We mounted the new Motivo 365’s on both cars, keeping the same size as the old tires to make the comparison more about the different tires rather than upgrading the size. The Volvo already had bigger tires and wheels than stock, using the wheels from the R model but we kept the same sizing before and after.
For a stock wagon, the Volvo V70 looks kind of cool and has a decent firm suspension from the factory. Likewise our Cobalt SS was stock but was GM’s premiere performance FWD compact car at the time.
We tried for a few months to find weather conditions where the Motivo 365’s improved mud and snow performance would shine, however, we could not find decent snowy conditions to drive through. We did find wet conditions and did note greatly improved wet performance, although we could not find downpour conditions. The older Motivios were very good in the wet and in our limited time in the rain (this is southern California where it is hard to find such weather), we found the Motivo 365 to be even better.
Since the 3PMSF rating is certified by the ASTM as a third party, you can be assured that the Nitto 365 is much better than the old tire and probably pretty decent in mud and snow. From what we know about tires, you can see that the tread and tire compound are more optimized for winter conditions. The question was would the Motvo 365 be worse in your typical Califonia dry conditions?
On the Cobalt SS, the Motivo 365 was greatly superior to the Chinese summer high-performance tires under all conditions by an order of magnitude. We were expecting a big improvement but we didn’t expect it to be that big, especially in the dry! It goes to show that you get what you pay for and the only time you should get those types of tires is if you can hardly afford safe tires and that is the only thing you can spare the cash for!
On the Volvo the Motivo 365 felt more squirmy and it felt like the tread was walking around on the tread blocks. We expected this due to the additional grooves and siping. However, the amount of overall dry grip remained the same. The reduction in feel with the Motivo 365 is an acceptable tradeoff for it’s greatly improved performance in inclement weather.
We were worried that the Motivo 365 with its more aggressive tread design would be noisey under freeway driving conditions but we found that it is not any worse than the older quiet Motivo.
Overall we would still rank the Motivo 365 as our favorite Ultra High Performance All-Weather Tire tire and would say it is an excellent choice for your daily driver in parts of the country where there are 4 seasons but not for snow tire only extended extreme winter conditions.
5 comments
Having the old Motivo’s on an e70 X5, they have been phenomenal in the snow, rain, etc. Never had an issue short of ice, which of course is the wrong application of tyre for the environment.
I can only imagine these new versions to be even better as a daily
I ended up replacing the old Motivo’s with the newer Continental DSW06, but when the time comes, I’ll keep my eye out for these.
Since you mentioned the Continental Extreme Contact Dws 06 Plus I felt that I should comment. I’ve run that tire for 2 years on my WRX STI. I commute from 1,800ft to 5,2880ft to work in the Sierra Nevada’s just 2 miles South of Yosemite’s South Gate entrance. The Conti’s have been awesome in every way except for a few instances where the snow was too much. I just bought these for the added reassurance during our winters but still wanted an Ultra High Performance All Weather tire.
Great write-up! The new Motivo 365’s move to a 3PMSF snow-rating, combined with an ultra-high-performance all-weather design, really stands out. It’s impressive how they’ve improved wet and winter traction (thanks to the multi-wave sipes and redesigned tread) without sacrificing too much dry performance. For a daily driver in a four-season climate, this looks like a smart choice.
Excellent report, thanks.
I bought an AWD Toyota Crown Signia wagon. This is not a performance car and is not that much fun to drive, but it still came with 21s, which I think are too big for this car. I’m downgrading to 19s and a more forgiving tire sidewall.
3-Peak seems like a good compromise for all weather road trips, and I’m hoping, for trails, dirt roads.
These Motivo 365s have an interesting tread pattern. I hope tread life and noise levels are reasonable.
I forgot to ask: does asymmetrical necessarily mean directional?