New Bridgestone UltraWeather Beats The Socks Off The Old WeatherPeak In Tire Rack Tests

It’s a little ridiculous how far tire technology has advanced in recent decades. We haven’t seen any huge visual changes since low-profile tires got popular, but in pretty much every other regard, calling it a night and day difference between old and new tires isn’t quite as hyperbolic as it may sound. Those advances have also led to new types of tires that weren’t really possible in the 1900s, like high-performance all-seasons and three-peak-rated all-weather touring tires. Since Bridgestone makes Blizzaks, you’d think it would have nailed the all-weather touring tire right out of the gate. Except, when our friends at Tire Rack ran the WeatherPeak through their tests, that wasn’t the case. 

It delivered excellent snow performance, but in other conditions, it struggled to compete with the rest of the segment. Now, the WeatherPeak’s out, and the Bridgestone UltraWeather is in. New tires are supposed to be better, so Tire Rack ran it through four-season testing to see how the UltraWeather measured up against the old WeatherPeak. And based on how it performed, the new Bridgestone really is better across the board. 

Tire Rack hasn’t had the chance to run any segment-inclusive comparison tests that include the new UltraWeather, so we can’t say exactly how it stacks up against all of the competition, but the improvements they measured sure make it sound significantly better than the old tire. In on-road testing, it’s reportedly in the running for the best in the segment, while wet testing showed braking distance improved from 110.70 feet to 100.60 feet, and cornering grip increased from 0.75 g to 0.80 g.

On a dry track, the new UltraWeather mostly tied with the WeatherPeak, but it delivered better braking performance, stopping the test car in 93.10 feet instead of 96.60. When they headed to the boy aquarium for ice testing, the UltraWeather beat the old tire there, too, accelerating faster and stopping in 51.72 feet, down from 54.09. The UltraWeather didn’t struggle in the snow, either. It buried the WeatherPeak in acceleration and braking testing, and on the snow-packed track, it cut the old tire’s 58.04-second lap time to 56.28. 

As Tire Rack points out, 1.76 seconds on a 60-second track is pretty impressive. Where the new UltraWeather will place in a true comparison test still remains to be seen, but if you’re in the market for a new set of all-weather touring tires, it sounds like Michelin, Goodyear, and Pirelli have a serious new contender to deal with.