Goodyear Eagle Exhilarate

[Itaix]

Weather getting colder in Michigan so looking to swap tires soon. Anyone use these tires? Any complaints? Debating between these and the Continental Extreme Contact DWS 06s.

 

[Waynerm002]

Tire Rack did some reviews on them and they seem to do well for the other seasons, no winter testing yet however, I would start there.

 

[ecko04]

All season tires in Michigan as opposed to a dedicated winter tire? I know A/S tires have gotten a lot better but I’d still lean towards winter tires in a decidedly cold climate. Heck, I’m in VA and have winter tires, but my state also has no idea how to prepare for inclement weather — something that MI has down to a science.

 

[SafetyPilotCal]

I would not run all-seasons in the winter. I lived in PA long enough, and even in my AWD Jeep, all seasons suck ass compared to dedicated winter tires. I have Pilot Sport A/S 3+ tires on my Corvette, supposed "all seasons", and nearly careened that thing into multiple ditches driving it home from Florida.

All seasons are good for cold weather, and that's it. They don't cope well with full on snow and slush.

As for Goodyear tires themselves, I have NEVER found a single GY model that didn't have a comparable tire from another manufacturer that was cheaper and performed better.

 

[Itaix]

Thanks for the info. The main reason I was considering just going with all season tires is because my job became permanent telework with covid so I don't think I'll have to drive in the snow a ton as compared to previous years. Mostly just need something for the cold and salty MI roads. I'll probably just try out the continentals, though I'd be curious about winter tire suggestions as well.

-Edit- Forgot to mention the car was bought with summer tires on it a few months ago.

 

[HerbieTheCar]

Thanks for the info. The main reason I was considering just going with all season tires is because my job became permanent telework with covid so I don't think I'll have to drive in the snow a ton as compared to previous years. Mostly just need something for the cold and salty MI roads. I'll probably just try out the continentals, though I'd be curious about winter tire suggestions as well.

-Edit- Forgot to mention the car was bought with summer tires on it a few months ago.

If you already have a set of summer tires, I'd just get a set of winter tires to go with it. I live in Minnesota and bought my first set of winter tires last year. It ran great and was well worth the money. Before that, I've always just had all-season tires and some snowstorms were super sketchy. My job moved to mostly telework also, but it's always nice to be prepared for inclement weather.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Global warming means the Great White North is slowly shifting further north. The "scientific" skuttlebutt is that the Great Lakes region will turn into a breadbasket; probably the next high density population center. That means that snow packed roads will become anomalous. Cold will be considerably less so. None of this is to be taken seriously. I'm just distracted.

Real Life says that an A/S tire will perform safely at any temperature. On snow and slush you just have to back off. But you won't be experiencing getting stranded or slip off the road or crash into anyone's rear with A/S tires. The difference is in the driving style. That's even true of summer tires below freezing, of course: but hardly an argument that anyone should go out of his way to make. And on any slope worthy of the designation a summer tire will either fail to climb, or will slide to the bottom. An A/S won't do that unless there are also iced surfaces (black ice being the bane of ANY tire sans studs). I like my Nitto Motivo A/S and have tried them in slush and snow on the freeway: I was the only car that was in view changing lanes and going faster than anyone else. This heavy GT with AWD is a plow. I hardly felt the ridges of snow between lanes but heard the snow beating on the wheel wells. Never did I feel remotely on the edge of control. The open secret of A/S in snow is to drive with respect: that you need to back off, not push to find your limits.

 

[SafetyPilotCal]

Thanks for the info. The main reason I was considering just going with all season tires is because my job became permanent telework with covid so I don't think I'll have to drive in the snow a ton as compared to previous years. Mostly just need something for the cold and salty MI roads. I'll probably just try out the continentals, though I'd be curious about winter tire suggestions as well.

-Edit- Forgot to mention the car was bought with summer tires on it a few months ago.

I have those Continentals on my Regal right now, and I think they're fantastic, but I live in TX. They rarely see freezing weather let alone snow. They're great in the rain, though. No complaints there. Nice dry traction, too.

Real Life says that an A/S tire will perform safely at any temperature. On snow and slush you just have to back off. But you won't be experiencing getting stranded or slip off the road or crash into anyone's rear with A/S tires. The difference is in the driving style.

With all due respect, this is 100% complete and utter rubbish. "All season" does not mean a tire is safe or competent in a particular driving environment. In fact, it means nothing at all because it's a marketing term.

A few years ago, I trekked from Pittsburgh to Columbus in a brand new rental Taurus equipped with Goodyear RSAs. Halfway through the drive, we got hit with a moderate snowstorm, and as soon as the white flakes started sticking, that car was all over the road and had very little braking ability before the ABS would engage, lengthening every stop by hundreds of feet. Pulling out from a red light in the snow was difficult because the car would do nothing but grapple for traction, TCS going mad, because the tires provided no grip. Changing lanes and hitting slush piles was a serious effort in keeping the nose of the car pointed forward. Those tires were downright unsafe, period.

Before that, I ran all-seasons on my daily driver Regal. I got stuck on a hill in Pittsburgh because I just couldn't get any grip to get moving. Tires were Michelins I believe, and less than a year old. I watched as city buses went around me with little issue. The winter I moved to dedicated snow tires is the moment all of that ended. And for what it's worth, I'd like to think I'm not a woefully incompetent driver. I have been through EVOC courses, both dry and inclement weather, and I have PLENTY of snowy miles under my belt. You might be satisfied with subpar tires in the snow, but to say that any "A/S tire will perform safely" is demonstrably false and a load of hogwash.

 

[MerlintheMad]

I have those Continentals on my Regal right now, and I think they're fantastic, but I live in TX. They rarely see freezing weather let alone snow. They're great in the rain, though. No complaints there. Nice dry traction, too.



