10 Best Tire Brands for 2022

Many people shop for tires by model, size and price. Some also shop by the brand they prefer, and then choose the most appropriate model within that brand for their vehicle. We've analyzed the top 10 tire brands in the industry to make that decision a little easier for you.

How do you determine which tire brand is the best? We took a look at several sources that rate tires, from independent consumer rating agencies to industry rating agencies, publications and government bureaus. Then we conducted our own research involving a nation-wide survey of over 800 mechanics and industry experts.

The list below shows our calculated ratings for the top ten tire brands.

See our overall recommendations for Best Tires

Car Talk's Methodology

All of these tire brands were ranked using Car Talk's unique methodology based on over 30 different data points:

• Consumer Satisfaction: This is the key finding in any of these rankings. Consumers provided data about what their experience was using tire models within each of these brands. The thing to keep in mind is that a single brand may get strong ratings for one tire model, but fall apart on others. It’s important to look at these ratings and then find the tires within those brands that best meet your needs, then look at ratings for that particular tire model versus its competition.

• Industry Professionals: Car Talk researchers performed a nation-wide survey of over 800 mechanics for their opinions on the best tires available on the market today.

• Government Reporting: Statistics reported for safety and durability.

• Tire Quality and Engineering: These studies looked at how a tire brand’s overall quality and engineering or innovation influenced a consumer’s decision to purchase.

• Performance: All of these agencies looked at how tires from these particular brands performed in wet and dry conditions, under heavy braking and cornering, and in winter weather.

One attribute noticeably absent from the rankings is price. Tires are kind of a “you get what you pay for” situation. One thing that we can extrapolate from this data is that tire brands which are at the lowest rung of the price ladder were the brands that performed below the industry average, almost across the board.

Which is the Best Tire Brand by Category?

We also took a look at how tire brands performed in different categories of tire:

Tire Rankings By Brand

Michelin

Michelin is a French multinational tire manufacturer, which has been in business since 1889. Michelin is recognized as the second-largest tire manufacturer on the planet, behind the behemoth Bridgestone, and ahead of brands like Goodyear and Continental.

Michelin offers 50 different tire models, from the Golden Wrench winner for Best All Season CrossClimate2 to the Golden Wrench Winner for Best Performance tire, the Pilot Sport S4. It’s also one of the manufacturers that offers more than one tire specific to winter climates.

Around the world, and with every rating agency we looked at, Michelin has a stellar reputation for building a quality tire. For this reason, Michelin is our Golden Wrench winner for Best Overall Tire Brand.

Find the best prices on Michelin Tires with Tire Rack, SimpleTire and Discount Tire.

Types: All-season tires, touring tires, high performance tires, ultra-high performance tires, winter tires, all-terrain tires, mud-terrain tires.

Pros and Cons

For more in-depth information, read our full Michelin tires review »

Continental

Continental is a German tire manufacturer which has been in the business for over 150 years. It’s part of a massive multinational conglomerate that provides all manner of subsystems for automotive and transportation applications. Making tires is just one facet of the business.

Continental has a range of 59 different tires available in the United States. In general, it’s concerned with mainstream automotive tire production, so look to Continental for excellent high-performance tires, touring tires and medium-duty truck and SUV tires, and not so much for the extreme mud-terrain and all-terrain models.

Find the best prices on Continental Tires with Tire Rack, SimpleTire and Discount Tire.

Types: All-season tires, touring tires, high performance tires, ultra-high performance tires winter tires.

Pros and Cons

For more in-depth information, read our full Continental tires review »

Goodyear

American tire manufacturer Goodyear has been in the business of building tires since the invention of vulcanization. Founded in 1898, it’s one of the top four tire makers in the world today.

Goodyear has a bewildering array of 85 different tires, in everything from ultra-performance tires like the Eagle F1 Supercar, all the way down to the Radial LS, a budget all-season tire for commuter sedans. About half the tires that Goodyear offers are for trucks and SUVs, so there’s plenty of range there, too.

Find the best prices on Goodyear Tires with Tire Rack, SimpleTire and Discount Tire.

