Goodyear Vector 4Seasons Gen 3 Reviews - Page 2

Tires have held up well. Purchased 5 years ago with a 4 month old DOT date. Cost was 290 Euro for all 4. Average 12000km yearly. Have been swapped front to back axle a few times to even out the wear and last longer. The pictures are how they look after all that wear and tear. Temperate climate country in Southeast Europe, They have seen up to 42c in the summer and -15c in the winter. I purchased them with the knowledge that I will barely see any snow and do 90% city driving. Car has always been parked outside and the tires have noticeable dry rot after all that sun.

They handled very well on the 3-4 occasions they were met with heavy snow on winding roads, even with tens of thousands if miles already on them. Barely any TCS activation and slippage when driving smart. Managed to dig out of snow with no hassle any time I was parked and snowed in.
Dry performance is excellent, nothing bad to say, handling is excellent. Comfort and noise are also very good.

Wet performance is the one thing that I feel was not up to par. At around the three year mark, TCS would activate more often than I would expect when accelerating from a start on cold tires on wet asphalt. No problems in breaking or cornering, but the wheelspin on acceleration was annoying and a bit questionable.

Overall I can recommend, and I would buy them again if the price is right.

Fantastic fantastic fantastic. What a tire. It was winter a couple of years ago in my Corsa, and had some budget summers on. The tires locked up in a car park and ended up very slowly hitting a van. barely any damage but the fact i coulndnt do anythign was scary, so that day went and bought 2 of these for th Corsa. And boy what a purchase. Instantly the snow grip was unbelivable for an all season tire. Chewed up snow with barely any wheelspin, this is a car with no TCS by the way. Ice was not terrible. The wet was fantastic too, and every since i got these tires i never. aquaplaned. again. For reference every time i got on the motorway in the wet with the budgets i used to be in all 3 lanes. This is on an 1100kg car. Dry grip was actually very suprisingly good too. Is it as good as a sporty dedicated summer tire? No. Is it going to hold you going way too fast on a country lane you've never been on? Probably not. Is it going to hold you on that country lane you do know, going a reasonably fast pace? Absolutely. I used this tire for around 2 years putting maybe 20,000 miles on them, and still had around 3mm on (when i sold the car, not when the tires were changed). I believe they'd have another 6-9 months / 5000-7500 miles in them at least. This corsa had 195bhp and 300nm at specifically 1088kg, and these tires kept up in drag races, country lanes, and every day driving. This review isn't for the middle aged parent who wants some nice all year tires for their crossover suv. This is the review i wish i had at 18 for these tires, that has been there and done it. In the smaller size that you're small hatchback has, they're very reasonably priced, and will do you well. Now in an M235i, I'm using Michelin PS5s which are in a different category of tires, and I have a seperate review on. Mainly due to 326bhp, and the same driving style.

This is my second review of these tires. I have covered over 2,000 miles with them and my initial perceptions of these tires has been reinforced.

Although acceptable in other driving dynamics, the extremely high rolling resistance is a problem. My average fuel consumption has been increased from 5.4/ per 100 kms to 6.6/ per 100 kms at 115 kph. In mpg terms, the consumption has increased from an average on a long run of 49/51 mpg to 42/43 mpg. This is huge. I have been in contact with Goodyear technical UK, but they have not been much help. I watched the tires being fitted at Halfords - nothing else happened to the car. However the effect of these new tires was immediately noticeable. They are like driving on donuts is the best description I can find.

The tires are not only increasing my fuel consumption, but sap the power of the engine. I have never known tires to have such an adverse effect in nearly 50 years of driving. These tires are supposed to be B rated for rolling resistance. In my experience these tires do not compare to my previous tires with the same rating. Either the B classification for rolling resistance is wrong for these tires, or the category is extremely broad. With such a high rolling resistance, the extra cost of these tires over 50,000 miles is huge.

Goodyear is supposed to be a premium brand, but they are producing tires with the rolling resistance of a Budget tire. Tomorrow I will drive from northern France to Venice again. This is a regular run for me. I will be able to calculate how much extra in fuel these tires are costing me.

I have just had a set of these put on after 58,000 kms with Kleber Quadraxer 3 all season tires.

Yesterday I had my first long distance run in really dreadful wet conditions. The Goodyears performed well, but it was noticeable that when there was a lot of surface water, the Goodyear’s did not cope as well as the Klebers. Where the Klebers simply cut through the water, you can feel the car slowing down as the Goodyears clear the water.

In the wet and greasy conditions, the Goodyears offered excellent grip and inspired confidence. The handling of the car has improved with a more rapid response to directional changes.

