Yokohama AVID Ascend LX vs Goodyear Assurance MaxLife: 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 M+S all season challengers in the form of Yokohama’s AVID Ascend LX and Goodyear’s Assurance MaxLife. Assurance MaxLife was launched in 2018 and covers a large range of passenger cars and crossovers. AVID Ascend LX on the other hand was launched a year later in 2019 and covers mostly passenger cars, minivans, SUVs and crossovers sizes from 15″-18″. Let’s put 2 of the great M+S all season tires head to head and see who comes out on top !
Table of Contents
Results
Results below were taken from the Tire Rack’s “Testing Standard Touring All-Season 2021” 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 Yokohama AVID Ascend LX vs Goodyear Assurance MaxLife based on the relevant performance category. The AVID Ascend LX 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. Assurance MaxLife was clearly the better tire in wet braking as it stopped 6.6 feet (2m) earlier than AVID Ascend LX.
When it comes to wet handling, Assurance MaxLife maintained its wet dominance with a 2.3 seconds advantage in lap time against AVID Ascend LX. It was the same for subjective wet handling rating as Assurance MaxLife fared better with a subjective score of 6/10 compared to 5.09/10 of AVID Ascend LX. Overall, it is clear that Assurance MaxLife was the dominant tire in wet.
Assurance MaxLife:
- +5.2% in wet braking
- +4.6% in wet handling (subj)
- +6.4% 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, Assurance MaxLife was ahead of AVID Ascend LX in dry as well. Assurance MaxLife was better in dry braking as it managed to brake 3.6 feet (1.1m) earlier compared to AVID Ascend LX from a speed of 50mph (80km/h) down to 0.
In dry handling, Assurance MaxLife had a small advantage with a subjective rating of 6.56/10 over AVID Ascend LX’s 5.94/10. In regards to the lap times, Assurance MaxLife was 0.21 seconds faster per lap relative to AVID Ascend LX. Overall, Assurance MaxLife showed clear strengths in dry braking and dry handling over AVID Ascend LX.
Assurance MaxLife:
- +4% in dry braking
- +3.1% in dry handling (subj)
- +0.7% in dry handling (lap time)
Noise/Comfort/Ride Quality
Ride comfort, noise & comfort was tested and it was clear that AVID Ascend LX was better with a 7.17/10 rating compared to the 6.5/10 rating of Assurance MaxLife with ride quality, steering & road handling being the main differences.
Assurance MaxLife:
- -3.4% 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. As discussed earlier in the introduction, Assurance MaxLife & AVID Ascend LX do not have the elusive 3 peak mountain logo. Hence both tires do not need to pass a certain threshold of snow traction level as determined by the legislation.
With dry & wet performances being extremely close, we saw a big difference in winter performances with AVID Ascend LX dominating across all snow tests. It stopped 13 feet (4m) earlier than Assurance MaxLife 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 10 feet (3m) less distance to accelerate from 0 to 12 mph (20 km/h). While it was also quicker in lap time (5.7 seconds !) and also subjectively better in snow handling (+1.1 points). Overall, Assurance MaxLife is clearly the better snow tire.
Assurance MaxLife:
- -18.6% in snow braking
- -25.1% in snow acceleration
- -5.7% in snow handling (subj)
- -7.5% in snow handling (lap time)
Ice
With such dominating performances in snow, we would expect this to continue in ice. This was not the case as Assurance MaxLife out-brake AVID Ascend LX by 6.7 feet (2m) from a braking speed of 12 mph (20 km/h) to 0. In ice traction, Assurance MaxLife was a tiny fraction in the lead by taking 0.07 seconds less to travel 60 feet in comparison against Assurance MaxLife. Overall, Assurance MaxLife was dominant in ice.
Assurance MaxLife:
- +12% in ice braking
- +1.3% 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 MaxLife | All | 820 | A | B |
| Yokohama | AVID Ascend LX | All | 800 | A | A |
The mileage warranty for AVID Ascend LX and Assurance MaxLife is at 85,000 miles. There is a 20 points difference in the UTQG tread wear rating as Assurance MaxLife was rated 820 compared to 800 of AVID Ascend LX. However taking into consideration the overall picture, both tires should have the same expected mileage “give and take” the standard real life tolerances (road condition, car alignment, driving style & rotation)
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
Both tires were priced relatively close to each other as Assurance MaxLife is 2 dollars more expensive compared to AVID Ascend LX.
Tire size: 225/50R17
AVID Ascend LX: $180
Assurance MaxLife: $182
Difference: +1% more expensive for Assurance MaxLife.
Summary
Overall, both tires excel on different performance criteria. AVID Ascend LX was strong in noise/comfort & snow while Assurance MaxLife was good in wet, dry & ice. Taking into consideration the typical importance of an all season tire, the winner of this duel is Assurance MaxLife with its excellent wet, dry & snow performances !