My daily driver has all the mechanical grip of a water slide. A V8-powered, rear-wheel-drive 2008 Ford F-150 pick-up – which most of the time hauls air. When the road has even the slightest hint of dampness, coldness, or surface contamination, my truck is as stable and poised as a walrus. It wobbles all over the place.
Also, my insurance company, and probably yours, is pretty insistent that proper, snowflake/three-mountain-logoed tires make their way onto my vehicle. Complying means a lower insurance rate, up to 20 percent from some companies, 15 percent in my case.
But I live downtown Toronto, where storage space does not exist, because why have storage rooms when you can have another 15 ft studio apartment to sell for $675,000? Right? So having two sets of tires and swapping them each season is a bit too much for me.
Problem Solved
The 2018 BF Goodrich T/A Advantage Sport LT is an elegant solution to my problem. These are an all-weather tire – not to be confused with an all-season tire.
All-season is a misnomer – those tires are not good for winter, or any time the temperature is below seven degrees Celsius. All-weather tires are.
Thanks to the wonders of modern compounds, the T/A Advantage Sport wears the three-peak winter tire symbol, making it legal in Quebec during winter, and also satisfying my insurance company.
But this tire is designed to last in all four seasons. That means a compromise. A four-weather tire will never be as good as a true winter tire in winter, nor as good as a normal “all-season” tire in spring and summer – but they’re getting close. Our job over the next few months will be to assess how close that is, and whether or not the compromise is worth it.
Technical Stuff
The T/A Advantage features “locking 3D active sipes”. These grooves in the tire add more edge area, and improve bite, while also locking together under load. It’s a compromise designed to allow more traction through edge bite, without compromising the stability of a solid, wide tread block – especially under cornering forces.
BF Goodrich also claims long-term performance courtesy of full-depth tread. That means road noise and grip should be consistent throughout the life of the tire.
The T/A Advantage is available in 33 sizes from 235/75R15 to 285/45R22
Available speed ratings are T, H, and V speed; with T and H getting a 105,000 km tread-life warranty, and V getting 90,000 km.
First Impressions
My first impressions are good. I had a fairly new set of Tier 1 all-seasons on before fitting these tires, and immediately noticed better traction from my rear tires in colder weather. The late snow flurries and cold snaps this season meant I got to experience these tires in proper winter conditions. So far, they have performed well, with consistent, confidence-inspiring grip.
There’s a noticeable improvement over the all-seasons in rubbish conditions, but you already knew that. More surprisingly, I’ve experienced a tangible change in dry-weather traction and drive in warmer conditions.
Road noise hasn’t been an issue, and my stripper-model truck has very little sound deadening, so that’s a big positive for me.
For now, the tires are doing well, but time will tell if they hold up through a proper change of seasons.
Available Sizes:
235/75R15/XL Advantage T/A Sport LT
215/70R16 Advantage T/A Sport LT
225/70R16 Advantage T/A Sport LT
225/75R16 Advantage T/A Sport LT
235/70R16 Advantage T/A Sport LT
245/70R16 Advantage T/A Sport LT
255/70R16 Advantage T/A Sport LT
265/75R16 Advantage T/A Sport LT
225/65R17 Advantage T/A Sport LT
235/65R17 Advantage T/A Sport LT
245/65R17 Advantage T/A Sport LT
245/70R17 Advantage T/A Sport LT
255/65R17 Advantage T/A Sport LT
265/65R17 Advantage T/A Sport LT
265/70R17 Advantage T/A Sport LT
235/55R18 Advantage T/A Sport LT
235/60R18 Advantage T/A Sport LT
235/65R18 Advantage T/A Sport LT
245/60R18 Advantage T/A Sport LT
255/55R18/XL Advantage T/A Sport LT
255/65R18 Advantage T/A Sport LT
265/60R18 Advantage T/A Sport LT
265/70R18 Advantage T/A Sport LT
225/55R19 Advantage T/A Sport LT
235/45R19 Advantage T/A Sport LT
235/55R19 Advantage T/A Sport LT
245/55R19 Advantage T/A Sport LT
255/60R19 Advantage T/A Sport LT
235/55R20 Advantage T/A Sport LT
245/50R20 Advantage T/A Sport LT
255/50R20/XL Advantage T/A Sport LT
265/50R20/XL Advantage T/A Sport LT
275/55R20 Advantage T/A Sport LT
275/60R20 Advantage T/A Sport LT
285/45R22 Advantage T/A Sport LT
