Out of both, the Nokian WRG4 falls into the ultra-high performance all-season category, designed for drivers seeking responsive handling and high-speed stability across various conditions. Whereas, the Goodyear Assurance WeatherReady is categorized as a grand touring all-season tire, aiming to provide a balance of comfort, durability, and year-round traction. Let’s find a better fit for you.

Table of Contents
Key Takeaway
The Nokian WRG4 is better at:
- Ice traction due to its abundant, interlocking full-depth siping.
- Wet handling, particularly with its effective water evacuation.
- Providing a smooth ride with its thermally adaptive rubber.
- Longer tread depth for extended wear.
Detailed Discussion on WRG4: https://tiredriver.com/nokian-wrg4-review/
The Assurance WeatherReady is better at:
- Dry conditions with its enhanced directional grip and quick steering response.
- Snow performance, especially with its effective snow-to-snow contact.
- Quieter road noise with its milder, cyclical tones.
- Longer tread life due to a tougher rubber blend and lighter construction.
Detailed Discussion on WeatherReady: https://tiredriver.com/goodyear-assurance-weatherready-review/
Available Tire Sizes and their Specs
Nokian WRG4 comes in 14 to 20 inches rims, having following specs.
- Speed ratings: H, V and W.
- Load ratings: XL, and SL.
- Weight range: 16 to 40 lbs.
- UTQG: 500 A A.
- Treadwear warranty: 60k miles.
- All sizes have the 3pmsf and M+S certifications.
- Tread depth: 11/32″ on all.
The Goodyear Assurance WeatherReady comes in 15 to 20 inches rims, with following specs.
- Speed ratings: T, H and V.
- Load ratings: SL and XL.
- Tread depth: Either 10/32″ or 11/32″.
- Weight range: 19 to 37 lbs.
- Winter ratings: Yes both M+S/3pmsf available.
- Tread warranty: 60k miles.
- UTQG: 700 A A.
Suggestion: Begin your tire hunt with indispensable advice on my All Season tire page – https://tiredriver.com/all-season-tires/
Overall Dry Performance
To comprehend a tire’s dry performance, we need to examine its linear and lateral grip, along with its steering response. Let’s get started.
Directional Grip
The effectiveness of a tire’s grip depends on various crucial elements, such as the tread composition, the amount of rubber in contact with the road, the tire’s weight, and its rolling resistance.
Considering these factors, the Goodyear Assurance WeatherReady stands out as a superior choice.

Despite having numerous voids, which could potentially reduce the contact area, these voids function as in-groove notches that enhance the overall grip.
The notches’ varying angles across the tire ribs provide the necessary traction.
Additionally, this tire is comparatively lighter, which results in lower momentum inertia at high speeds, making it easier to halt.
Conversely, while the Nokian WRG4 might seem less effective due to these points, it’s still remarkable how well it performs given its aggressive tread pattern.
Its rubber composition ensures better road adhesion, as its lugs aren’t as extensively voided compared to others in its category, providing a more consistent contact patch.
Overall Handling
Cornering performance hinges on two critical factors: the tire’s lateral grip and its steering responsiveness.
Now, in terms of lateral grip, both tires in question deliver comparably strong performances, demonstrating similar lateral g-forces in tests.
However, the dynamics shift notably when considering steering feedback, with the Assurance WeatherReady outperforming its competitor by exhibiting quicker handling times in lap tests.
The Goodyear tire provides a more instantaneous and precise steering sensation, in stark contrast to the Nokian WRG4, which tends to respond more slowly and feels less, you can say, nimble.

