period".

This warranty, the trial period and that Assurance is seemingly an anyweather tire, seems to appeal to consumers buying premium, broad-market, replacement tires. Supporting that belief is that Goodyear's Jim Davis stated in a follow-up interview that actual sales of the Assurance, since it was launched in the early Spring of '04, are twice what the company projected. Goodyear's dealers can get enough of them and Goodyear's plants are working overtime to meet demand.

While the TripleTreds didn’t turn this Camry into a Corvette—although the weather tried to turn it into a submarine—it sure did improve its handling in the wet and the dry such that anyone driving feels more confident. Plus—they are quieter.

If you've got a passenger sedan as a daily driver, you're going to be safer if you have the Goodyear Assurance with TripleTred Technology.