Goodyear Assurance WeatherReady vs Continental PureContact LS: All season tires have always been the go to tires for the American market and this segment has been well established across the years. There are 2 types of all season tires, one with 3 peak mountain & one with only M+S. We have covered these 2 types of tire head to head with Michelin’s Defender T+H (M+S) vs Cross Climate 2 (3 peak mountain) and the M+S all season tires are worst in winter performances but excel much better in mileage.
This time around we picked up 2 all season challengers in the form of Continental’s PureContact LS and Goodyear’s Assurance WeatherReady. Assurance WeatherReady was launched in 2017 and covers a large range of passenger cars and crossovers. PureContact LS on the other hand was launched in 2018 and covers mostly passenger cars, minivans, SUVs and crossovers sizes from 16″-20″. Let’s put these 2 tires head to head and see who comes out on top !
Table of Contents
Results
Results below were taken from the Tire Rack’s “Grand Touring All-Season” test. A total of 4 tires were tested this time around in Tire Rack’s own proving ground. The graph below shows the comparison between Goodyear Assurance WeatherReady vs Continental PureContact LS based on the relevant performance category. The Assurance WeatherReady was set as a reference hence at the 100% mark. Note that for subjective evaluation, we equate 1 point as 5%. Hence for example if tire A is graded 7 while tire B is graded 6, A is better than B by 5%.
As both tires are categorized as all season tires, Tire Rack has included snow & ice in its testing portfolio. A detailed testing on snow including acceleration, braking & handling were evaluated. The tire size of interest is a 225/50 R17 which is a common tire size for Audi A4 & Honda Accord. You can check out our latest tire size table for more information. The testing vehicle is a rear wheel drive 2017 BMW F36 430i Gran Coupe with a 17×7.5 rim.
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. PureContact LS had a big edge in wet braking as it stopped 12.6 feet (3.84m) earlier than Assurance WeatherReady.
PureContact LS managed to maintain its advantage in wet handling, as it had a 1.7 second advantage in lap time against Assurance WeatherReady. The same goes for subjective wet handling as PureContact LS had a higher score of 7.42/10 compared to 5.85/10 of Assurance WeatherReady. Overall, PureContact LS was truly dominant in wet over Assurance WeatherReady.
PureContact LS:
- +11.1% in wet braking
- +7.9% in wet handling (subj)
- +4.6% in wet handling (lap time)
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. Similar to the wet results, PureContact LS was ahead of Assurance WeatherReady in dry braking as well. It managed to brake 1.8 feet (0.55m) earlier compared to Assurance WeatherReady from a speed of 50mph (80km/h) down to 0.
In dry handling, things were not working out for PureContact LS when it came to lap times as it was 0.3 seconds slower than Assurance WeatherReady. However when it came to subjective rating, PureContact LS was rated much higher with a 7.37/10 rating compared to 6.36/10. Overall, PureContact LS showed strengths in dry braking & subjective dry handling while Assurance WeatherReady was quicker in lap times.
PureContact LS:
- +2.0% in dry braking
- +5.1% in dry handling (subj)
- -1.0% in dry handling (lap time)
Noise/Comfort/Ride Quality
Ride comfort, noise & comfort was tested and it was clear that PureContact LS was better with a 8.06/10 rating compared to the 7.52/10 rating of Assurance WeatherReady with noise, ride quality, steering and road handling having half a node difference.
PureContact LS:
- +2.7% in average of Noise, Comfort & Ride Quality.
Snow
As both tires have been rated as an all season tire, we were thrilled when Tire Rack included snow on its testing list. Upon initial checks, only Assurance WeatherReady has the elusive 3 peak mountain logo. Hence it has to pass a certain threshold of snow traction level as determined by the legislation. From an overall expectation point of view, we would expect Assurance WeatherReady to be better than PureContact LS in winter performances.
As expected PureContact LS showed clear strengths in snow. It stopped 7.5 feet (2.3m) earlier than Assurance WeatherReady from a speed of 25 mph (40 km/h) to 0. It was also better when it came to snow acceleration as it took 2.4 feet (0.73m) less distance to accelerate from 0 to 12 mph (20 km/h). Both tires were neck to neck in snow handling as Assurance WeatherReady was 1.85 seconds quicker in lap time but subjectively slightly worse in snow handling (-0.05 points). Overall, Assurance WeatherReady had an edge over PureContact LS in snow performances.
PureContact LS:
- -9.1% in snow braking
- -6.1% in snow acceleration
- +0.2% in snow handling (subj)
- -1.7% in snow handling (lap time)
Ice
Ice braking was in favor of Assurance WeatherReady as it out-brake PureContact LS by 0.8 feet (0.24m) from a braking speed of 12 mph (20 km/h) to 0. In ice traction, PureContact LS just slightly edges Assurance WeatherReady as it took 0.03 seconds less to travel 60 feet
PureContact LS:
- -1.7% in ice braking
- +0.6% in ice acceleration
UTQG rating
We have previously shown that UTQG tread wear rating can be a good indication of your expected mileage. Below are the UTQG values of both of the tirelines.
| Brand | Tireline | Size | Tread Wear | Traction | Temperature |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goodyear | Assurance WeatherReady | All | 700 | A | A |
| Continental | PureContact LS | All | 700 | A | A |
The mileage warranty for PureContact LS is at 70,000 miles while Assurance WeatherReady mileage warranty is at 60,000 miles. This is however not in line with UTQG tread wear rating values as both tires shared the same value of 700. Taking into consideration the both factors, we would expect PureContact LS to have a slightly higher expected mileage compared to Assurance WeatherReady.
For more in depth information about UTQG, please check out this article here. We even have a free download on the latest UTQG values from the leading tire manufacturers.
Price
Goodyear being able to offer the 3 peak mountain rating commanded a higher price costing 19 dollars more than PureContact LS.
Tire size: 225/50R17
Assurance WeatherReady: $202
PureContact LS: $183
Difference: -10% more cheaper for PureContact LS.
Summary
Overall, both tires excel on different performance criteria. Assurance WeatherReady was strong in snow while PureContact LS was good in wet/dry & we do expect it to have a higher expected mileage. Taking into consideration the typical importance of an all season tire, there is no clear winner of this duel as Assurance WeatherReady was good in winter performances while PureContact LS was good in summer performances. It really depends on your requirements and what weather conditions you expect to face. Enjoy !