Vehicles using 205/55R17 Tire Size:
- Chrysler Sebring
- Hyundai Elantra
- Honda Accord
- Dodge Grand Caravan
- Acura CL
- Audi A6
- Hyundai Sonata
- Mini Countryman
- Mini Paceman
- Mercedes-Benz C-Class
- Porsche Cayman
- Volvo S60
- Volkswagen Jetta
- Volkswagen Golf Alltrack
1. Continental PureContact LS - Best All-Season tire
We’re going to kick this list off with a premium all-season tire that we’ve always been pretty impressed with, the Continental PureContact LS. If you know much about Continental products, you probably have some idea about what to expect with the PureContact LS. The is a tire that offers Grand Touring levels of ride comfort and low noise, along with world-class handling, road manners, and year-round traction. A solid center rib enhances driver feedback, straight-line stability, steering response, and stable tread blocks in the asymmetric tread pattern all are part of the PureContact LS’s great cornering and steering feedback, earning it a SimpleScore of 9.4 for handling. The PureContact LS is designed for great wear properties too, with next-generation technology such as temperature-activated polymers in the tread compound that deliver excellent traction, low road noise, and long wear (with a 70,000 mile limited manufacturer tread life warranty) – SimpleTire’s SimpleScore for longevity with this tire is a solid 9.7. For consistent grip in rainy or light wintry conditions, there’s Continental’s +Silane additives in the rubber formulation and a system of circumferential grooves, sweeping grooves, “traction grooves” that retain snow to provide snow-on-snow friction, and sipes in the shoulders, all adding up to a SimpleScore of 9.7 for traction. Composite SimpleScore for the PureContact LS from Continental is a very respectable 9.6.
2. Bridgestone Weatherpeak - Best All-Weather tire
For great value in an all-weather tire, our candidate is the Bridgestone Weatherpeak. For drivers who live in parts of the country that might see several inches of snow, with subfreezing temperatures ensuring that the roads are snow-packed for days or weeks, it’s a fact of life that most all-season tires just are not going to be capable of reliably getting the job done from point A to point B and back again. All-weather tires may be a little unfamiliar to many drivers, but they’re in most ways they’re designed with a lot in common with all-season tires. The main distinction is that tire designers aim for improved performance in snow and slush with all-weather tires. With those performance parameters in mind, Bridgestone engineers made sure that the Weatherpeak’s tread is capable of consistent grip in winter weather. The all-weather tread pattern boosts traction in snow and slush with a dense network of sipes, the hair-thin slits that add hundreds of extra biting edges to multiply surface area and give drivers the confidence they need. The sipe design of the Weatherpeak is an innovative 3D mold that continues to enhance your winter traction even as the miles add up and tread depth gets thinner and thinner. It’s especially innovative when you remember that worn tread usually is synonymous with a loss of traction with just about any tire. The Weatherpeak also is designed with Bridgestone’s “snow vices”, grooves that enhance winter grip and build snow-to-snow friction by trapping and retaining snow. Not surprisingly, the Bridgestone Weatherpeak is certified with the Three Peak Mountain Snowflake rating for severe winter service. Testing shows real gains in braking performance, with the Weatherpeak being capable of braking distances that are as much as 30 feet shorter than the competition’s tires. Our team looked at all these factors and noted a SimpleScore of 9.7 for traction for the Bridgestone Weatherpeak. The Bridgestone Weatherpeak’s composite SimpleScore average is an admirable 9.7.
3. Goodyear WinterCommand Ultra - Best Winter tire
When the snow starts falling and accumulating on the roads, often a dedicated winter tire is the only real solution. That takes us to the Goodyear Winter Command Ultra, a studless winter tire that’s capable of dealing with some of the worst winter weather you might encounter. The WinterCommand Ultra gets a composite SimpleScore of 9.2, so let’s talk about that category by category. The WinterCommand Ultra is designed using Goodyear’s CryoGrip tread compound, a rubber formulation that stays flexible and conforms to the road for excellent winter traction (think about the traction of a flexible snow boot vs a hard rubber hockey puck). From there, the WinterCommand Ultra incorporates a directional V-shaped tread pattern with active block cuts, 3D sipes, and hydro-dynamic grooves that all work together as a system that removes water and slush from the tire’s contact patch and chews through standing snow and slush. That’s enough for a superb SimpleScore of 9.9 for traction. Those tread elements also give the Goodyear WinterCommand Ultra the same kind of control, cornering, steering response, and braking performance you might expect with a premium all-season tire, for a SimpleScore of 9.9 in handling. While the Goodyear WinterCommand Ultra is a durable design and boasts a longevity score of 8.5, it’s important to remember that it’s a winter tire and is not suitable for year-round driving. The softer, stickier tread compound of winter tires will wear prematurely when temperatures are above 45 degrees F, and tire manufacturers advise switching back to all-season tires for warmer weather. Not surprisingly, the Goodyear Winter Command Ultra is Three Peak Mountain Snowflake rated for severe winter service.