What I have been shocked by is the drop in fuel economy of my car. It is huge. Where my 1.2 Citroen C5x would give 3.9L/100km at 115 kms with the Klebers, this is now 4.8L/100km. I will check the tire pressures and keep an eye on this, but if this does not improve, I will have to remove these Goodyear tires very soon.

The Goodyear came with my car. I always have proper winter and summer tire sets, but these were less than 2 years old so I kept them. I knew they are all-season and didn't count too much on snow performance, but we don't get much snow anymore and I decided to give it a go for a couple of winters. I was amazed at how much traction these get on snow and ice. I drove in a blizzard more than once and had zero issues (AWD SUV), either with fluffy powder or with compacted hard snow. I did experience some lateral instability when it's extremely slippery, and also over frozen tire tracks, but I take into account they aren't a proper winter tire, I always adjusted to the conditions and never pushed hard. With thoughtful driving I never felt unsafe. I am very happy with how they perform in wet and dry, again zero issues even at 40C heat on the highway or during massive rain. I am now changing them due to tread wear and because they started to dry rot to the point one tire is leaking air through the side wall. It was surprising because they are dot 21 and started leaking in 24, so basically 3 years were enough to degrade the side wall. Now it's end of 25 and the other 3 tires still don't leak, but there's visible dry rot and cracks on all of them. But for something I got basically for free - what an excellent performance and balance in all driving conditions! Now I got my favorite snow powerhouse Kleber Krisalp HP3 and I will miss not having to swap and store tires.

WEAR
I bought these to fit to an all wheel drive Vitara and based in Italy with temps ranging from 35°C to -15°C. I've had them for 5 years, done 65K km and tread-wise they would probably last another year, so I couldn't be happier with how they've worn. They've only just started to lightly crack where the tread meets the sidewall, but given their age I'm going to replace them this winter.

SNOW
I chose the Vectors mainly because of their snow performance. Throughout the winter I spend a lot of time in the mountains where there is considerable snow and ice and they've performed exactly how I'd hoped. Snow traction, breaking and handing have been great, I've been able to drive confidently on snowy mountain roads, and especially with all wheel drive the car feels solid. I've watched BMWs slide backwards down hills with slick compact snow (I hope on summer tires) which have been easy to get up in the Vectors without any wheel spin at all. The same goes for -10°C frosty morning without snow, handling and traction feels the same as +10°C.

SUMMER
I've also used these a lot off-road in 30°C on dry rocky routes and they've performed really well, I assume because of the tread pattern and softer compound. Even in the summer at 35°C I haven't really noticed longer dry braking which people mention with the Vector.

NEGATIVES
The only really downsides I've noticed compared to the OE tires (Conti eco contact) is the handling generally feels 'softer'- although still fun to drive in a spirited way, and that the tires seems to slide on those metal joints on bridges which can be unnerving when on a corner.

BUY AGAIN?
I would definitely buy these again, in fact I've recommended them to many people. However, being a sucker for Tire Review's videos and tests, I want to try something else. I'll probably go for Pirelli Cinturato All Season SF3 for even better snow performance and an overall more balanced profile.

I believe tire wear is underrated. I just bought a new pair of Goodyear Vector Gen 3, they have stunningly low wear. If I'll buy the next tires 5 years from now instead of 3 or 4 because the Goodyear has lower wear, that pretty much makes the Goodyear cheaper than most budget tires (price/km).
I had the Goodyear Gen 3 on a Renault Scenic, used them for 20k km with literally no visible wear. We had 2 weeks of snow, my neighbors struggled to get out of the parking lot with cheap winter tires, I had no issues. My father also uses Goodyear Vector Gen 3 on another Scenic and after almost 5 years and 50k km he still has 4.5 mm of the fronts and 5mm on the rears and he says they are still excellent in the snow.
Yes, they are not the best on hot summer days, the lower dry traction and braking makes them squeal easily. They also aren't as quiet as a CrossClimate or a summer Premium Contact 5 or Eco Contact 6. And the steering feels a bit too light with them (when I put them on I felt like the car just got a new power steering).
But they are great in the wet, great in the snow, good enough in the dry and they last longer than any other tire I owned.
I used to run dedicated summer/winter tires, Michelin changed that with the CrossClimate, and Goodyear made sure I won't go back.
Just for reference, I owned:
- Continental Premium Contact 2: 55k km until 2.5mm tread
- Continental Premium Contact 5: 45k km until 2.5mm tread
- Continental Eco Contact 6: 40k km until 3mm tread
- Nokian WR D3: 45k km until 4mm tread
- Nokian WR D4: 35k km until 4mm tread
- Continental TS860: 40k km until 4mm tread
- Michelin CrossClimate: 40k km until 3.5mm tread