PPMC Tire Test in 2023

At PPMC, we understand the confusion many drivers face when buying tires for their vehicles, given the myriad options and brands available on the market.

With that in mind, we have tested dozens of tire models from different brands to assess their summer, all-season, and winter performance.

Check out the details of our evaluations below. Hopefully, they’ll help you pick the right option for your driving style and budget.

PPMC Tire Test Information

• Event: PPMC tire test in 2023
• Took place within: Two weeks, from Sep 4 to Sep 18, 2023
• Location:
  • 6850 Indian Mound Rd, Waterloo, SC 29384
  • Gulches Off Road Vehicle Park- 6850 Indian Mound Rd, Waterloo, SC 29384
• Testers: PPMC team (Steven Schiller & Henry Speciale)

Both of us evaluated each tire and averaged the results for every category of performance. We aimed to make the scores as reflective of real-life conditions as possible.

Tire Quality Evaluation Process

1. Tested tire models

We selected tires from well-known brands at different price ranges: premium and affordable. Notable names include industry giants like Michelin, Continental, and Bridgestone to less popular brands like Nitto and Yokohama.

You can see for yourself how each company performs, depending on the tire model.

2. Tested tire sizes

Due to time and budget constraints, only common sizes were used for our evaluations. There are limitations for each tire type and car, but we aimed to have a variety of widths and diameters here:

Passenger tires	Light Truck tires	Crossover tires	4×4 and SUV tires
205/55R16	LT225/75R16	215/70R16	215/60R17
215/55R17	LT235/80R17	225/65R17	215/55R18
225/65R17	LT245/75R16	235/65R17	215/60R16
235/45R16	LT245/75R17	235/55R18	235/65R17
235/60R18	LT265/70R17	235/55R19	235/50R18
245/60R18	LT275/65R18	245/60R18

3. Tested vehicles

Similar to tire sizes, we’ve picked popular car models to perform our tests on. The vehicles are all in good condition and come with modern technologies, all to provide a realistic expectation of how the tires will perform when you drive on them.

Brand	Model and Release Year
Honda	Civic (2022)
	Accord (2022)
Ford	Escape (2022)
	F-150 (2022)
Chevy	Silverado 1500 (2022)
	Colorado (2022)
Toyota	RAV4 (2022)
	Highlander (2022)
	Tacoma (2022)
	Camry (2022)
Hyundai	Tucson (2022)
Nissan	Altima (2022)
Tesla	Model Y

Tire Quality Evaluation Process

Here are the criteria used in our evaluations. It’s important to note that winter performance won’t be an essential part of summer tire scoring, similar to how off-road criteria are largely reserved for all-terrain and mud tires.

We’ll use a 10-point scale, in which 6 is above-average, 7 means good, and 8 and higher mean excellent performance.

2023 PPMC Tire Test Results

1. Summer tires

Model	Overall	Dry	Wet	Road Feedback	Handling	Wear	Comfort	Buy again	Snow grip	Ice grip
Michelin Pilot Sport 4	82.14	91	87	82	84	72	79	80
Michelin Pilot Sport 4s	86.43	92	87	87	87	83	87	82
Michelin Pilot Sport 5	86.43	94	93	82	80	86	85	85
Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2	78.14	96	58	82	93	60	76	82
Michelin Pilot Super Sport	86.43	95	83	90	86	83	82	86
Continental Extremecontact Sport	86.71	91	82	84	81	87	88	94
Continental Extremecontact DW	78.14	93	89	68	58	69	84	86
Continental Extremecontact DWS 06	81.11	91	87	84	88	65	68	77	90	80
Firestone Firehawk Indy 500	78.57	85	70	81	85	73	76	80
Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2	85.57	91	88	86	85	79	88	82
Michelin Pilot Sport PS2	86.86	93	87	87	87	81	86	87
Nitto NT555 G2	84.71	94	79	91	85	89	81	74
Pirelli Cinturato P7	72.86	84	72	74	75	70	74	61
Bridgestone Potenza Sport	82.71	92	87	92	92	63	75	78

