The Firestone Weathergrip is a new all-weather tire, which is a new take on general all-season tires. All-weather tires have more traction for wintry conditions than a typical all-season. The best part about these tires is that they can be used all year long, summer and winter alike, with their best performance being in mild to moderate winter climates. If you live somewhere where your winters aren’t too severe, but still enough snow to require an all-season, the Firestone Weathergrip is the perfect tire for you. Save yourself the hassle of swapping your tires seasonally and enjoy the safe, convenient, high-performing Firestone Weathergrip.
Most all-season tires are only suitable for light snow, but these tires are 3 Peak Mountain Certified (3PMSF), meaning you can take on any weather. This certification is assigned to tires that are able to provide additional longitudinal snow traction compared to typical all-season tires.
Designed for cars, SUVs, station wagons, and minivans, the Firestone Weathergrip offers safety, reliability, and good durability for all. Backed with a 105, 000 km limited warranty, Firestone is proud to be an industry leader, distinguishing their all-weather tires from their all-season tires. These tires will not replace heavy-duty, dedicated winter tires, but they’re an excellent choice for tires you can rely on 365 days of the year in mild to moderate climates.
Pros
- Excellent performance in dry and wet conditions
- Better winter performance than all-season tires
- Good value for the money
- Great warranty (three years, or 65,000 miles... whichever comes first).
- Good tread life
Cons
- Slightly more road noise than most all-season tires
Key Features
- Heavy sipes and tread depth for efficiency in snow-covered roads and wet conditions
- 3 Peak Mountain Snowflake certified
- Rounded footprint to pierce standing water, therefore reducing hydroplaning
- Full-depth grooves and open shoulder slots, also helping with hydroplaning and wet traction
- High-density zig-zag pattern, increasing snow durability and handling
- Snow Traction Claw technology
Performance Review
Treadwear and Durability
The Firestone Weathergrip offers up a strong internal construction, with a tread compound consisting of single-ply polyester casting, reinforced with two steel belts and nylon. The shoulder blocks and shoulder ribs offer additional stability. These features help with both cornering performance and high-speed durability.
While we don’t have data to study this tire with over 50,000 miles of treadwear, this tire appears to wear very evenly across all 4 tires. Due to the softer rubber that helps the Firestone Weathergrip maintain wet traction in snowy conditions, this tire will wear slightly faster than a regular all-season tire in hot and dry conditions. However, this is addressed by the excellent 105, 000 km (65,000 mile) limited treadwear warranty.
Dry Performance
The Firestone Weathergrip offers exceptional traction in dry conditions. It has good cornering and braking ability, as well as excellent directional stability. These year-round tires hug the road, offering a safe and consistent feel on even the curviest roads. This all-weather tire has better dry handling than winter tires, making them an ideal solution for consumers who can’t afford both summer and winter tires.
The only downside to the Firestone Weathergrip’s dry performance is that this tire creates more road noise than a summer or all-season tire would, due to its slightly heavier tread pattern. However, the overall performance and dependability of this tire makes the noise something easy to overlook.
Wet Performance
Built with hydro grip technology, the Firestone Weathergrip was designed specifically with wet performance in mind. The overall performance and grip of these tires are good, even in rear-drive vehicles where slipping is more common during wet seasons and tricky weather conditions. These tires will get you through the snowiest months of the year with their excellent ice traction for an all-weather tire. In light snow, especially at low and medium rolling speeds, the traction of these tires is good.
The stopping ability of the Firestone Weathergrip in snow and ice is also good compared to most all-season and all-weather tires. Of course, these tires will not perform better than a dedicated winter tire in deep snow or on snow covered roads, but they will out perform most all-weather tires, and offer a smooth ride. The Three Peak Mountain Snowflake symbol proves that this tire performs well in light snow, wet conditions, moderate to heavy snow, on wet surfaces, all year round.
