Goodyear Vector 4Seasons Gen 3 SUV vs Michelin CrossClimate SUV: All season tires have always been the go to tires for the American market and this segment has been well established across the years. However things were only starting to take off in Europe after the launch of Cross Climate in 2015 revolutionizing the whole all season market. The first 2022 all season test is out and we took the top 3 place finishers and put them in a head to head comparison. On the left we have a premium challenger in the form of Goodyear’s Vector 4Seasons Gen 3 SUV, while on the right we have the reigning champion in the all season segment…. introducing Michelin’s CrossClimate SUV. This would be a specific shown down on a SUV tire size with a standard SUV vehicle. Without further ado, let’s start the duel !
Table of Contents
Results
Results below were taken from the 2022 Auto Bild SUV All Season Tyre Test. A total of 13 tires were tested this time around including a reference summer & winter tire to gauge the compromises of an all season tire. The winter testing was done in the New Zealand Alps (Southern Hemisphere Proving Ground). The graph below shows the comparison between Goodyear Vector 4Seasons Gen 3 SUV vs Michelin CrossClimate SUV based on the relevant performance category. The Vector 4Seasons Gen 3 SUV was set as a reference hence at the 100% mark.
As both tires are categorized as all season tires with a 3 peak mountain logo on it, an extensive snow testing was conducted. However ice testing was left out which was quite disappointing to our dismay. The tire size of interest is 225/50 R18 which is a common tire size for Toyota Corolla Cross 1.8V and the Honda Hr-V 1.8 while the test vehicle is the BMW X2. You can check out our latest tire size table for more information.
Wet
The friction of coefficient of the tire/road dramatically decreases in wet roads compared to dry roads. Hence it is more likely to get into a road accident during wet conditions rather than on a sunny day. It was so important that the EU label has wet braking as one of its three criteria. CrossClimate SUV took first blood by out braking Vector 4Seasons Gen 3 SUV by 2m. Michelin once again shows its class by topping the charts in wet braking.
While in wet handling, both tires are quite closely matched as CrossClimate SUV was slower than Vector 4Seasons Gen 3 SUV by having a 1.1km/h deficit in average lap time speed. Vector 4Seasons Gen 3 SUV shows its class in wet handling by topping the charts with the highest average speed tire in wet handling. As we have seen with many Michelin tires across various press tests, CrossClimate SUV’s aquaplaning performance is the best among the competition as it claims the top spot once again. It managed a straight aquaplaning slip speed of 85.1 km/h while Vector 4Seasons Gen 3 SUV only had a 79.9 km/h slip speed.
Things were different in curve aquaplaning as they are equally matched with Vector 4Seasons Gen 3 SUV having a tiny 0.03m/s2 advantage. Overall in the wet category, CrossClimate SUV has an edge in wet braking & straight aquaplaning while Vector 4Seasons Gen 3 SUV has a slightly better wet handling. Both of them were very similar in terms of curve aquaplaning.
CrossClimate SUV :
- +4.6% in wet braking
- -1.3% in wet handling (lap time)
- -1.2% in wet Circle
- +6.5% in straight aquaplaning
- -0.8% in curve aquaplaning
Dry
As for dry, safety is usually not an issue as the braking distance is much longer than wet. However this is the default daily usage and the tires have to perform at a very consistent level. CrossClimate SUV dominated the dry braking competition by being the best in competition by out braking Vector 4Seasons Gen 3 SUV by 3.9 meters. Both tires were inseparable in dry handling as they finished with nearly the same average lap time speed of 110km/h. Overall on dry surfaces, CrossClimate SUV has the edge especially on dry braking. i
CrossClimate SUV :
- +11% in dry braking
- -0.4% in dry handling (lap time)
Noise
In the exterior noise test, CrossClimate SUV has a pass by noise value of 71.9 dB which is 0.6 dB quieter than Vector 4Seasons Gen 3 SUV. CrossClimate SUV was crowned joint 1st as they once again showed incredible trade off management by being the best in wet braking, dry braking & now exterior noise.
CrossClimate SUV :
- +1.1% in exterior noise (-0.6 dB)
Rolling Resistance
When it comes to all season tires, rolling resistance is definitely not at the highest priority as the engineer has to handle the most important winter vs summer target conflict. However with the sustainability topic being more prevalent, rolling resistance has been widely used as a competitive marketing tool as it could be easily seen in the label values.
Both CrossClimate SUV & Vector 4Seasons Gen 3 SUV are labeled “C”. In terms of results, they were almost nothing in between them as CrossClimate SUV just have a slightly lower rolling resistance coefficient of 7.97N/kN compared to the 8.06 N/kN value of Vector 4Seasons Gen 3 SUV.
CrossClimate SUV :
- +0.8% in rolling resistance
Snow
As with most all season tires in the European market, both tires here come with a 3 peak mountain symbol to legally certified them as a winter tire. In layman terms, CrossClimate SUV & Vector 4Seasons Gen 3 SUV have to pass a legal snow test in order to certify themselves as a 3 peak mountain tire.
Vector 4Seasons Gen 3 SUV took back some pride by being better in snow as it managed to out brake 1.8m earlier than CrossClimate SUV. It was the best snow braking tire by being joint top with Hankook’s Kinergy 4S 2 X. Same story in snow traction as Vector 4Seasons Gen 3 SUV has an extra 161N in it compared to CrossClimate SUV. Vector 4Seasons Gen 3 SUV also topped the charts when it came to snow traction. However in snow handling, Michelin managed to exert a much to close the gap by averaging a lap time speed of 56.3 km/h compared to the 56.4 km/h of Vector 4Seasons Gen 3 SUV. Overall, Vector 4Seasons Gen 3 SUV clearly outshine CrossClimate SUV in snow.
CrossClimate SUV :
- -6.7% in snow braking
- -6.4% in snow traction
- -0.2% in snow handling (lap times)
- -1% in snow slalom
Price
Being the undisputed technology leader, we would expect Michelin to command the highest priced tire in the market. This was proven to be true as Michelin’s CrossClimate SUV proved to be more expensive compared to Vector 4Seasons Gen 3 SUV.
Tire size: 225/65 R17
CrossClimate SUV : €154
Vector 4Seasons Gen 3 SUV: €129
Difference: +16% more expensive for CrossClimate SUV.
Summary
Overall, CrossClimate SUV shows great masterclass performance in wet, dry & noise while Vector 4Seasons Gen 3 SUV was a class of its on in snow. Taking into consideration the overall picture, we think that CrossClimate SUV with its well balanced attribute did just enough to beat out Vector 4Seasons Gen 3 SUV and it is the winner of this duel !