Picking the best tire for an SUV is challenging. Due to their high-torque engines and heavy internal structures, luxury SUVs need durable and reliable tires. In this article, as a former Bridgestone engineer, I choose the best tires for your luxury SUV. No worries, I didn’t forget to put good-looking into consideration. Let’s begin!
- Pirelli Scorpion AS Plus 3 – 18”, 20”, 22” rim sizes – Best All-Round Tire
- Cooper Discoverer AT3 4S – 18”, 20”, 22” rim sizes – Best On/Off Road (Mainly Highway)
- Nokian Hakkapeliitta R3 SUV – 18”, 20”, 22” rim sizes – Best Winter Traction
- Falken Wildpeak AT Trail – 19” rim size – Best On/Off-Road Tire (Best for Adventure)
- Continental Extreme Contact DWS06 Plus – 21” rim size – Best Performance Tire (Dry & Wet Regions)
- Vredestein Wintrac Pro – 21” rim size – Best Winter Comfort
Table of Contents
What are the Sizes?
In this article, you will find the best tires on 18”, 19”, 20”, 21” and 22” rim sizes. 18”,20” and 22” are common sizes. However, 19” and 21” isn’t available for every pattern. Thus, I will divide this article into two pieces.
- Best tires for 18”, 20” and 22” rim sizes
- Best tires for 19” rim size
- Best tires for 21” rim size
Note: All the tires in this list have an H or higher speed rating!
Best Tires for 18'' , 20'' and 22'' Rim Sizes
These are the most popular sizes among luxury vehicles. Though worth reminding, you should pay attention to the load and speed index before buying the tire. I will share brief information about tire selection at the end of this article.
Pirelli Scorpion AS Plus 3 - Best Touring All-Season Tire
Scorpion AS Plus 3 is Pirelli’s last-generation all-season touring tire. It’s my pick because of its wide application range. This tire is available on 17”, 18”, 19”, 20” and 22” inch rim sizes. While offering a smooth and relatively quiet ride, Scorpion AS Plus 3 also has long-lasting rubber. Moreover, Pirelli built this tire only for North American drivers. They know what you expect and what to present!
As a former Bridgestone engineer, from my standpoint, Pirelli Scorpion AS Plus 3 is a smooth and quiet tire. It has massive traction ability. Due to its wide circumferential grooves and open shoulder blocks, it’s a beast on wet ground. Moreover, Pirelli’s unique compound selection made this tire the long-lasting one in its segment. Even though it doesn’t fail in winter(beast on light snow), though worth reminding, its ice and deep snow performance are limited(8 out of 10).
You can confidently use this tire in every application but off-road.
Cooper Discoverer AT3 4S - Best On/Off Road Tire
Discoverer AT3 4S is Cooper’s all-terrain tire. The good news is it’s pure American. This tire has AT3 LT and AT3 LTX versions. Those tires have better durability. Yet, they’re not smooth as AT3 4S. You can click here to see a detailed comparison between these three. Cooper AT3 is a solid tire. Yet, it has some disadvantages due to being an all-terrain tire. Let’s dig into it!
In summary, Cooper Discoverer AT3 4S is cozy and extremely durable but slightly noisy compared to the other tires in this list. Well, that’s what you should expect from all-terrain tires. Due to its intense sipe ratio, it has huge traction on wet grounds. Moreover, its winter capability is huge. What I like most about this tire is the steering response. It has an extremely quick steering response that is highly important for high-speed vehicles. Even though you won’t need it, worth reminding that, this tire isn’t usable for severe off-roading like rock crawling and deep-mud riding.
Nokian Hakkapeliitta R3 SUV - Best Winter Tire
Hakkapeliitta R3 SUV is Nokian’s winter tire. Nokian is known for its success on winter tires. This Finnish company is highly familiar with winter conditions. Well, that’s the reason beyond Nokian’s success. This tire can reduce the road noise like no others. Moreover, they trust their sidewall design so much and they replace your tire in case of any sidewall failure.
In summary, Nokian Hakkapeliitta R3 SUV is unbeatable in winter conditions. Due to its sticky but durable rubber, it can grip ice and snow with ease. Moreover, this tire isn’t noisy like other winter tires. It has alpha-plus tread life for a winter tire. There is no negative comment from my side.
Note: Winter tires wear quickly if you use them over 7 Celcius degrees.
Best Tires for 19'' Rim Sizes
Availability isn’t a big issue for 19” rim sizes. Some of the tires in the above section are also available for 19”.
- Best tire for winter – Nokian Hakkapeliitta R3 SUV
- Best touring all-season tire – Pirelli Scorpion AS Plus 3
Falken Wildpeak AT Trail - Best On/Off Road Tire
Wildpeak AT Trail is the Falken’s on/off-road tire. What I like most about this tire is it’s designed only for CUVs and SUVs. Therefore, it has a massive handling ability. Moreover, it has 3PMSF which means it can handle severe winter conditions with ease.
