Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 Plus vs Cooper ProControl tires

All-season tires are the Swiss Army Knife of tires on American highways, and for good reason. All-season tires present a great do-it-all solution for most drivers; they deliver a quiet and composed ride, handling that’s direct, responsive, and predictable, year-round traction in about every weather except for heavy snow, long service with a generous treadwear warranty, and durable construction.

Premium all-season tires are so popular that they’re often the OEM tire of choice for many high-end sedans, SUVs, and crossovers, and the Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 Plus and Cooper ProControl are perfect examples of those kinds of all-season tires. They’re both capable and competent tires that have their own unique sets of strengths and weaknesses, which we will compare and contrast in this head-to-head matchup.

You’ll see us make frequent reference to SimpleScore in this comparison; if you’re not familiar, SimpleScore is the system that the SimpleTire team developed to give you an at-a-glance idea of a tire’s performance and capability. We look at specs, reviews, and other data points, then take that info and distill it into a numerical value between 1 and 10 for the categories of traction, handling, and longevity for any given tire. For the Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 and Cooper ProControl, the SimpleScore numbers are as follows:

Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 Plus

• Traction: 9.3
• Handling: 9.2
• Longevity: 8.6
• Overall average SimpleScore: 8.8

Cooper ProControl

• Traction: 8.3
• Handling: 8.7
• Longevity: 9.4
• Overall average SimpleScore: 8.8

As you can see, those are some pretty strong numbers all the way around for each tire. While SimpleScore is handy, it doesn’t tell the whole story, of course. The Bridgestone and the Cooper have some pretty distinct differences from each other, so let’s get a little closer look with this product comparison.

Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 Plus tires

When Bridgestone’s design team took on the Ecopia EP422 Plus, they were aiming not only for capable year-round performance but also for low rolling resistance that can cut emissions and fuel consumption over the life of the tire. The all-season tread compound of the Ecopia EP422 Plus incorporates Bridgestone’s Nano Pro-Tech blend of polymers, silica and carbon black to help cut rolling resistance while also delivering great wear properties and reliable traction on wet or dry pavement.

The Ecopia EP422 Plus is designed with a symmetric all-season tread with notched shoulders, center blocks, and intermediate ribs for consistent traction on dry pavement. For wet conditions, four circumferential grooves work as a system with angled and lateral grooves to remove water from the tire’s contact patch and resist hydroplaning. Winter traction gets a boost from a network of notches and sipes that provide hundreds of extra biting edges to slice through snow and slush.

The sidewalls utilize Bridgestone’s Fuel Saver tread compound for enhanced rolling efficiency, and the internal construction of the Ecopia EP422 Plus includes a polyester casing with twin steel belts and a nylon cap ply layer for durability and ride comfort. Bridgestone covers the Ecopia EP422 Plus with a 70,000 mile manufacturer’s treadwear warranty. SimpleTire’s price on the Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 Plus starts at $159.96 per tire.

Cooper ProControl tires

The Cooper ProControl is designed with a durable tread compound for long wear and great wet- or dry-weather traction and features an asymmetric all-season tread with angled, lateral, and circumferential grooves that resist hydroplaning. The ProControl’s innovative 3D sipes are designed to widen and expand to keep delivering great winter traction even as tread depth wears down. The ProControl is designed with a higher density of sipes toward the center ribs for an extra advantage on snow, slush, or ice.

Cooper designed the ProControl for crisp handling; for that kind of cornering and response, a tire needs rigidity to prevent the deformation and tread squirm that go along with the momentum of hard maneuvers. The ProControl’s internal construction includes angled steel belts for a stiffer tread face and a nylon cap ply that’s vulcanized to the other belts for stability and ride quality. The polyester casing is also a high turn-up design at the sidewall for extra reinforcement. Cooper covers the ProControl with a 70,000 mile manufacturer’s treadwear warranty. SimpleTire’s price on the Cooper ProControl starts at $129.99 per tire.

Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 Plus vs Cooper ProControl tires on traction

How do the Ecopia EP422 and ProControl do on SimpleScores for the traction category? The Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 Plus has a SimpleScore of 9.3 for traction vs 8.3 for the Cooper ProControl. While the innovative sipe design of the Cooper ProControl gives it a definite edge when it comes to winter performance, the next-generation NanoProTech tread compound of the Bridgestone is designed for superior traction on wet or dry pavement (along with, of course, reduced rolling resistance). Yes, the choice of tread compounds really can make that much of a difference in traction, so our call on this one goes to:

ADVANTAGE: Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 Plus

Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 Plus vs Cooper ProControl tires on handling

With SimpleScores of 9.2 for the Bridgestone vs 8.7 for the Cooper when it comes to handling, this one is a pretty clear-cut choice. Bridgestone has decades of expertise in the motorsports arena and they bring that design and manufacturing experience even to a tire like the Ecopia EP422 Plus. Reviews indicate that the Ecopia EP422 Plus is nimble, predictable, and neutral in its steering response and cornering ability, if not quite up to what you’d expect from a summer or ultra-high-performance tire. The tread compound, reinforced shoulders, and groove design of the Bridgestone all help to give it that edge in cornering ability and handling, so our call on this one is:

ADVANTAGE: Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 Plus

Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 Plus vs Cooper ProControl tires on longevity

Since the Ecopia EP422 Plus and ProControl both come with very respectable 70,000 mile warranties, this one is a bit of a puzzler: the Bridgestone registers a SimpleScore of 8.6 for longevity vs 9.4 for the Cooper. The Cooper’s internal construction, with its angled steel belt layers, a reinforced high-turnup sidewall, and a cap ply that’s vulcanized to other plies all help to make this a more durable tire with long, even wear patterns. In addition, the contact patch of the Cooper ProControl is redesigned and optimized to better distribute the vehicle’s weight and encourage long, even wear. No-brainer on this one, our decision is:

ADVANTAGE: Cooper ProControl

When to use each

Like we said up front, tires like the Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 Plus and Cooper ProControl are a great choice for drivers of sedans, minivans, coupes, and crossovers who need a year-round tire that they can depend on for long service, a quiet and refined ride, and capable handling. It’s important to be mindful of what all-season tires can’t do, though. In most cases, all-season tires that don’t have the M+S rating for mud/snow traction or the 3 Peak Mountain Snowflake certification for severe winter service are not going to be able to get the job done very well in heavy snow, slush, or ice. While tires like these are great in terms of cornering ability and steering response, they don’t usually offer the kind of pulse-pounding performance you’d expect with a summer or ultra-high-performance (UHP) tire. They also don’t perform well in mud or offroad conditions (seems crazy to have to come out and say that, but people do crazy things sometimes). With all that having been said, if you’re the kind of driver who needs a tire that’s suitable for long road trips or daily commuter duties in most weather conditions (other than Minnesota-style blizzards), the Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 Plus or Cooper ProControl can either one be a great option for you.

Which one should you choose?

Here’s where the rubber hits the road (yes, pun intended). Here at the SimpleTire team, we do like some of the innovations that go with the Cooper ProControl, including its expanding 3D sipes and internal construction. When you look at the SimpleScore numbers, though, they paint a pretty clear picture. The Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 outclasses the Cooper in two of the key categories (longevity being the exception), and user reviews also point to plenty of satisfied drivers with this tire. While we’re sure most drivers would be perfectly happy with the Cooper, our choice between the two would go to the Bridgestone.

Still not sure which tire to buy? Fortunately, SimpleTire is here to help as our helpful agents are more than happy to assist you in selecting the right tire for your ride and budget.