Innovation Through Driving

Rain, rain go away

Given the UK receives an average 219 days of rain a year it comes as no surprise that performance in the wet, particularly when braking, regularly comes out as a top concern in our annual surveys.

Not only does the wet more than double (as a minimum) stopping distances, it can seriously affect handling and control. And, of course, there's the pervading risk of aquaplaning.

Over a quarter of all road accidents occur in hazardous weather. This figure rises even higher during downpours.

We can't stop the rain from coming down. But, after 3 years and millions of kilometres of extreme weather testing at the pioneering Goodyear Technical Centre in Luxemburg, we are now able to do more than ever to stop it coming between you and the road.

The award-winning Goodyear HydraGrip is our breakthrough, high performance tyre especially designed to give drivers unrivalled confidence in extreme wet and rainy conditions - without compromising dry road performance.

Its unique DynamicDrain technology dramatically increases adhesion and traction thanks to the sheer number of dry biting edges it can put down on the road. As well as providing excellent side grip and lateral stability, this also delivers unrivalled aquaplane prevention and emergency braking performance - stopping you up to two car lengths sooner at 40mph; the equivalent of a zebra crossing's width.

HydraGrip is able to do this thanks to its mould breaking combination of patented features including; new compounds, new tread patterns and a new groove profile - all of which help resist, channel and expel more surface water than any tyre we've made before.

"Exceptional" and "Masterly" we're just two of the phrases used by Autocar magazine to describe HydraGrip's performance after putting it through their exhaustive wet tests and declaring it a clear winner ahead of its Bridgestone, Michelin and Pirelli rivals.

HydraGrip represents the fruits of a 3 year, multi million pound quest to provide drivers with safer, higher performance wet weather tyres. All the evidence suggests we've done it. But the only true opinion that matters is yours.