In summary, Falken Wildpeak AT Trail is a perfect tire if you wanna put an aggressive look on your vehicle. It has solid wet and dry performance. Due to its well-optimized pattern, it’s quiet and comfy. It has long-lasting rubber and Falken supports this feature with 65,000 miles treadwear warranty. Moreover, it has a unique winter performance unless you use it on deep snow. However, its off-road capability is limited. You can use Falken Wildpeak AT Trail(review) on any mild off-road without hesitation.
Note: 19” rim size is generally used on small SUVs and CUVs. If you have a big SUV like Infinite QX80, I don’t recommend using it.
Best Tires for 21'' Rim Size
This section is what makes this article unique. 21” is a rare size. Even dealers supply this size upon request. So, if you want to return it due to dissatisfaction, you should wait for a long time. No worries, I will relieve you from this process.
Note: All-terrain tire market is highly narrow for 21” rim size. In fact, I don’t even evaluate these tires as an all-terrain. Thereore, I will remove all-terrain section for 21”.
Continental Extreme Contact DWS06 Plus - Best All-Season Tire
Extreme Contact DWS06 Plus is Continental’s all-season tire. Actually, this tire has been released as an ultra-high performance tire. That’s the reason you can find it on 21”. No worries, it doesn’t have wear life and noise problem like other ultra-high performance tires.
In summary, Continental Extreme Contact DWS 06 Plus offers highly cozy ride. Moreover, it’s exceedingly quiet for its aggressive design. Its wet performance is as good as its dry performance(imagine the dry performance of the UHP tire). Even though it has the best grip, its rubber also lasts long as summer tires. Regarding light snow, it meets any customer expectations. Yet, ice and deep snow aren’t their expertise.
Note: These tires have weak sidewalls. For this reason, I don’t recommend using them on loaded applications and under severe conditions. The highway is its best usage.
Vredestein Wintrac Pro - Best Winter Tire
Wintrac Pro is Vredstein’s performance winter tire. This tire is unique due to its movement capability even in hardest winter conditions. The bonus point is it looks like beast. I love it!
In summary, Vredestein Wintrac Pro has very good dry and wet traction. Moreover, its ice traction is extraordinary. Due to its very-well optimized pattern, it wears evenly and that feature increases its tread life significantly. However, it has a bit firm ride and tends to produce slight road noise from time to time. Still, I strongly recommend it if you like to use your vehicle at high speed. It has trustworthy handling and steering response.
Specs
| Pirelli Scorpion AS Plus 3 | Vredestein Wintrac Pro | Falken Wildpeak A/T Trail | Nokian Hakkapeliitta R3 SUV | Continental Extreme Contact DWS06 Plus | Cooper Discoverer AT3 4S | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category | Crossover/SUV Touring All-Season | Performance Winter/Snow | All-Terrain Tire | Crossover/SUV Winter Tire | Ultra High Performance All-Season | All-Terrain Tire |
| Vehicle | SUV, Crossover | SUV, Crossover, sedans, coupes | Light Truck, SUV | SUV, Crossover | SUV, Crossover, sedans, coupes | Light Truck, SUV |
| Available Sizes (Rim) | 17”, 18”, 19”, 20”, 22” | 17”, 18”, 19”, 20”, 21”, 22” | 16”, 17”, 18”, 19”, 20” | 16’’, 17’’, 18’’, 19”, 20’’, 21” | 16’’, 17’’, 18’’, 19’’, 20”, 21”, 22” | 15’’, 16’’, 17’’, 18’’, 20”, 22” |
| Made In | USA | Netherlands | Thailand or China | Finland | USA | USA |
| Warranty (P-metric) | 70,000 Miles | N/A | 65,000 Miles | N/A | 50,000 Miles | 65,000 Miles |
| Warranty (LT Sizes) | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | 65,000 Miles |
| Prices | Check price section to see best possible prices | Check price section to see best possible prices | Check price section to see best possible prices | Check price section to see best possible prices | Check price section to see best possible prices | Check price section to see best possible prices |
| Severe Snow Rated (3PMSF) | No | Yes (3PMSF) | Yes (3PMSF) | Yes (3PMSF) | No | Yes (3PMSF) |
What are High-Torque SUVs?
Even though most SUVs have a powerful engine, some SUVs stand out in this regard. While preparing this, these vehicles were my reference point. So, if the tires can handle these beasts, they can handle any other SUVs on the market. Well, here are my reference vehicles,
- Lexus LX570
- Mercedes-Benz G550
- Mercedes-Benz G63
- Toyota Land Cruiser
- Land Rover Range Rover Sport
- Audi A8
- BMW X5
The list can be expanded with other vehicles like Cadillac Escalade or Lamborgini Urus. However, these are the most popular ones.
Conclusion
I’d like to state one crucial point before coming to the end. Tire sizes, load index, and speed index change from vehicle to vehicle. These metrics are highly important for a safe ride. You may also put the below points into consideration for a better selection.
Let’s narrow your choices down,
- If you’re an SUV owner and Michelin lover, I highly recommend checking the ‘Best Michelin Tires for SUV‘ out. You can find masterpiece suggestions that are classified by needs.
I hope this article was helpful for those who need it. If you need further help, please don’t hesitate to contact me. Have a safe ride folks!
