Goodyear Assurance Maxguard tyre review - all-round competence
As critical a component to a car as a tyre is, you barely notice them in the context of your everyday car. It's only when it comes to changing a set on your vehicle are it given a good amount of thought. So to find ourselves in the Sepang Circuit in Malaysia earlier this month was a welcome break from the norm.
Of the four new tyres Goodyear presented at this event, as part of its completing 125 in existence, the most pertinent for India is the Goodyear Assurance Maxguard range. It's just launched here and will be available in sizes from 15 to 18 inches. So, these should fit everything from your mainstream sedans and hatches to even some smaller luxury cars like the Mercedes-Benz C200 we drove.
Putting these tyres through a slalom course on Sepang's main straight, we came away impressed. We took the comes at about 50 kmph, a fairly brisk pace in this layout, and quicker than you would usually take a tight turn in our traffic conditions, and the Aussrance Maxguards seemed to hold on well. There was no squealing to start with and there seemed to be a good amount of grip too. The car stayed confident in its quick direction changes and there seemed to be a good balance between durability and grip.
Goodyear also says the Assurance Maxguard will be an effective wet-weather tyre. There's more silica in the tread with a resin to boost wet grip while the treads have been designed to expel water better. We tested this on a prepped wet surface in a Honda Civic, driving up to 70 kmph and then hard braking to a complete stop. This is less demanding than the 100 to 0 kmph test we usually put cars through but the Goodyears didn't seem to lose traction here. The car stayed true to its line and there wasn't an excessive degree of ABS intervention here.
Another characteristic of this range of tyres is its impact protection, which should come in handy in Indian conditions. It has a two-ply carcass with higher cord density and 2 high-tensile steel belts. This should hold these tyres in good stead over sharp stones or deep potholes.
We spent a limited time with the Goodyear Assurance Maxguard but early impressions suggest this should be a good all-around tyre for your car. It seems to cover all bases for a regular everyday car with its acceptable grip levels, wet-weather performance and strength.
At this track day, we could also sample some of Goodyear's other new offerings. The more exciting one was a few hot corners in a Mercedes-AMG CLA 45S shod with Eagle F1 Asymmetric 6 performance tyre. There was also a short off-road course in Fortuners and Hiluxes with Goodyear's Wrangler Duratrac RT. Rounding off the experience was a deep dive into the Electdrive EV tyres with all the innovations that have gone into this to reduce rolling resistance and road noise.
Starts Rs 17.94 Lakhs
1597cc
Manual
120
300
26.8 Kmpl
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