• Auto123 tests the new Motomaster Performance Edge tire from Canadian Tire.
Most readers of this site are likely familiar with the Motomaster name. The in-house brand of Canada's leading tire chain, Canadian Tire is well, a household name. In fact, the brand has existed since 1933.
In general, these have always been tires made by major tire producers. Though they were made for Canadian Tire, the only modification made to them was the addition of the Motomaster name on the sidewall.
Just recently, Canadian Tire launched a new winter tire for the coming year, but this one will be sold with Hankook on the sidewall, since the development and design was done by the South Korean manufacturer.
Now, we have a new performance tire from Motomaster, coming to market next spring. And while it’s produced by Chinese tire giant Sailun, the Performance Edge was created and designed strictly by and for Motomaster!
Ultra High Performance
This is an all-season (but not winter) UHP (Ultra High Performance) tire intended as a replacement tire for performance cars such as the Ford Mustang, Chevrolet Camaro, Dodge Challenger and Dodge Charger.
Canadian Tire wants consumers to consider this tire a very high-end, superior-quality product, capable of competing with the big-name brands on the market.
During the presentation of the Motomaster Performance Edge, Canadian Tire representatives explained that the tire is made from an advanced UHP rubber compound with large, optimized shoulder blocks for better handling and stability when cornering and braking.
And, of course, there's the matter of ride comfort with reduced road noise, a result achieved by a strategically studied sequence of tread blocks and careful finishing of the elements.
For effective water evacuation on wet pavement, this Motomaster features, as its creator promises, four circumferential channels with multiple sipes, helping to improve grip and reduce braking distances.
At high speed
Finally, when it comes to speed ratings, Motomaster Performance Edge models come with W (maximum sustained speed of 270 km/h) or Y (maximum sustained speed of 300 km/h) ratings. The dozen or so sizes offered by the manufacturer cover around 80 percent of the most popular UHP A/S sizes in Canada.
On the track
In conjunction with its briefing on the latest addition to its Edge family (which includes the Hydra Edge, Hydra Edge Tour, Winter Edge II and HD and Eliminator X-Trail A/T ), Canadian Tire had reserved, as fate would have it, the "school" part of the famed Canadian Tire Motorsports Park circuit, with its test areas and dynamic course.
Canadian Tire had booked the services of Claude Poirier's team, long-time driving instructor for the John Powell Racing School. In order to "live" the Performance Edge driving experience, Poirier tracked down a handful of brand-new Mustangs, coupes and convertibles 4 four-cylinder EcoBoost engines offering some 310 hp and 350 lb-ft of torque, combined with a 10-speed auto transmission (manually shifted). Quite possibly, then, the most typical type of vehicle for this type of tire.
Note that this tire is also suitable for sedans like the Chrysler 300, Nissan Maxima, some Mercedes-Benzes and BMWs, and other less sporty but still fast cars.
The first exercises with the Mustangs allowed us to push the tire to certain extremes on a small, dynamic circuit. The circuit included an acceleration zone where we reached speeds of close to 100 km/h, then braked to the maximum to test the tire's straight-line grip. This was followed by a wide but pronounced bend, which we took at a good speed, proving the Motomaster Performance Edge's road-holding capabilities.
On the way back, there were slalom, lane change and obstacle avoidance exercises. Not surprisingly, all revealed the competency of the new tire.
The second leg had us back on the same circuit, but this time sprayed with water from a tanker truck. The first exercises highlighted the tire's ability to grip wet pavement. Acceleration didn't produce any slippage and braking was convincing, even with traction control.
However, where I finally concluded that I was dealing with a truly high-performance tire was in the high-speed sweeping bend, where the tires stuck to the wet pavement without even skidding. You could feel their action on the steering via a kind of growl from the tread, the shoulders of which are aggressive enough to contribute to grip on a wet surface.
The most amusing exercise had us follow an instructor's Mustang around the dynamic circuit that serves as a stage for the students of the local racing school. Driving single-file, we were able to reach interesting speeds with the new Performance Edge, while maintaining excellent grip on the pavement. The day ended with drifting demonstrations with passengers on board.
The final word
All in all, this first contact with the Motomaster Performance Edge proved very conclusive.This new Canadian product is an interesting competitor to the established performance brands.
Pricing has yet to be announced, as the tire will not be on the market until February 2024. However, Canadian Tire's presenters are confident it will be very competitive.
What's important to remember is that this new Motomaster tire will be available from one of Canada's largest retailers, with a large number of sales and installation outlets.
Representatives from Sailun, the tire's production partner, were on hand and shared how pleased they were with the presentation. One pointed out that Sailun's North American division is based in the Brampton region of Ontario, and was involved in the design and development of the technology leading to the production of the Motomaster Performance Edge.
Now it will be up to consumers to decide how successful this new tire is.