Road Hugger GT Ultra Tire Review & Rating
The high performance all-season Road Hugger GT Ultra, which is offered by Discount Tire, is designed with performance traction and handling in mind. Built for use on all types of sport coupes, sedans and crossovers, the new for 2016 Road Hugger GT Ultra is value priced for budget-minded driver.
A unique all-season tread compound is matched up with an asymmetric tread pattern that is designed for dependable dry and wet traction. The tire’s continuous center rib provides quicker steering response, while also delivering enhanced braking and accelertation.
Larger shoulder blocks and intermediate ribs add to cornering stability and overall handling performance, which is a plus for this tire. This model provides a more responsive feel than you often find on other tires in this class.
Four circumferential grooves and 3-D sipes around the tread give this tire added grip on wet pavement. These sipes are also designed to help with traction on snow and ice, although this is not a strength for the GT Ultra.
Finally, tapered groove edges and the added sipes further provide for increased treadlife. With a 460 UTQG rating you can expect decent treadwear from this tire. Road Hugger has several 16-20 inch sizes available, and all sizes feature a W-speed rating.
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Pros
- Dry and wet traction
- Cornering performance
- Treadwear is better than many in this class
Cons
- Winter traction is fair
- Add more sizes
Overall Thoughts
There are a number of very good tires in the budget UHP all-season category, and this new GT Ultra is another nice addition. You can expect to find excellent dry traction and more than capable grip on wet road surfaces.
Cornering grip is another plus for this model, while steering response and on-center feel is much better than we expected from a lower priced offering. The ride is comfortable for the most part, although potholes and other rough pavement are felt more than you find on tires from Michelin, Continental and other bigger brand names.
Traction on snow and ice is arguably the biggest negative for this tire, although to be fair this is what you find with nearly every all-season tire. That said, light snow is easy to negotiate. It’s on ice that you’ll likely experience difficulty with braking/acceleration.
While admittedly not having the performance of a Pirelli P Zero All Season Plus or Yokohama YK580 among other top tires, it certainly holds its own. Overall, if you’re on a tighter budget and looking for a better than average UHP all-season tire, the Road Hugger GT Ultra is a solid option.
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What Vehicles Will The Road Hugger GT Ultra Fit?
(This is not a complete list of ALL vehicles this tire will fit)
- Chevrolet Cobalt, Cruze, Malibu, Impala
- Chrysler PT Cruiser, 200
- Dodge Caliber, Charger
- Ford Focus, Fusion, Mustang
- Honda Accord, Civic, Fit, CRV
- Hyundai Elantra, Sonata, Genesis
- Kia Forte, Optima
- Mazda 2, 3, 5, 6
- Nissan Altima, Sentra
- Pontiac G6, Trans Am
- Scion xA, xB, xD
- Subaru Forester, Impreza, Legacy
- Toyota Camry, Corolla, Prius
- Volkswagen Golf, Jetta, Passat
Tire Sizes
16″
195/50R16 88W XL BSW
17″
225/45R17 94W XL BSW
18″
235/40R18 95W XL BSW
19″
245/40R19 98W XL BSW
20″
245/35R20 95W XL BSW
245/45R20 103W XL BSW
Price Range
Road Hugger GT Ultra prices range from approximately $95 and up. You may also find occasional rebates, discount prices, coupons and special offers on this tire.
Click Here To Find Current Prices On All Road Hugger GT Ultra Tire Sizes
Warranty
The Road Hugger GT Ultra comes with a limited tread warranty.
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I put these on my Toyota 86 after the stock Michelin Primacy tires and wasn’t too impressed. I ended up changing to the General G-Max RS (summer tire) but here are my thoughts in the 120+/- miles I drove the Road Huggers:
Positives:
– Very smooth and comfortable compared to the Primacy but then again, the Primacy is a summer tire and this is an all-season, so I’m not sure how these compare to other UHP all seasons.
– Quiet at all speeds.
– Feels stable and sure-footed at high speeds
Negatives:
– Not enough steering response. There is definitely a slight dead spot in the center and turning requires more turning of the wheel and effort. The car doesn’t seem to go where you point your steering wheel during a turn.
– Understeer when pushed to the limit or when turning at high speeds.
– Acceleration doesn’t feel as pronounced compared to a stiffer tire. I realized I couldn’t really feel much acceleration/liveliness in the car any longer with this tire. It felt too much like a comfort/touring tire as opposed to one for high performance.
These negatives were ultimately why I ended up switching to the General G-MAX RS instead. The stiffer compound has excellent steering response and makes the car feel lively. I’m sure these Road Huggers would be a great choice for folks looking for a comfort-oriented performance tire but I realized that’s not what I needed at the end of the day. Choose wisely!