Types: All-season tires, touring tires, high performance tires, ultra-high performance tires, winter tires, all-terrain tires, mud-terrain tires.

Pros and Cons

For more in-depth information, read our full Goodyear tires review »

Bridgestone

Japanese tire manufacturer Bridgestone has been making hoops since 1931. Because of its purchase of Firestone in 1988, and various other acquisitions over the years, Bridgestone Corporation is the largest tire manufacturer in the world.

It maintains the Bridgestone brand, which offers more than 100 different tire models for just about every kind of driver. Its Potenza line is its ultra-high- and high-performance line, but it also provides the Turanza and Ecopia tires for passenger vehicles. It’s also credited with essentially reinventing the approach to winter tires in the 1990s with its Blizzak tire, of which it now offers nine different varieties.

Find the best prices on Bridgestone Tires with Tire Rack, SimpleTire and Discount Tire.

Types: All-season tires, touring tires, high performance tires, ultra-high performance tires, winter tires, all-terrain tires, mud terrain tires.

Pros and Cons

For more in-depth information, read our full Bridgestone tires review »

BFGoodrich

BFGoodrich has been around since 1870, and is one of the oldest tire manufacturers in existence. It’s been part of the Michelin family of brands since 1990, but has maintained a strong presence in the United States ever since.

For its legacy as a household brand, BFGoodrich has really focused on a narrow range of just 21 different tire models. The g-Force ultra-high performance tires, and the All-Terrain T/A K02 and Mud Terrain KM3 tires are its most popular. The Radial T/A is the only other white-letter 14- and 15-inch tire for vintage muscle cars. It has also made a strong showing with its Advantage T/A touring tires, as a replacement for commuter sedans and sports cars.

Find the best prices on BF Goodrich Tires with Tire Rack, SimpleTire and Discount Tire.

Types: All-season tires, touring tires, high performance tires, all-terrain tires, mud terrain tires.

Pros and Cons

For more in-depth information, read our full BFGoodrich tires review »

Cooper

Cooper has been on the scene since 1914, another one of those Akron rubber manufacturers. It went through some fairly dark days, but recently has been on the upswing providing some standout models in a few categories.

It only offers 21 different models, so it can’t compete with the wide range of the big manufacturers, but where it provides products, it performs well. Most notably, it’s Discoverer truck and SUV tire has been a favorite, and muscle car fans still love the Cooper Cobra, which is one of just a few solid white-letter tires available with fat sidewalls in 14- and 15-inch diameters.

Find the best prices on Cooper Tires with Tire Rack, SimpleTire and Discount Tire.

Types: All-season tires, touring tires, high performance tires, winter tires, all-terrain tires, mud terrain tires.

Pros and Cons

For more in-depth information, read our full Cooper tires review »

Yokohama

Japanese manufacturer Yokohama has been turning out tires since 1917, but it’s remarkably only made a name for itself in the United States since 1969. Since then, it has opened two manufacturing facilities in the US, and has become a household brand by providing tires for a lot of OEM applications.

There are 76 different Yokohama models available for US consumers, mostly centered around the ADVAN line of performance tires, the Avid all-season/touring tires, and the Geolandar truck and SUV lineup. It also has several winter tire offerings.

Find the best prices on Yokohama Tires with Tire Rack, SimpleTire and Discount Tire.

Types: All-season tires, touring tires, high performance tires, ultra-high performance tires, winter tires, all-terrain tires, mud terrain tires.

Pros and Cons

Pirelli

The Milanese tire manufacturer Pirelli has been in business for nearly 150 years, and has exclusively provided tires for major European racing series and events including the Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series and FIA Formula One.

Pirelli has 63 tire models, and the bulk of its reputation comes from producing ultra-high performance tires for exclusive performance and sport-luxury cars. However, Pirelli is also a noted producer of high-end tires for trucks and SUVs, with the Scorpion line of tires. It also has a formidable line of track tires, as well as a range of winter performance tires.

Find the best prices on Pirelli Tires with Tire Rack, SimpleTire and Discount Tire.

Types: All-season tires, touring tires, high performance tires, ultra-high performance tires, winter tires, all-terrain tires.

