The iceGUARD iG20 is Yokohama’s Studless Ice & Snow winter tire developed for the drivers of sports cars, coupes and sedans. Featuring Yokohama’s winter traction technologies, iceGUARD iG20 tires offer enhanced grip on winter’s slushy, snow-covered and icy roads.
Yokohama iceGUARD iG20 tires feature a Shelled Microbubble Compound that contains semi-rigid, resin-coated voids throughout the contact area to reduce slippage in slush, snow and on ice by extracting road moisture often encountered in near-freezing ambient temperatures. This compound is molded into a symmetric tread design featuring independent shoulder and intermediate tread blocks flanking an extended block center rib to enhance braking, straight-line stability and noise comfort. Four wide circumferential grooves eject water and snow while lateral grooves channel slush from under the footprint. High-density 3-D zigzag sipes lock together to promote block rigidity in dry and wet conditions, as well as permit more biting edges to increase traction in snow and on ice.
The tire’s internal structure features twin steel belts on top of a polyester cord reinforced casing to blend durability with ride comfort.
The iceGUARD iG20 Studless Ice & Snow tire meets the industry’s severe snow service requirements and are branded with the three-peak mountain snowflake (3PMSF) symbol.
Install Yokohama iceGUARD iG20 tires in sets of four only.
Due to the traction capabilities of iceGUARD iG20 tires, Yokohama recommends using them only in sets of four to provide the best handling characteristics and tire performance.
Founder at Tiresout. Used to be working as an engineer at Bridgestone Tires Akron Technical Center. The responsibilities included but were not limited to technical computing, indoor & outdoor testing of new tires.
This is the first time I’ve gone with these tires and first winter with this car. Prior to this I had a Volvo with Blizzak tires, which was a great FWD car in the snow. I drive the Mini much more spiritedly than my S60 and these tires feel comparable to the my experience with the more expensive Blizzak tires on the larger S60. We recieved 16″ of snow earlier this week and I purposely took the car through some of the deepest unplowed spots I could find and while I did manage to spins the tires with the stability controls off, it never got stuck. The cost savings were about 25% overall. While they’ve not been on long enough to note noise and durability so far I have to give them a thumbs up.
Pleasantly Surprised. Ok, I bought these mostly on size and price. (The only alternative in my 19″ size was $100 more per tire.) But these have been excellent in their first winter. Great driving and braking traction. Very responsive and predictable. Not any nosier on pavement than my summer tires. Too early to tell yet on treadwear. I give these high marks for both performance and value.
These are the best snow tires I’ve ever owned. They’re great in normal conditions and amazing in snowy and winter storm conditions. I really hope they don’t stop making this tire because I feel safe in my vehicle when the conditions are less than ideal. You need snow tires like these living in upstate New York. The tread lasts for a long time too. Absolutely love these tires! Yokohama did an amazing job!
These tires were a nice option as a replacement to the very expensive factory recommended winter tire. They came mounted on very attractive Andros wheels and I have had no issues with their performance in light snow and rain. The ride is satisfactory on rough winter roads and a couple long trips have been fine in the dry also. I have yet to test them in deep snow beyond a few inches , but with this being my second season, I will be. Overall a good value and work way better than all season tires.
Background: I’ve used winter tires in the past from Dunlop, Cooper, Blizzak, Pirelli. My commute (if I don’t WFH) is 90 miles each way Rochester-Buffalo. Need winter tires.These Yokohamas are a bad experience. They wander left-right requiring constant steering input. Grooved payment is ridiculous for that aspect! But, it is turning that makes them bad. Taking a highway exit, for example, there is this swoopy oversteer characteristic. Scary. You can actually invoke it going down the straights… all my experiences of it have been under ‘controlled circumstances’ but it scares me to think what will happen in an emergency swerve.Now, once it has taken that oversteer set, it seems stable. But (1) I don’t like getting there and (2) who knows what’s going to happen next if you push it? I’ve not been brave enough to find out yet.As far as I’ve driven in snow conditions, locally, slower speeds, the tires have actually performed pretty well. Not Blizzaks but not bad. The thing is though, driving the NYS Thruway in crappy conditions, you’ll get the bad swoopy behavior with ice to boot. I cannot wait to get off these tires.[Car / Driver Note: 2012 Mini Cooper S; new Konis; old driver who is getting slower at SCCA Autocross but I don’t think that’s the issue here]
Just finished a 500 mile trip in snow with these tires. One lane was open for most of the drive, very wet , the other lane intermittent snow. These tires had a tendency to over steer on the wet lanes, while performed extremely well on the snow lane. No feeling of fishtailing at 50+ MPH. Dry conditions perform like one would expect of a snow tire,loud with a tendency to grad the pavement more aggressively.
Great winter tire, went with a narrower width for better traction in the snow and it worked well. These tires got us through all the storms we had this winter including our daily 1 mile, 8% grade and many miles on unplowed highways at a decent clip. Very stable in icy conditions as well.
Drove these tires for 4 seasons in Minnesota. Snow traction was good. Dry traction was not as good as it could be, but passable for a daily driver. My biggest gripe with these is that they are quite loud. Probably the loudest street tire I’ve ever driven on.
Surprised that more have not reviewed this tire. I’ll be the first!These are dedicated stud-less snow tires, so don’t expect long life, crisp dry handling, low noise, etc. What they are intended for is excelling in the snow and ice, and they do it fabulously! We have plenty of snow days in Denver, and the ski hills surrounding here, and these tires on a Subaru AWD can climb trees when it snows. I put them on at the 1st snow and they stay on until April 1st. I would not drive w/o them in the snow. I have been caught in freak storms after putting on my summer tires, and it was a night and day difference in traction, braking, and cornering ability. These are like race tires for the snow…an unfair advantage. My turbo has plenty of power to spin these tires in the snow, but it is hard to do.That said, they are soft & squishy rubber, they wear fast, they are louder than my summer tires, and they are not as good grip my as summer tires in the dry. All as expected. Would I by them again…of course.
I bought (4) Yoko snows for My 2013 ST, down sized to 16″ from 18″ rims. Detroit has had two cold and snowy winters. includes trips to Buffalo via Canada; never a single problem. Of course I wouldn’t try to drive in more than about 6″ of snow. the usual downside to snow tires (noisy, stopping distance) but well worth the peace of mind.
DO NOT BUY THESE TIRES! These are bar none, the worst tire I have ever paid for. On my Tesla Roadster I view them as completely unsafe – the car cannot stop in the same distance as any ordinary car, let alone what you would expect of a high performance car. These “snow” tires perform worse in the rain than the Yokohama Neova AD07 high performance summer tires do in serious snow and ice on my car, which is stunning. I am getting rid of these tires because I fear they will result in damaging my car before I can wear them out.
Good value for the price, but I have been a little under-whelmed by the traction on wet and dry roads in the cold without actual snow coverage. On previous cars I have used Michelin X-Ice and Bridgestone Blizzak winter tires, which cost a little more than these Yokos, but do seem to deliver a bit better performance in those conditions.