Tires: they are round, black and hold the car up when filled with air (or nitrogen if you feel the need). As long as they are not noisy or wear too quickly, that is all that matters, right? Wrong! Very wrong, actually. In fact, the tire is the last part of your suspension system, without it, you would be driving on your nice aluminum rims and if you think you can feel potholes now imagine the discomfort that would provide.

But more important is the fact that the tire can change your car’s handling characteristics more than any other piece of the puzzle. Have you ever driven a car you felt had soft or mushy steering? Perhaps you felt when you turned the wheel it took awhile for the car to respond. Most of the time this is a factor of the tires. Most late model vehicles today can far outperform the driver behind the wheel, but equip it with a subpar tire and you’ll wish for something better.

It is not all about driving fast and carving the backroads in your sports car either; it’s about safety, security and confidence in your car’s ability to negotiate a curve or stop suddenly in an emergency or avoid that ladder falling off the roof of the truck in front of you on the highway. These are real-world scenarios that could mean injury or worse that could be avoided because you did your research and purchased the proper tire for the job.

In Canada we have it tough, with nearly five months of the year covered in snow, cold rainy shoulder seasons (fall and spring) and generally unpredictable weather. More and more drivers are opting for a combination of all-season tire for three seasons and a winter tire for the harsh conditions. Some sports and luxury car owners have it even tougher. Many OEMs use a summer tire on the vehicle for superior handling, which either puts you in danger if you switch your tires out too late / soon depending on the season or you spend even more time driving and wearing those winter boots.

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BF Goodrich has developed a tire with these conditions in mind, the Comp-2 A/S tire aiming to solve these issues. They have developed an ultra-high-performance all-season tire that is capable of working in the cold and in a dusting of snow while offering extreme summer tire performance capabilities in both the dry and the wet.

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