Goodyear WinterCommand Ultra vs Bridgestone Blizzak WS90: If you are living in an area which has a cold and long winter, you have probably heard of Nordic tires. These are the tires which are designed specifically for snow & ice usage only. In terms of winter performances the typical ranking goes like this, All Season –> Winter –> Nordic–>Studded. We have covered this segment quite a bit with the undisputed best Noridc tire, Continental’s Viking Contact 7 which is the best you can get in this segment.
For this time around we would like to bring on 2 different challengers in the form of Bridgestone’s WS90 which was launched in 2019 and also Goodyear’s WinterCommand Ultra which made its debut in 2020. Let’s put these 2 tires head to head and see who comes up on top !
Table of Contents
Results
Results below were taken from the Tire Rack’s “Testing Studless Ice & Snow Winter Tires” 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 WinterCommand Ultra vs Bridgestone Blizzak WS90 based on the relevant performance category. The WinterCommand Ultra 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 we are evaluating the Nordic segments, Tire Rack has included snow & ice in its testing portfolio. A detailed testing on snow including acceleration, braking & handling were also evaluated. However for summer performances, only wet/dry braking & noise were tested as the main focus was on winter tests. 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 2020 BMW F36 430i Gran Coupe with a 17×7.5 rim.
Ice
As what vanilla ice said in his famous song “Ice Ice Baby”, the song sums up the key needs for this particular segment. As the usage conditions are usually around lower than -10°C, ice is the most wanted criteria. This is where we got a mixture of results from the 2 competitors. In ice braking, Blizzak WS90 managed to out-brake WinterCommand Ultra by 1 feet (0.3m) from a braking speed of 12 mph (20 km/h) to 0. Things however turned around for ice traction as WinterCommand Ultra took 0.21 seconds less to travel 60 feet.
Blizzak WS90:
- +3.2% in ice braking
- -4.9% in ice acceleration
Snow
Similar to ice, snow results were mixed as both products took turns to outshine the other in different kinds of snow test. Blizzak WS90 stopped 1.2 feet (0.37m) earlier than WinterCommand Ultra from a speed of 25 mph (40 km/h) to 0. It was the other way round when it came to snow acceleration as WinterCommand Ultra took 2.5 feet (0.76m) less distance to accelerate from 0 to 12 mph (20 km/h). While Blizzak WS90 was quicker in lap time (1.6 seconds) it was subjectively worse in snow handling (-0.6 points). Overall, both tires were neck in neck when it came to snow performances and there is no clear snow winner.
Blizzak WS90:
- +2.4% in snow braking
- -9.3% in snow acceleration
- +3.2% in snow handling (subj)
- -2.3% in snow handling (lap time)
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. WinterCommand Ultra was second best as it trailed Blizzak WS90 9.9 feet (3m) in distance at a braking speed of 50mph (80km/h) down to 0.
Blizzak WS90:
- +7.7% in wet braking
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. While things overwhelmingly favored Blizzak WS90 in the wet, it was the opposite in dry as WinterCommand Ultra managed to brake 5.9 feet (1.8m) earlier compared to WinterCommand Ultra from a speed of 50mph (80km/h) down to 0.
Blizzak WS90:
- -6.3% in dry braking
Noise/Comfort/Ride Quality
Ride comfort, noise & comfort was tested and Blizzak WS90 came out slightly ahead at 7.17/10 rating compared to the 7/10 rating of WinterCommand Ultra with ride quality being the main differences.
Blizzak WS90:
- +0.8% in average of Noise, Comfort & Ride Quality.
Price
As both tires are from the premium segment, we do expect a competitive pricing between the 2 of them. This was in alignment as Blizzak WS90 was only 5 dollars more expensive than WinterCommand Ultra.
Tire size: 225/50 R17
WinterCommand Ultra: $171
Blizzak WS90: $176
Difference: +2.8% more expensive for Blizzak WS90.
Summary
Overall, both tires were neck in neck when it comes to their winter & summer performances. WinterCommand Ultra showed better ice/snow acceleration & dry braking. Blizzak WS90 on the hand had better snow braking/handling, wet & noise performances. As the results were really close there is no clear winner in this battle. You would need to rely on your tiny preferences be it looks or specific performance category to determine which tires would suit you the best. Enjoy !