Continental Ultimate Contact Winter
Continental's all-new Ultimate Contact Winter tire was presented to us at the ICAR circuit in Quebec last February. Featuring PolarPlus technology, the UltimateContact Winter can be identified by its directional tread that includes advanced siping technology for, according to the manufacturer, optimal grip on ice and snow.
Add to this its EV-friendly design with low rolling resistance and, of course, noise reduction.
Continental, which aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, uses vegetable oil to improve the elasticity of the rubber, which increases grip in all conditions.
Note that the UltimateContact Winter will be sold first and exclusively in Canadian Tire stores, replacing the Continental Winter Contact SI Plus. We spent a few hours behind the wheel of a Mustang Mach-E, a Toyota Corolla and two Volvo models equipped with this tire, and our first impressions are encouraging.
Continental also offers the popular VikingContact 7 and the IceContact XTRM, which I've had on a Ford Escape for a few years now. On this vehicle, which is mainly driven on the highway, it proved to be quiet, safe and above all durable, showing very little wear after three winters of use.
Motomaster Winter Edge II
What's this? A Canadian Tire product among our highly recommended tires? Certainly! Especially since the Motomaster Winter Edge II is officially announced as made by “by Hankook”. As you may have gathered, Canadian Tire itself doesn't make tires. South Korean manufacturer Hankook developed and produces this tire.
This is another tire that we first tested on the snowy ICAR circuit. We were able to see just how well it bites in the snow and on icy surfaces. Even after we disabled the stabilization and traction systems of the RAV4 and Corolla on which it was mounted, it proved to be effective.
Goodyear WinterCommand Plus
WinterCommand is the new name Goodyear chose to identify its new-generation winter tires, even as the popular UltraGrip and UltraGrip Ice remain in the company's catalog.
On the market for several years now, this tire is a direct competitor to products such as the Bridgestone Blizzak. It's also available with studs. What's more, the prices of its various versions remain quite reasonable.
Pirelli Sottozero
Although Italian manufacturer Pirelli offers some excellent winter tires, including Ice Zero, Ice Zero Asimmetrico and P Zero Winter, we most often drove performance vehicles equipped with Pirelli Sottozero 2 and 3, always with good results. We've even used a Mustang so equipped in winter, but we were more impressed last year when we drove a performance Mercedes-Benz in a snowstorm to see the Sottozero 3's capabilities, despite their impressive width.
Yes, the Sottozero is recommendable, especially for performance cars that actually get used in the wintertime.
