Tire guides

Everything you need to know before you spend $400 to $1,200 on a set of tires, written for people who are not car people.

The short version: an all-season tire (M+S marking) is fine for the Sun Belt and mild winters, an all-weather tire (M+S plus the 3…

The best times to buy tires in the US are April and October, when nearly every major brand runs a rebate ahead of summer and winte…

Cheap tires pass the same federal safety standard (FMVSS 139) as a $250 Michelin. What you give up is measurable: in independent t…

No law requires an EV-specific tire, and a good conventional tire with the right load index (usually XL) is safe on any electric c…

A tire size like 205/55R16 91V reads like this: 205 is the tread width in millimeters, 55 means the sidewall height is 55 percent …

Every tire sold in the US has a DOT code on the sidewall ending in four digits: the first two are the week of manufacture and the …

Installing a tire you bought elsewhere typically costs $15 to $45 per tire, or $60 to $180 for a set of four, covering mounting, b…

The correct pressure for your tires is printed on the sticker in the driver's door jamb, and for most cars it is between 30 and 36…

Three different services, three different problems. Rotation moves tires between positions every 5,000 to 8,000 miles so they wear…

The two characters after the size on a tire sidewall, for example the 91V in 205/55R16 91V, are the service description. The numbe…

A tire comes with up to four separate warranties, and they cover very different things. The manufacturer's workmanship warranty co…

For most trucks and SUVs the honest answer is a highway tire if the vehicle lives on pavement, a mild all-terrain if it sees grave…

The Uniform Tire Quality Grading (UTQG) code on a sidewall, for example 500 A A, gives three federally required ratings: a treadwe…

Replace your tires when tread depth reaches 4/32 of an inch if you drive in rain, and never later than 2/32 in, the federal minimu…