When it comes to all-season tires for sedans, minivans, crossovers, and SUVs, there are a lot of choices out there at the more affordable end of the price range. In most cases, price and quality are directly correlated with each other. Still, there are also plenty of affordable options on all-season tires that deliver value and performance that rival some of the best premium tires around.

The Americus Recon CUV is a great example of a CUV/SUV tire that’s designed for a forgiving and quiet ride, year-round performance, and superb wear properties. But don’t just take us at our word on that; let’s go in and get a closer look with this Americus Recon CUV review:

Features and Benefits

Here are a few of the features and innovations that make the Americus Recon CUV a great performer and an excellent value:

• Tread pitch, profile, and casing design computer-tuned to cancel certain frequencies and overtones, lowering road noise and vibrations at highway speed
• Silica-infused tread compound is designed for long, even wear and dependable traction on wet or dry pavement
• Wide circumferential grooves evacuate standing water from the tire’s tread footprint to mitigate any tendency toward hydroplaning
• A dense network of sipes enhances traction by multiplying the tread’s surface area with hundreds of edges to slice through snow, slush, water
• Covered by a 60,000 mile limited manufacturer tread life warranty
• Initial tread depth 10/32” for long wear, excellent traction
• Available in a wide range of sizes for various fitments
• Reinforced shoulder helps reduce tread squirm and deformation during hard maneuvers to enhance cornering ability
• A solid center rib improves road manners and straight-line stability as well as offering light, direct, and quick steering response

Pros and Cons

So, is this Americus tire the right choice for your ride and budget? Before you decide, let’s take a look at the tire’s pros and cons.

PROS:

• Excellent limited manufacturer tread life warranty
• Handling and responsiveness are capable and predictable
• Ride quality is composed and quiet
• Silica-rich tread compound delivers dependable traction in wet, dry, or light wintry conditions

CONS:

• It can be noisy on some pavement surfaces
• The tire should not be used in moderate to severe winter weather conditions as it isn’t Three Peak Mountain Snowflake certified

SimpleTire’s view on Americus Recon CUV tires

Are you familiar with our SimpleScore ratings system? SimpleScore is what the SimpleTire team devised to give you a quick at-a-glance idea of a tire’s capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses. In the case of the Americus Recon CUV, our SimpleScore ratings are:

• Traction: 7.6
• Handling: 7.9
• Longevity: 8.9
• Overall average SimpleScore: 8.1

Designed around the weight, center of gravity, braking, handling dynamics, and power of today’s SUVs and crossovers, the Americus Recon CUV is a top-quality all-season tire that you can count on for confident performance year-round. Americus Recon CUV tires feature a proven 5-rib all-season tread with wide circumferential grooves that channel water away from the tire’s contact patch to resist hydroplaning and a pattern of 3D sipes that give them an advantage in grip in wintry conditions. Their tread pitch is randomized and computer-tuned to neutralize certain frequencies and overtones, keeping highway noise to a minimum and isolating passengers and drivers from roughness and vibrations.

Out on the road, the Americus Recon CUV delivers the kind of rock-solid straight-line tracking that makes hours-long Interstate trips a pleasure, with a solid center rib that also helps boost steering response for quick maneuvers. Handling is accurate and light without being overly sensitive or touchy, with little tendency toward understeer or oversteer going into corners, even when pushing the envelope of the vehicle’s handling. On wet pavement, the Recon CUV is capable and predictable, with its circumferential groove design easily avoiding hydroplaning by routing water through and behind the tire’s contact patch. A 60,000 mile limited manufacturer tread life warranty is outstanding for any tire at this price point (really, it’s the kind of warranty coverage you’d expect from premium tires that cost far more). The Americus Recon CUV offers a balance of a comfortable and quiet ride, dependable grip, capable handling, and exemplary road manners. All in all, that makes the Americus Recon CUV a great value for anyone who’s looking for top performance in an all-season Grand Touring tire but doesn’t want to empty a bank account to do it.

Want to learn more about the Recon CUV? Check out our Americus Recon CUV vs Sumitomo Encounter HT2 comparion.

Vehicles the Americus Recon CUV is a good replacement tire for

While the Americus Recon CUV isn’t offered as OEM on any vehicles, it would be a great candidate for a replacement tire on SUVs and crossovers such as these:

• Chevrolet Trax
• Dodge Journey
• Ford Escape
• GMC Acadia
• Honda Pilot
• Hyundai Tucson
• Jeep Grand Cherokee
• Kia Rio
• Mazda CX-7
• Nissan Pathfinder
• Subaru Forester
• Toyota RAV4
• Volkswagen Tiguan
• Chevrolet Trailblazer
• Chevrolet Equinox
• Toyota 4Runner
• Toyota RAV4
• Honda Pilot
• Honda HR-V
• Kia Seltos
• Ford Bronco Sport
• Honda Crosstour
• Mitsubishi Eclipse
• Buick Encore