Mounted the Road Hugger GT Ultra on my Mercedes coupe and have been pleased overall. They are far superior to the cheap Chinese Champiro tires that were on the car when I purchased it. Road Huggers are made by Kumho and are top-quality tires at an affordable price. Sure a set of Pirelli P Zeros or Michelin Pilot Super Sport tires would be better. But for my dollar, the Road Huggers will do just fine. I don’t drive the car in winter.
Would not recommend. I bought my tires at 78000 mikes and at 91000 miles was told my tres was already low that I need new tires. I live in Arizona and only drive around town and to and from the airport. I was told that tires never last the suggested miles in Arizona.
I bought the road huggers in March thinking I was getting continental brand tires, just really looked at my receipt. I am really disappointed in the way these tires ride. They are toooo loud and not smooth at all! I want a refund or another set of tires. I haven’t even driven 10,000 miles on these tires.. toooo loud
I am getting ready to replace my road huggers for a quieter tire. I have to turn my radio up to drown out the noise. I will never purchase this brand again.
Purchased the Road Huggers in October and and they have been loud from day one. When I informed the CSR at Discount Tires he suggested that my car needed a an alignment. I am still having the same problem 20,000 miles later after the alignment. I’m disappointed and feel deep down that I received a bad set of tires.
Purchased the 16″ Roadhuggers around two years ago and already need to replace after approximately 33k miles. I live in Tennessee, drive 70% interstate, and am pretty conservative in how I drive. I also rotate/balance faithfully.
Handling and overall performance I’d grade a B+, but wow I’m shopping tires at least a year earlier than expected and am pretty disappointed. Discount Tire’s website lists the average customer’s tread life for tires and these come in around 36k. Yet, they still claim 50k. The local store is always super friendly, but shame on corporate for continuing to make the 50k false promise.
A Discount Tire employee sold me the most expensive house hold brand tire they could slap on my Scion xB which I only travel a distance of 2.5mi back and forth to work (20k on car in 5yrs) – Ride quality is a plus from the Khumos I bought but still need time to see the overall life expectancy of this tire.
I had a set of Firestone indy on my wife Mercedes on July 2017 and she only put 16 thousand miles on the before the tires was worn out. Firestone did not honor the warranty so, I went to discount tires and purchased a set of road huggers gt ultra and wow what a difference it made. The handling was better. The ride was smoother. Way less road noise. To say it is considered a budget tire I am impressed. Will not be going back to Firestone that’s for sure.
just replaced my Dunlop sportmaxx gts with the road hugger ultra’s and I could immediately feel the improved traction upon moderate to hard throttle, improved cornering and ride quality. I’m done much more for less performance. On a G37 coupe, btw.
I had firehawks they didnt last but 30k miles so i got on some road hugger gt ultras i git to say they are a smooth tire for what they are good grip on dry roads havent had wet conditions yet but i know not everything is 100% on wet roads but im sure they will do fine as well just the same
I just bought these tires hoping they work for me like FIREHAWK GT HP 235 /50 R18 97H SL BSW GM on my Chevrolet impala 2017 I drove 78,451 miles on those tires and without a problem.
These tires are on my used car I bought. They were new tires and did well in dry and wet conditions. Only thing when the temperature is 45 and colder they won’t hook up that good. Don’t expect to jump out in traffic because you will just spin the tires.
Hey thanks for sharing this information with us. Their winter traction is just fair, I believe this is why you
faced this issue in colder temperatures.
My Roads Huggers GT didn’t give me but 23,00 miles.they are 60,00 miles though. I have taken it back to discount tires in Augusta , they they tell me that they could always give me 139 toward a new sea, I don’t think this is fair
what vehicle did you run them on and is your driving more performance or just a to work and back ???? considering this tire
Wow just purchase a set of these tires for my 2015 Cadenza SXL. I hope I don’t have the same problem
Hey Lisa, sorry to hear about your experience. Can you share more details?
what size tires ? i bought some today never heard of em mine :245/35r20 95w and they came with 50k warranty
which the toyos i priced only 40k warranty for more$
Horrible wet weather performance in Texas, can’t handle any power with a lick of moisture on the roads. I have a ’16 WRX and the wet roads laugh at me.
Hey Bill really sorry for your experience. As the article notes, Road Huggers do not perform very well in winters.
Bill specified wet weather in Texas. That’s not not typical winter weather, as most of Texas only experiences a couple of weeks’ worth of scattered freezing days, and not much snow. The poor results are on wet/rainy roads.
Very good grip.
Glad you are satisfied with the grip Luis. Thanks for sharing with us!
Just put these on my 2015 CLA Sport, replacing the Dunlop SportMaxx GT’s,…….so far they’re working out just fine.
Good luck and please keep us updated!
Just put these on my 2014 Accord Sport and so far so good. They have a nice performance but rugged look to them. The tires handle well too.
Hey Erik, pleased to know that you are satisfied. Good luck for future as well.