The BF Goodrich Advantage Control is a grand touring all season tire, while the Goodyear Assurance Maxlife comes in standard touring. Let’s see which tire is a better fit for you.
My testing with these tires reveal, that the BF Goodrich Advantage Control excels on icy roads and in dry highway conditions, while Goodyear Assurance MaxLife shines on snowy terrain and offers a longer tread lifespan and a quieter ride. Both tires have comparable fuel efficiency. And neither tire is top-tier for overall winter or wet conditions.
Table of Contents
Available Sizes
The Goodyear Assurance MaxLife comes in 15 to 20 inches wheels, and all of those sizes have following specs.
- Speed ratings: H and V.
- Load ratings: SL and XL.
- Tread depth range: 11 to 12/32″.
- Weight range: 20 to 36 lbs.
- Treadwear warranty: 85k miles.
- UTQG rating: 820 A B.
The BF Goodrich Advantage Control Review comes in 14 to 20 inches rims, and they have the following specs.
- Speed ratings: H, V and W.
- Load ratings: SL and XL.
- Tread depth range: 10.5 to 11.5/32″.
- Weight range: 17 to 32 lbs.
- Treadwear warranty: 75k miles for H, or 65k miles for V and W speed rated sizes.
- UTQG rating: 700 B A.
Inner and Outer Construction
Let’s start off with the Goodyear Assurance.
So this tire comes, displaying five continuous ribs.
And these ribs together form four longitudinal channels.
Now consider its tread (image), how all ribs are continuous running (with reinforced foundations underneath).
So the circumferential grooves aren’t connected to each other (meaning, the tire faces a hard time diapering water off laterally).
The central most rib features notches facing sideways (in both lateral directions). Moreover, you also see slanted linear siping here as well.
Though the outer ribs, including shoulders carry thicker notches and siping, in comparison.
Internally, the MaxLife is built with a single-ply lightweight polyester layer fused with a nylon cap. And between these layers, there are two steel belts, which add to the tire’s strength and durability.
Moving towards the BF Goodrich tire, you get a very similar design.
This tire also features continuous running channels, (restricting lateral dispersion of water).
Though that does not go for the outer shoulder ribs, which have clear lateral grooves, distinguishing them from the tire’s central area.
But yes, these lugs have similar siping pattern.
Moving inwards, you see three continuous-running ribs, where they all are very similar to each other.
I mean even though the central most rib is slightly narrower, all 3 ribs are characterized by notches (facing sideways), and linear siping.
As for its internal makeup, the BFG tire is crafted with a double-ply lightweight polyester layer.
And strengthening this layer are two steel belts, and additionally, there’s a single nylon cap ply that predominantly enhances the durability of the tire, especially at its center.
Winter Performance
In evaluating the winter performance of all-season tires, I always prioritize three crucial aspects:
- How well the tire accelerates.
- It’s overall handling, and steering responsiveness.
- And it’s performance across varied terrains, that is, on ice and snow.
Considering all these factors we have some complicated results.Though they can be simplified by saying this.
The BF Goodrich Advantage Control excels on icy tracks, largely due to its well structured combinations of notches and siping. And on the other side, the Goodyear Assurance Maxlife shines in snowy conditions, where it offers better snow-to-snow contact.
This type of contact is significant as snowflakes interlock tightly, yielding a grip superior to that of snow-on-rubber.
Note: Still, both tires aren’t such great options for overall winter performance, so its best you check out their respective detailed reviews (linked at the start). I mean it makes a lot of sense, why both tires don’t offer 3 peak mountain snowflake ratings.
Wet Traction
Wet traction is pretty complicated, as water is not compressible. Let me explain.
Since water can’t be compressed, it has to go out of the tread in time, otherwise it would float the tire (which is the definition of hydroplaning).
That’s why features like sipes and grooves, are so important here. They create gateways, and channels for water, so that the tire’s rubber could properly contact the surface.
Now, here both tires although aren’t great options, the BF Goodrich Advantage Control still takes the lead.
The tire, despite experiencing occasional slippage, consistently outperforms it’s competitor, mainly because of it’s better full-depth siping structure, featuring multiple angles, paired with a softer tread composition.
(Softer rubber allows sipes to suck in water particles more effectively, which is how they clear off water, in the first place).
On the other side, the Goodyear Assurance Maxlife lacks, showcasing pronounced slippage which mainly results form it’s in-effective sipes.
Simply put, sure, the tire offers a lot of sipes, but it’s harder rubber (built to last longer), hinders their flexibility. And so sipes can’t offer a good enough suction for the water particles coming underneath.
Highway Performance
Both tires excel in several key areas, spanning from dry traction to steering accuracy and stability at high speeds.
Let me explain them all.