4. Yokohama Advan Sport A/S Plus - Best UHP All-Season tire
Next up on the list we’ve got a tire that’s a great balance of year-round traction with breathtaking performance, the ADVAN Sport A/S Plus from Yokohama, a tire that registers a very respectable overall SimpleScore of 8.8. The Yokohama ADVAN Sport A/S Plus is covered by a 55,000 mile limited manufacturer tread life warranty and features a high-turnup sidewall, long-wearing silica-rich tread compound, and durable internal construction for a SimpleScore of 9.1 for longevity. Extra-large outboard shoulder blocks and 2-in-1 intermediate blocks all help deliver cornering and steering responses that are accurate and immediate, registering a SimpleScore of 8.7 for handling. In wet or dry conditions, the ADVAN Sport A/S Plus is dependable and tenacious with circumferential grooves, lateral grooves, Z-shaped grooves, and Yokohama’s innovative Wavy Sipes, all working together to resist hydroplaning on wet pavement and provide mechanical grip and adhesion on dry roads. SimpleScore for traction: 8.8. All in all, the Yokohama ADVAN Sport A/S Plus would be an excellent choice for your Mercedes-Benz CLS63 AMG or a variety of sporty coupes, sedans, and crossovers.
5. Kumho Ecsta PA51 - Great All-Season tire
Next up on our list we come to the Kumho Ecsta PA51, another first-rate all-season tire that you can count on for short braking distances, long wear, low noise, a forgiving ride, and handling that’s predictable and secure. The Ecsta PA51 delivers dependable, consistent year-round grip, paired with the kind of cornering and overall handling that are more along the performance parameters of a UHP tire. On wet pavement, the Ecsta PA51 offers grip that’s confident and dependable, with wide circumferential grooves that resist hydroplaning by routing water through and behind the tire’s contact patch. Wide shoulder blocks are reinforced to deal with the stresses of hard maneuvers for excellent cornering ability (netting a SimpleScore of 9.4 in handling). Road manners, steering response, and straight-line stability all get a boost from a solid center rib. The PA51 is designed with a cutting-edge custom blended tread compound for long, even wear as well as superb traction and stiffness that resists tread squirm and deformation during hard cornering. Kumho backs the Ecsta PA51 with a 45,000 mile warranty. When winter weather comes and you find yourself having to deal with snowy roads, there’s a combination of sipes and specially designed tread blocks that deliver the grip you need. SimpleScore for traction is 8.9, and the SimpleScore for longevity is 8.6 with an overall SimpleScore average of 8.8. The Kumho Ecsta PA51 might be a tire that comes in at a somewhat more affordable price point, but that doesn’t necessarily come with any compromises in performance or quality.
6. Nokian WR G4 SUV - Great All-Weather tire
Let’s wrap things up with one more great all-weather tire, the Nokian WR G4 SUV. Nokian is a Finnish tire manufacturer that’s primarily known for their winter tires; the WR G4 SUV is technically an all-weather tire that splits the difference between all-season tires and winter tires, with more of an emphasis toward winter performance. The WR G4 SUV is a tire that’s equally in its element either on a snow-covered road or a sun-blasted interstate in the dead of summer. It starts with a long-wearing, sustainably manufactured rubber compound that can stay flexible for good traction in winter conditions and an Aramid-reinforced sidewall for real durability. The Nokian G4 avoids hydroplaning in wet weather with an asymmetric tread pattern that features angled, lateral, and circumferential grooves to evacuate water and slush, and Nokian’s “centipede sipe” design delivers traction in winter conditions that’s up there with the best winter tires. Nokian points out that the low rolling resistance of the WR G4 SUV makes it a good choice for EVs as well as SUVs and crossovers and its tread pattern is computer-tuned with a randomized pitch for low road noise. With a 60,000 mile limited manufacturer tread life warranty and the industry’s Three Peak Mountain Snowflake rating for severe winter service, this is a tire that has far more Pros than it does Cons. SimpleTire’s SimpleScore data for the Nokian WR G4 SUV comes out to an overall score of 9.2, with a 9.2 for handling, 9 for longevity, and 9.6 for traction.
Buy 205/55R17 tires online
Whether you drive a Hyundai Elantra, Volkswagen Jetta, or something else, SimpleTire has a set of the best 205/55R17 tires that suit your requirements at affordable prices.
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