Best Tires for the Toyota Corolla

Best Tires for the Toyota Corolla

The Toyota Corolla is a compact class sedan and one of the world’s best selling cars. People buy Toyotas for their reliability, comfort, fuel economy and ruggedness, but also for their value for money. Hence it is no surprise that there is a wide variety of tire choices available.

The Corolla can adapt to any scenario, whether it is serving as a comfortable, smooth and reliable city car or as an economical highway cruiser, your tire choice dictates the enjoyment of your car. Corolla, being so popular is used in many different environments but being FWD, it is severely impacted by snowy conditions and low traction surfaces unless the right tire is chosen. Hence it is important that you choose the right tire for your needs and use. Thus which tires should I look out for?

Best All-Season Tires for the Toyota Corolla

1.Michelin Energy Saver A/S

Ride Quality: 8 Noise Comfort: 8 Handling: 8 Traction: 8

Michelin is one of the top tire manufacturers of tires in the world and their latest product, The Energy Saver A/S brings their superior tire technologies to the mainstream cars specially developed for compact sedans such as the Toyota Corolla.

It is one of the most fuel-efficient tires developed for drivers of fuel-efficient and hybrid passengers cars for people who want to exploit maximum fuel saving without compromising on performance comfort or grip. Low rolling resistance means that the car uses less fuel and as a result, emits fewer emissions thus saving the environment. It is especially suited to the Corolla Hybrid models.

The Energy Saver A/S benefits from Michelin's EnergySaver construction combined with a unique silica-based tread rubber that keeps the tire cooler and lowers rolling resistance, thus increasing fuel efficiency. This compound is moulded into a symmetric design that contains siped, independent tread blocks giving safe, predictable handling for when you need to quickly manoeuvre or stop your car. Circumferential and lateral grooves direct water through the tread design to help resist hydroplaning and enhance wet traction.  Not forgetting comfort, Michelin Comfort Control Technology uses computer-optimized design and precision manufacturing to reduce vibrations and road noise to keep the vehicle quiet.

 However, they are very expensive tires and while good at everything they aren’t class leading in any category.

Pros

  • Fantastic all-round performance as well as fuel saving

  • Excellent low rolling resistances

  • Safe wet and dry performance

Cons

  • Marginal aquaplaning performance due to low rolling resistance

  • Costly due to Premium Brand

  • Winter/snow performance below average.

2.Goodyear Assurance All-Season

Ride Quality: 7 Noise Comfort: 6 Handling: 8 Traction: 8

Goodyear is a well renowned and established brand. Their entry-level offering, Goodyear Assurance All-Season Tires are specially designed for compact cars. The tire is an all-rounder and reasonably priced making it an ideal choice for the family man or young student who needs an economical tire that does not sacrifice safety or performance.

Assurance All-Season tires feature an all-season compound moulded into asymmetric tread design featuring stable independent shoulder blocks that promote confident dry and wet road handling. The tire has four wide grooves to enable rapid evacuation of water and slush to enhance traction and safety in challenging conditions allowing you to corner safer, brake quicker and get up challenging hills or low traction situations easier.

The tire also has sipes on the edges allowing it to bite into light snow while the tire's internal structure includes a polyester cord body and twin steel belts to combine resistance to punctures or damage enhancing durability.

Pros

  • Symmetric tread design giving good performance in all conditions

  • Good aquaplaning resistance

  • Attractive pricing

  • Can handle light snow

Cons

  • Slightly noisy due to the wider grooves to aid wet performance

  • Marginal road feedback and vague steering feel if driven on the limit

3.Nexen Class Premier CP671

Ride Quality: 7 Noise Comfort: 7 Handling: 8 Traction: 8

A surprise entry, Nexen may not be as well known a brand in the tire world but their Class Premier CP671 tire is a hidden gem. Combining a quiet and comfortable ride but without sacrificing handling nor traction in the wet or dry.

