Today we will bring some light on Grand Touring tires. This article would be useful because many drivers confuse them with all-season tires. While these might have some common aspects, still some particularities make them different. If you wonder what these 2 types of tires have in common, well, they share the same decent wet and dry handling, ride comfort, and smoothness.
In general, grand-touring tires are meant for vehicles that travel year-round in almost all possible weather conditions. They are intended for drivers who prioritize tires' comfort and long serviceability. In addition, these manifest through a fairly responsive handling and leisure nature. On the other hand, they differ from other types of tires by certain properties that we will talk about in this article right away.
Typical Specs Of Grand Touring Tires
Unlike all-season alternatives, with which they are often confused, grand touring tires are distinguished by a generally higher speed rating. A competent tire dealer should consider your driving priorities before offering you an all-season tire vs a grand touring one. Let's see what makes them different and when it is appropriate to opt for grand-touring tires in disfavor of all-season ones.
Grand Touring Tires' Features
The Grand Touring Tire concept revolves around a highly responsive driving experience. In addition, their DNA consists of everything that improves comfort and optimizes fuel consumption. In this sense, a grand touring tire is often seen as a "do it all" type of tire because it performs decently in any circumstances.
The nature of grand-touring tires tends to cover year-round traction while providing satisfying balance and comfort. In addition, they stand out for their generous tread life and versatility in various weather conditions including light snow.
While crafting them, tire makers keep two main goals in mind. These include the agile abilities of a high-performance tire combined with the comfort and noise control of an all-season tire. So, this blend transforms the Grand Touring tire into a reliable multifunctional ally that serves a very long time.
Many car makers opt for grand touring all-season tires as OE options. Their purpose is to provide decent handling in combination with high-speed properties. Namely, these aspects make them superior compared to usual AS tires.
All-season tires, on the other hand, share the same decent traction as grand touring tires. Still, the huge difference is the higher speed ratings and sporty nature of the grand touring ones. This difference places grand-touring tires on a higher level in the tire hierarchy. Last but not least, they stand out for their quieter and more comfortable rides while resisting impressive mileage.
How To Find The Right Grand Touring Fit?
The beautiful part of things is that Grand Touring tires are available for almost any type of vehicle. Whether you drive a performance sedan, a CUV, or anything in between, be sure to find the right grand-touring tire. However, you have to know when a grand touring tire makes sense.
Personally, I think that grand touring tires make a beastly team with CUV and SUV-type vehicles. These vehicles have the same "do it all" concept as the grand touring tires. They are resistant to additional cargo and keep fuel efficiency in mind. So, these fit the grand touring tires like a glove.
Still, this does not mean that these tires are not suitable for other vehicles. What really matters is to understand the nature of grand touring tires. If comfort, fuel efficiency, long mileage, and weather versatility are your basic priorities, grand-touring tires are the right way to go for you.
Tech Advancements In Grand-Touring Tires
Initially, tire makers used to build grand touring tires focusing mainly on long mileage and driving smoothness. This continues to be the basic prerogative of a grand touring tire these days. However, as the tire industry is constantly evolving, these tires today are compatible with the low profile style of the wheel. Also, many reputable tire makers build "sporty" grand-touring tires.
They keep the comfortable nature while bringing some enhancement to vehicle capabilities. In this sense, tire makers add to these tires some additional features that increase the performance profile for more dynamic and agile driving.
In the same context, tire makers optimize the construction of modern grand-touring tires. As such, they remain equally effective in wet and dry handling, while delivering more agile responsiveness and driving sharpness. Last but not least, grand touring tires are becoming more and more versatile for the cold season.
If in the past these were limited to moderate weather conditions, today, grand touring offerings evolve to decent handling of ice and snow conditions. Still, we have to wait until we have a grand-touring tire able to cope with severe winter conditions. For now, they are mostly reliable for mild to moderate snowy environments.
Different Types Of Touring Tires
Let's see in more detail what the term "touring tire" implies and how it is classified. Matter-of-factly, this is an umbrella term, I would say, that includes in itself the concept of comfort, distance, and weather versatility.
Perhaps you have heard this term being used in various combinations such as "All-Season Touring", "Grand-Touring" or simply, "Touring". Below I graphically illustrated the specifics of each category. Check it out to better understand the difference even if it seems quite small in certain areas.
Touring All-Season Tires
The purpose of these tires revolves around weather versatility and a pretty smooth driving experience. This tire category is a good choice for year-round usability with decent wet and dry capabilities;
Grand Touring Tires
Besides the benefits of all-season touring tires, the grand touring tires prioritize performance and comfort. They are more agile and offer a more responsive and precise handling. In many instances, these tires have a much longer tread life than touring or all-season tires;
Touring Performance Tires
This category of tires brings about some additional performance features in comparison to traditional touring tires. They deliver better handling while maintaining decent comfort levels. Their longevity is shorter than that of grand touring tires, as a general rule;
All-Season VS Touring Tires
Just like the Grand touring tires, the Touring ones are often interpreted as all-season. Well, these might have lots in common. Still, these are not the same thing. The basic prerogative of all-season tires is weather versatility. The Touring prerogative is ride quietness and comfort. These tires lend mutual advantages from one to the other. Still, the basic prerogatives always remain a priority.