Pros and Cons

For more in-depth information, read our full Pirelli tires review »

General

General Tire is an American tire manufacturer that’s been in the business since 1915, and was one of the many rubber manufacturers that made Akron, Ohio, an industrial powerhouse in the early to mid-20th century.

General doesn’t have the breadth of tire models that the larger manufacturers do. It only has 19 available tire models, and the bulk of those are truck and SUV tires in the Grabber line. It also has several winter tires in its lineup: the Altimax for passenger vehicles and the Grabber Arctic for trucks and SUVs.

Find the best prices on General Tires with Tire Rack, SimpleTire and Discount Tire.

Types: All-season tires, touring tires, high performance tires, ultra-high performance tires, winter tires, all-terrain tires, mud terrain tires.

Pros and Cons

Hankook

Hankook is the youngest tire brand in our list, having launched as the Chosun Tire Company in South Korea in 1941. Hankook -- the native pronunciation of “Korean” -- was rebranded in 1968, and really only began selling tires here in the 1990s.

With that short history, though, Hankook has become a tire-making force to be reckoned with, delivering a slate of 42 different models, broken into the Ventus high performance line, the Optimo and Kinergy all-season and touring tires, and recently, the Dynapro all-terrain and mud-terrain line.

Find the best prices on Hankook Tires with Tire Rack, SimpleTire and Discount Tire.

Types: All-season tires, touring tires, high performance tires, ultra-high performance tires, all-terrain tires, mud terrain tires.

Pros and Cons

For more in-depth information, read our full Hankook tires review »

How to Choose the Best Tire Brand

Choosing the best tire brand for you is a personal decision which depends entirely on how you drive, where you drive, the vehicle you have and your budget. If you have a Jeep Wrangler and you take it off roading on the trails in the winter, then you need a reliable, durable tire with the strength to endure your travels. If you're kind of an indoor cat, live in a city, work at home and barely use your vehicle, then you'll need an entirely different, less rugged tire. Price, availability, longevity and treadlife all come into play.

Ratings and consumer reviews are a great place to start. Doing the research to decide which type of tire fits your needs, and then begin the process of shopping around for the best brands and prices. Once you decide on the tire that fits your needs, make certain to check tire shops near you for inventory as well as online tire outlets for the best prices, as many of them will price match.

Original Equipment vs. Replacement Tires

When the manufacturer decides on the original equipment tires (OEM) for each of the vehicles they make, they do so based on a mixture of cost, reliability, treadlife and capability. The tires that your car comes with, directly from the manufacturer, will be relatively good.

Depending on how long you have the vehicle, how much mileage you put on it, and the type of driver you are, replacing the OEM tires may be a good step. If you hit the trails on rainy winter nights, then you might want to opt for a more sturdy, off road or all terrain tire.

What is a Tire Warranty and What Does It Cover?

One criteria which should be considered when shopping for tires is the warranty offered by the manufacturer. A good tire will have a reasonable warranty which will cover a certain amount of time from the date of purchase, treadlife considerations and mileage estimates.

Warranty types include:

• Treadlife Warranty (also called Mileage Warranty)
• Workmanship and Materials Warranty
• Uniformity Warranty
• Road Hazard Warranty
• Special Manufacturer Warranty

Reading a Tire Size

Learning how to read a tire can be a very helpful skill, specifically when shopping for the right tire for your vehicle. When shopping for tires, it’s important to understand what the numbers printed on the sidewall actually mean.

For example, this typical truck tire size 265/70R17 115T All-Season tires means the following:

• 265 indicates the width of the tire from one sidewall to the other in millimeters. This tire is 265 millimeters wide.
• 70 indicates the aspect ratio, or sidewall height, as a percentage of the tire’s width. In this case, it’s 70 percent or of the tire’s width.
• R means radial tires. Radials are the most common type of automotive tire and have fabric woven in at various angles with tread that is strengthened with additional layers of rubber.
• 17 indicates the wheel diameter.
• 115 is the tire’s load rating.
• T is the tire’s speed rating. T-rated tires have a maximum top speed of 118 mph.

You can download this helpful infographic here. If you reference the image on another platform, please provide a link back to this page.