This tire is praised for its superior road grip and feedback and can make the driving experience of your Toyota Corolla pleasurable and comfortable. It achieves this through symmetric block design with broad shoulder blocks and a continuous centre rib to promote cornering and directional stability.

The structure of the tire is also solid with twin steel belts reinforced by spirally wrapped nylon on top of a polyester casing enabling great lateral strength and resistance from bending while cornering. This allows for great handling and reduces unsafe understeer on an FWD car such as the Toyota Corolla. It is reasonably priced too hence we wonder why pay more for a premium brand if the Premier Class CP671 can satisfy most people without breaking the wallet.

Pros

  • Highly agile and great handling

  • Very comfortable with no tire drone or harshness

  • Very soft ride

  • Good rolling resistance

  • Long-lasting

Cons

  • Snow performance is not class leading

  • Highway driving suits the tires better, city driving with constant start-stops wears them faster

  • Hard to find a spare if a tire gets damaged as not as common

Best Touring/Grand Touring All-Season Tires for the Toyota Corolla

1.Michelin Crossclimate2

Ride Quality: 10 Noise Comfort: 10 Handling: 10 Traction: 10

The Crossclimate2 by Michelin is a gem of a tire. It combines best in class handling, noise comfort, ride quality as well as all year round performance leaving nothing to be desired. This tire does the impossible, gives snow traction in the winter yet performs excellently in summer, resisting shredding at higher temperatures or losing grip.

This is all down to the 3rd Generation technologies Michelin has pioneered into the tire such as  Michelin's Thermal Adaptive all-season tread compound in the shape of a V-Formation directional tread design. Michelin also utilized their PIANO Noise Reduction which uses augmented tread geometry to reduce noise. Spirited drivers will appreciate the exceptional levels of longitudinal dry grip, which is promoted by the centre portion of the tread, with blocks that align with fore and aft forces.

Choose this tire if you want to improve the driving experience of your Toyota Corolla to make it even better than what it felt with factory OE tires. This tire is not cheap, but for all the right reasons, well worth its premium for the consumer who wants the best for their vehicle in all conditions.

Pros

  • Exceptional performance in wet and dry conditions

  • Excellent snow weather characteristics

  • Good rolling resistance

  • Good wear characteristics and comes with Michelin’s 60,000 Mile Warranty

Cons

  • Cannot handle extreme snow

  • High Cost

  • Overkill as the additional grip levels may not be fully exploited by a compact class car.

2.Vresdestein Hitrac All Season

Ride Quality: 10 Noise Comfort: 10 Handling: 10 Traction: 10

Another outstanding tire and available in a multitude of sizes and speed ratings, The Vresdestein Hitrac All-Season is an excellent grand touring tire for the Toyota Corolla built to deliver a pleasant and reassuring drive at a reasonable price while providing outstanding longevity. It is ideally suited for those who wish to get the maximum amount of miles from their tires while maintaining a smooth ride thanks to an optimized tread block contour and pitch sequence that enhances noise comfort.

This does not mean that dry performance is compromised. It’s wide tread pattern enables quick change of direction allowing you to make emergency manoeuvres with ease without losing control. Wet performance is also superior as it contains similar 3D Sipe technology on the tread edges such as the more premium brands, enabling for quick evacuation of water, providing strong resistance to aqua planning.  The tread blocks at the edges also aid winter performance and the tires perform adequately for the winder given it is a Grand Touring tire.

While the tire may not be well known or have spent enough time in the market to have made a name for itself like the more premium brands, it is definitely a tire that you should consider even if it is not a tire you may go immediately to buy without trying out the competition.

Pros

  • Excellent wear rating and long treadwear life

  • Fantastic all round in performance in all weather conditions

  • Excellent value for money given its performance and comfort

Cons

  • Tends to easily loose traction in Winter if tire pressures are on the higher side

  • New to the market with a unproven brand name

Best Winter Tires for the Toyota Corolla

1.Goodyear Assurance WeatherReady

Ride Quality: 9 Noise Comfort: 9 Handling: 9 Traction: 10

The Assurance WeatherReady is a winter tire version of their renowned Assurance line but the WeatherReady has a severe snow service rating, making it ideal for winter months where there is snow and ice.

