Goodyear UltraGrip 9

After switching from Continental TS850 a bit of disappointment, considering that it was a significantly newer tire.
Nothing special to say, for now it did not impress or disappoint me much in any category, maybe I was expecting some improvment over an excellent tire such as Continental...
Did not have a chance to drive it significantly in the snow so I will refrain from giving it a score in that category
(in that category I would give to Continental TS850 excellent marks on ice, and very good in slush (melting snow)).

Hello, this is my review of the Goodyear Utragrip 9 195/55R16 87H. First of all, I didn't buy these tires new, I've got 2 of them for cheap, installed on the front with about 5.5mm left, so I would call this a end of life review. I had Vredestein Snowtrac 5 on the rear with more thread dept, so I'll try to talk more about the fronts. I haven't experienced snow, but a lot of greasy and icy weather, which they handled well. Good grip in the wet and dry, only in the dry they like to make more noise(?). Comfort is average for a winter tire. I have no idea about wear, but they have worn just a little in the 4000+ miles I've driven. (About .8mm less) Will be replaced with used Michelin Alpin A4, review will follow.

Got them second hand for a Citroën C3 1.2 PureTech. Put them on the front of the car with 5.6mm of thread left. Didn't experience snow or ice, but some slippery and freezing conditions I did. Excellent overall, in slippery weather they're a life saver. Would recommend.

A perfect winter tire for city car. I tested it on snow wet dry and it outperformed my expectations. Really recommended for european winters (I live in north of italy)

Fitted these following the great reviews however I'm completely disappointed with the outcome. Even from new these tires would spin up on my 1.6 automatic Berlingo. After only 10k miles the outer tread is coming off in lumps inside and out and almost onto the wear indicators. Back to my trusted Vredesteins next. Goodyear, never again.

Probably the best winter tires I have tried. They are very comfortable and quiet especially compared to the Bridgestone Blizzak LM-32 I had fitted the previous winter. They are also quieter amd more comfortable than my Michelin summer tires. The wet and dry grip is good, but I cannot yet comment on ice and snow grip, but I expect those to be good as well based on other reviews. Wear is also difficult to comment on since I have not driven them for long time.
They might be a little more expensive than other tires, but you really get what you pay for with these tires. I will definitely buy again!

Spent the winter season in the French Alps and these tires were amazing. We had 1 metre of snow one day and after digging the car out we had no need for snow chains, either getting out of car park and drove to ski resorts without any issues and felt very secure.

Also somewhat surprised on how quiet they were on driving from and back from the UK.

Highly recommend

Really good winter tire. High levels of grip in the snow and on ice. So much so that the only hindering factor is the ground clearance of the vehicle. I was pushing snow with the front bumper and this was causing me to loose momentum but you cant fault the winter traction, its great.
There also a really good tire in the dry and wet below 7 degrees. Very safe, good braking and offers high resistance to aquaplaning. Most notable is how quiet the tire is and also how little fuel it uses. With only 5 MPG less than the Goodyear summer tires i cant complain.
Certainly a tire more suited to family cars, commuters or rural vehicles. If you were after a sportier ride for say a Maserati or Jaguar I would look at the Goodyear Ultra grip Performance.
This is a link to a video I took, https://youtu.be/bHaU-EWcir0 a short trip in my vehicle fitted with Goodyear Ultragrip 9's.
Well worth the money, I paid £68 fitted and balanced each from www.blackcircles.com my local tire shop fitted them included in the blackcircles price.

3 years each winter I wear them and I have made 25.000km in getz 1.3 175/60 / 14t ..... excellent in the snow very good on the ice, dry and wet road.the best tires winter

The only reason I wanted to add a review here, is because these tires are slightly overhyped here. They are not bad but they are still M+S tires, and their performance on snow and ice is slightly worse than the dedicated Michelin winter tires I had before them. The ABS kicks in sooner when you are braking hard and they have this nasty thing when you are driving on a icy roundabout, it's like they loose traction for split second and then regain it. I never spinned out our anything, but it does make you a bit nervous, I never had this with my Michelin tires.
They are great on wet road though, much better than studless snow tires. They are also quiet.

Hi there. After a week with UG9 and last night mountain driving at -4C to -7C and around 5cm of still fresh damp snow and some already more frozen snow and ice here and there I just wanted to share my opinion.

Compounds - The UG9 and UG8 thread compounds are softer on touch compared to WRD4 in cold weather.

Ride Comfort - WRD4 has a superior ride comfort that i never felt with any other tire I believe it is related to their "Silent Sidewall" technology absorbing most of the small irregularities on the road and providing really good ride smoothness. UG in general are feeling harsher (I always keep my tire pressure as is in my car manual).

Noise : UG8 -very noisy , UG9 noisy , WRD4 surprisingly silent for winter tire actually i think my old summer tire with V shaped pattern Vredestein Sportrac 3 was noisier.