Whether you are using these tires for primarily highway driving or driving in town where stopping frequently is unavoidable, these tires offer good winter traction and wet performance.
Comfort & Noise
Optimal comfort and low noise on the roads are the only thing this tire lacks. Due to the focus on all-year traction and control, the Weathergrip tires are equipped with deep treads with interlocking grooves, intermediate ribs and softer rubber, therefore making more noise on the road than some alternative, lighter all-season tires. The Weathergrip tire can feel slightly heavy on the road, simply because this tire was designed with a semi aggressive tread pattern to offer safety and stability on snowy roads. This creates a slight delay in steering feel when driven on dry roads. They’re described as feeling soft, almost like a winter tire, but not quite as unresponsive as some winter tires. The road noise can be slightly noticeable at certain speeds, but the Weathergrip was designed to be a perfect balance between all-seasons and winter tires for drivers in moderate climates, and the road noise is a relatively unimportant byproduct of that.
Firestone Weathergrip Price
The Firestone Weathergrip is usually presented at $110-190 CAD per tire, depending on the size. Of course, some retailers will offer these tires are discounted or occasionally higher price points than this, but in general, the Firestone Weathergrip are a mid-priced tire. The warranty that comes with this tire is also an excellent deal, and Bridgestone even provides you with a 90 day buy and try guarantee. What makes this price point even more appealing is that these are year-round tires! You only have to buy 1 set, and with their long tread life, you can be sure these tires will last many seasons. You can also save money on these tires by buying lightly used when available.
What Vehicles will the Firestone Weathergrip fit?
- Acura – CL, CSX, ILX, Legend, RSX, TL, Vigor
- Audi – 100, 80, A3, A4, A6, Cabriolet, Coupe, S2 TT
- BMW – 1 Series, 2 Series, 3 Series, 6 Series, M1, Z4
- Dodge – Avenger, Challenger, Dart Monaco, Neon, Stratus
- Ford – C-MAX, Contour, Escort Focus, Focus C-MAX Galaxy Grand C-MAX Mondeo Tourneo Conn, Fusion
- Honda – Accord, Accord Euro, HR-V, Inspire, Jade, Odyssey, Spirior, XR-V
- Kia – Carens, K4, K5 Niro, Optima, Rondo, Soul, Stinger
- Saturn – Ampera, Astra, Insignia, Signum, Vectra, Zafira
- Lexus – CT, ES, IS
- Peugeot – 207, 208, 301, 308
- Subaru Outback
- Volkswagen – Passat, Polo, Virtus
Final Thoughts
Overall, Firestone Weathergrip tires are a great choice for drivers in mild to moderate wintry climates, who do a lot of driving in the winter and need moderate and light snow traction. For the price, these tires offer exceptional grip and handling in snow and in dry conditions. The 90 day buy-and-try package is a good way to try these tires before committing, and most drivers love how these feel on the road. It’s easy to appreciate the balance of safety, functionality, and affordability that Firestone Weathergrip tires have to offer. These are a great tire for anyone on a budget who needs reliable all-weather tires, and maybe can’t afford separate winter and summer tires. These are a safe compromise for exactly that, all year! You can find the Weathergrip online and in-store, all you need is your tire size.
Firestone Weathergrip Tire Sizes
15″
- 195/60R15
- 195/65R15
- 205/65R15
- 215/70R15
16″
- 205/55R16
- 205/60R16
- 205/65R16
- 215/55R16
- 215/60R16
- 215/65R16
- 215/70R16
- 225/60R16
- 235/70R16
17″
- 205/50R17
- 215/45R17
- 215/50R17
- 215/55R17
- 215/65R17
- 225/45R17
- 225/50R17
- 225/55R17
- 225/60R17
- 225/65R17
- 235/65R17
18″
- 225/45R18
- 225/60R18
- 235/45R18
- 235/50R18
- 235/55R18
- 235/60R18
- 235/65R18
- 245/60R18
19″
- 235/55R19