But why does the WRG4 lag in this aspect?
Well, the primary reason lies again in the tire’s heavier weight. I mean, its added heft increases stress on the lugs as they interact with the road, consequently impairing the tire’s ability to finely balance oversteering and understeering.
Winter Performance
If you’re wanting an all-season tire that’s adept on snowy roads, let me tell you, both of these options are strong contenders.
They shine in all the critical snowy conditions, i.e. acceleration, braking, and handling, and respond quickly to steering. Plus, they both offer the highly needed 3 peak mountain snowflake rating and M+S designation.
Though there are still a few things to note about these tires. Put simply, the Nokian WRG4 edges ahead on ice, thanks to its abundant, interlocking full-depth siping which ensures a solid grip.
It’s like having tiny claws that latch onto icy surfaces, giving you that extra bit of traction.
Meanwhile, the Assurance WeatherReady performs a little better on light snow, overall.
Goodyear’s swooping lugs act like little snow shovels, scooping up and tossing back the snow to create a strong push forward.
It’s all about making the most of snow-to-snow contact, which is key because snow sticks to itself better than it does to rubber, much like how a snowball grows as you roll it.
So, while both tires make a great choice for snowy adventures, each has its own area where it slightly outperforms the other, making your decision a matter of personal preference and driving conditions.
Fuel Economy
Fuel efficiency is really tied up with rolling resistance, which is all about how your tire is built, inside and out.
And here, out of both tires, the Goodyear Assurance WeatherReady kinda steals the show with its lighter build. This means its lugs don’t press down as hard when they hit the road, giving you a slicker ride with less rolling resistance.
Now, the Nokian WRG4? It’s a bit more on the aggressive side with its tread pattern, especially around the shoulders. It’s also a bit heftier, so there’s more weight squishing down on a smaller area of rubber, which cranks up the friction.
And yep, its softer rubber mix doesn’t exactly play nice with fuel consumption either.
But I bet you saw this coming, as Nokian being a high performance tire generating a lot more friction, is nothing out of the blue here.
Wet Performance
Wet performance centers on the tire’s capability to displace water from its tread, affecting traction and the ability to prevent hydroplaning. Let’s delve into how these aspects were managed.
Aquaplaning Resistance
For peak performance in wet conditions, rapid water evacuation from the tire is essential.
This is because water is incompressible. Meaning, if not swiftly cleared, it can accumulate between the tire tread and the road, causing slippage and reduced traction.
Tires are therefore designed with grooves to displace the majority of the water efficiently.
In this regard, both tires perform well due to their ample tread voids. However, the Nokian WRG4 has a slight advantage with its asymmetric tread pattern, which combines longitudinal channels and curved lateral voids, allowing for higher aquaplaning resistance and float speeds comparatively.
The tire’s mix of lateral and longitudinal voids disperses water in multiple directions, enhancing its water-evacuation capability.
Additionally, its heavier weight and thoughtfully engineered design create a negative pressure zone in the center, effectively pushing more water towards the tire’s edges for improved wet traction.
Ironically, its weight is also the leading cause of lacking dry performance.
Wet Traction
Now, as already mentioned, grooves are key in ejecting most of the water, but some stubborn droplets can linger beneath the lugs, raising the risk of slipping. And that’s where sipes step up to the plate.
Think of sipes as tiny, intricate cuts in the tread that soak up any leftover water, ensuring your tires maintain a solid grip on wet roads.
These little slits are pretty nifty; they contract and expand, creating a sort of suction effect that sucks up those pesky water particles.
So, while grooves take care of the bulk of the water, there’s usually not much left for the sipes to deal with.
But when it comes to the Nokian WRG4, with its array of wave-like sipes of various lengths and widths, it’s already ahead of the game. These sipes are quite the power players, whisking away water at a micro level with impressive efficiency.
In my own tests, comparing it to the Goodyear Assurance WeatherReady, the Nokian tire just knocked it out of the park in all wet conditions – whether it was nailing the wet slalom, clocking faster laps, or stopping in shorter distances.
It just goes to show, the WRG4’s got some serious chops when it comes to maintaining its grip in the wet.
Overall Ride Comfort
Two essential aspects affecting driving comfort are the amount of tread noise and the tire’s ability to absorb road imperfections. We’ll dive into the details of both.
Noise Comfort
Road noise is influenced by various elements, with air playing a key role.
As the tire rolls, air particles collide with the tread walls, creating noise. This air often enters through shoulder voids, which explains why both tires might not be as quiet as desired.
Yet, the Goodyear Assurance WeatherReady emerges as the quieter option, as in my comparative tests, it emits relatively milder, cyclical tones that tend to blend into the background ambient noise.
On the other hand, the Nokian WRG4 is noticeably louder, producing a persistent tread growl and cavity noise. This isn’t surprising, given its heavily siped tread pattern which is prone to capturing and releasing more air, thus generating more noise.
Road Smoothness
The ride quality of a tire is closely linked to its capacity to absorb road irregularities, which is significantly affected by its construction and materials.
Essentially, tires made from softer compounds generally deliver a smoother ride. However, excessively soft tires aren’t necessary for comfort.
This leads me to favor the Nokian WRG4, as this tire features a more thermally adaptive rubber that’s softer yet resilient, paired with a well-balanced design.
Moreover, although both tires features similar tread depth, it features thicker/greater layers in its internal construction, allowing bumps more room to settle down.
Tread Longevity
Tread longevity is influenced by various factors, including the design of the tread (particularly the depth), the rubber composition of the tread, and the tire’s overall construction weight.
Looking at these aspects, it’s clear why the Assurance WeatherReady tends to outlast its competitor, where on average it covers additional 5 to 10k miles on average over its lifetime.
So why is that? Well, because Goodyear tire is made from a tougher rubber blend, which includes polymers noted for their resistance to wear. Additionally, its lighter construction means its lugs endure less pressure as they contact and wear against the road, extending the tire’s life.
Conversely, the Nokian WRG4 offers a deeper tread, which theoretically should wear down to a 2/32″ level more slowly, thereby extending its lifespan. However, it doesn’t quite keep up.
Simply put, this is largely due to its softer rubber composition, which tends to wear out faster.
It’s worth noting that the 2/32″ tread depth is the legally mandated minimum in the US, marking the end of a tire’s considered safe lifespan.
To Conclude
In conclusion, when navigating the varied landscape of tire performance, both boys present their strengths.
The Assurance WeatherReady offers a compelling blend of durability, quieter ride, and reduced rolling resistance for fuel efficiency, shining particularly in dry conditions and on snow.
Meanwhile, the WRG4 stands out with superior ice traction, wet handling, and a smooth ride, thanks to its innovative tread design and siping.
So while both tires yield decent all-season capabilities and snow ratings, your choice might boil down to specific needs. I mean, whether you prioritize longevity and quiet comfort with Goodyear or the enhanced grip and smoothness on wet and icy surfaces with Nokian.
Ultimately, both tires are robust contenders, each with a unique set of features catering to a variety of driving conditions.