CR conducts extensive winter/snow tire testing at our Auto Test Center and other northern, snow-bound facilities, and even does brake testing on the controlled surface of a local ice skating rink.
To supplement our instrumented test results and evaluations, Consumer Reports surveyed more than 47,000 members who reported on tire purchases from 2021 to 2024. Owner satisfaction scores of tire brands are based on the reported likelihood that members would purchase the tire again.
Most buyers (64 percent) replaced their tire sets when their current tires were worn, and the second-most-common reason was premature/irregular wear (14 percent). A flat tire led to 9 percent of purchases, a similar percent to performance issues (9 percent), and wanting a different type of tire (8 percent).
To help steer members looking specifically at winter/snow tires, we analyzed satisfaction among the brands that offer winter/snow models, creating satisfaction ratings on 24 brands. As you can see in the chart below, satisfaction is widely distributed among the winter/snow tire category, with four brands receiving the highest ratings, then six or seven brands earning each of the three ratings, from middling to unfavorable. This underscores the value for shoppers to review our test findings before making a tire purchase because owners report having very different experiences.
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