Clean Asphalt Grip +13C - WRD4 has a really good grip almost like a summer tire of the same size , UG8 is tragedy in any direction and at temperatures beyond 10C is screeching on slightly harsher loads. UG9 is much much better than UG8 in this respect especially accelerating and braking , getting very close to WRD4 but still behind it for sure.

Wet Asphalt - well since i drive very carefully in heavy rains i can't say much probably WRD4 has better aquaplaning resistance compared to UG8 but i didn't have the chance with UG9 to put it on high speed through deep water patch.

Cold Clean Asphalt Grip (-5 and under) - WRD4 and UG9 have similar behavior they are exceptional on cold asphalt , UG8 suffers in longitudinal loads especially accelerating i believe this is due to the thread pattern design mostly but is on par in side loads with the other 2.

Wet snow covered Asphalt - WRD4 is suffering on wet snow that is above 2cm in any direction it is inferior to UG9 and UG8.

Damp Fresh snow more than 5cm - WRD4 is inferior to both UG9 and UG8 it is struggling to gain grip in acceleration and in side loading it is rapidly going into a slide where both UGs are much more progressive. In general i think UG8 was better in longitudinal loads compared to UG9 (both accelerating & braking) , in side loads i believe UG8 and UG9 are almost the same and are very progressive when they start loosing grip and start side sliding.

Powder like very cold snow - well still no -10C here but UG8 was definitely better than WRD4 will see about the UG9 but given the fact how soft the compound feels i believe it will be as good as UG8.

Conclusion : Well in general I think the UG9 is the better all round tire for where I live 3 months of the year snowy roads outside the city (Sofia , Bulgaria) , uncleaned small streets -15C is not impossible during the night , mountain passes that can be snowy (the city is locked between 4 mountains). Nokian WRD4 is superb on a bit warmer weather and specially in regard of ride comfort I'm still amazed how smooth my car can be. UG8 is really good tire for snow but it is really weak on clean roads and I still think it is probably a notch better than UG9 on snow but it might be a romantic memory of it.

Good tire for rain and snow. But no good with dry roads at temperatures higher than 12degrees Celsius. This tire is very soft, so no good response on dry and warm asphalt. Previous tires were Michelin Alpin4 and they were much better on dry roads.

I boought these tires in a hurry before my trip to the mountains of northwest greece. My car is a VW Polo 1.6 Tdi with front wheel drive. I did about 1000 km on these and this is my review so far.

The first thing I notice was that they are really quiet, almost no difference with the summer tires. Previous experience with winter tires had me expecting lots of harsh road noise, but even at highway cruising speed of 120km/h the car drove quietly.

The softness of the tires and sidewalls made it really comfortable but I was deprived of roadfeel. Literaly no idea where the tires where pointing at with a constant sense of understeer. And that without pushing the car hard, just cruising along a curvy mountain road.

I didnt push it to the limit but I can tell that dry grip and dry braking wasn't giving me any confidence at freezing and normal temperatures (-5 to 10 degrees Celsius).
On the wet it is a whole different story. Good grip, no slip and spin. Just perfect. Cannot comment on aquaplanning.

Snow and ice were no problem. Even steep icy uphill roads where not a problem for my front wheel drive city car. And it goes the same for roads covered with frozen snow. Always felt safe and capable of delivering.

I recomend these with ease for snow and wet, but not for dry city driving and temperatures higher than 15 degrees C.

Bought a set of goodyear ultra grip 9 winter tires last year and had them fitted to a spare set of alloys. They were fitted to my rear wheel drive automatic Volvo 240 Automatic estate and are now fitted to my 1996 rear wheel drive automatic Volvo 940 estate.

In this spell of snow the grip is amazing and I haven't got stuck which on summer tires I would of just spun the rear wheels on the slightest incline of snow.
On the Goodyears I can actually stop and pull away on snow covered hills. You can feel the tire spin and then it bites into the snow. Braking is also very good. Steering is good too and feels safe. Frozen compacted snow which has turned to ice I did pass a stuck Peugeot partner and I went up the hilly lane with not much difficulty, just a bit more spin than none on snow. Slight spin then grip etc. If a steep hill and total ice no winter tire would help unless studded. My car has no traction control or modern aids, just ABS.
I highly rate them and would buy again. There is no wear from last years use.

I fitted these tires end of November 2017 and they have been invaluable especially over the last few weeks.
Excellent in the dry and very stable and secure in the wet. One of the quietest tires I've ever used, and very good on fuel. But the best thing about this tire is the ability on snow. This weekend in fact I was driving through now nearly a foot deep and the only reason I stopped a few times was because I bottomed out on the stuff. Hill climbs and descents are not a problem. And this is in a front wheel drive Corsa van. Brilliant!