With all due respect, this is 100% complete and utter rubbish. "All season" does not mean a tire is safe or competent in a particular driving environment. In fact, it means nothing at all because it's a marketing term.

A few years ago, I trekked from Pittsburgh to Columbus in a brand new rental Taurus equipped with Goodyear RSAs. Halfway through the drive, we got hit with a moderate snowstorm, and as soon as the white flakes started sticking, that car was all over the road and had very little braking ability before the ABS would engage, lengthening every stop by hundreds of feet. Pulling out from a red light in the snow was difficult because the car would do nothing but grapple for traction, TCS going mad, because the tires provided no grip. Changing lanes and hitting slush piles was a serious effort in keeping the nose of the car pointed forward. Those tires were downright unsafe, period.

Before that, I ran all-seasons on my daily driver Regal. I got stuck on a hill in Pittsburgh because I just couldn't get any grip to get moving. Tires were Michelins I believe, and less than a year old. I watched as city buses went around me with little issue. The winter I moved to dedicated snow tires is the moment all of that ended. And for what it's worth, I'd like to think I'm not a woefully incompetent driver. I have been through EVOC courses, both dry and inclement weather, and I have PLENTY of snowy miles under my belt. You might be satisfied with subpar tires in the snow, but to say that any "A/S tire will perform safely" is demonstrably false and a load of hogwash.

I figured that my assertions would be taken poorly by some(one), but also figured it was time to weigh in again on the subject.

Note, that I referred specifically to "temperatures". Then I did an anecdotal commentary on how well (specifically) the AWD Stinger does on A/S in snow and slush. Your two examples are involving rubbish cars that need all the help they can get in hardly any snow at all. The Stinger AWD is a beast in the winter. With winter tires it would, of course, be a fully functioning beast. But where I live the weather is (in recent years) nowhere near whiteout conditions. And by afternoon the following day of a dumper, the roads are all 90% plus dry. Snow tires are a waste of money, since most of the winter they are simply being worn away in above freezing temperatures on dry roads to no purpose. When the white stuff flies, I adjust my driving accordingly.

 

[SafetyPilotCal]

You're actually suggesting FWD cars are rubbish in the snow? There's a reason why you don't see RWD-only sell well up north, if they're available at all. No, FWD cars are plenty competent in even heavy snow conditions when they have the appropriate tires. Do you also think an AWD Grand Cherokee is rubbish in the snow? Because the winter weather performance between the A/S Yokohama Geolandars and winter-specific Hankook I-Pikes I had on there were like night and day.

Your assumption was "taken poorly" because you seem to be suggesting that just because A/S tires work for you in Utah, that they are perfectly safe everywhere else. Indeed, maybe they are a total waste there; I don't know, I've spent a total of maybe 5 hours in Utah in my entire life. However, I'm suggesting that winter weather is certainly not the same between OH/PA/MI (where OP lives) and whatever it is you get there. Those states DO get whiteout conditions and it's not uncommon for snow to stick around for extended periods of time. Hell, up in Erie they don't even thoroughly plow the roads. You'll be driving on compacted snow for a week if the temperature never warms enough to melt it.

I'm glad your all-seasons work for you in Utah. They are inferior to dedicated winter tires in the northern states.

Edit: Either way you go OP, sorry for shitting your thread up.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Your assumption was "taken poorly" because you seem to be suggesting that just because A/S tires work for you in Utah, that they are perfectly safe everywhere else.

Not at all. This hasn't been an in-depth exchange. Elsewhere I've said that if, for example, I lived in Canada which has long, deeper winters, with lots of places where the roads are snow packed, I'd run dedicated winter tires. You're right that a snow tire and A/S can be "night and day" in those conditions; especially if they persist for days/weeks.

 

[westcoastGT]

I had those Contis on my X6 , and in lots of snow during winters at Whistler they were great , tread wear was the downfall , even Summer driving was very good !!

 

[ecko04]

I don’t know what Merlin is talking about and I’m not reading through that wall of text to figure it out.

If you have a dedicated set of summer rubber and you’re that far north (relative to the rest of the states), do yourself a favor and skip A/S. Get a dedicated set of winter tires. Run summer tires from April/May - October then switch over to winter. You’ll thank yourself the first time you need to make a run in inclement weather.

Live by the mantra: You'll never have to get ready, if you stay ready.

 

[jazzdabb]

Anyone ever pull the trigger on the Exhilarates? I'm trying to decide between summer performance Michelin PS4S and all-season performance Exhilarate tires. Not much snow here in NC but I'd rather not be completely helpless if a 1/4" falls and I definitely need good wet traction. I also don't want a tire that is spectacular for 15K miles and then hydroplanes all over the place while I try to squeeze another 15K miles out of it. I'm not usually a fan of Goodyear tires and was eyeballing the Extreme Contact DWS tires I've had good luck with previously. But I keep seeing good reviews of the Exhilarates everywhere I look.

 

[Waynerm002]

You can check tirerack for some comparisons however, the DWS can be a bit sluggish on response due to their construction to be a good winter performer. For me, I went with the BF Goodrich Comp 2 AS+, these are the upgraded version of the Comp 2 AS that has been around for the past few years. I've been using them for a little over a month now with over 3K miles on them. I drove from VA to AZ through cold, rain and hot road temps and the tires performed really great! I have a thread on it so I won't go into any more here. I will say though, if you want to maintain that sporty character of the Stinger without the harsh ride the Michelin can have on imperfect roads, this tire provides a good balance of AS capabilities that I feel is a good fit for the car.

I will add that I also have the Mando unit with my own Sport setting, which gives the car a planted ride without adding sway bars. For your setup, the BFG Comp 2 AS+ would work well and a bonus is that in stock size, the fronts don't have that stretched look.