If you’ve got a sporty sedan, coupe, or crossover, you might be perfectly happy with a set of all-season passenger tires. They’re versatile with year-round performance, they are designed for great wear properties and a quiet, comfortable ride along with solid road feel, great stability, and road manners, and handling that’s predictable and accurate. If you really want to get the most out of your car’s handling and cornering ability, though, you might find that all-season tires fall a little short of what you’re looking for. That’s when you need the edge in handling, braking, and cornering ability that comes with an ultra-high-performance (UHP) or summer tire.

There’s one pretty considerable drawback to UHP and summer tires, though. UHP and summer tires commonly use a tread compound that delivers glue-like adhesion to the pavement for sharp braking and cornering performance, but that tread formulation is also quite a bit softer (sometimes as soft as a pencil eraser, soft enough that a thumbnail pressed into the sidewall can leave an indentation for a moment). The downside of that soft, sticky tread compound is that it will harden and lose its grip on colder days, which is why tire manufacturers advise against using summer and UHP tires when temperatures are below 40-45 degrees F. It’s also why many UHP tires don’t come with the assurance of a limited manufacturer’s tread life warranty.

The best of both worlds would be a UHP tire that has the versatility of an all-season tire, and that’s exactly what American Roadstar brings to the game with this tire. Let’s get in there and get a closer look at this American Roadstar Sport AS tire review:

Features and Benefits

Here are some of the design features and innovations that the American Roadstar Sport AS brings to the table to make it an outstanding performer and a great value in an all-season UHP tire:

• Asymmetric all-season tread with four wide circumferential grooves that bolster wet-weather traction and avoid hydroplaning by channeling water away from the tire’s contact patch on wet roads
• Redesigned contact patch puts more rubber in contact with the road for improved braking, handling, traction, and wear properties
• Shoulder blocks are designed to help discourage uneven, eccentric wear while also lending excellent cornering ability
• Continuous center rib is designed for sharp and quick steering response as well as solid roadability and road manners at highway speed
• Slanted grooves in tread pattern help to disrupt airflow around the tire and keep road noise down
• Internal construction includes a polyester casing with a high tensile steel belt package and a nylon cap ply
• Tread pitch is randomized and computer-tuned to cancel certain frequencies and overtones, keeping road noise muted at highway speed
• Covered by 50,000 mile limited manufacturer’s tread life warranty
• Shoulder blocks are reinforced for extra rigidity, helping to enhance cornering ability
• Advanced tread formulation is designed for great wet-weather performance as well as long-wear

Pros and Cons

When we’re talking about the Sport AS from American Roadstar, there’s a lot to like and this is a tire where the Pros far outweigh the Cons:

PROS:

• Long, generous limited manufacturer’s tread life coverage
• Versatile traction and performance year-round
• Ride quality is surprisingly accommodating and quiet
• Handling and cornering ability are precise and predictable, with short braking distances

CONS:

• Not good in heavier snow
• Can be noisier on some pavement surfaces

SimpleTire’s view on American Roadstar Sport AS tires

Are you familiar with SimpleScore? SimpleScore is the proprietary rating system that the SimpleTire team developed to give customers a quick, easy idea of any tire’s strengths and weaknesses. We take into account the tire’s technical details, manufacturer info, customer reviews, specs, and other data points, then we calculate that to a 1-10 numerical value for the categories of traction, handling, and longevity as well as an overall average SimpleScore number. For the American Roadstar Sport AS, the SimpleScore ratings break down like this:

American Roadstar AS

• Traction: 7.7
• Handling: 8.6
• Longevity: 7.7
• Overall average SimpleScore: 7.9

That’s a pretty strong set of numbers, and it looks even better when you remember that SimpleTire’s price on the American Roadstar AS runs from $54.99/tire to $210.99/tire, depending on tire size.

If you’re in the market for a UHP tire, it’d be ideal if you can find one that offers year-round performance and that’s exactly what you get with the American Roadstar Sport AS. The American Roadstar Sport AS is designed with a tread compound that delivers dependable traction and good wear properties even in subfreezing weather, and its system of sipes, circumferential, and angled grooves give it excellent wet-weather grip and resistance to aquaplaning on a wet road. Even for high-horsepower sports sedans and muscle cars, the American Roadstar Sport AS delivers cornering and steering response that far exceeds expectations, especially for its affordable price. The American Roadstar Sport AS exhibits few vices; understeer is manageable and the tire can be coaxed into a drift with the right vehicle. On an RWD car, it’s possible to kick the rear end out with a judicious application of throttle, but it comes back into line readily. Straight-line road manners are secure and predictable without a need for constant corrections, but they also respond well to driver input during an emergency swerve or cornering.

Some drivers have remarked that the stiffer sidewalls and shoulders of the American Roadstar Sport AS can mean a firmer ride on some pavement surfaces. In addition, it’s not a tire that’s designed to perform well in winter conditions like snow and slush, which is to be expected. What you can expect with the American Roadstar Sport AS is a tire that delivers great value and performance with sharp and precise handling, at a surprisingly affordable price point.

Vehicles the American Roadstar Sport AS is a good replacement tire for

While not used as original equipment, the American Roadstar Sport AS is a good replacement tire for vehicles like the:

• Acura TL
• Audi A6
• BMW 135i
• Buick Regal
• Chevrolet Impala
• Dodge Charger
• Ford Focus
• Honda Civic
• Hyundai Veloster
• Jaguar XKR
• Lexus GS350
• Lincoln LS
• Mazda Miata MX-5
• Mercedes-Benz E550
• Nissan Maxima
• Pontiac G6
• Scion tC
• Subaru BRZ
• Toyota Camry
• Ford Mustang
• Ford Mach-E
• Volkswagen CC Sport