For most drivers of sedans, minivans, coupes and crossovers, all-season tires make the most sense for a variety of reasons. As a Swiss Army Knife kind of solution, all-season tires offer real versatility in the form of year-round performance, a ride that’s controlled and quiet, stable dead-solid road manners on the highway, capable and predictable handling, and excellent wear properties. With all that in the plus column, it’s no surprise that all-season tires would be the most popular, best-selling category of tires year in and year out. It’s also no surprise that they’re available at every point on the price spectrum, from obscure budget brands to top-tier manufacturers. In most cases, the budget tires are a “you get what you pay for” proposition, but in the last several years many of the tires at a lower price point have been making a lot of progress in terms of value and performance, with many of them punching far above their weight class and beating expectations.

The UN108 from Finalist falls into that category. The Finalist UN108 is affordable and capable, checking all the boxes we mentioned above and offering performance that far exceeds its price point. Don’t just take our word for it, though: let’s go in for a closer look with this Finalist UN108 review.

Features and Benefits

Here are some of the great innovations and design features that make the UN108 from Finalist a great value:

• Asymmetric tread pattern is divided into two segments: large tread blocks for wet-weather traction on the outboard side, smaller tread elements for grip on dry roads on the inboard side
• Optimized tread pitch is tuned and randomized to keep road noise low by canceling certain frequencies and overtones
• Advanced silica-rich tread compound is designed for low rolling resistance, long wear, enhanced grip on wet pavement
• Continuous center rib helps to deliver solid straight-line stability on the highway, improved steering response and handling
• Tread face and shoulders reinforced for extra rigidity, which boosts cornering ability and response
• M+S rated for mud/snow traction
• Angled and circumferential grooves efficiently sweep water from the tire’s contact patch to resist hydroplaning on wet roads
• Covered from the factory with 40,000 mile limited manufacturer’s tread life warranty

Pros and Cons

When it comes to the UN108 from Finalist, this is a tire where the Pros far outweigh the Cons:

PROS:

• Ride quality is refined and controlled with low highway noise
• Handling is crisp and capable
• Generous limited manufacturer’s tread life warranty coverage
• Better 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 UN108 tires

Are you acquainted with SimpleScore? SimpleScore is the ratings system that the SimpleTire team devised to give you a quick at-a-glance idea of a tire’s strengths and weaknesses. We take into account the tire’s specs, the info from the manufacturer, customer reviews and other data points, then we distill that all 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 UN108, the SimpleScore numbers look like this:

Finalist UN108

• Traction: 8.0
• Handling: 8.6
• Longevity: 8.2
• Overall average SimpleScore: 8.2

Those are some pretty impressive numbers on any scale of 1-10, and it looks even better when you bear in mind that the Finalist UN108 is a tire that starts at $84.97 each.

In terms of handling, the Finalist UN108 delivers cornering ability, steering response and maneuverability that are all predictable and accurate, if maybe not up to the kind of nimble properties you’d expect from a summer or ultra-high-performance tire. The reinforced, stiffer tread face and shoulder are designed to resist “tread squirm,” the deformation that occurs when you go hard into a corner and the vehicle’s momentum tries to keep the car moving in a straight line. The continuous center rib delivers dead-solid straight-line stability, with dependable tracking and steering response that’s light and quick.

On wet or dry pavement, the Finalist UN108 performs admirably with short stopping distances and little tendency toward hydroplaning or understeer. The ride is controlled and refined, if a little firm at times, with no jitters or loss of control over rough and uneven pavement surfaces, and noise levels are pretty low (if not quite what you’d expect from a luxury Grand Touring tire).

Fuel economy is an important concern for everyone these days, and the reduced rolling resistance of the Finalist UN108 means lower heat accumulation (the enemy of any tire), and helps drivers get a break on gas mileage at the same time. Silica-based tread compounds like the Finalist UN108 are also designed for great wear properties and enhanced wet-weather grip and braking. Speaking of wear properties, Finalist stands by the UN108 with a 40,000 mile limited manufacturer’s tread life warranty.

The optimized tread pitch of the Finalist UN108 does help to keep road noise to a minimum, something that’s always appreciated on long road trips, and the solid road manners make it a great choice for family vehicles like sedans, minivans and crossovers. All in all, it’s our take here at the SimpleTire team that the Finalist UN108 is a great value in a performance-oriented all-season tire, one that is well worth the price and then some.

Vehicles Finalist UN108 is a good replacement tire for

While the Finalist UN108 isn’t OEM on any vehicles, it would make a good replacement tire for vehicles like the:

• Buick Encore
• Chevrolet Equinox
• Chrysler Pacifica
• Dodge Caravan
• Fiat 500
• Ford Focus
• Honda Civic
• Toyota Corolla
• Nissan Altima
• Kia Rio
• Kia K5
• Hyundai Santa Fe
• Mitsubishi Outlander
• Toyota RAV4
• Kia Sephia
• Mazda 6
• Nissan Rogue
• Subaru Outback
• Toyota Camry
• Volkswagen Atlas