Light trucks and SUVs are everywhere, along with the smaller cousins known as crossovers (CUVs). They’ve taken the place of family sedans, wagons and minivans to a large extent, and just like with sedans and minivans, all-season tires usually make the best sense for these vehicles. All-season tires for CUVs and SUVs are versatile and capable, with dependable year-round grip, a ride that’s quiet and accommodating, consistent handling, solid road manners and great wear properties. It’s no surprise, then, that all-season tires are the biggest selling category of tires year in and year out, and that they’re available at every point on the price spectrum. That goes from the obscure budget brands to top-tier all-season tires and their rather spendy offerings. In most cases, the budget tires have a level of quality and performance that’s tied directly to their pricing, but more and more we’re seeing low-priced all-season tires that offer performance and value that rival their counterparts that cost far, far more.

The UN-CUV from Finalist is one of those kind of tires. This all-season tire for SUVs and CUVs is designed to check all the above boxes and punch far above its weight class, but don’t just take us at our word on that. Let’s go in for a closer look with this Finalist UN-CUV review:

Features and Benefits

The UN-CUV from Finalist is a tire that’s packed with innovations and great design features like these:

• Silica-rich tread compound is designed for good heat dispersal, short braking distances, long wear, low rolling resistance, enhanced traction on wet pavement
• Asymmetric all-season tread features outer segment with larger tread blocks for improved wet-weather performance and smaller inboard tread blocks for traction on dry pavement
• Continuous center rib helps with dead-solid straight-line stability and nimble steering response
• Circumferential and angled grooves are designed to efficiently whisk water away from the tire’s contact patch for resistance to hydroplaning
• Tread and shoulder reinforced for rigidity and improved cornering ability
• M+S rated for mud/snow traction
• Tread pitch is randomized and computer tuned to help keep road noise to a minimum by canceling certain frequencies and overtones
• Backed from the factory with a 50,000 mile limited manufacturer’s tread life warranty

Pros and Cons

When it comes to the UN-CUV from Finalist, this is a tire where the Cons are definitely outweighed by the Pros:

PROS:

• Ride quality is refined and controlled with muted noise levels
• Handling is crisp and sharp
• Generous limited manufacturer’s tread life warranty coverage
• Enhanced fuel economy thanks to low rolling resistance

CONS:

• Not good in heavier snow or winter weather
• Can be noisy on some pavement surfaces

SimpleTire’s view on Finalist UN-CUV tires

Are you familiar with SimpleScore? SimpleScore is the ratings system that the SimpleTire team developed some time back so that you can get a quick at-a-glance idea of a tire’s strengths and weaknesses. To determine SimpleScore, we look at the tire’s specs, the info from the manufacturer, customer reviews and other data points, then we process all of that down to a 1-10 numerical score for the categories of traction, handling, and longevity, along with an overall average SimpleScore rating for the tire. In the case of the Finalist UN-CUV, the SimpleScore numbers look like this:

Finalist UN-CUV

• Traction: 7.9
• Handling: 8.2
• Longevity: 8.2
• Overall average SimpleScore: 8.6

Regardless of what kind of product you’re talking about, those are some pretty impressive numbers on any scale of 1-10, and those scores are even more sweet when you bear in mind that the Finalist UN108 is a tire that starts at $84.96 each.

In terms of handling, the Finalist UN-CUV can be counted on for cornering ability, steering response and maneuverability that are all consistent and accurate, if maybe not up to the kind of crisp standards you’d expect from a summer or ultra-high-performance tire. The reinforced, stiffer tread face and shoulder are designed to help mitigate “tread squirm,” a phenomenon that occurs when you push a vehicle hard into a corner and the tread deforms as the vehicle’s momentum tries to keep the car moving in a straight line. The continuous center rib delivers dead-solid stability in a straight line at highway speed, along with confident tracking and steering response that’s light and quick.

On wet or dry pavement, the Finalist UN-CUV performs superbly with short stopping distances as the groove system routes water away to avoid hydroplaning or understeer. The ride is controlled and comfortable, if a little firm at times, with the UN-CUV keeping its composure over rough and uneven pavement surfaces. At highway speed, the ride is quiet and peaceful (if not quite as quiet as you'd expect from a luxury Grand Touring tire).

Fuel economy is a high priority for everyone these days, and the reduced rolling resistance of the Finalist UN108 means good heat dispersal (heat being the enemy of any tire), and helps drivers realize savings on gas mileage at the same time. Silica-based tread compounds like the Finalist UN-CUV also help deliver benefits like great wear properties and enhanced wet-weather grip and braking. Speaking of wear properties, Finalist stands by the UN-CUV with a 50,000 mile limited manufacturer’s tread life warranty, which is the kind of warranty coverage you could once only find on tires that cost much more.

The optimized tread pitch of the Finalist UN-CUV neutralizes certain frequencies and overtones to keep road noise to a minimum, which is something everyone appreciates on long road trips, and the solid road manners make it a great choice for family vehicles that see a lot of time on the interstate. All in all, it’s our take here at the SimpleTire team that the Finalist UN-CUV is a fantastic deal in a performance-oriented all-season tire, one that really exceeds expectations for its price point.

Vehicles Finalist UN-CUV is a good replacement tire for

While the Finalist UN-CUV isn’t featured as the OEM tire on any vehicles, it would make a great replacement tire for makes and models like these:

• Dodge Durango
• Ford Excursion
• GMC Sierra
• Honda Ridgeline
• Jeep Gladiator
• Nissan Titan
• RAM 2500
• Toyota 4Runner
• Chevrolet Silverado 2500
• Ford Expedition
• Honda CR-V
• Kia Sportage
• Mitsubishi Montero
• Kia Sorento
• Hyundai Palisade