14 Major Tire Brands Of 2025 Ranked

Tires are one of the most important and yet most underappreciated parts of your car. Not only is it part of the suspension system and therefore helps dictate the softness or firmness of your car's ride but the tread pattern, materials, and design are also huge factors. For example, summer tires are made for warm weather, and the tread pattern is meant for dry concrete. Meanwhile, winter tires are made from softer rubber with tread patterns that are better in the snow. All season tires are made with rubber that does reasonably okay in both cold and warm climates with tread that works on dry, wet, and snowy roads. 

Picking a right tire requires a lot of effort, especially because there are so many tires out there. In addition to all season, summer, and winter tires, you have specialty tires like eco tires that reduce rolling resistance, and, of course, performance tires like they use in NASCAR. There are also run flats — also known as self-supporting tires — that can keep you driving for a limited duration after a puncture so you can make it to safety.

With all of these options, picking the correct tire can be difficult, so here are the major brands ranked worst to best so you know at least where to start. 

Dunlop has been around for a very long time, opening its first factory in Ireland in 1890. It also has a corporate relationship as of 1999. Today, Dunlop has a smaller selection than most competitors but still enough to cover most types of vehicles. Some of its products include the Grandtrek Touring A/S for SUVs and crossovers, the Grandtrek SJ6 for trucks, and Dunlop's Enasave 01 A/S and Signature II touring all-season tires. In addition, the brand sells a variety of summer tires, which Dunlop calls ultra-high performance all-season tires, that are intended for cars like Lexus and BMW. 

In general, Dunlop doesn't make a bad tire. There are only two small issues with it. The first is the lack of sizes. For example, neither of the standard all-season tires come in 225/50R17, which is the size my 10th-generation Honda Accord uses. On top of its limited sizes, Dunlop tires tend to test mediocre. Other than the Signature II tires — which actually test well — the rest are all middle of the proverbial road per tests from Tire Rack and other authorities.

Firestone has also been around for a long time. The brand started in 1900 in Akron, Ohio, as a tire and rubber company. They've been going strong ever since. Much like Dunlop, Firestone doesn't have the largest selection of tires, but they hit all of the main categories. Firestone's tires include the WeatherGrip all-season tires, Winterforce CV for trucks, and the Transforce CV all-seasons. Firestone also has a decent selection of all-terrain tires for both on-road and off-road use. 

For the most part, Firestone tires are a mixed bag. Some models, like the Affinity Touring and the standard Firestone All Season, scored mediocre on tests. Others, like the Transforce CV, Winterforce CV, and WeatherGrip all scored on the higher end of average or the low end of good. That means Firestone makes competent tires that tend to do well in terms of comfort, traction, and treadwear, but you have to shop for the top end models to do it. 

Hankook is a South Korean tire brand first established in 1941. The brand is best known for its Kinergy and Ventus lineup of tires. Each one has multiple sub-variants, including summer tires, all-seasons, grand touring, crossover-oriented, and high-performance tires. Hankook also makes Dynapro and Optimo tires to round out its lineup. Overall, Hankook has a larger selection than Firestone or Dunlop, although many of them are just subtle variations of the same tire, so overall, Hankook's selection is about as large. 

In terms of performance, Hankook is similar prior two brands in that they're all over the place. The Kinergy GT doesn't do the best in the wet or snow while the Kinergy ST performs above average. Most of Hankook's lineup occupies the middle ground where it performs fine in the wet and a little less good in the snow. That's not unusual for tires in general, especially when they're not winter tires. In all, Hankook is a good brand with some weaknesses, but those weaknesses are fairly common among tires in general. If you need something for snow, you can always get a winter tire.

General has been around for over 100 years, and it has an interesting as history as the one of the biggest tire manufacturers over that time. Like Firestone, it also began life in Akron, Ohio. General has a medium-sized selection of tires and they cover all of the typical bases. Their biggest product is the AltiMAX, which it sells in two variants, the 365 AW and the RT45. It also has a host of all-season, all-terrain, and light truck tires known as the Grabber series, with the Grabber Arctic and the Grabber A/TX being notable highlights. 

The good news is most of General's tires test very well. The aforementioned four brands all score excellently on multiple tests, including those from Tire Rack. There are a few tires that don't review as well, like the Grabber HD tires. However, by and large, General makes some solid tires and they even come in sizes that fit my 10th generation Accord. General's off-terrain tires are a highlight and their all-seasons are competitive. Even their Altimax Arctic 12 is among the better snow tires out there. 

Kumho is quite a big younger than some of the bigger companies having only been founded in 1960 in South Korea. Most tire companies have a variety of products in a bunch of categories, but Kumho knows where it wants to be and that's the grand touring tire segment. The company makes over a dozen grand touring tires along with some options in summer, ultra-high performance, and others. Notably, Kumho also makes tires especially for competitive purposes, including track-only tires. 

