Cooper Evolution Tire Review

‍Overview

Cooper Tire has been the go-to tire brand for Americans for more than 100 years. Unlike some of the other tire brands that only focus on low-end or high-end market segments, Cooper Tire aims to strike a balance between price and quality. And this explains why its tires are so popular among drivers.

Cooper Tire produces tires for almost all types of vehicles. Also, it produces tires that can handle different conditions and terrains like highway terrain tires, all-season tires, performance tires and winter tires, just to name a few. And, the Cooper Evolution Tour is one of this brand’s most popular tires.

About the Cooper Evolution

The Evolution Tour is an all-season everyday touring tire, designed for minivans, SUVs, crossovers and other passenger vehicles. It’s designed to deliver dependable year-round traction and grip, a quiet and comfortable ride as well as a longer tread life.

It also features mud and snow branding, meaning that this tire can handle some winter driving. It comes in various sizes, ranging between 14 inches and 18 inches. And, this means it should cover most of the passenger vehicles out there.

Design Features and Technologies

According to Cooper, the Evolution Tour is an all-season tire, which should allow you to tackle all seasons while providing you with a smooth and comfortable ride. Also, this tire should help your vehicle save on fuel since it has low rolling resistance.

Accordingly, Cooper has equipped this tire with a couple of outstanding features and technologies, so that it can meet its goals. Some of the Evolution Tour’s design features and technologies include:

All-Season Tread Compound

Cooper has furnished this tire with an all-season tread compound. This tread compound is designed to remain flexible throughout the year. So, whether it’s during summer, spring, winter or fall, this tire should provide you with adequate traction and grip.

At the same time, it’s also designed to provide you with a comfortable, quiet and smooth ride. Furthermore, this all-season tread compound is also designed to provide a longer tread life

Symmetric Tread Pattern

The Cooper Evolution also sports a symmetric tread pattern. This symmetric tread pattern features coupled tread elements, designed to deliver better handling. It also features a series of grooves and ribs throughout the tread, designed to deliver enhanced performance in wet conditions.

Furthermore, this tire’s symmetric tread pattern will also allow easy rotation, thus helping to prevent uneven tread wear while extending the Cooper Evolution Tour’s tread life.

Stabiledge Performance Technology

Similar to other modern tires from this brand, the Evolution also comes with Cooper’s unique Stabiledge Performance Technology. According to Cooper, this technology interlocks the tire’s tread elements, thus reducing the flex that commonly occurs to independent tread blocks.

By interlocking the tire’s tread elements, this technology then improves stability and cornering performance on dry roads. Also, it helps to deliver better responsiveness, especially when you are driving at higher speeds. Usually, such technologies are found in more expensive, high-performance tires. And, this comes as a surprise addition to this tire.

Full-Depth 3D Micro-Gauge Siping

Cooper has also utilized its proprietary Full-Depth 3D Micro-Gauge technology in this tire. This technology features a series of deep sipes throughout the tire’s tread, creating additional biting edges. The increased biting edges are designed to enhance its traction and grip on low-friction surfaces, for instance when you are driving on light snow. Also, they are designed to increase traction and grip in wet conditions.

Reinforced Interior Construction

The tire’s internal construction features sturdy single-ply polyester casing, which has been further reinforced with two steel belts. Furthermore, the Evolution Tour also features a spirally wound nylon, designed to provide further reinforcement.

This robust internal construction is designed to prevent the tire from deforming during high-speed driving or when the vehicle is loaded, thus helping to improve the vehicle’s stability and handling. Also, the reinforced internal construction will help to prevent the tire from failing prematurely.

Performance

Whether I’m driving to work or heading out on a road trip with my family and friends, I simply crave a tire that can perform well across different weather conditions. And, the Cooper Evolution Tour is marketed as such a tire.

But, does this tire perform as advertised? Well, the only way you can determine whether a particular tire will perform as advertised is by putting it through its paces. And, this is also the approach I used with the Cooper Evolution.

I installed a set of the Evolution on a 2020 Honda Fit and performed a series of tests in different conditions. I conducted tests in wet conditions, dry conditions, and snowy conditions. And, this is how this tire performed.

Cooper Evolution Dry Performance

Its performance on dry tarmac was good, just as I had expected. And, it should be enough for the driving needs of most drivers. It delivered ample cornering grip, which was quite a surprise, considering its price. Compared to some of the other all-season tires in its class, its cornering grip appears much better.

But, if you are a spirited driver and you love to push your high-performance car to its limits, then this tire will disappoint you. Its overall responsiveness is simply lacking. Its reaction is quite slow and it doesn’t communicate that well during high-speed driving.

Therefore, if you are the type of driver that loves pushing their vehicle to its limits, then this tire is not the right one for you. It doesn’t have any special features or attributes. So, it will be advisable to explore other tire options.

Overall, this tire’s dry performance is satisfactory. And for your everyday driving needs, then the Cooper Evolution should be more than adequate. It will provide you with adequate traction and grip, needed to deliver a safe ride.

