Goodyear Vector 4Seasons

Back in August 2011 I started researching a new set of all-season, winter-rated tyres for my wife’s DSG equipped VW Golf Tsi. We decided that having a set of summer and a set of winter tyres didn’t fit our requirements and would be too much hassle. Having suffered for years getting stuck in the snow and having to walk over half-a-mile back to our hilltop village, enough was enough.

After 2 months of reading various magazine reviews plus my own internet research I had it narrowed down to 3 options: Vredestein Quatrac 3, Hankook Optimo 4s or Goodyear Vector 4 Seasons. Following reading numerous tests we decided the Goodyear’s suited our needs best.

The internet price per 205/55/16 tyre in August was £90 (same as the factory-fitted Michelin Primacy’s) but by the time I ordered all 4 tyres in October the price had crept up to £101 per tyre.

We had the Goodyear’s fitted locally for £10 each at the start of November and following this my wife reports that the ride is smooth and absorbent with lower noise levels than the previous Michelin’s. Travelling on wet roads through standing water the Goodyear’s are significantly more resistant to aquaplaning and offer noticeably more grip in the corners on cold, wet fast A-roads and motorways.

She’s tried the Goodyear’s on a previous dusting of snow without any problems but the real challenge was during the snow dump on Feb’ 4th 2012.

After a trip out shopping it started to snow but rather than go home to Bury, Lancashire we headed for the A59 North Yorkshire to go to a pub for a relaxing meal to allow the snow to accumulate. As the afternoon progressed we returned to Bury where there was now 2-3 inches of snow on the towns’ roads. Growing in confidence we felt ready for the challenge of getting back to our hilltop village on untreated roads and along the way we would perform a few tests, too.

We started the climb up the hill on 2-3 inches of snow and soon met our 1st victim: a bus performing a 3-point turn and heading back down. Waiting for the bus to get out of the way we realised this would be our 1st hill start on packed snow and the grade was about 1 in 5. Once the bus left my wife hit the accelerator and the car shuffled slightly, but quickly gained traction and we were off – no problem.

Further round the corner the road steepens and then crosses a bridge where there was 4-5 inches of fresh snow – nobody had gotten this far up and it’s now about 1 in 4 incline. We purposely stopped on the bridge and attempted another hill start but this time the intention was to accelerate as hard as possible. The traction control light flickered as the tyres searched for grip but we were off and got up to 25mph from a standstill in no time at all at which point we ran out of bravery on the narrow road.

Emergency stops are dealt with just as easily: the car stops very quickly in a straight line with no drama at all, even when heading down steep roads. It was a real eye-opener just how quickly the car was able to stop on fresh snow from 25mph. The only concern we would have doing this is possibly being followed by someone who will likely be on ‘summer’ tyres – there is no way they would be able to avoid crashing into us such is the grip generated by the Goodyear tyres.

Near the top of the hill, before going to our house, we drove into a large pub car park that is also on a quite a severe slope when covered in snow. Nobody drives too far into this car park in the snow as there would be no chance of recovering your car easily. But this didn’t put us off – we drove in at about 10-15mph and applied the amount of steering lock we would expect to use on a dry day to exit at the top end of the car park. Amazingly, the tyres gripped and tracked the route we were hoping to stick to without needing to apply any more steering lock - no skidding or scrabbling for grip.

Bottom line: we wanted some truly all-season tyres that wouldn’t leave us stranded following a decent snowfall and that would give us total confidence to venture out in such conditions as well as being great in the wet and the dry – we can confirm these tyres are fantastic.

Some might say that all-season, winter-rated (3 peaks mountain snowflake on sidewall) tyres are a compromise; 90% grip of decent winter tyre in the snow and 90% grip of a decent summer tyre in warm weather but we feel these tyres are worth it for our needs. After all, we’ve not been left stranded in the snow (the main point of buying them) and neither of us drive like Ayrton Senna in the summer so this so-called ‘compromise’ won’t even be noticed.

