Michelin CrossClimate 2 vs Goodyear Assurance ComfortDrive: All season tires have always been the go to tires for the American market and this segment has been well established across the years. We have written quite extensively about Michelin’s Cross Climate 2 as the gold standard for all season tires with an incredible all round balance portfolio. This time around we picked up another all season challenger in the form of Goodyear’s Assurance ComfortDrive. This tireline is relatively new as it was launched in 2020 and covers a large range of passenger cars and crossovers with North America as their main market. The major difference between the tires is that Cross Climate 2 comes with a 3 peak mountain logo while Assurance ComfortDrive only has the M+S logo on it. Cross Climate 2 was launched in 2020 and covers a wide variety of sizes. Let’s put them head to head and see who comes out on top !
Table of Contents
Results
Results below were taken from the Tire Rack’s “Testing Grand Touring All-Season Tires 2021” test. A total of 4 tires were tested on Tire Rack’s own proving ground. The graph below shows the comparison between Michelin CrossClimate 2 vs Goodyear Assurance ComfortDrive based on the relevant performance category. The Cross Climate 2 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 2020 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. With regards to our comparison, Assurance ComfortDrive was worse in wet braking compared to Cross Climate 2 with a 5.6 feet (1.7 m) deficit in braking distance.
While in wet handling, Cross Climate 2 had a 0.34 seconds advantage in lap time against Assurance ComfortDrive. This margin was relatively small which would not be significant for normal road users. For the subjective wet handling rating, both tires were rated relatively close to each other with Cross Climate 2 leading with 7.16/10 against the 6.97/10 of Assurance ComfortDrive. Overall, Cross Climate 2 has a clear advantage over Assurance ComfortDrive in wet braking but both tires were performing relatively the same in wet handling.
Assurance ComfortDrive:
- -4.3% in wet braking
- -1% in wet handling (subj)
- -0.9% 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. Dry braking was dominated by Cross Climate 2 as it was able to brake 6.2 feet (1.9m) earlier compared to Assurance ComfortDrive from a speed of 50mph (80km/h) down to 0.
In dry handling, both tires perform marginally the same with Assurance ComfortDrive having a small advantage with a subjective rating of 7.44/10 over Cross Climate 2’s 7.25/10. In regards to the lap times, both tires are only separated by 0.04 seconds which makes them equally matched. Overall, Cross Climate 2 showed a clear advantage in dry braking but it was equally matched by Assurance ComfortDrive in dry handling.
Assurance ComfortDrive:
- -6.8% in dry braking
- +1% in dry handling (subj)
- -0.1% in dry handling (lap time)
Noise/Comfort/Ride Quality
Ride comfort, noise & comfort was tested and the scores are really close. Cross Climate 2 came out slightly ahead at 7.96/10 rating compared to the 7.63/10 rating of Assurance ComfortDrive with noise & ride quality being the main differences.
Assurance ComfortDrive:
- -1.7% 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. From initial checks, only the Cross Climate 2 has a 3 peak mountain label to legally certified the tire as a winter tire. Hence Cross Climate 2 will need to pass a certain threshold of snow traction level as determined by the legislation. From an expectation point of view, we would definitely expect the 3 peak mountain labeled Cross Climate 2 to be better in snow compared to the non-labeled Assurance ComfortDrive.
As previously expected, Cross Climate 2 dominated across all snow tests. It stopped 21.2 feet (6.5m) earlier than Assurance ComfortDrive from a speed of 25 mph (40 km/h) to 0. It was also extremely good when it came to snow acceleration as it took 13.4 feet (4m) less distance to accelerate from 0 to 12 mph (20 km/h). While it was also quicker in lap time (11.7 seconds !) and also subjectively better in snow handling (+2.7 points). Overall, Cross Climate 2 is clearly the better snow tire.
Assurance ComfortDrive:
- -28.2% in snow braking
- -33.4% in snow acceleration
- -13.4% in snow handling (subj)
- -14.8% in snow handling (lap time)
Ice
With a superior winter performing compound as demonstrated in Snow, Cross Climate 2 continued its dominance over Assurance ComfortDrive in ice. With ice braking. the 3 peak mountain certified Cross Climate 2 was braking 10.8 feet (3.3m) earlier than Assurance ComfortDrive. While the same holds true in ice acceleration as it took Cross Climate 2 0.43 seconds earlier to reach 60 feet (18m). Overall, ice category belongs to Cross Climate 2.
Assurance ComfortDrive:
- -21.3% in ice braking
- -8.1% 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 ComfortDrive | All | 700 | A | A |
| Michelin | Cross Climate 2 | All | 640 | B | A |
The mileage warranty for both tires are the same at 60,000 miles. This is in despite that Assurance ComfortDrive have a higher UTQG tread wear value of 700 compared to the 640 of Assurance ComfortDrive. Overall we can expect both tires to end with a similar expected mileage.
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
Being the undisputed technology leader, we would expect Michelin to command the highest priced tire in the market. This was in alignment as Cross Climate 2 was 24 dollars more expensive than Assurance ComfortDrive.
Tire size: 225/50 R17
Cross Climate 2 : $213
Assurance ComfortDrive : $189
Difference: -13% more cheaper for Assurance ComfortDrive.
Summary
Overall, Cross Climate 2 showed clear domination over Assurance ComfortDrive in all categories. With an excellent wet, dry, snow & ice performance, the clear winner for this dual is the Cross Climate 2 !