Cooper Evolution Wet Performance

As an all-season tire, you expect the Cooper Evolution to deliver dependable performances in wet and rainy conditions. But, is it the case? Is it a great performer in wet conditions?

Well, most of the Cooper all-season tires that I’ve previously tested have delivered impressive performances in wet conditions. And, this is also the case with the Cooper Evolution Tour. It delivered adequate traction, especially when the surface is extremely wet.

Furthermore, its handling and steering responsiveness on wet pavements are equally decent. It felt sure-footed even when I was driving in heavy rain. Braking distances are comparable with other budget-oriented tires in this category. In addition, its aquaplaning resistance is great.

Overall, I must say this tire’s performance in wet conditions wasn’t disappointing. The grip was sufficient, the handling was better than I had expected and the braking distances remain short.

Also, most of the reviews that I’ve come across regarding this tire’s performance in heavy rain agree with my assessment. And, I can conclude that this tire will provide you with a safe ride if you happen to come across heavy rain during your rides.

Cooper Evolution Winter Performance

After concluding my wet-performance tests, I then proceed to examine the Cooper Evolution’s performance in snow and ice. Again, this tire didn’t disappoint me in these conditions.

I didn’t experience any slipping when driving in light snow. Also, the traction and grip were sufficient. The handling was also good. In short, you can expect this tire to provide you with sufficient grip, needed to remain confident when you are driving in light snowy conditions. Overall, if you are driving in light snow, then this tire will be more than adequate to give you a safe ride.

But once I ventured into deeper snow, the performance was completely different. It lost its grip almost completely. Also, its responsiveness in deep snow is extremely poor. My Honda Fit was almost uncontrollable in deep snow.

So, if your area experiences thick layers of snow during the winter months or you frequently find yourself driving on ice-covered roads, then this tire will be a total disappointment. Therefore, we recommend that you outfit your vehicle with the right tires for these conditions.

Off-Roading Performance

Some all-season tires can handle a bit of light off-roading. But, I would highly recommend against using this tire for any form of off-roading, including light off-roading.

As I mentioned earlier, this tire comes with soft rubber. And, this rubber will be highly prone to cutting, chipping, rock-drilling and other forms of damage, caused by the rugged and abrasive elements present in these terrains.

Besides causing premature damage and wear to this tire, there’s a high possibility you will end up voiding its warranty if you go for off-roading excursions with it. Therefore, you should only stick to driving on paved roads with this tire.

Ride Quality

Most budget-oriented tires tend to be poor performers when it comes to ride quality. And this is understandable since the manufacturer has to compromise on some areas to reduce production costs.

Fortunately, this is not the case with the Cooper Evolution. Unlike other budget-oriented all-season tires, its ride was supremely comfortable. Also, it was extremely quiet. Its ride quality is better than the majority of its competitors.

It absorbed smaller holes and bumps with ease. Furthermore, the noise levels and vibrations remained surprisingly low. While you shouldn’t expect this tire to be as comfortable and quiet as a premium grand touring tire, its overall ride quality is beyond impressive.

If you love going on long road trips with your friends and family, then this tire will be a decent choice for your vehicle. You will enjoy a smooth, quiet and comfortable ride all through. It delivered one of the best experiences that I’ve had in this category.

Cooper Evolution Warranties and Guarantees

Cooper is renowned for producing high-quality tires. Therefore, you can expect its tires to serve you well for many years. But, in some rare cases, you may end up with a Cooper tire that fails or wears out prematurely.

Fortunately, Cooper protects its tire buyers with strong warranties and guarantees. And, the Evolution Tour is no exception.  It comes with a standard workmanship and materials warranty, tread wear coverage as well as a test drive guarantee. Let’s take a closer look at what Cooper offers to cover in these warranties and guarantees.

Standard Workmanship and Materials Coverage

According to this warranty, if your Cooper Evolution tire becomes unserviceable due to conditions or defects associated with poor workmanship or materials used, Cooper promises to replace it.

If the Evolution becomes unserviceable during its first 1.6mm of tread wear, then Cooper will replace it with an equivalent new one. And, the replacement will be free of charge. But, if the tire fails prematurely due to workmanship or materials defects when more than 1.6mm of tread is worn, then Cooper will still replace it. However, you will incur a replacement charge.

Tread Wear Coverage

Cooper stands behind this tire with a 65,000-mile treadwear coverage. Accordingly, if this tire wears down uniformly and completely before delivering this promised mileage, then Cooper will replace it for you. However, you won’t get a free tire replacement. Instead, Cooper will offer pro-rated credit, which will go towards the purchase of a new tire.

Test Drive Guarantee

Cooper also stands behind this tire with a 45-day test drive. According to Cooper, if you buy a set of these tires but you are not satisfied with them for any reason, you can return them where you purchased them within 45 days. The company will then issue you a full refund.

Cooper Evolution Sizes and Fitment

The Evolution Tour is available in approximately 18 sizes, running between 14 inches and 18 inches. It can fit a wide range of crossovers, SUVs, minivans, and various other passenger vehicles.