2. All-season tires

Model	Overall	Dry	Wet	Road Feedback	Handling	Wear	Handling	Buy again	Snow grip	Ice grip
Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 4	81.56	91	92	77	87	79	79	88	73	68
Michelin Premier A/S	68.11	89	87	84	81	49	83	43	56	41
Bridgestone Turanza Quiettrack	58.67	78	73	63	73	36	75	42	46	42
Continental Purecontact LS	66.11	87	81	81	85	69	53	45	47	47
Continental Surecontact RX
Continental Truecontact Tour	89.89	87	97	71	81	99	94	98	98	84
Cooper CS5 Grand Touring	65.43	71	64	56	56	99	56	56
Cooper Discoverer SRX
Cooper Discoverer Rugged Trek	88.20	91		71	81		99	99
Dextero DHT2
Firestone Destination LE3
General Altimax 365AW	77.25	81	81	71	76	76	76	76	81
General Altimax RT43	72.00	80	79	82	72	78	71	62	66	58
Goodyear Eagle Sport All Season	72.67	93	89	76	80	76	67	60	54	59
Goodyear Assurance Comfortdrive	66.71	64	53	54	76	81	71	68
Goodyear Assurance Maxlife	71.71	70	61	51	61	91	69	99
Firestone Weathergrip	65.25	76	76	81	81	39	49	41	79
Goodyear Assurance Comfortdrive	66.71	64	53	52	78	81	71	68
Goodyear Eagle Exhilarate	73.00	89	81	79	82	78	77	60	58	53
Goodyear Wrangler Fortitude HT	75.89	91	81	83	81	71	90	65	81	40
Hankook Roadhandler
Kumho Crugen HP71	67.43	61	70	71	70	81	59	60
Kumho Crugen HT51
Michelin – X LT A/X
Michelin Agilis Crossclimate	91.44	95	94	81	94	84	90	99	95	91
Michelin Crossclimate 2	85.56	88	83	76	72	92	95	94	89	81
Michelin Crossclimate Plus	83.44	88	88	83	75	86	86	87	83	75
Michelin Crossclimate SUV	78.67	85	85	76	75	76	79	75	83	74
Michelin Defender LTX	73.67	81	81	79	79	61	89	51	71	71
Michelin Defender T+H	82.86	89	74	84	88	80	86	79
Michelin Latitude Tour Hp	65.78	80	65	65	69	74	79	60	57	43
Michelin LTX M/S2
Michelin Primacy MXM4	66.56	79	71	79	68	75	66	49	58	54
Michelin Primacy MXV4
Michelin Primacy Tour A/S
Vredestein Quatrac Pro	82.78	90	90	88	80	80	90	87	71	69
Michelin X Tour
Nitto NT05	69.71	85	64	84	85	60	44	66
Nitto Ridge Grappler	88.43	96	86	84	84	74	96	99
Pirelli P4 Four Seasons Plus	46.29	45	27	46	52	52	56	46
Pirelli Scorpion AS Plus 3	164.00	80	89	89	56	889	64	38	85	86
Pirelli P Zero	68.43	85	70	76	72	59	64	53
Toyo Celsius	79.00	80	78	72	63	84	82	79	89	84
Uniroyal Tiger Paw
Yokohama Geolandar CV G058	85.50	90	81	90	72		90	90

3. Winter tires

Model	Overall	Dry	Wet	Road Feedback	Handling	Wear	Handling	Buy again	Snow grip	Ice grip
Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 2	92.11	90	89	90	90	97	95	97	91	90
Bridgestone Blizzak WS90	81.56	71	81	71	70	76	71	99	99	96
Michelin X-Ice Snow	84.44	79	80	79	70	85	86	96	95	90
Firestone Winterforce 2	73.56	71	81	71	61	81	71	61	89	76

4. All-terrain tires

Model	Overall	Dry	Wet	Road Feedback	Handling	Wear	Handling	Buy again	Snow grip	Ice grip
Goodyear Wrangler AT Adventure with Kevlar	77.33	85	78	75	77	77	77	67	81	79
BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2	76.11	87	68	74	76	85	74	72	82	67
BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KM2	84.29	89	69	67	89	93	84	99
Goodyear Wrangler DuraTrac	80.56	83	72	80	78	95	72	85	85	75
Bridgestone Dueler	71.43	84	78	78	73	59	76	52
Falken Wildpeak AT3W	77.00	84	83	68	77	81	85	82	68	65
General Grabber ATx	73.44	71	81	51	66	99	76	71	65	81
Goodyear MTR Kevlar	68.33	66	54	51	57	84	56	66	100	81
Goodyear Territory MT	#DIV/0!
Goodyear Trailrunner AT	53.43	61	71			30	40	21	52	99
Goodyear Wrangler Ultraterrain	#DIV/0!
Goodyear Wrangler Authority	#DIV/0!
Goodyear Wrangler Workhorse AT	#DIV/0!
Michelin LTX AT2	87.22	91	88	91	92	88	89	86	84	76
Nitto Terra Grappler G2	#DIV/0!
Toyo Open Country AT3	#DIV/0!
Cooper Discoverer AT3	78.44	86	81	76	73	73	78	61	89	89

Conclusion

The right tire ultimately comes down to your driving preference and location. For warm locations with no snow, winter tires are not at all necessary; drivers in these places will be better off with a summer or all-season tire instead.

Meanwhile, opt for snow tires if you frequently drive on ice, and all-terrain models if there’s a lot of rock, mud, or sand where you live.

Check out the top-rated models listed above, and see which one piques your interest the most.