Goodyear Vector 4 Seasons Gen 2 Reviews - Page 3

Dry grip- As my previous review during the summer they aren't that great at high speed driving and cornering. However, during the winter they are fantastic. Steering is still numb but better the colder it gets. Braking seems good again the colder the better it seems to be. Wet grip- Same as above really still great at roughly 5.5 mm but still feel confident in driving with these in heavy rain. Road feedback and handling- Already covered above. Wear- They have been on the fronts now for 7000 miles after having 30,000 on the rear. So good going for a tire. Comfort- Really good but as they are a winter oriented winter tire you would expect the softer compound and the sidewalls and tread can be squeezed easily by hand. Buy again- For winter use only yes but I would look at the Cross Climate Plus or Vredestien symmetrical A/S tire before going for these or the Gen 3 that have come out. Snow grip- Always been really good but recently in the UK we had a lot of snow fall and at roughly 5.5 mm left they griped really well. Cannot fault them. Ice grip- Not as good as snow grip but they can get going but do slip a little if more on polished ice but good enough otherwise you would need studded tires or chains if it is that bad.

If this was a one word review, that word would be "Comfortable". As a year round commuting tire they are great, low noise, decent rolling resistance and drama free. The slight softness of the tire also means they round off small imperfections and rough surfaces. Main downsides would be the previously mentioned softness gives small issues on warmer days (25 degrees + especially). So if you're someone who enjoys back road blasting in the summer, get something else you will be disappointed with the lack of absolute feedback and slight wooly feeling these tires provide. Also they don't like suddenly heavy braking on hot days either, quite likely you'll activate ABS. However summer wet weather handling is very good, the deep grooves for snow mean aquaplaning isn't really a thing and braking is good. Provide extremely stable performance in extreme weather. Moving to cold weather more of the same, stable drama free performance. Travelled round on frosty mornings with ice before dawn with no scrabbling for grip or issues at all which the summer tires I had (Also Goodyear but EfficientGrip Performance) used to. Only really travelled in my street on snow..so can't give full write up though I've been stuck in my street on summer tires and again it just moved without drama. If you just want to get from point A to B, year round without drama they are a great tire.

I found the tires to be excellent in dry and wet handling when temperatures were below 5 degrees c. They are fantastic. Snow grip is great and not tested on ice. However, they are winter all seasons because once the temperature starts to go upwards of 20+degrees C they handling poorly especially at speed. Dry braking is worse and it understeers quite easily. I’d recommend this tire for winter use but too much of a compromise for summer for me. It’s ok for city driving at low speeds but highway speeds or twisty roads during the summer you’d be better of with either summer tires or a more summer focuses all season. If you use this as a winter tire that you put on in October and take off in Easter then I can happily recommend it for the colder months. Comfort wise they are really good but that’s because of the softer compound. My cars suspension is comfortable anyway but you do get the boaty feeling more as the temperature increases. Noise wise very little road noise in my car. Not much more to say on that. Wear front set that were on the back are around 30,000 miles with rotation and are down to 3mm. That includes a summer runs as well. So not bad for price paid. Snow and ice. Snow is very good. It gets you home and can cope with a sizeable amount as per German magazine ratings. Ice, I’ve not tested on so cannot comment on that.

I am living in Athens Greece, and I am using these tires on a set of wheels for the winter only.

I switch wheels from Summer to All Season in December and back to summers in April, so I am using the Vectors for four months a year, driving an average of 11.000 km during this period.

Temperatures usually run from 6 to 20 degrees Celsius these months in Athens, and I would not consider switching if I didn't have to drive to our winter house in the northern mountains a coupe of times each winter.

During these trips, the temperature in my destination goes down to minus fifteen degrees in extreme cases, but certainly stays below zero most of the time, definitely with snow , but even ice in seldom cases.

So, after being struck on the road on my summer tires and messing with chains twice, I decided to get me a set of used wheels and fit these All Seasons in the winter so i don't get stuck again :-)

Winter tires are probably an overkill and I would be complaining most of the time driving them in dry conditions.

Now, the Vectors are very good tires. Much better than my summer tires in temperatures below 5 degrees, both in braking and in handling.

On normal snow they are brilliant.

Ice, I have ran across only once, but driving conservatively I had no problem covering a distance of about 5 kilometers with no hiccups.

On dry, they are safe tires but no match for my summer tires (Goodyear Performance or Toyo CF2).

Especially when temperatures rise above the mid 20s, they don't drive too well and I need to slow down.

I will probably try the Michelin Cross Climate next time, just for the sake of comparison between Michelin and Goodyear.

Excellent balance between comfort and safety in all kind of weathers, all of it for a reasonable price.
They are very forgiving and give you plenty of margin once they started to squeal.
Thanks to their decent feedback, you can smoothly regain control once you've exceeded their capabilities.
They are quiet and smooth on the highway, but I am not sure how sturdy they are and if they could survive going through many potholes.

The two slight drawbacks are the bad lateral grip on ice or packed snow and the "floaty" feeling that comes with a not-so-good dry lateral grip when the tires are hot.

Compared to worn-out Michelin Alpin 4, they are much better in the rain/snow/ice, but have slightly less lateral grip on the dry.
Compared to Norauto Prevensys, they are better and safer in every aspect (and they don't brutally give-up with no warning), so don't cheap-out.

On my second set of Goodyear Vector 4 Season Gen 2 - previously had them on a Subaru Legacy Tourer. Found them to be great all-rounders so have got them now on a Suzuki Ignis 4Grip.

These tires were excellent in the snow we had early in 2018 - obviously Subaru AWD cars are well-suited to snow but with these tires it was invincible. I was using lanes that only snow ploughs could use and I was able to stop and start on compacted snow/icy hills without any issues.

Sadly my Subaru went to diesel Hell (expensive on-going DPF/EGR issues) and I'm relegated to the Ignis - so I'm hoping the same Goodyear tires will help it punch above its weight in any snow as I have to care for my elderly parents in a hilly area.

First impressions - the steering in the dry is much lighter. (The Michelin Energy ones made it heavy). This might explain the comment others have made about "floaty" steering. On my Subaru it was the same - with Vector 4 Seasons Gen 2 - I couldn't easily sense what the wheels were doing on the snow/ice. However, if you know how to drive on snow, it's not a problem.

They seem to wear well and although you can hear it's a grippier tire, this isn't annoyingly loud - perhaps it sounds "meatier".

I'll keep buying these until Goodyear comes up with a new version. (Kwik Fit often offers discounts of 20% when ordered online so a set of 4 cost me £258 all in.)