Are you familiar with all-weather tires? All-weather tires are a great, versatile option for people who live in climates that experience hard winter weather. If you’ve ever tried to drive on all-season tires to navigate roads that are piled up with several inches of snow, you probably already found out that most all-season tires just can’t get the job done safely. Winter tires, on the other hand, are designed specifically for those kinds of road conditions, but their big drawback is that their softer, more pliable tread formulation will wear quickly in warmer weather. Tire manufacturers advise against using winter tires if temperatures are above 40-45 degrees, leaving you with the headache of having those tires dismounted and then figuring out a place to store them until next winter.

All-weather tires are designed to split the difference between all-season and winter designs, with a tread pattern and rubber formulation that delivers stubborn traction in wintry weather but can still be used year-round. The Fortune ClimaFlex is designed for that kind of versatility, so let’s go in and get a closer look with this Fortune ClimaFlex 4S FSR402 tire review!

Features and Benefits

Here are some of the innovations and design features that make the Fortune ClimaFlex 4S FSR402 a great performer and a great value in the arena of all-weather tires for CUVs and SUVs:

• Engineered for durability, superb handling and road manners, and year-round performance even in heavier snow and slush
• Three Peak Mountain Snowflake certified for severe winter service
• Symmetric all-weather tread pattern is designed for great handling and traction as well as simplifying tire rotations
• Full-depth 3D sipes are molded deep into the tread to continue enhancing grip even as the tread depth gets thinner
• Innovative tread design includes snow traction grooves in center tread blocks, actually picking up and trapping snow to develop snow-to-snow friction
• Wide circumferential grooves divert water and slush away from the tire’s contact patch, helping to resist hydroplaning on wet roads
• Long-wearing tread compound is designed to stay flexible and continue delivering a dependable grip even in subfreezing temperatures
• Covered by 70,000 mile limited manufacturer’s tread life warranty
• Polyester casing with high tensile steel belt package and nylon cap ply
• Tread footprint is redesigned to put more rubber in contact with the road for improved control, braking, and even wear
• Tread pitch is randomized and computer-tuned to keep road noise muted, canceling certain frequencies and harmonics

Pros and Cons

In the case of the Fortune ClimaFlex 4 FSR402, this is a tire where the Cons are definitely far outweighed by the Pros:

PROS:

• Incredibly strong traction in snow, slush, and rain thanks to the aggressive all-weather tread design
• Three Peak Mountain Snowflake certified for severe winter service
• Generous 70,000 mile limited manufacturer’s tread life warranty coverage
• Handling, cornering, and braking are all precise and predictable
• Ride quality is accommodating and quiet

CONS:

• Can be noisier on some pavement surfaces
• Ride quality can be firm on rough pavement

SimpleTire’s view on Fortune ClimaFlex 4S FSR402 tires

Are you acquainted with SimpleScore? SimpleScore is the proprietary rating system that the SimpleTire team developed to give you an easy, at-a-glance idea of a tire’s strengths and weaknesses. We look at the tire’s technical details, specs, manufacturer info, customer reviews, and other data points, then process all that info to a 1-10 numerical value for the categories of traction, handling, and longevity, along with an overall average SimpleScore. In the case of the Fortune ClimaFlex 4S FSR402 the SimpleScore numbers break down this way:

Fortune ClimaFlex 4S FSR402:

• Traction: 8.0
• Handling: 8.2
• Longevity: 7.8
• Overall average SimpleScore: 8.0

Those are all pretty impressive numbers, and they look even better when you consider that the SimpleTire price on the Fortune ClimaFlex 4S FSR402 goes from $74.99/tire to $165.99/tire.

On snowy pavement, even in deeper snow, the Fortune ClimaFlex is nearly unstoppable; about the only thing it can’t handle with confidence is sheet ice, which is the kind of weather where you probably shouldn’t be out driving around anyway. The 3D sipes multiply the tread’s surface area and traction with hundreds of hair-thin slits that slice their way through snow and slush, and they’re molded so deep into the tread that they continue to enhance traction even when the tread depth is getting pretty thin.

Cornering and maneuverability with the Fortune are consistent and precise, and its straight-line stability on the highway is solid thanks to its continuous center tread rib. That center rib also helps to deliver a steering response that’s quick and light without being overly sensitive or jittery. Ride quality is refined and muted, and while it can get a little firm on some broken or irregular surfaces, the Fortune never loses its composure or feels squirrelly. The Three Peak Mountain Snowflake rating is something that the tire industry sets the bar pretty high for, and the 70,000 mile limited manufacturer’s tread life warranty is especially notable when you remember that most winter tires don’t feature a mileage warranty at all. All in all, it’s our take that the Fortune ClimaFlex 4S FSR402 is a great value and a great, versatile performer in an all-weather tire for minivans, CUVs, and SUVs and is a great alternative to the hassle and headache of specialty winter tires that need to be dismounted and swapped for all-season tires again when the weather warms up a bit.

Vehicles the Fortune ClimaFlex 4S FSR402 is a good replacement tire for

While the Fortune ClimaFlex 4S FSR402 isn’t featured as the OEM tire on any vehicles, it would make a great replacement all-weather tire for makes and models like these:

• Chevrolet Tahoe
• Dodge Durango
• Ford Excursion
• GMC Acadian
• Honda Ridgeline
• Jeep Gladiator
• Nissan Pathfinder
• Toyota 4Runner
• Ford Expedition
• Honda CR-V
• Kia Sportage
• Mitsubishi Montero
• Hyundai Tucson
• Chrysler Pacifica