Cooper has been an American mainstay regarding tires, and their touring line is arguably one of their best offerings. However, since the brand has multiple touring tire variants, finding the right one for you can be tricky.
So, we’ve made this Cooper CS5 Ultra Touring vs Grand Touring tire comparison to help you out. With how similar these tires are on the surface, considering their nuances can be integral for a more optimized experience.
Table of Contents
Overview
Right off the bat, there’s not a lot of difference between the Cooper CS5 Grand Touring vs Ultra Touring. Both are not directional but asymmetric tires made with a newer generation silica compound, which considerably improves bite and braking abilities.
Both tires also have a Full-depth 3D Micro-Gauge siping to further improve traction, especially on low-friction surfaces like sand and light snow.
They also possess Stabiledge Technology to reduce the flexing that usually plagues tires with independent tread blocks, and a nifty visual indicator to give you an idea of your tire’s treadwear.
But how do these tires differ? Let’s test them to find out.
1. Wet Performance
When it comes to grand touring tires, wet performance is a make-or-break factor for most, especially when driving long distances with varying weather patterns. Needless to say, both tires performed incredibly well in the wet department.
However, after carefully weighing how both tires did on wet roads, we just have to give it to the CS5 Ultra Touring.
It offers much-needed maneuverability in the rain with incredibly short braking distances, and the tire’s handling and agility are better than its counterpart.
2. Dry Performance
As expected, both tires performed quite similarly—at first. Upon further inspection, we noticed that the Cooper CS5 Ultra Touring was more responsive when it came to maneuverability, especially when coming up corners—and that’s all thanks to its better traction.
And while the Cooper CS5 Grand Touring was a respectable tire, the CS5 Ultra simply edges it out when it comes to dry performance. The tighter plies on the Ultra Touring allows for better drives at high speeds.
3. Snow Performance
Although both tires aren’t 3PMSF-rated, they’re still fairly decent in snow performance, since both are actually M+S certified. However, we still urge buyers to get proper snow tires when driving on snow to be more on the safe side.
While testing, we didn’t see a whole lot of difference between the two tires, mainly because of how they are constructed. The silica compound that these tires are made with gives them fairly decent traction on snow.
4. Comfort
Grand touring tires are the epitome of comfort in the tire world, and for good reason. These tires are meant to drive long distances, and the last thing you need is a noisy or bumpy ride. And as advertised, both tires are top-notch when it comes to comfort.
They were great at suppressing growls and groans from entering the cabin while also making sure that vibrations from bumps and potholes were kept at bay.
5. Price and Warranty
Price can be a limiting factor when comparing fairly similar tires, and surprisingly, the CS5 Ultra Touring is actually the cheaper tire.
A sized 205/60R16 CS5 Ultra Touring is priced at $115.96 per tire, while the CS5 Grand Touring with the same specs fetches a higher price point at $121.96.
However, when it comes to warranty, the CS5 Grand Touring offers a much better deal as it comes with an 80,000-miles warranty, while the CS5 Ultra Touring only offers 70,000 miles. That’s 10,000 miles more in ensuring you get your money’s worth.
Conclusion
In a Cooper CS5 Ultra Touring vs Grand Touring tire comparison, both options are essentially good in their own way. However, in our Cooper CS5 Ultra Touring review, it’s clearly much better than its competitor regarding price and performance.
But that doesn’t mean you should ignore the CS5 Grand Touring, as it offers a much more attractive deal when it comes to mileage warranty, an often overlooked factor when choosing tires.
This makes this model better for practical usage and everyday drivers.