Like most tire brands, Kumho is a bit hit or miss. Some tires, like the Crugen HP71, Solus TA11, the Crugen Premium, score decent marks and are quite competitive in their respective segments. Others in Kumho's lineup aren't necessarily bad but do score low in some areas. For example, Tire Rack's testing shows that the Solus KL21 has poor winter performance and lower than expected treadwear, meaning they don't do good in the snow, and they'll wear down quickly. It is possible to get a good Kumho tire, you just have to be careful about which ones you pick. 

Yokohama is also one of the newer brands, comparatively speaking, with a founding date of 1969 in Tokyo, Japan. Unlike the South Korean tire makers, Yokohama has a finger in virtually every pie you can think of from all terrain tires to all-seasons along with summer and winter tires. There are also plenty of options for the crossover and light truck segment. Yokohama's big model is the Geolandar and Yokohama makes over a dozen variants of that one tire for crossover and car use. The Avid and Advan models are also plentiful and cover summer tires and standard all-season touring tires. 

Fortunately, the massive selection doesn't seem to have affected Yokohama's ability to produce a quality tire. Most tires, such as the Avid Ascend LX and Geolandar X-CV are excellent tires and score well against any competitor. However, not all of Yokohama's tires are made of gold, so to speak. The Avid Touring-S and Geolandar G91AV are a little closer to average while the Geolandar G91A isn't great. So, much like Kumho, Yokohama makes good tires but not all their tires are good.

Continental is one of the top five biggest tire makers in the world. It was established in 1871 in Hanover, Germany and is the first European brand on the list. They have a massive overall selection of tires, including many automaker OEM tires that helps fuel their popularity. Most of their tires are under a few product lineups and they include the ContiSportContact, ExtremeContact, and ProContact. There doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason to Continental's product lineup. All three major product lineups are present in their summer, all-season touring, and SUV lineups pretty liberally, which makes it hard to keep all of their brands straight. Plus, they're always coming out with interesting tire ideas as well.

With such a huge range of tires, it's no surprise that some are hit and miss. Most of Continental's tires put up average test scores with low snow ratings and otherwise average ratings elsewhere. There are some good tires in the lineup, like the Continental CrossContact LX, which scores decent, but not amazing marks. Despite its otherwise average rankings, the Continental ProContact RX SSR is one of the best run-flat tires available for sale, so Continental has that.

BFGoodrich is yet another alumnus of Akron, Ohio, when Dr. Benjamin Franklin Goodrich founded the first tire factory in North America in 1870. The company has a rich history, including being the first tire to win back-to-back Indianapolis 500 races and the brand supplied tires for Charles Lindbergh's first non-stop transatlantic flight. On the ground, BFGoodrich has a decent, if somewhat smaller, collection of tires to choose from. Highlights from BFGoodrich include the Advantage Control grand touring tires, Advantage T/A Sport LT for crossovers, and the Radial T/A high-performance tire. 

In general, BFGoodrich doesn't have a lot of weaknesses. Their summer tires and high-performance tires don't do so well in the wet but that's pretty typical for the segment. Their touring tires perform much better all-around, with reasonably high marks across wet, snow, and comfort. The treadwear is also better than most, so these tires can last you a while if you maintain them properly. BFGoodrich makes good tires. They just don't make a ton of them, so they may be difficult to find for some types of vehicles. 

We'll give you one guess where Cooper Tires hails from. We'll give you a hint: it starts with "A" and ends with "kron" back in 1914. Cooper's tire selection is mid-sized, but they cover all of the usual variants categories, including all-terrain, grand touring, truck, crossover, and off-roading tires. Some of Cooper's popular tires include its Discoverer lineup, which are mostly for larger vehicles. Its Endeavor and ProControl tires are for smaller vehicles and they're also quite good. 

The good news for Cooper is that they don't make a bad tire. Each one that we checked scored high marks all around. Most of Cooper's tires are a tad weak in the snow, but they still score higher-than-average marks for it. In short, Cooper is a brand that doesn't seem to have a weak tire in its lineup and its test scores reflect that. Despite the brand's smaller selection, Cooper tires are consistently rated among the best in their class and would be higher on the list if they were present in more categories. 

Bridgestone has taken its turn time and again as the largest tire maker in the world. It was founded in 1930 originally as the Nihon Tabi Company in Japan before being rebranded to Bridgestone in 1931 in the city of Kurume, Fukuoka Prefecture. The brand has a massive collection of tires to choose from, including summer, winter, performance, and touring tires with enough sizes to fit virtually any consumer vehicle on the market. That makes Bridgestone relatively easy to shop for, especially since most tires fall under their Ecopia, Turanza, Potenza, Dueler, Alenza, and Blizzak product lineups. 

