Tires are the only part of your car touching the road, and even then the surface area regularly connecting to the pavement could fit on a piece of printer paper. And, yet, many of us just look for the cheapest tire. For certain cars that’s maybe ok, but even our staff is split between people who don’t care that much about their tires and those who spend way too much time tire-shopping.
Matt Hardigree
The tires are the only part of my Subaru that do not let me down. I have Michelin CrossClimate 2s and I think they’re the best all-around tire for people who drive a non-performance vehicle/live in cold climates and might have to drive in snow irregularly.
Thomas Hundal
When I bought my Boxster, I knew it needed new tires, and there aren’t many choices in this particular fitment. Instead of the Porsche N-Spec Pirelli P Zeros, which I haven’t been impressed with, or the ancient and expensive Porsche N-Spec Michelin PS2s, I went with the Continental ExtremeContact Sport 02. It’s a 340-treadwear summer tire competing with the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S, except it’s exclusively an aftermarket fitment. While grip and resistance to flat-spotting has been excellent, the big surprise was road manners. These are incredibly quiet tires that are still sticky enough to throw pebbles, they’re hushed over expansion joints, have a great sense of dead-ahead, and I find the steering more linear than on most Michelin tires. So far, I’m extremely happy. After all, a good car requires good tires, right?
Peter Vieira
I am a discerning consumer, which means I wear out the counter guy at my Local Firestone Tire Center with a litany of questions including “What do you have for a 2015 RAV4” and “What is the cheapest tire for a 2015 RAV4,” followed by “can I keep this pen” and exactly no other questions. I’m an unashamed cheap-tire buyer, but I won’t get the cheapest of the cheap – it’s gotta be a legit name brand, it can’t be something like, “Mile King, a Division of Abakumov Rubber & Sausage.” At present, I’m happy with my [goes out to garage to check] Firestone All-Seasons. They’re the perfect combination of “was on sale” and “seems fine” that I require in a tire. And if anyone’s wondering why I get my tires from a Firestone shop, it’s because it’s close enough for me to ride my bicycle back home after I drop off the RAV4. I can’t be hanging out in no tire store all day, I’m busy.
Mercedes Streeter
My only tire loyalty is to Vredestein. Otherwise, cheapest tire from a recognizable brand.
Top image by Pete, via Twitter (sigh … “X.”)Â
I am nothing but thrilled with the BFG KO2s that I have mounted on the Suburban. I got them a while back knowing that I would occasionally hit snow, mud, etc. While they handle crappy conditions quite nicely I am really impressed at their highway manners. You’d think as all-terrain M+S tires they’d be noisy and handle badly but they are a wonderful blend of on-road and off-road capability. I’ll be running them for as long as I have the Suburban.
I’m not unhappy with them, but I’m much less thrilled with the Michelin Pilot Sport All Seasons that are on my Fiesta ST. I live in Southern California, so the all-season part does literally nothing for me (I have the Suburban if I’m traveling to bad weather). Although I am perfectly happy with lots of sidewall for my larger vehicles, I much preferred the stock 35-series Bridgestone Potenzas that came with the car to the 40-series Michelins currently on it. The Bridgestones were grippier and much more fun, even if I did only get about 28k miles out of them.
Continental Extreme Contact. Which replaced the crappy Good Year Eagles, which were really a disappointment.
(have bought the Eagles for all my cars for over 30 years.)
After almost 2 years no visible wear yet. Great response and wet traction.
Would buy again for sure.
My 350z came with eagles, I was amazed at how bad they were. Went with pilot super sports at the time, never looked back.
Just this once I hope you are doing the old lighting site’s content-creation dance:
But please skip step 3 (anger closeted billionaire who sues your parent company into oblivion).
’12 Mazda5 – General Altimax 365aw, triple peak rated all season. Only had them for a year and mild winter here in MN, but happy so far
’16 Mazda6 – Had Cooper CS5 but they are hard to get now so switched to Altimax RT45, just got them so no real feedback- Winter was Yokohama IceGuard, but didn’t love them, they are due for replacement so likely going Cooper Evolution Winter
’23 Nissan Rogue – Still on factory Bridgestone. Seem fine. Will be getting Winter tires this season, undecided on brand
’74 Corvette – Firestone Firehawk Indy500, good tires but aging out very soon. Not many white letter options left. Something about the look if BF Goodrich Radial T/A strikes me as better visually, but the Cooper Cobra Radial GT get much better reviews and are cheaper, so likely the direction I’ll go.
bridgestone g-force comp 2’s, price thats easy on the wallet for the wet traction performance, decent treadwear, wheel protection, available as extra load. Braking performance that’s saved my bacon many times over the years
We off-road our 2021 Toyota Highlander Hybrid plus drive it on snow in the mountains in the winter. We replaced the stock tires with Cooper Discoverer Road + Trail tires – and they have been outstanding in all accounts. Daily MPG only took a slight hit with a big improvement in rock, mud, dirt, and snow performance.
