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How we rank tires
Every tire gets a score from 1.0 to 5.0 stars. It is a weighted blend of the ratings below, each on a 0.5–5 scale. Nothing is adjusted by hand, and manufacturers have no input.
Value, treadwear, speed and warranty are normalized within each category, because a summer tire and an all-terrain tire are never cross-shopped; traction and winter rating use fixed scales. Where no tire in a category carries the 3PMSF symbol (summer tires), the winter component is dropped and the other weights rescale.
The ratings and their weights
| Rating | Weight | What it measures | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Value | 25% | Warranty miles per dollar at the reference size, compared within category; for lines with no mileage warranty, price alone | The warranty is the manufacturer's own bet on how long the tire lasts. Miles per dollar is the fairest value measure across brands. |
| Treadwear | 15% | UTQG treadwear grade, compared within category | A government-mandated relative wear grade. It is only comparable within a brand strictly speaking, but across the whole market it tracks real-world life well. |
| Wet traction | 10% | UTQG traction grade on a fixed scale (AA 1.0, A 0.8, B 0.5) | Measured wet straight-line braking on government test surfaces. AA is rare and meaningful. |
| Snow rating | 10% | Three-Peak Mountain Snowflake symbol present (1) or not (0) | 3PMSF is the only certified severe-snow test. M+S is a tread-shape designation with no performance test behind it. |
| Speed rating | 5% | Speed rating index (S 0.2 to Y 1.0), compared within category | Speed rating correlates with construction quality, heat tolerance and handling precision, so it earns a small weight. |
| Warranty | 10% | Mileage warranty in miles, compared within category | Counted separately from value so a long-wearing premium tire isn't hidden by its price. |
| Test results | 25% | Independent test results (wet and dry braking, handling, noise, rolling resistance) from the sources we track, converted to a 0–100 scale per source and averaged | Grades and warranties say nothing about how a tire actually stops or steers. When a lab or magazine has tested the line, that is the largest single component. When no independent test exists, the product receives the median score of the tested ones for this rating, so a missing test neither rewards nor penalizes it; the model page says when that applies. |
Why rankings are shown within categoryes
Cross-class comparisons are rarely what a buyer needs, so every page ranks within one of these:
- Standard Touring All-Season — Long-wearing, comfortable tires for commuter cars and sedans. Priced at 225/45R17.
- Grand Touring All-Season — Quieter, better-handling all-seasons for sedans and crossovers. Priced at 225/45R17.
- All-Weather (3PMSF) — All-seasons that carry the severe-snow symbol; the right pick where winters are real but a second set is not. Priced at 225/45R17.
- Ultra-High-Performance All-Season — W- and Y-rated all-seasons for sports sedans. Priced at 225/45R17.
- Max-Performance Summer — Dry and wet grip first; not for temperatures below about 40°F. Priced at 225/45R17.
- Highway / Crossover SUV — Touring tires sized and rated for SUVs and light trucks. Priced at 235/65R17.
- All-Terrain — On/off-road tires for trucks and body-on-frame SUVs. Priced at 265/70R17.
Where the data comes from
UTQG grades, warranties and speed ratings come from manufacturer spec sheets and DOT sidewall data. Prices are approximate street prices for the category's reference size and are refreshed periodically; other sizes vary. Measurements come from the reviewers and labs we track; we store the number, unit, source and link, and never copy a reviewer's text. Where a source is paywalled, we record only that a test exists. See the reviewers and labs we track.
What we don't do
- We don't accept payment, sponsorship or free products for placement.
- We don't adjust scores by hand. If a ranking looks wrong, the fix is a data correction or a formula change, and formula changes are noted on the updates page.
- We don't rank tires we can't find a spec sheet and a current price for.
- We don't copy reviewers' text. We record their numbers and link to their work.
How the site makes money
Links to retailers are affiliate links and may earn us a commission at no cost to you. We link to every ranked tire the same way, so there is no incentive to favor one over another. More in About.
Found a mistake?
Write to [email protected] with the model and the correction. Spec corrections with a source are usually live within a week.