So, what are you looking for in an all-season or touring tire for an SUV or crossover? If you’re like most people, it’s probably going to be a year-round grip, a ride that’s quiet and forgiving, handling that’s predictable and stable, great wear properties, and road manners that are sedate and confident. Most premium all-season tires can check all those boxes, and that’s why they’re the most popular segment of tires in the entire market, year in and year out. In most cases, the quality of those all-season tires is tied directly to the price (in other words, it’s a “you get what you pay for” equation). Still, all-season and touring tires sometimes offer the value and performance you’d expect with premium brands…but for a fraction of premium-brand prices.

That’s the case with the M-Trac CUV from Mastertrack. Here at the SimpleTire team, we’ve been pretty impressed with Mastertrack products in general for some time, and the M-Trac CUV is no exception; this is a tire that consistently beats expectations and outperforms its price point. But don’t just take us at our word on that – let’s go in and get a closer look with this product line review:

Features and Benefits

Here are some of the innovations and features that make the Mastertrack M-Trac CUV a great performer and a great value in an all-season tire for crossovers and SUVs:

• Casing, rubber formulation, and tread pattern designed to lower rolling resistance and enhance fuel economy
• A combination of lateral, angled, and circumferential grooves evacuate water from the tire’s contact patch to resist hydroplaning on wet roads
• All-season tread compound stays flexible at subfreezing temperatures to deliver traction in winter weather
• Tread pitch randomized and computer-tuned to cancel certain frequencies and overtones, keeping road noise to a minimum
• Network of sipes incorporated into tread pattern, multiplying the tread’s surface area and traction with hundreds of tiny grooves that slice through standing water, snow, slush
• Solid center rib in tread enhances straight-line stability and road manners on the highway
• Center rib boosts steering response
• Covered by 55,000 mile limited manufacturer’s tread life warranty

Pros and Cons

In the case of the Mastertrack M-Trac CUV, this is a tire where the Pros outweigh the Cons:

PROS:

• Very affordable
• Generous tread life coverage from the factory
• The ride is quiet, comfortable, and sedate
• Handling is predictable and consistent
• Dependable traction year-round

CONS:

• Can be noisy on certain pavement surfaces
• Not good off-road
• Not good in heavier snow
• No 3 Peak Mountain Snowflake certification for severe winter service

SimpleTire’s view on Mastertrack M-Trac CUV tires

Are you familiar with SimpleTire’s SimpleScore system? It’s the rating system that the SimpleTire team devised to assign a numerical score for the categories of traction, handling, and longevity for any given tire, as well as an overall average SimpleScore. We look at specs, reviews, and other data points, sort through that information, and then arrive at a rating between 1 and 10. For the BlackHawk Agility SUV, the SimpleScores are:

Traction: 7.6 Handling: 8.1 Longevity: 8.0 Overall average SimpleScore: 7.7

Those are some pretty outstanding scores for a tire whose starting price is $85.49 per tire. The Mastertrack M-Trac CUV offers drivers features and performance that align with a premium brand tire that costs far more, starting with its 55,000 mile manufacturer’s treadwear warranty.

We’re impressed with the ride quality of the Mastertrack M-Trac CUV – it’s supple and composed even on rough and irregular pavement, with vibration and roughness being capably soaked up before it makes it to the passengers. Road noise is subdued, although the Mastertrack M-Trac CUV can be slightly louder on certain pavement surfaces. Straight-line road manners are balanced and solid with a steering response that’s light and accurate, thanks to that solid center rib. Cornering is neutral and predictable right up to the limits of your vehicle’s abilities, with little tendency toward oversteer or understeer.

Traction on wet roads is consistent and reliable, with short braking distances and little tendency toward hydroplaning, even at higher speeds. Granted, this is a tire that doesn’t perform well in heavier snow, but to be honest, most all-season tires that don’t have an M+S or 3PMSF rating can’t list winter traction as a strong point. With dozens of sizes ranging from 16” to 2” rims, the Mastertrack M-Trac CUV is a great candidate for a wide range of fitments. All in all, we’d say that the Mastertrack M-Trac CUV is a tire that punches far above its weight class and compares well to far more expensive premium-brand tires when it comes to value and performance. This great, affordable tire starts looking even better if you’re driving an older vehicle and don’t want to empty a bank account when it’s time to replace your tires.

Vehicles The Mastertrack M-Trac CUV is a good replacement tire for

While the Mastertrack M-Trac CUV isn’t featured as OEM for any vehicles, it would make a great replacement tire for SUVs and crossovers such as these:

• Chevrolet Trax
• Dodge Journey
• Ford Escape
• GMC Acadia
• Ford Explorer
• Ford Flex
• Honda Pilot
• Hyundai Tucson
• Jeep Grand Cherokee
• Kia Rio
• Mazda CX-7
• Nissan Pathfinder
• Subaru Forester
• Toyota RAV4
• Volkswagen Tiguan
• Chevrolet Tahoe
• Dodge Durango
• Ford Excursion
• GMC Sierra
• Honda Ridgeline
• Jeep Gladiator
• Nissan Titan
• RAM 2500
• Toyota Tundra
• Toyota 4Runner
• Toyota Land Cruiser FJ
• Chevrolet Silverado 1500
• Chevrolet Silverado 2500
• Ford Explorer
• Ford Expedition
• Ford Escape
• Honda Pilot
• Honda CR-V
• Toyota RAV4
• Kia Telluride
• Kia Sportage
• Mitsubishi Montero
• Kia Soul
• Kia Sorento
• Hyundai Palisade
• Hyundai Tucson
• Hyundai Kona
• Hyundai Venue