Continental LX25’s on my Odyssey. Great tire so far. I always go for American made. Yes it’s a European brand, but the tire is made here. Don’t go cheap on tires or brakes. Your life depends on it.
BadAstro has General Grabber ATX3s, and I am impressed. They were cheaper and had better reviews than K02s, and they’re mud/snow rated. I’ve had them for almost 40k miles, and I’ve driven across the country and up into the rockies more times than I can count. Blizzard conditions on a mountain pass at 11k’? Send it! These tires are great and I’ll be buying them again.
Also, hidden gem, budget performance tire: Ohtsu FP7000s. Ohtsu = Falken; same factory, budget brand, but performance tire of budget brand. They are SOOOOOOO cheap, but honestly pretty good for a street car that needs performance tires. For track times I’d pick something else, but man, I have 30k on them and they’ve been great.
My cars are either stupidly old or certified as ‘weird’ so they have the tyres they need. If anyone can find a set of OEM spec tyres for a rallye raid Citroen SM ( the carbon fibre wheel sort) I know someone who might be grateful.
I’ve had the best luck with Continentals and Michelins.
I had some Pirellis that were wonderful for the first 30,000 miles on my 2015 WRX, but were terrible after that point. I had good luck with Toyos, too, but those were out of stock when i needed to replace the Pirellis, so it moved me to Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tyres that were still on the car when I sold it.
My 2001 996 has Continental Extremecontact DWS 06 Plus tyres, and they’ve been lovely for the year I’ve had them (and 6,000 miles) so far.
My 1978 R100RS is on Bridgestone Battlax tyres (I was actually hoping to buy the Continental RB2/K112 twins, but they were completely out of stock everywhere). Finding 3.25-19 fronts and 4.00-18 rears is harder than it should be, and the available metric tyres actually have a slightly different profile that can rub on the fenders.
My 1985 PX150E is on Continental K62s, and they’re great. I probably need to buy a new tyre and tube and swap out my rear soon.
Why on earth do we have 2 of our 4 writers here completely ignoring the importance of tires in the driving experience and ‘just buying the cheapest thing’? Its literally the only thing that touches the road. Nearly everything about the driving experience is impacted by tire quality like traction, MPG, wet/snow performance, noise, and even things like durability. All these drastically change depending on the tires. Pretty shocked to see those responses completely dismissing the importance of tires.
I’ve found that the cheapest performance tires from some brands usually cost less than all seasons from big brands, and I’d rather go that route. Example, the Ohtsu FP7000s I listed above. Great tires, soooooooooo cheap.
I sort of agree with you but also appreciate the honesty that price at whatever is in stock is the deciding factor. I think most people buy tires on those criterias, I ten to go for wha does well in tests for summer/winter and try to stick with known brands.
I got a set of Bridgestone tires on my XC90 V8 shortly after purchase, along with a replacement set of newlg-refurbished wheels, as the prior owner seemed to park against curbs by feel. They’re the Alenza AS Ultra series, and they’re easily the best tires I’ve yet had on any of my vehicles, including countless Michelin, Goodyear, and other name brands.
Amazing in the wet – almost too good, for the amount of sheer overconfidence and bravado they instill. Supremely quiet. Surprisingly high amount of grip most noticeable on highway cloverleafs. Heavy snow performance is yet untested but they’ve done better than the prior car’s Bridgestone Dueler H/L Alenza Plus would have in the same conditions. They’re delightfully predictable, and I’ve not yet felt any lack of confidence or control with them, which is more than I can say about most Michelins I’ve had.
They’re not Three-Peak Mountain Snowflake rated – the Bridgestone WeatherPeak came out a year or so after these did and serve that role – but I haven’t had as much wintery precipitation as I have in years past, so I’m looking forward to trying to get all 80,000 miles or more out of the expected treadlife of these.
2018 F150, replaced the stock Hankook Dynapros with E rated Michelin LTX M/S.
Super silent on the hwy and they don’t seem to wear as fast as the Hankooks, but they break out traction on dry pavement a bit easier. Wet performance is great, though.
