Continental Viking Contact 7 vs Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 2: After introducing the nordic tires from Continental, Nokian, & Michelin, now its time to introduce another premium competitor which is the Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 2. The UltraGrip 2 was launch in 2014 which was more than 7 year ago. In comparison to the recent launch of the Viking Cotntac 7 in 2018, it is definitely a really long time. We will use the test magazine results of 2020 Vi Bilagare Nordic Friction Winter Tire Test as our basis for comparison.
The graph above shows the comparison between Continental Viking Contact 7 vs Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 2 based on the relevant performance category. The Viking Contact 7 was set as a reference hence at the 100% mark. Note that for handling evaluation, we equate 1 point as 5%. Hence for example if the tire A is graded 4 while tire B is graded 3, A is better than B by 5%. The natural scaling does not really make sense in evaluation whereby the max number is 5. The tire size chosen for the test is a 205/60R16 which is commonly used by Mazda 3 and Ford Focus.
Table of Contents
Ice
When it comes to Nordic tires, the main requirements are on ice as the usage temperature are lower than -10 °C. The UltraGrip Ice 2 fair badly in both ice braking and also in ice handling by being down almost 9% compared to the Viking Contact 7.
UltraGrip Ice 2 :
- -8.7% in ice braking
- -8.7% in ice handling
Snow
Things are much more closer in the snow test but it can be seen that the UltraGrip Ice 2 lacks the snow power in comparison with Viking Contact 7.
UltraGrip Ice 2 :
- -1.3% in snow braking
- -1.8% in snow handling
Wet
Tables are totally turn when it comes to the “summer” performances as UltraGrip Ice 2 beats the Viking Contact 7 badly in all wet categories. The UltraGrip Ice 2 even managed to out ranked the Pirelli Ice Zero FR which was also beating the competition in wet. Both wet braking and aquaplaning were more than 10% better while the wet handling was at 4.4%.
UltraGrip Ice 2 :
- +11.6% in wet braking
- +4.4% in wet handling
- +14.4% in aquaplaning
Dry
While at dry roads, the UltraGrip Ice 2 was better than the Viking Contact 7 but only at a small margin. The UltraGrip Ice 2 managed a perfect subjective handling score of 5/5 while the Viking Contact 7 was one level behind with a score of 4/5.
UltraGrip Ice 2 :
- +0.9% in dry braking
- +5% in dry handling
Rolling Resistance
Rolling Resistance was also a close call whereby UltraGrip Ice 2 managed to edge the Viking Contact 7 by 1.5%.
UltraGrip Ice 2:
- +1.5% in rolling resistance
Noise & Comfort
Viking contact 7 scored a prefect score of 5/5 in the subjective noise & comfort test while the UltraGrip Ice 2 only managed a 4/5.
UltraGrip Ice 2:
- -5% in noise & comfort
Price
Based on the test report, the prices of the tires were also noted down.
Tire size: 205/60 R16
UltraGrip Ice 2 : € 131
Viking Contact 7 : € 160
Difference: -22% cheaper for UltraGrip Ice 2
Summary
From the overview of the results, it is clear the 2 tires above have its own specialize area. UltraGrip Ice 2 is very dominant in summer related categories such as dry & wet while the Viking Contact 7 is clearly the best ice & snow tire. As we are in the Nordic segment, the clear winner is the Viking Contact 7 with its superior ice & snow capabilities.