Bridgestone is a solid brand for tires. Most of their tires score quite well in tests and reviews, with their Blizzak series being some of the highest-rated winter tires that we saw during our research. The brand is far from perfect, with some of their less expensive Ecopia lineup putting up fairly average results, likely to keep costs down. Bridgestone's biggest weakness is its treadwear. It doesn't score poorly by any stretch, but even its best tires seem to have lower treadwear scores than those of similarly rated competitors.

Vredestein may not be the biggest brand on the list, but they know how to make a good tire. The brand got its start in 1908 in the Netherlands and is the second European tire company on the list. Of all the brands on the list, Vredestein has one of the smallest selections of tires, but it does have touring all-seasons, summer tires, and winter tires. Most of its tires fall under one of four product lineups. They include the Quatrac and HiTrac for its all-season touring tires along with the Wintrac for its winter tires and Ultrac for its summer tires. 

Vredestein scores high marks across the board for nearly all of its tires. The Quatrac Pro+ and the HiTrac All Season tires are considered the best and seventh-best individual tires sold on Tire Rack, which gives you an idea of how good these tires are. It's actually rather impressive since they do well on dry, wet, and snowy conditions while maintaining good overall comfort. The only reason Vredestein isn't higher is because their selection is so small that many vehicles may not be represented. They are also quite expensive.

Pirelli is one of the biggest and most popular tire makers in the world for enthusiasts, but it also makes good everyday tires as well. The brand was founded in Italy in 1872 and have been making tires ever since. It's also known for being the only tire used by Formula 1 drivers. For us normal drivers, Pirelli has a decent selection of tires to choose from. Like most tire makers, Pirelli sells most of its tires under a small assortment of product lineups, including the P7, P Zero, Cinturato, and Scorpion. For consumer vehicles, you'll most likely run into the P7 and Scorpion products. 

Pirelli makes a great tire. Every tire we checked scored excellently in all categories. It's not the best tire in the world for snow but even the Scorpion AS Plus 3 tires have a better-than-average snow score. Pirelli also has the distinction of having an excellent touring tire and an excellent run-flat tire in the Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season Run Flat. In short, there are no bad decisions for Pirelli tires but they do tend to run more expensive than most. 

Goodyear is one of the most popular tire brands in the world, and easily one of the top four tire makers. It came out in 1898 and is among the many tire makers from Akron, Ohio. As one of the biggest tire makers on the market, there are a ton of Goodyear tires to choose from. Most of them fall under a few product lineups. Goodyear is arguably best known for its Assurance, Eagle F1, and Wrangler tires, which cover most consumer vehicles.

Fortunately, most of Goodyear's tires are quite good. The Assurance WeatherReady tires are excellent with good test results and ratings. The ComfortDrive tire is also quite good with excellent comfort and treadwear, and it is only above average in the snow. Goodyear has some average tires here and there. However, we were unable to find any tires that were considered to be bad. That's quite a feat when you consider how many tires Goodyear makes. Their run-flats are their weak point in their product lineup and that kept them from taking the top spot. 

Michelin is one of the largest and most recognized tire brands in the world, largely due to its tire quality and its involvement in non-tire endeavors like the Michelin Guide. It's a French tire brand founded in 1889. Michelin also gets credit for inventing the radial tire, which is still used today. Michelin's collection of tires is quite large and includes the Defender, CrossClimate, Latitude, Pilot, Premiere, and Primacy. 

Most shoppers are likely looking for the CrossClimate2, CrossClimate2 SUV, and Primacy tires. The reason is because they're some of the best tires for sale today. The uniquely shaped treads on the CrossClimate2 and the SUV edition result in some of the best traction ratings of any tire from any brand on the list. The Primacy MXM4 ZP is Tire Rack's highest-rated run flat tire and the rest of the lineup ranges from excellent to above average at least. In short, it's quite difficult to buy a bad tire from Michelin, and most of their tires last a while too. However, you'll likely want to check out the CrossClimate2 first since it's the tire to get from Michelin right now. 

There are hundreds of tire models out there from dozens of brands, so we had our work cut out for us. Fortunately, Tire Rack has a consistent rating system that covers most of the biggest and most popular tires. From there, we looked up user and product reviews where we could, which mostly includes tire retailers like Tire Rack, YouTube, and others to ensure that the ratings and reviews lined up with each other. 

Once we had the data, we organized the tire brands above based on a mixture of test results, ratings, reviews, selection, treadwear, and availability. That's how an incredibly high brand like Vredestein fell a couple of spaces because its availability is quite a bit lower than industry giants. There is some wiggle room here as this isn't an exact science, but the above list should be fairly in tune with what consumers and testers think.