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The Best All-Season and Summer Tires for Cars in Canada for 2020

Photo: BMW
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Éric Descarries
Here’s our guide to the best summer and all-season tires available this season

10. Other tire manufacturers

There are plenty of other good all-season tires on the market. Some brands are better-known among retailers and motorists than others, and in recent years lesser-known names have started to establish themselves on the market, to the point where they are even fitted as original equipment on some new cars coming out of the factory.

Products worth looking at include Falken, Kumho, Hankook, Nexen and Cooper, among others. With any luck, you just find what you're looking for at a reasonable price.

As for the much-talked-about Chinese brands, their reputation has not yet reached a high enough level for us to include them in our recommendations. That said, there is progress in this area as brands such as Maxxis, Sailun, Goodride and Wanli have earned good reviews, and certainly whetted our appetite to become better acquainted with their products. We hope to test these more thoroughly in the near-future.

These tires are pitched as being of equal quality to the more-established tire brands we know. However, this has yet to be proven, especially in terms of vibration and wet grip.

If you have an opinion about the tires discussed here, let us know...

Many thanks to Stéphane Parenteau of Pneus Premier Choix in Quebec for his technical contribution.

Photo: Mazda

Table: Understanding speed ratings

.Codespeed (mph)speed (km/h)comment
 L75 mph120 km/hspecial off-road tires
 M81 mph130 km/htemporary spare tires
 N87 mph140 km/h 
 O93 mph150 km/h 
 P99 mph160 km/hsome winter tires with or without studs
 Q106 mph170 km/hstronger small truck tires
 R112 mph180 km/hpassenger car tires
 S118 mph190 km/hpassenger car tires
 T124 mph200 km/hperformance tires
 U130 mph210 km/hperformance tires
 V149 mph220 km/hperformance tires
 W168 mph230 km/hultra-high performance tires
 Y186 mph240 km/hultra-high performance tires
 Zover 149 mphover 240 km/hoften accompanied by the letters W and Y
     

 

Photo: Volvo
Éric Descarries
Éric Descarries
Automotive expert
  • More than 41 years of experience as an automotive journalist
  • Over 55 test drives in the past year
  • Attended more than 200 new vehicle launches in the presence of the brand's technical specialists