Tires Reviews

Part of our three-part series on tires, this report covers all-season and three-season tires for passenger cars and minivans. We also have a separate report on SUV and light-truck tires , as well as a report on snow tires , which includes winter tires for all vehicle types.

Consumer Reports conducts more comprehensive, rigorous tire tests than any other reviewer we found. Not content to blindly believe the treadwear ratings manufacturers list on tires' sidewalls, Consumer Reports performs accelerated wear tests on 83 tire models – all-season, performance all-season and ultra-high-performance summer and all-season -- to see how fast they really wear out. Road tests determine how well the tires handle on wet and dry roads (and wintry roads, for all-season tires), and testers evaluate the tires' ride comfort and noise. Consumer Reports evaluates one more thing that most reviewers don't: rolling resistance. Tires with low rolling resistance get better gas mileage.

A Canadian nonprofit association, the Automobile Protection Association, performs unbiased tests as well. The APA rates 39 all-season, performance and high-performance tires. We also found very recent road-test comparisons at The Tire Rack, a retail site, and at Which? Online. Although Which? is a British consumer testing organization, seven of its "Best Buy" picks are U.S. models from Michelin, Bridgestone and other top brands.

"All-season" is often a misnomer, as tire experts and consumers find when they try to drive the tires on snow and ice. Few all-season tires really perform well in winter-driving tests. Some perform worse than most in tests on ice and snow, including the otherwise highly rated Pirelli P Zero Nero M+S (*est. $125). In a recent Tire Rack comparison test on snow and ice involving four ultra-high-performance winter tires, the Pirelli finished last, even though it's considered an "all-season" tire. The other tires on test, including the top finishing Goodyear Eagle F1 All Season (*est. $130) , performed better in winter conditions, though none was as good as a dedicated winter tire.

We found mixed reviews for other all-season tires in winter use as well, including the Hankook Ventus V4 ES H105 (*est. $150), Sumitomo HTR T4 (*est. $65) , Toyo Proxes 4 (*est. $125) and the otherwise highly rated Yokohama Avid H4s (*est. $80) and V4s (*est. $90) . Several owners posting to The Tire Rack's forum report they got the Firestone FR690 tires (*est. $80) as original equipment on their Honda Civics a few years ago, but were very disappointed in their performance on snow and ice.

Although most cars come with all-season tires, and 83 percent of the replacement tires sold are all-seasons, they can't match snow tires' grip on snow and ice, conclude editors at Consumer Reports and The Tire Rack. The Canadian Automobile Protection Association says all-season tires are the least expensive option, and "may provide adequate performance in winter when they are new." A few all-season tires perform better in tests on ice and snow, including the Continental ContiExtremeContact (*est. $80) , Goodyear Assurance ComforTred (*est. $100) and Sumitomo HTR+ (*est. $60) , although all of these sacrifice some performance on ordinary dry and wet roads.

Price estimates throughout this report are usually based on a 215/60R16 tire size, a popular size appropriate for such mid-sized cars as the 2008 Toyota Camry SE. For ultra-high-performance tires, we used a larger tire size of 225/55R16 (or similar) as the basis for estimates.  ... Continued

Our Consensus Report shows how many times products are top-ranked by reviewers included in our
All The Reviews Reviewed chart.

# of picks	Model (With Retailer Links)	Price
5	Goodyear Assurance TripleTred	(*est. $105)
5	Michelin Pilot Sport PS2	(*est. $190)
3	Dunlop SP Sport 5000	(*est. $100)
3	Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3	(*est. $160)
3	Michelin Energy MXV4 Plus	(*est. $165)
3	Pirelli P Zero	(*est. $205)
3	Bridgestone Potenza RE050A Pole Position	(*est. $120)
2	BFGoodrich g-Force T/A KDW	(*est. $130)
2	Bridgestone Potenza RE-01R	(*est. $120)
2	Bridgestone Turanza LS-T	(*est. $90)
2	Continental ContiSportContact 3	(*est. $160)
2	General Exclaim UHP	(*est. $75)
2	Michelin HydroEdge	(*est. $120)
2	Michelin Pilot Exalto A/S	(*est. $100)
2	Michelin Primacy MXV4	(*est. $125)
2	Pirelli P Zero Nero	(*est. $155)
2	Pirelli P Zero Nero M+S	(*est. $125)
2	Sumitomo HTR 200	(*est. $70)
2	Yokohama AVID V4s	(*est. $90)
1 each	Bridgestone B381 , Bridgestone G009 , Bridgestone Potenza RE750 , Bridgestone Potenza RE950, Bridgestone Potenza RE960AS Pole Position , Bridgestone Potenza S-03 Pole Position , Bridgestone Turanza ER300, Bridgestone Turanza Serenity , Continental ContiExtremeContact , Continental ContiProContact , Continental ContiSportContact 2 , Continental ContiTouring Contact CH95, Dunlop SP40 A/S , Dunlop SP Sport 9000 , Dunlop SP Sport Maxx , Falken Ziex ZE-512 , Falken Ziex ZE-912 , Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 , General Altimax RT , Goodyear Eagle F1 All Season , Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric , Hankook Mileage Plus II H725 , Hankook Ventus R-S2 Z212 , Kumho Ecsta SPT , Kumho 716 Ecsta HP4 BSW, Kumho Ecsta KH11 , Kumho Solus KH16 , Kumho Solus KR21 , Michelin Harmony , Michelin Pilot Exalto PE2 , Michelin Pilot HX MXM4 , Michelin Pilot Sport A/S , Michelin Pilot XGT H4, Michelin Primacy HP , Michelin X Radial, Nitto Invo , Nitto Neo Gen ZR, Sumitomo HTR +, Sumitomo HTR Z III , Toyo Proxes T1-R, Toyo Proxes TPT, Vredestein Sportrac3, Yokohama Advan Neova AD07 , Yokohama Advan S4, Yokohama Avid H4s , Yokohama Avid Touring , Yokohama Avid TRZ , Yokohama AVID W4s , Yokohama AVS dB S2, Yokohama AVS ES100 , Yokohama Parada Spec-2

According to the reviews we read, there are good tire choices in all price ranges. The Michelin Energy MXV4 Plus is still one of the best all-around tires, having proven itself on the market for several years. The Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 is picked more often in reviews than any other ultra-high-performance summer tire, and we've included it in ConsumerSearch Fast Answers. Less adrenaline-driven (and more wallet-friendly) all-season options include the Hankook Mileage Plus II H725 and the slightly better performing Goodyear Assurance TripleTred. The Yokohama V4s is a good lower-priced, high-performance all-season tire.