Given the Goodyears’ cost the same as the factory-fitted Michelin’s (£90), don’t need changing every 6 months like full winter tyres, no need to buy a 2nd set of steel wheels to mount the tyres, they likely won’t leave you stuck in the snow, are confidence-inspiring in the cold and wet and will be prove more than good enough come the summer, I just don’t see the point of buying ‘summer’ tyres again.

My wife was skeptical after the Goodyear’s were fitted – I mean, how could a different set of tyres not have her slithering to a stop on snow like the Michelin’s near home and end up her having to walk it? Well, she drives the Golf all the time and drove the car in all the conditions / tests written above (hill starts, cornering and emergency stops on 6 inches of snow) and she says she never wants summer-rubber again and has insisted on another set of Goodyear Vector 4 Seasons when these wear out – praise indeed.

After much research, I decided to buy the Goodyears for the front of my S-Max with the intention of running them year-round. We have a house in the Alps and I was a little anxious that they wouldn't match the performance of the all-out winter tyres that I had on a previous car. I needn't have worried: in the Alps over the Christmas holiday they were superb - never once had to resort to chains, despite often difficult conditions, and I reckon them very close to the snow performance of the tyres I used to have (also Goodyears - Ultragrip 7+), but hoping they'll be less compromised when it comes to summer use. Strongly recommended!

It are good tyres by dry weather. Very bad grip at a wet road, the weels are spinning when you accelerate fast. They are a little more noisy then regular.
Outstanding in snow for a all-seasontyre. Because of the bad perform by wet conditions i dont buy the tyres again.

Bought these tyres to fit to my new ford fiesta zetec. Wife not pleased after buying new tyres for our brand new car, but after todays snow in Lanarkshire, Scotland. She was impressed to say the least. Grip in the snow / ice is truly exceptional. Not once did my ESP or TCS system cut in. Hill starts no problem from still position. Going round corners felt like I was driving on normal roads instead of ice/snow. Felt like I was in a 4x4 being able to go anywhere.
Would buy these again in a drop of a hat.

25 years driving and thse tyres from goodyear blow me away. Snow grip 100%
Wet weather braking 99% better than any tyre i have had. Summer good.
Drove in snow were other front drive cars were stuck. Love them a dream come true all year round tyre that wears really well. Good job Goodyear you won me over.

Just got these tyres for the front of my s-max after weeks of research. I want a tyre that ticks all the boxes so i went for these. Good tread pattern, quiet, 300 treadwear rating, Winter rated even the guy from the tyre fitters was impressed by them. Will find out how good they really are over the next 6 months or so when the bad weather comes. I'll post another review then.

Bought in December 2010. Much quieter than previous summer tyres. Grip on snow and ice was exceptional - local 20% hills no problem. Good wet road performance. Fine in warm dry conditions; maybe not as precise as summer tyres but who cares when you get that snow/wet performance as well. Wearing well after 5,000 miles.

Following on from Previous review of these tyres done in December. Now that the weather has warmed up a bit I am pleased to say that the tyres perform to an exceptional standard. I have given top marks for every aspect, but please be aware that they are noisy. I haven't marked them down for that purely because I like the roar that they make when you accelerate (Rear Wheel Drive) They are wearing fantastically well been on for a few months now. Run your hand over them and you can physically feel the power in the grip! (This is not a tyre for drifters. This is a tyre for the driver who wants the car to stay on the line (Stuck to the line) no matter what speed that the wheels are turning.
MOT tester did raise a comment earlier this month "Expecting Snow Are We?!!" Best to be prepared isn't it!!?? 19 Year old Sierra Passed tho!! YAY!

Good grip in all circumstances, especially wet conditions. Had to make an emergency manoeuvre during heavy snowfall (had to speed up fast from near stand-still) and to my surprise this went almost as smooth as on a dry road!

I have 4 of these on my Disco2. Road performance is very good in any weather and in any road conditions. I was very pleased by the off-road performance, as well. Although these are not off-road tyres they are very good for rock crawling and surprisingly well in the mud. I was once in the middle of a rice field, stuck all the way to the axles. I took time and a lot of effort, but I made it out without the help of a tractor.