Linear Grip
The term ‘linear grip’ is self-explanatory, as it calculates a tire’s friction with the road when moving in a straight line, as is typical on highways. So it makes sense why it predominantly evaluates the tire’s braking efficacy.
Having said that, in a head-to-head comparison, the BF Goodrich Advantage Control stands out for its superior braking efficiency, evident from its shorter stopping distances in tests.
And that is attributed to a couple of factors.
- It’s minimal tread features ensures greater rubber to road contact.
- The tire offers robust foundational supports underneath all its ribs,
- It comes with lighter weight.
The first one is pretty obvious, since it offers a greater contact patch, it directly translates in to extra grip. While with reinforced supports add to the tire’s overall on-center feel.
Lastly with lighter construction weight, the tire does not create as much momentum (inertia), so its easier to stop.
Dry Handling and Steering
Cornering can be dissected into three following phases.
- Entry Phase: At this initial stage, the vehicle gears up for the turn, which requires braking.
- Mid-Cornering: This is the heart of the turn where precise steering feedback becomes crucial.
- Exit Phase: Here, the vehicle begins to realign and re-engage acceleration.
Now being a grand touring tire, it makes sense why the BF Goodrich Advantage Control offers better performance in all these areas, comparatively.
As discussed in the above section, BFG tire offers superior braking, and a better “on-center” feel, so the entry and exiting is already covered.
While it’s lighter weight, and relatively shallower tread depth help during mid-cornering, where you get better under/over-steering balance.
On the other side, the Goodyear Assurance MaxLife isn’t too far off either. I mean the tire although lacks to its counterpart, it’s only by less than half a second, on average (referring to lap-handling tests).
I mean sure it lacks in braking, it provides just as great mid corning feedback, due to its stiffer rubber.
Fuel Economy
Fuel consumption is a complex interplay of various elements, with tread composition and structural weight being the most significant.
These factors actually define the majority of tire’s overall rolling resistance.
And comparing both reveal that they’re both pretty same. I mean, you’re not going to see any major difference, going from one tire to another, in terms of mpg.
The Goodyear Maxlife, with its composed and firmer rubber, restricts the lugs from getting deformed a lot, reducing overall rolling resistance.
While the BF Goodrich Advantage generates similar resistance values, with it’s lighter weight. So less weight pressure also keep the lugs from bending too much.
Basically when lugs flex, they waste energy, (as it’s converted into heat, and potential energy to reshape tread, and so on). But in case of these tires here, they reserve that fuel energy for the rolling of the tire instead, enhancing economy.
Side Note: As speed is directly proportional to rolling resistance, the BFG lacks with sizes having ratings of W. In comparison Maxlife only goes up to V. It’s all in here: https://tiredriver.com/speed-rating-on-tires/
Tread Wear
The lifespan of tire tread is affected by various elements, including the tire’s weight, material composition, and tread depth.
And here, as the tire’s name implies, the Goodyear Assurance MaxLife stands out, offering a whopping 85k miles warranty.
The tire is actually one of the longest lasting option in standard touring all season tires, where it comes with a unique rubber formula that provides enhanced resistance, especially during elevated temperatures.
In other words, its rubber composition expels out heat pretty efficiently.
Moreover, the tire’s greater tread depth up to 12/32″ means that it would take longer to reach down to 2/32″ replacement levels, (which is the legal minimum tread depth limit in US).
And sure, with greater tread depth, lugs become prone to flexing, (which generates heat, increasing wear), but since all ribs have reinforced foundations, that’s not the case with Maxlife.
Noise Generation
When evaluating tire noise, it’s pretty important to understand 3 main points.
- First, you need to know that noise mainly stems from the impact of air particles colliding with the tire tread walls.
- Second, majority of this air enters through shoulders.
- And third, the generates noise than bounces off the walls, amplifying, and creating in-groove resonance and cavity noise.
Now considering all, it makes sense why the Goodyear Assurance MaxLife is a quieter option. The tire comes with a more closed up shoulders, restricting air entry, to begin with.
And it features a more advanced pitch technology, ensuring that air particles striking various tread areas could produce diverse tones, preventing sound amplification, and thereby reducing in-groove resonance.
On the flip side, the BF Goodrich Advantage Control, with its pronounced shoulder voids, comes out being louder, as seen by its greater decibels reading (on average).
To Sum Up
So we have pretty mixed up results here.
In winter conditions, Advantage Control excels on ice, while it’s counterpart performs better on snow.
For wet traction, BFG has superior siping and softer tread, leading in water expulsion, while Goodyear’s stiffer rubber limits its effectiveness.
On highways, BF Goodrich offers better linear grip and cornering, but Assurance Maxlife isn’t far behind in mid-corner feedback.
And it also offers better tread life, though its not as comfortable in comparison.
Moreover, both tires have comparable fuel consumption due to minimal lug deformation.
