Yokohama Avid Ascend GT vs Goodyear Assurance ComfortDrive tires

The Japanese tire maker Yokohama is a leader in the replacement tire market and rolls out world-class tires for a range of vehicles, right from passenger cars and sports cars to light trucks and OTRs. Similarly, Goodyear Tire, in existence for more than a century, is an all-American tire brand that manufactures tires in every category for most vehicles. Both brands have a large portfolio of tire lines under each category, be it all-season, all-terrain, UHP, or mud-terrain tires. The Avid Ascend GT and Assurance ComfortDrive are among their all-season tires designed for year-round use.

Engineered for use on passenger cars, the Yokohama Avid Ascend GT and Goodyear Assurance ComfortDrive offer superior traction, grip, improved stability, and long service life. Whether dry, wet, or light wintry, they excel at lending adequate acceleration, braking, and handling performance while keeping noise levels to a minimum. Let’s compare the Yokohama Avid Ascend GT vs. Goodyear Assurance ComfortDrive based on our proprietary SimpleScore to see which one is the right pick for your vehicle.

Yokohama Avid Ascend GT tires

Launched in 2018, the Yokohama Avid Ascend GT is designed for luxury sports sedans and coupes and features an asymmetric tread design that returns superior traction, grip, and control and promotes even wear for a longer service life. Boosting the snow performance are the notched block pattern and 3D sipes that grip the surface deeply, while the circumferential grooves help clear water from the surface to mitigate the risk of hydroplaning. With the assistance of adaptive shoulder blocks and multi-pitch tread block variation, the Avid Ascend GT delivers a quiet and comfortable ride quality. Manufactured by using Yokohama’s special tread compound TriBLEND, it features a square contact patch that resists uneven wear and boosts regular wear.

Boasting a fantastic SimpleScore of 8.6 out of 10, the Yokohama Avid Ascend GT promises great comfort, grip, traction, handling, and tread life.

Goodyear Assurance ComfortDrive tires

When introduced in early 2020, the Goodyear Assurance ComfortDrive was touted to be the most comfortable all-season tire from the company to date. Laced with ComfortFlex Technology and an innovative noise-reducing tread design, the Assurance ComfortDrive dampens sound levels and makes way for a quiet and comfortable drive. While optimized AquaChannel grooves boost water evacuation for improved wet performance, the Traction Grooves ensure a larger contact patch and enhanced traction and grip. The TredLock Technology with soybean oil compound and rice husk ash silica (available in a few sizes) helps reduce the environmental impact and deliver a longer service life.

With an excellent SimpleScore of 9.4, the Assurance ComfortDrive offers superb traction, stability, steering response, and longevity.

Yokohama Avid Ascend GT vs Goodyear Assurance ComfortDrive tires on traction

Traction ensures your tires remain in contact with the surface and do not skid. Whether UHP or all-terrain, traction is the most critical aspect that keeps you going on the road.

With a fantastic traction score of 8.7 out of 10, the Yokohama features an all-season tread with the TriBlend compound providing great traction in light wintry weather. The asymmetric grooves, hundreds of 3D sipes, and notched blocks significantly boost grip and traction on dry, wet, and light snowy roads. Achieving an exceptional 9.7 traction score, the Goodyear offers superb grip and traction thanks to the TredLock technology and evolving traction grooves that combine soybean oil compounds for consistent traction in dry, wet, and light snow. The optimized AquaChannel grooves of the Assurance ComfortDrive are symmetrically balanced to boost quick water evacuation.

With a difference of one point, the Goodyear tire is way ahead of its counterpart in the traction section.

ADVANTAGE: Goodyear Assurance ComfortDrive

Yokohama Avid Ascend GT vs Goodyear Assurance ComfortDrive tires on handling

Good control over your vehicle is only possible through precise steering response, making handling a key factor, especially for all-season tires. Boasting an 8.7 handling score, the Avid Ascend GT features an asymmetric tread design that allows enhanced steering response and better control. The solid shoulder block and center rib ensure improved handling and stability, even while cornering.

Achieving an incredible handling score of 9.5, the Assurance ComfortDrive features a ribbed tread pattern with ComfortFlex technology that offers refined handling and excellent impact absorption capabilities. With a superior grip, the strong continuous center rib boosts steering response and stability.

With a superb handling score, Goodyear is the winner of this section as well.

ADVANTAGE: Goodyear Assurance ComfortDrive

Yokohama Avid Ascend GT vs Goodyear Assurance ComfortDrive tires on longevity

If handling and traction are critical aspects of a tire, the tread life is significant, too. All-season tires are preferred for their year-round performance and longer service life.

Scoring an 8.5 in longevity, the Avid Ascend GT offers decent tread life thanks to the triple 3D sipes and square footprint that provide great traction and stability while promoting uniform wear throughout its life. It offers a limited manufacturer tread life warranty, from 32,500 miles for rear positions in staggered fitments to 65,000 miles for non-staggered fitments.

The superior performance of the Goodyear continues in durability, and it scores 9.2. Combined with soybean oil, the Evolving Traction Grooves and TredLock technology offer better traction and promote a longer tread life. The Assurance ComfortDrive offers buyers a limited manufacturer tread life warranty of 60,000 miles.

With a better score, Goodyear wins the longevity test as well, beating Yokohama by a decent margin (0.7).

ADVANTAGE: Goodyear Assurance ComfortDrive

When to use each

All-season tires are engineered to deliver superior grip, traction, stability, handling, and longevity on dry, wet, and light snow. With a longer tread life and year-round performance, all-season tires are the most preferred tires in the US. However, they cannot tackle severe winter conditions with low temperatures. You need dedicated winter tires if the temperature in your region consistently remains below 45 degrees Fahrenheit. These tires feature a special rubber compound to resist sub-freezing temperatures while maintaining flexibility for enhanced grip, traction, and control, even on slippery surfaces. With deep grooves and multiple sipes, the winter tires feature Three Peak Mountain Snowflake certification that assures excellent performance in extreme winter weather conditions of ice and snow.

Which one should you choose?

Based on the overall SimpleScore, it’s the Goodyear Assurance ComfortDrive (9.4 vs. 8.6) that wins the battle quite comprehensively, beating the Yokohama Avid Ascend GT in traction (9.7 vs. 8.7), handling (9.5 vs. 8.7), and longevity (9.2 vs. 8.5). Let’s compare their prices to know which one is a real deal. For a 215/50R17 95V XL tire size, the Avid Ascend GT costs $175 per tire, while a set of four tires costs $700. Similarly, the Assurance ComfortDrive is available at $197 per tire, with four tires costing $788. The difference between the two is $88 if you buy four tires.

Based on the SimpleScore, you should go for the Yokohama Avid Ascend GT if you

• Drive vehicles like Aston Martin DB9, Porsche 718 Cayman, Tesla Model 3, and Volvo S80
• Want a more affordable tire ($88 difference on the set of four tires)
• Want a longer limited manufacturer tread life warranty (65,000-mile miles vs. 60,000-mile)

Contrarily, you should go for the Goodyear Assurance ComfortDrive if you

• Drive vehicles like Audi Q5, Chevrolet Traverse, Ford Explorer, Kia Sorento, and Toyota Rav4.
• Want excellent traction (9.7 vs 8.7) and handling (9.5 vs. 8.7)
• Prefer tires that last long (9.2 vs 8.5)

Still not sure which tire to buy? Fortunately, SimpleTire is here to help, and our helpful agents will be more than happy to assist you in selecting the right tire for your ride and budget.