Goodyear engineers spent a great amount of time developing and testing this tire in cold climates and employed the use of a soy-based rubber tread compound so that the tire maintains grip even when the temperature gets below freezing. 3D Treadlock Technology Blades help present in the centre and outer ribs provide excellent cornering stability while having an effective evacuation of water and slush.

The Engineers left no stone unturned by incorporating Evolving Traction Grooves which enable the tire to have a consistent level of performance even as the tread wears. Thus, no longer does the driveability of the tire diminish as it wears down but these tires shall last a long time without trailing off in grip. The WeatherReady zigzag edges bite into the snow to provide superior traction but these also serve as their biggest downfall as they create excessive noise on dry pavement. Moreover, the Assurance WeatherReady also wear out quickly if driven aggressively.

Pros

  • Exceptional performance in the snow and ice

  • Even wearing and good road manners

  • Advanced tread pattern provides good steering and braking feel even in mixed traction surfaces

Cons

  • Wear out quicker than normal on dry pavement

  • Blisters easily on dry pavement due to edge blocks in the tread pattern

  • Rather Costly

2.Bridgestone Blizzak WS 90

Ride Quality: 9 Noise: 8 Comfort: 9 Handling: 9 Traction: 9

Bridgestone is one of the oldest tire manufacturers founded in 1931 in Japan. A pioneer of the segment of winter tires Bridgestone has been making class-leading winter tires with their Blizzak series and the WS90 is their latest offering for compact sedans and crossovers. These tires offer dependable go-anywhere grip capability that makes an FWD car such as Corolla nearly as capable as an AWD car on regular tires. Bridgestone has always made a commitment to use the latest technologies in their tires for the benefit of their customer and it shows.

Bridgestone's EdgePerformance Technology built into the tire features interlocking sipes instead of simple 3D ones, allowing for strong grip and elongated service life. These tires also employ silica enhancements in the rubber to resist susceptibility to large changes in temperature preserving tire life.

Thus not only do these tires meet the industry’s severe snow service requirements but also are stamped the three-peak mountain snowflake (3PMSF) symbol. This does mean that these tires are not particularly efficient with sub-par rolling resistance nor are they especially cheap. However, you are paying not only for the tire but the research and development behind it that Bridgestone brings to the package.

Pros

  • Advanced technology promises best grip and handling

  • Excellent ability to change direction at high speed in snow

  • Long pedigree of excellent winter performance

Cons

  • Noisy and intrusive

  • Poor rolling resistance

  • No mileage warranty specified

Best High-Performance Tires for the Toyota Corolla

1.Continental ExtremeContact Sport

Ride Quality: 8 Noise Comfort: 8 Handling: 10 Traction: 10

Continental is a premium tire manufacturer whose tires are often OE equipment for the highest performance cars such as Mercedes. The ExtremeContact Sport range from Continental is a dark horse in the fact that most people associate Continentals with comfort but this series show that a high-performance tire does not have to sacrifice comfort or road noise in order to deliver exceptional levels of performance.

It features a 5 rib asymmetric design with a specially designed outside shoulder designed to provide quick steering response and lateral stability. Continental's patented +Silane tread compound technology continues to grip the pavement even harder as the torsional loads and temperature of the tire rises. Thus if you want to go canyon carving or want to enjoy a nice mountain road without sacrificing comfort these are the tires for you.

Not all is perfect, these tires are exceptionally soft and can get easily damaged or punctured. They are also unforgiving if run for an excessive amount of time at low pressures as they develop issues with the sidewall of the tire and thus have a short life. Wet weather performance is not the best in class either.