2015 Jetta, Dunlop Enasave A/S. The ones that came up with when we got the car 18 months ago. Great for fuel economy and not much else. We’ll get something else
Guys, did we all just get tricked into posting the answers to our secret questions?
Who knew Peter was secretly a dark web data broker?!
I am currently running Michelin CrossClimate 2 on my Cadillac CT6 and have been very satisfied with their performance in both bad weather and fair. Their characteristics match the Cadillac very nicely and get the most out of the rather demanding CT6 performance capabilities. If they’re still available when these wear out I will be looking for another set.
I have Pilot Sport a/s 4 on the XKR and Duratrac A/T’s on the Defender. I thought about going winter/summer combo on the XKR but the a/s 4s are plenty sticky enough. In the summer at low speed they sound like a wet paint roller heh.
My primary vehicle alternates between Bridgestone Blizzaks and Michelin Defenders. The Blizzaks are magic on snow and ice and highly recommended if conditions require snow tires. The Michelins were recommended by a van company and on sale at Costco. They are fine although they occasionally freak out the indirect TPMS when off road. I prefer the Yokohama Geolanders that were the original tires. Obviously neither tire is a performance model for track days but the Defenders are solid daily driver rubber
Oh yeah the 78 BMW motorcycle runs the classic combo of Metzeler ME33 Laser front and ME88 rear and is due for replacement.
My preferred bicycle tires are Panaracer Pasela for pavement and light gravel (I’m old school) on my CX bike and Conti Mountain King on my MTB, although the old Speed King Supersonic was an awesome XC trail tire.
(former)’18 Camaro SS 1LE – Factory Goodyear Supercar 3s. Yeah, only got about 12k miles out of them (including track days) but there wasn’t much out there that could match them for the price.
’22 Colorado ZR2 – Stock it came with 265/65/17 Duratracs. Even when new they were pretty loud. Took them off at the 3,000 miles mark and replaced with KO2s in 285/70/17. Other than the drop in mileage from the larger tire, far superior overall. Quiet, great traction through all the weather here in MN, and great off road even in the mud. Just over 40k miles on the tires and they still have plenty of life left.
’20 KTM Enduro 690 ER – Stock it had Conti TKC80s. Great all-around tire, but that rear wears fast. Barely got 4,000 miles out of it. Replaced with Tusk D-sport (yeah I’m a cheap ass sometimes) that are advertised as 80/20 dirt/street, but I’d put them more as a 95/5 tire. They HOWL at anywhere between 45-65mph, louder than the exhaust. Actually just ordered a pair of the Tusk Waypoint tires this morning, which look to be a better all-around option.
’07 Aprilia Tuono – Picked it up used with Michelin Road 5 tires on it, technically aged out but still soft.. I know there’s some risk to riding ‘old’ tires, but there’s still plenty of tread and no cracking. Haven’t decided what I’m going to replace them with yet.
My fourth gen Tuono came with Pirelli Supercorsa V4’s. It’s only a fair weather bike for me so the supercorsa’s do a fantastic job. And there is very little risk of them aging out as you’ll probably only get 5k miles out of them.
Ha, yeah I’m familiar with that. Always ran Dunlop Q2/Q3’s on my Z1000. I was lucky to get 5k out of them.
“I can’t be hanging out in no tire store all day, I’m busy.” I’m lucky, there’s a bar in front of my tire store, I just hope every time that they’ll be quick enough so I won’t have to call my wife to pick me up with my bike.
E Class estate – Michelin PilotSport 4. They’re not the cheapest but they’re very quiet and last for ages.
VW Caddy – Avon ZT7 – A bit naughty because they’re car tyres on van but they’re much quieter than the alternatives.
21 Chevy Colorado: Just replaced my tires with Falken AT4Ws which so far are fantastic in terms of noise. Rain performance is fine. No experience yet in snow/offroad. I had GM-spec GY Duratracs and while they were great at the beginning and in snow, after 40k they were so loud and unbalanced I couldn’t even hear the wind noise or diesel on the highway. Very disappointed. I did find that the Falkens never went on sale in the 3 months I was shopping them.
