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Goodyear Eagle UltraGrip looks discontinued: no new owner reviews or road tests in five years and no current EU tyre label.

Head-to-head Updated

Goodyear Eagle UltraGrip vs Michelin Defender T+H — Compared

Relative Score (0–100): the weighted average of the categories below, each 60% road tests and 40% owner reviews (comfort 40/60). Based on 0 + 1 road tests and 5 + 1 owner reviews. How we score

Too close to call: Eagle UltraGrip 72, Defender T+H 71.

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Michelin Defender T+H
Tire BMichelin

Defender T+H

Premium Touring All Season tire

± 8Provisional

Tests – · 1 test Owners 69 · 1 review

Best test result: #1 of 8 in 2022 Consumer Reports All-Season Tires (tested tread life (miles))

Category by category

Relative Score per category, 0–100. Open “Why this score” for the tests and owner ratings behind it.

  1. 71

    Dry

    Eagle UltraGrip +1
    70
    Why this score
    SourceEagle UltraGripDefender T+H
    Professional tests (TWG score)≈ 70 (est.)≈ 69 (est.)
    Reviews found online7371

    Eagle UltraGrip: 60% × 70 (est.) + 40% × 72.6 = 71

    Defender T+H: 60% × 69.3 (est.) + 40% × 70.9 = 70

    No road tests of dry for Eagle UltraGrip. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.42).

    No road tests of dry for Defender T+H. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.42).

  2. 76

    Wet

    Eagle UltraGrip +3
    73
    Why this score
    SourceEagle UltraGripDefender T+H
    Professional tests (TWG score)≈ 75 (est.)≈ 72 (est.)
    Reviews found online7873

    Eagle UltraGrip: 60% × 74.5 (est.) + 40% × 77.6 = 76

    Defender T+H: 60% × 72.2 (est.) + 40% × 73.4 = 73

    No road tests of wet for Eagle UltraGrip. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.55).

    No road tests of wet for Defender T+H. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.55).

  3. –

    Snow

    No comparison
    65
    Why this score
    SourceEagle UltraGripDefender T+H
    Professional tests (TWG score)–≈ 68 (est.)
    Reviews found online–62

    Defender T+H: 60% × 67.5 (est.) + 40% × 62.1 = 65

    No road tests of snow for Defender T+H. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.37).

  4. 68

    Comfort

    Level
    68
    Why this score
    SourceEagle UltraGripDefender T+H
    Professional tests (TWG score)≈ 69 (est.)≈ 69 (est.)
    Reviews found online6767

    Eagle UltraGrip: 40% × 68.8 (est.) + 60% × 67.4 = 68

    Defender T+H: 40% × 68.7 (est.) + 60% × 67 = 68

    No road tests of comfort for Eagle UltraGrip or Defender T+H. The test half is the tested tires’ average (69): owners’ comfort ratings barely follow the road tests.

  5. 70

    Treadwear

    Defender T+H +3
    73
    Why this score
    SourceEagle UltraGripDefender T+H
    Professional tests (TWG score) · – / 1 tests≈ 68 (est.)76
    Reviews found online7268

    Eagle UltraGrip: 60% × 68.3 (est.) + 40% × 72.4 = 70

    Defender T+H: 60% × 76.1 + 40% × 68 = 73

    No road tests of treadwear for Eagle UltraGrip. The test half is estimated from the owner ratings, as far as owners and testers agree (correlation 0.35).

  6. 74

    Handling (owners)

    No comparison
    –
    Why this score
    SourceEagle UltraGripDefender T+H
    Reviews found online74–
Scores at a glance
CategoryGoodyear Eagle UltraGripMichelin Defender T+H
Relative Score 72 71
Dry 71 70
Wet 76 73
Snow – 65
Comfort 68 68
Treadwear 70 73
Handling (owners) 74 –

Higher is better. The Relative Score follows your weights below; category scores do not change.

Weight the categories that matter to you

Wet grip starts at “Important”. Treadwear starts at “Neutral” here: road tests measured it for at most one of the two tires, so it rests on owner reviews. Move the sliders and the scores update instantly.

Important
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Important
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Neutral
NotLessNeutralImportantMost

Only one of the two tires has a score here, so this weight changes nothing in the head-to-head.

Less important
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Neutral
NotLessNeutralImportantMost
Less important
NotLessNeutralImportantMost

Only one of the two tires has a score here, so this weight changes nothing in the head-to-head.

Recomputed
Headline score
± 8

Eagle UltraGrip

± 8

Defender T+H

Only categories both tires have data for count toward the headline score.

Pros, cons & observations

Themes extracted from owner reviews found online — not the opinion of TireWheelGuide.

Tire A Eagle UltraGrip

Pros

  • Exceptional tread life and durability even on high-torque vehicles
  • Significant improvement in winter traction for rear-wheel drive cars
  • Quiet operation comparable to premium summer tires

Cons

  • Performance in deep snow is considered average compared to modern winter tire designs
  • Older tread pattern design compared to current market offerings
  • Run-flat variants may have specific handling characteristics that some drivers find less refined
All owner themes in the Eagle UltraGrip review

Tire B Defender T+H

Not enough owner reviews yet to extract themes.

Specs side by side

Attribute A · Goodyear Eagle UltraGrip B · Michelin Defender T+H
CategoryWinterPremium Touring All Season tire
Vehicle typePassenger Car / CrossoverSUV and 4x4

Which one should you actually buy?

Goodyear Eagle UltraGrip

Michelin Defender T+H

Too close to call: Goodyear Eagle UltraGrip and Michelin Defender T+H are within 2 points overall. Goodyear Eagle UltraGrip is stronger on wet. Michelin Defender T+H is stronger on treadwear. Goodyear Eagle UltraGrip rests on little evidence so far (0 tests, 5 reviews), so read this result as provisional. Michelin Defender T+H rests on little evidence so far (1 test, 1 review), so read this result as provisional.

Pick tire A Your priority is wet-weather safety

Goodyear Eagle UltraGrip scores 76 vs 73 on wet.

Pick tire B You want the longest tread life

Michelin Defender T+H scores 73 vs 70 on treadwear.

Tire A · Goodyear Eagle UltraGrip
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Tire B · Michelin Defender T+H
Check price on Amazon

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Eagle UltraGrip or Defender T+H?

Which is better in the wet, Eagle UltraGrip or Defender T+H?

Goodyear Eagle UltraGrip, 76 vs 73 on our wet score.

Which grips better on dry roads, Eagle UltraGrip or Defender T+H?

Neither, by our numbers: 71 vs 70 on the dry score, within 3 points.

Which is more comfortable, Eagle UltraGrip or Defender T+H?

Neither, by our numbers: 68 vs 68 on the comfort score, within 3 points.

Which lasts longer, Eagle UltraGrip or Defender T+H?

Michelin Defender T+H, 73 vs 70 on our treadwear score.

How do we compare tires?

Every category score blends two independent signals. 60% comes from professional tire tests (braking distances, lap times, noise measurements), each result compared with every other tire in the same test and newer tests counting more. 40% comes from owner reviews found online, adjusted for how generously each site rates. Both use one scale: the average tested tire gets 70, the best 100. When a tire has only one of the two, the missing half is estimated from the other and the score stays closer to average; with no road test and fewer than five owner reviews it gets no score yet.

Handling is the exception: road tests measure it inside the dry and wet scores, so its own row comes from owner ratings only and starts as less important.

Community buzz from Reddit and forums is shown for context only — it never changes the score. Full methodology