Comparison: Goodyear UltraGrip 9 vs. Nokian WR D4 (2026)

Neither tyre is primarily sold on dry-road credentials, and the numbers reflect that. The Nokian WR D4 actually edges the Goodyear slightly on dry braking (80.9 vs 75.5), and testers have noted it feels reasonably confident on cold dry asphalt — a trait some owners specifically praise alongside its snow ability. The Goodyear's dry braking score is more modest, though its overall dry score of 80.8 is broadly competitive for the class. In practice, neither tyre will trouble a driver on a cold but dry motorway, but the Nokian has the narrower advantage here on stopping performance.

Wet roads are where the Goodyear UltraGrip 9 asserts itself most clearly. Across two measured wet braking tests, it averages 35.8 metres against the Nokian's 37.3 metres — a 1.5-metre gap that is consistent across both data points and reflects a genuine, repeatable difference. The Autobild 195/65 R15 mass test placed the Goodyear 3rd out of 51 tyres on wet braking; the Nokian landed 14th. Aquaplaning scores tell a similar story: the Goodyear scores 88.6 against the Nokian's 74.5, a gap that reflects real vulnerability on standing water for the Finnish tyre. The Goodyear's EU wet grip label — predominantly C but with a solid B presence — undersells what the tyre actually delivers in test conditions. The Nokian's mostly-B rating is more respectable, but in measured testing it consistently falls short of the Goodyear on wet surfaces. One owner directly compared the two compounds, noting the Goodyear's softer compound gives it an edge on wet and icy surfaces over the Nokian's firmer mix.

This is where the Nokian WR D4 turns the tables decisively. Its snow score of 91.7 against the Goodyear's 77.1 is not a marginal gap — it reflects a fundamentally different design priority. Snow handling (91.4), snow braking (90.6) and snow traction (89.4) are all at the top of the class, and owners consistently single out the Nokian's behaviour in deep or fresh snow as exceptional. In the two measured snow braking tests, the Nokian averages 26.8 metres to the Goodyear's 26.0 metres — a smaller gap than the wet data, and one where the Goodyear actually leads, but the Nokian's advantage emerges more strongly in handling and traction on snow rather than pure straight-line stopping. Drivers on smaller cars report the Nokian allows confident progress in conditions that would have stalled previous winter tyres. The Goodyear is far from weak on snow — its snow traction score of 86.6 and ice braking performance are both solid — but it is clearly playing a different game to the Nokian when the road turns white.

The Nokian WR D4's most remarkable statistic is its rolling resistance score of 99.3 — essentially the best in its class — which means real-world fuel savings over a full winter season that compound meaningfully if you do high mileage. The Goodyear's rolling resistance score of 82.3 is good but clearly behind. On noise, both tyres are similarly modest (70.3 vs 69.0), and Goodyear owner feedback frequently singles out low cabin noise as a pleasant surprise — 23 mentions across customer reviews on Heureka. The Goodyear also has a meaningful mileage advantage (80.0 vs 66.6), suggesting it wears more slowly over a season's use. The Nokian scores 9.5/10 from over 1,000 Heureka reviews and 92/100 from TyreReviews users, reflecting very high owner satisfaction overall; the Goodyear sits at 9.4/10 from 220 reviews with testers particularly praising its price-to-quality ratio and long tread life.