Highway VS Touring Tires
Highway tires are a sub-branch of touring tires. But their prerogative is long highway driving. This means that tire makers prioritize comfort in highway conditions, as well as fuel efficiency. These offers are the best choice for those who mostly drive on the open road.
Touring VS Grand Touring Tires: What's The Difference?
Drivers are often confused about Touring and Grand Touring tires. For a good reason, as the difference is very subtle, but it still exists. So, both types of tires share the same primary goals: driving quietness and up-to-the-mark comfort. On the other hand, the difference lies in their performance profile. The Grand Touring tire will always be one step ahead in handling, responsiveness, agility, dry and wet braking, and cornering capabilities. This is the essence of the "Grand" standard.
So, whenever you oscillate between a Touring tire and a Grand Touring, think about how sporty you want your driving to be. If you are a follower of calm and quiet driving, a touring tire is more than suitable. But if you want a more agile and sharp nature, with improved mileage and fuel efficiency, the Grand Touring is the right way to go.
Tire makers endow grand touring tires with a more advanced tread design. It optimizes the overall handling, traction capabilities, as well as cornering abilities of these tires. For this reason, Grand Touring tires provide a sportier feel while maintaining the same superb comfort ratings as a touring tire.
Grand Touring Tires: Pros And Cons
Each type of tire has advantages and disadvantages. Grand Touring tires are no exception to this rule. If we talk about its benefits, they include but are not limited to:
- decent year-round traction
- optimal and highly responsive handling
- superior comfort and noise control levels
- impressive tread durability for long service
- up-to-the-mark performance ratings
- low rolling resistance
On the other hand, they have some shortcomings that you have to take into account. These include but are not limited to:
- weather versatility is less wide than a specialized all-season tire (unless it's a grand touring all-season tire)
- not suitable for aggressive driving as their performance is lower than a specialized performance tire
- winter-limitated. Grand Touring tires are optimal for light snow conditions. For harsh winter conditions, you should opt for optimal winter tires.
Optimal Grand Touring Tires To Consider
BFGoodrich Advantage Control
I will start with an innovative Grand Touring tire from the BFGoodrich catalog. It is about the Advantage Control tire which is a universal offering for year-round driving. The design of this tire consists of a multi-rib pattern that provides confident traction and superior handling. The tire stands out for its comfort and ride smoothness while delivering superior balance in cornering, which ensures increased longevity.
BFGoodrich has incorporated plenty of technologies in this tire. To name a few, these include but are not limited to the Next Generation g-Wedge Sidewall Stabilizer and Active Sipe Technology. They increase steering precision and powerful traction, especially in wet conditions. In addition, the tire stands out for its effective grip thanks to Aqua-Flume Technology. This involves the integration of the curvilinear groove network in the tread of the tire that removes water from the tire path for a more stable and tight contact with the wet road.
The full-depth tread increases the performance of the tire and ensures uniform wear throughout its serviceability. In addition, the tire is very safe and agile in wet braking compared to other in-class models. The BFGoodrich Advantage Control Grand Touring tire is a good choice for boosting the performance of compatible passenger vehicles with wheels between 14" and 20". This comes with an impressive 65,000-mile warranty for the V and W speed ratings, while the H-rating tire offers a 75,000-mile warranty. Consumer Reports rated this tire with 62/100 points, which is considered a good rating.
Goodyear Assurance ComfortDrive
Another optimal Grand Touring offer for sedans, CUVs, SUVs, and coupes is the Goodyear Assurance ComfortDrive model. First of all, the tire stands out for its imposing aesthetics. Secondly, its premium noise comfort makes it superior to the competition.
Goodyear opted for soybean rubber compound to increase traction. In addition, this element proved to be beneficial for optimizing fuel consumption and wear resistance. The tire's symmetrical design promises superior stability and confident grip thanks to its Evolving Traction Grooves and TreadLock technologies.
Drivers praise the Assurance ComfortDrive's refined handling. And rightly so, Goodyear integrated the ComfortFlex technology to obtain a premium-class ride in terms of comfort and shock absorption. In addition, the Assurance ComfortDrive tire is very sustainable at high speed due to the internal structure reinforced by twin steel belts and cap ply.
The tire impresses with its stability in wet conditions. This is due to AquaChannel Grooves combined with wide lateral notches. This tandem increases the water evacuation properties, leaving room only or a confident rolling in wet conditions.
Last but not least, the Assurance ComfortDrive tire has full-depth sipes that act as biting edges. This translates into decent reliability on icy and snowy surfaces. Still, don't forget that Grand Touring tires are not the most suitable in harsh winter conditions. So, if these conditions are specific to the area where you live, you better switch to specialized winter tires. Consumer Reports rated this tire with a 66/100 score, which is considered a pretty good result.