Pros

  • Excellent Summer performance

  • Good steering feedback with high levels of grip

  • Exceptional ride comfort for a performance tire

Cons

  • Fragile and easily damaged

  • Prone to aquaplaning

2.Hankook Ventus V12 Evo 2

Ride Quality: 8 Noise Comfort: 7 Handling: 9 Traction: 10

Hankook Tires are OE tires for many Toyota vehicles and are a trusted manufacturer. Therefore, the Ventus V12 Evo 2 series is highly suited for those looking to upgrade from their OE tires for something having higher grip, better braking characteristics and great feedback for enthusiastic driving.

The tread is a relatively old school design as it is directional instead of asymmetric with intermediate ribs flanking a centre continuous rib. What this means is that there is more contact patch with the road providing greater grip but these tires perform poorly in the wet and are exceptionally noisy. One cannot complain too much, however, as they are super inexpensive compared to any class of tire you can buy so if it is all out performance you are after and you want an inexpensive tire that you can drive to the fullest even if it wears quickly and these are the ideal candidate.

Pros

  • Exceptional road feedback and well planted on the road

  • Excellent value for money

Cons

  • Very noisy

  • Out-dated design with increased rolling resistance

Best tires for the Toyota Corolla: Buying Guide

If you live in an area where it does not snow often and the weather is mild then All-Season Touring/Grand Touring tires are best suited to your Toyota Corolla. 

Toyota Corolla is a family sedan known for its comfortable and safe rid. It does not have sporty pretensions hence why spend on a Summer tire when an All-Season tire can do the job just as well for the majority of people while being cheaper than having two sets of summer and winter tires. All-Season tires suit the relaxed character and nature of the Corolla best, by complementing the excellent ride quality of the Corolla and keeping in-cabin noise and harshness levels to a minimum.

For those drivers who want a bit more performance from their Corolla or have the Sport or XSE trim levels, Touring and Grand Touring tires are the answer for the ultimate in performance and comfort.  Grand Touring All-Season tires have the edge because they have a better compound and tread pattern allowing for not only better grip but better ride comfort as well.  However, If you live in an area where it snows a lot then you will struggle in winter with All-Season tires and likewise, it would be a waste to not pair Winter Tires with Summer Tires should you opt to go that route.

If you experience high levels of snow and ice in winters then it is most safer to opt for dedicated Winter and Summer tire combination for your Toyota Corolla.

Toyota Corolla is an FWD drive car hence it needs all the help it can get to function in snow and ice. Winter Tires have been specially designed for this purpose and it is seen that many high-performance SUVs with AWD struggle in the harsh winter with summer tires while your Corolla can breeze past them on the right set of Winter tires.  These tires are stud less and work best in few inches of snow. However, it is possible to fits studs on them should you feel the need to venture out in the harshest of weather.  You will thank yourself later when you get everywhere on time hassle-free, without needing to bust out snow chains or roll uncontrollably down icy hills. Similarly, it is cost-effective to have a Summer Tire combo for the remaining summer months and enjoy the best handling and grip levels.

The caveat is to get your winter set changed in time before winter, ideally in November and change them back to Summer tires too to preserve their life.

If you own a Toyota Corolla XSE or a Toyota Corolla Hybrid, the correct tire choice is even more crucial to get the most out of your machine. 

If your driving style consists of spirited driving, chances are you are driving a Toyota Corolla XSE with its larger alloy wheels and tire size and sporty trim. You need a High-Performance tire to complement the car so that you can drive spiritedly with confidence due to the high-speed rating of High-Performance tires. This means you can maintain higher speeds for longer with high ambient temperatures without the risk of explosion. If you live in a mountainous area or enjoy driving on twisty curvy roads then the larger wheel size on your sporty trim level requires a High-Performance tire that gives you good feedback about the limits of grip and reduces understeer which can be dangerous on mountain roads.

However, not all of us like to go fast, Speed Ratings are nice to know but most times we are required to stick to the speed limit, hence many people opt for the Toyota Corolla Hybrid variant. This variant promises exceptional levels of fuel economy which is only made possible through the use of many countermeasures one of which is using tires with low rolling resistance. This means that less of the engine’s energy is lost in overcoming the friction in making the tire roll down the road. Thus look out for tires whose pros include low rolling resistance.

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