Yokohama YK580: Tire Review

Yokohama has a history of creating good all-season tires, and YK580 is considered the company’s flagman in this category. It’s one of Yokohama’s most successful tires of all time, although it still remains a mystery for many Western drivers. Shame, because they’ve put a lot of good technology into this model.
It’s a good tire all around, and it best fits coupes, sedans, SUVs and CUVs, although no one tells you that you can’t use it on other vehicles.
But not, let’s see why Yokohama YK580 is so successful.

How is it made?

There’s not much special about it compositionally – the usual rubber material encases the two nylon-covered components inside. The steel provides excellent strength – the usual story.
There are other strength-improving components, but for now you should know that YK580 tires are pretty long-lasting on average. The absolute minimal warranty sits at 45,000 miles, but you can also get a 60,000-mile warranty for bigger sizes. It’s a pretty good result for an all-season tire.
And they actually made the treads last longer thanks to the Orange Oil technology. It doesn’t just make the composition better, but also reduces the resistance, thus saving gas.
But now, let’s discuss the tread, because they added a good number of innovative solutions to it.

Tread composition

The first thing you notice is that it lacks symmetry: there are many aggressive-looking block bridges, each with a unique shape. This balanced solution decreases the loudness of driving and increases smoothness and general handling – thanks to the many biting edges provided on the blocks.
Part of this balanced solution was also to give the treads more room for contact. They’ve done it by decreasing the volume of circumferential grooves. To help them battle the water, they introduced the water channels in the middle. They basically sweep the water away, thus reducing the hydroplaning and improving traction on wet surfaces.
In addition to more tread area and water channels, the handling is also improved by the Yokohama Unibloc Shoulder solution, which basically improves the toughness of shoulders and sidewalls. It makes them sturdier, but also makes sure they perform well around corners, during braking and speeding.

And lastly, to make traversing slippery surfaces an easier task, they introduced sipes. They are adaptive sipes, and there are more biting edges thanks to them. That results in better traction and handling on water and snow (especially shallow snow). On ice, they are still decently handles, but it’s not really their element.

Final thoughts

As a result, these tires are pretty decent. They might wear out faster than its counterparts, but they do provide excellent traction on everything save pure ice. Furthermore, these tires are almost soundless, and the ride in them feels smooth and certain – owing to their superior tread design and composition.
It seems that YK580 holds their title of one of the most effective all-season tires even to this day. They don’t cost too much either. In short, an absolutely recommended tire.

Tire Sizes

15″

195/55R15 85H BW
195/60R15 88H BW
195/65R15 91H BW
205/60R15 91H BW
205/65R15 94H BW

16″

195/55R16 87V BW
205/50R16 87V BW
205/55R16 91H BW
205/60R16 92H BW
205/65R16 95H XL BW
215/55R16 97H XL BW
215/60R16 95V BW
215/65R16 98H BW
215/70R16 100H BW
225/50R16 92V BW
225/55R16 99V XL BW
225/60R16 98H BW
225/70R16 103H BW
235/60R16 100H XL BW
235/65R16 103H BW
235/70R16 106T BW

17″

205/50R17 93V XL BW
215/45R17 87W BW
215/50R17 95V XL BW
215/55R17 94V BW
225/45R17 94W XL BW
225/50R17 94V BW
225/55R17 97V BW
225/60R17 99H BW
225/65R17 102H XL BW
235/45R17 97W XL BW
235/50R17 96V BW
235/55R17 99H BW
235/60R17 102H BW
235/65R17 108H XL BW
245/40R17 95W XL BW
245/45R17 99W XL BW

18″

215/45R18 93W BW
225/40R18 92W XL BW
225/45R18 95W XL BW
225/50R18 95W BW
225/55R18 98V BW
225/60R18 100H BW
235/40R18 95W XL BW
235/45R18 94W BW
235/50R18 97W BW
235/55R18 100V BW
235/60R18 107H XL BW
235/65R18 106H BW
245/40R18 97W XL BW
245/45R18 96W BW
245/60R18 105H BW
255/35R18 94W BW
255/40R18 95W BW
255/45R18 103W XL BW
255/55R18 109V XL BW
255/65R18 111H XL BW
265/60R18 110V BW

19″

225/45R19 96W XL BW
225/55R19 99V BW
235/50R19 99V BW
235/55R19 101V BW
245/40R19 94W BW
245/45R19 98W BW
245/55R19 103H BW
255/40R19 100V XL BW
255/50R19 107V XL BW