19 Honda CRV: Have Michelin CrossClimate2s for over 10k miles and am very happy with them. Quiet, good grip in rain and snow, so much snow I didn’t even bother with snow tires this past winter. Seem to wear well so far. Whatever Bridgestone Ecopias or something that came on it was pure crap. Very loud from the beginning, so much snow that putting snows on them in the winter was a relief to the ears. I liked the Michelins so much I put them on my son’s 2007 Accord as well, and they frankly were not THAT much more expensive than other options.
-On the ’14 Cruze Diesel, we run the OE tire – Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max in spring/summer/fall and Michelin X-Ice Snows in winter. Have been plenty happy with the Fuel Maxes since we bought the car new, so it is on its second or third set of them now. Quiet, efficient (important given the car), and decent enough for handling in dry and wet. The X-Ice Snows replaced the previous set of excellent X-Ice Xi3s which had just over 7 seasons and 40k miles on them, and still probably could’ve gone one more winter.
-On the ’17 Volt, I still have the OE Michelin Energy Savers that the vehicle came with from the factory. They are fine in dry, terrible in wet (especially as they’ve worn more and more) and I genuinely dislike them but they are incredibly efficient and I will likely get another set (looks like the Bolt-specific tread now, versus the Volt-specific it came with). I know their limits in wet, so I do not push it. In winter, I run Michelin X-Ice Xi3s (on a 15″ Sonic wheel), as those have yet to wear enough for replacement with X-Ice Snows.
-On my ’07 Cobalt, which I only drive in summer now, I have a set of Dunlop Direzza ZIIs which are by far the best tire I have ever experienced…and despite a 200 treadwear, they still have life left (I put them on in 2014 – they’re kept in the basement when off the car during the winter). I truly do not know what will replace them when the time comes.
-On the ’81 Camaro, it has a set of BFGoodrich Radial T/As on the factory N90s which are more than sufficient for now, though with all the suspension upgrades it has, a 75-series sidewall directly opposes those advances in turning ability. Eventually it’ll see an upgrade.
-And our latest vehicle, the ’15 Camaro SS, it came with a set of non-matching All-Seasons (Goodyear Eagle Tourings in front and Continental Control Contact Sport SRS+’s in back). I am not upset about that (it should have, and did originally come with, summers), as these will be the winter storage wheels/tires.
God I hated the factory Michelins on my Volt. Besides being terrible in wet weather they were also essentially shot by 28,000 miles between being worn and dry rotting in the sidewalls.
Yep – they don’t last, and that car blows through front tires like nobody’s business, but it seems those tires go especially quick, even out back.
It’ll be interesting to see if the Bolt version do any better. They’re slightly narrower (still the same 215/50R17 size) and a pound lighter. So I fully expect them to not be, but they should be slightly more efficient due to the weight save and the narrower contact patch.
I switched the Volt to Altimax 365AW’s and I’d do it again. I would put them on the Bolt too but it came with brand new tires and even though they’re not my first choice, they’re new tires so I’m not in a big rush to buy more.
I have ‘95 Wrangler and since I got it lifted back in 2012, I’ve been on Goodyear Duratracs. They’re sized 31×10.5R15 since I didn’t want to go too big of a lift. Fantastic on off-road, in the rain, and snow. I’ve been told they can hum at highway speed but I can’t hear them over the wind and engine noise so no complaints there.
Plus they wear well: I don’t drive a huge number of miles but I’m only on my second set as of two years ago.
I love Duratracs. I had a set of 31×10.5’s on my old CJ5. A buddy had some on his 3/4 ton Silverado and put a ton of miles on them pulling a 5th wheel camper.
Cross Climate II on the Atlas, Continental Extreme Contact DWS 06 on the Sonata N Line. Winter goes to Vredestein Wintrac Pro for the N Line but honestly liked the Michelin X Ice II years ago on my RWD CTS better.
Never heap out on tires…. or you will just be back to the tire store more often to fix those same cheap tires, or they will likely wear out faster (tread life and/or driving characteristics).
I gambled on a set of Bridgestone Weatherpeaks for my Odyssey right around when those came out. I loved them and they were great in the snow but they wore out in 27k miles so I replaced them with a set of Michelin Defenders since Michelin seems to be the only brand of tire I’m consistently happy with.
For my other less important car I’ve been hunting for the best cheap tire for years now. I have a set of Road Huggers from Discount Tire, supposedly made by Kumho, and they’re fine for the price. Really loud though.
I had a set of Ohtsu tires on my Civic and those were the most garbage-ass tires I’ve ever had the misfortune of paying US currency for. I got maybe 20k miles out of them before they started shaking so bad I thought I broke something, and 3 of them had a slow leak.