ULTRA GRIP ARTIC 2 XL STUDDED

Was in need for high quality studded winter tyres that supported spirited sideways driving on ice lake with a RWD car and Goodyear Artic 2 delivered. Tyres excel at ice grip in terms of braking and acceleration, when turning, unless you wish to go sideways, it is better to slow down first. It makes sense when looking at the studs because studs are not triangular shape like Michelin X-Ice north 4 nor Nokian Hakkapeliitta 10 but rather plate/bowl shape? Either way, when driving straight, you will get the car to stop in emergencies. Snow grip is also excellent, no problems whatsoever when it comes to grip. Black ice is a tricky part, when the black ice is thin and is just a small coat over asphalt, snap oversteer is paramount, but on thicker black ice (frozen lake) it grips well. Comfort is also great, just some tyre humming due to studs but that is to be expected.
Since i drive a RWD car, of course i am going to disable ABS and all other assists the car has and take it to the ice road for sideways fun. RWD cars are not the best when it comes to acceleration from standstill on ice but with these tyres i had no problems getting going, took some time but it wasn't an issue. As for driving sideways, fun factor was 10/10. Transition from one side to another (Inertia drift/Scandinavian flick) is very smooth and understeer is hard to come by. Tyres don't warm up too much either so it maintains its grip for at least 3-4 kilometers of drift time, after that point, car starts to throw itself a lot more with less feedback than on cold tyres. I did crash into snowbanks and ice walls quite a few times and tyres took some strong impact because of it, however, the tyre stayed on the rim and no puncture was registered. I did lose air at 1 tyre when crashed into ice wall but that was only due to tyre being in bad position leaving a small air crack to leak air from but NO PUNCTURE nor TYRE COMING OFF THE RIM! Rim itself didn't get damaged either. My tyres did not come with Goodyears rim protection i think, but i did get extra load (XL), so i guess they are durable enough as they are.
For RWD cars that drive around during winter, these tyres are fantastic! Lots of sideways fun and predictable behavior on oversteer. Cornering is not so great like Michelin X-Ice North 4 or Hakkapeliitta 10 but straight line braking and acceleration grip make up for it. A bit expensive yet worthwhile investment for 800€ set!