Vredestein Hitrac
This tire perfectly combines grand-touring capabilities with all-season versatility. The Hitrac is available for a wide variety of vehicles from coupes to crossovers and everything in between. The positive aspects of the Vredestein Hitrac include confident all-around traction, superior handling, ride smoothness, great noise control, and solid cornering.
The performance capabilities of the tire are ensured by its symmetrical design and dual reinforcing system. These provide the tire with reactive handling and responsive steering responsiveness. In addition, the special construction ensures phenomenal tire durability and solid braking properties. The pitch sequence in the tire is responsible for suppressing noise as well as promoting the agility of the steering response.
Altogether, these features make the Vredestein Hitrac tire an optimal grand touring model for stability, performance, and comfort. As befits a grand touring tire, the Vredestein Hitrac is very confident in wet conditions. It has multiple biting edges, lateral notches, as well as large circumferential grooves.
These "tools" are more than enough to effectively remove water from the tire path. Last but not least, the Vredestein Hitrac evens out the weight distribution thanks to its computer-optimized design. This translates into increased resistance of the tread with minimal effect of wear. Consumer Reports rated this tire with 72/100 points, which is a very good result.
Bridgestone Turanza QuietTrack
Another model to keep under the radar is the Turanza QuietTrack all-season grand touring tire. The purpose of this tire is to bring the performance of grand-touring tires to a new level. This is synonymous with solid year-round traction along with tread longevity, smooth ride, and superior comfort.
Responsive handling is ensured by the asymmetric design of the tire. This design is also beneficial for the comfort of the tire and its reliable traction. Bridgestone has applied a wide variety of technologies here including Innovative QuietTrack Technology, ComfortCruise Technology Package, and EdgePerformance Technology. Each of them is responsible for a certain performance segment.
For example, the Innovative QuietTrack Technology optimizes comfort and reduces noise. The ComfortCruise Technology Package is responsible for suppressing vibrations and optimizing contact with the road for higher comfort levels.
Last but not least, the EdgePerformance Technology creates biting edges in the tire tread to increase snow traction. In addition, this technology helps the tire to maintain its performance throughout its lifetime of up to an impressive 80,000 miles. Consumer Reports rated this product with 61/100 points, which is a pretty decent result.
Grand Touring Tires: FAQs
What Does Grand Touring Mean for Tires?
Grand touring tires are designed with comfort and high mileage in mind. Manufacturers place special emphasis on the formula of grand touring tires so that they last up to a much more generous mileage than other types of tires. In addition, GT tires take into account all-season versatility. Still, unlike regular AS tires, the GT ones usually have a higher speed rating.
What is the Difference Between UHP and Grand Touring Tires?
The main difference between these 2 types of tires consists in their main purposes. UHP tires are designed for superior tenacity and balance, as well as impressive resistance at high speed. Their tread is usually significantly more sensitive to wear. On the other hand, Grand Touring tires' purpose is high comfort and longer lifespan. Their performance does not compare to the performance of UHP tires. Instead, GT tires are synonymous with a nice and smooth driving experience, impressive handling, all-season traction, and generous tread life.
Are Grand Touring Tires Good in Snow?
It depends on the amount of snow and winter conditions. If we are talking about heavy snow and extreme temperatures, drivers should opt for winter-dedicated tires. If the winter conditions are relatively mild, GT tires behave quite decently because they have all-season versatility in their DNA. So, light snow wouldn't be much of a problem for them. Still, don't forget that "all-season" doesn't include harsh winter conditions. As such, GT tires should only be limited for weather conditions around 0 Celsius with light and thin snow.
What Are the Disadvantages of Grand Touring Tires?
Like every type of tire, GT ones come with some drawbacks. The most significant is probably the less agile and precise responsiveness in braking and cornering compared to UHP tires. However, the performance and safety capabilities of GT tires are quite decent. If the driver prefers spirited driving, GT tires will probably not satisfy him much. But if the driver prefers balanced, confident, calm, and at the same time strong driving - GT tires are the right way to go.
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Bottom Line
We hope that now you know more about Grand Touring tires and there are no more unanswered questions on this topic. The conclusion is that this type of tire is an optimal option for those looking for versatility and various conditions. However, versatility is far from being the only advantage of this type.
This brings comfort and ride smoothness for the longest journeys. In addition, they deliver up-to-the-mark performance for those looking for a sporty feeling in their tires. In a word, grand touring tires are the number one choice when it comes to long serviceability blended with performance and comfort.
If your priorities coincide with the features of grand-touring tires, you have some great models above that are worth keeping under the radar. But if you prioritize other aspects of tires, such as ultimate performance and agility, or superlative winter traction, you must look for another type of tire.
With this in mind, I recommend that you start by determining what exactly you are looking for in your tires. Remember that there is no wrong tire. There are only wrongly determined priorities. That's the only way you'll make the right decision. Drive safe and thanks for your interest in this post!
