Best tires for the Acura CL
Top picks across four categories for the Acura CL, anchored to the current-generation OEM size 205/60R16. Every recommendation is selected from our 22,000-tire catalog by ranking on UTQG treadwear, mileage warranty, cabin-noise rating, and season class; no commission-weighted reordering.
Daily driver
Best all-season touring
Long warranty, low noise, balanced ride. The one-tire compromise that works for 80% of owners.
Bridgestone
Turanza QuietTrack
UTQG 800 with a 80,000-mile warranty; long-wear all-season compound built for the daily-driver mileage profile typical for Acura CL owners.
Goodyear
Assurance MaxLife
UTQG 820 with a 85,000-mile warranty; long-wear all-season compound built for the daily-driver mileage profile typical for Acura CL owners.
Michelin
CrossClimate 2
UTQG 640 with a 60,000-mile warranty; long-wear all-season compound built for the daily-driver mileage profile typical for Acura CL owners.
Michelin
Defender 2
UTQG 800 with a 80,000-mile warranty; long-wear all-season compound built for the daily-driver mileage profile typical for Acura CL owners.
Lowest cost per mile
Best budget
Best price-per-warranty-mile in this size. Trade-off is shorter warranty vs premium options, not safety.
Goodyear
Assurance MaxLife
820 UTQG with a 85,000-mile warranty works out to roughly 0.00¢ per 100 miles before install. Best price-per-mile in this size; no premium-brand markup.
Bridgestone
Turanza QuietTrack
800 UTQG with a 80,000-mile warranty works out to roughly 0.00¢ per 100 miles before install. Best price-per-mile in this size; no premium-brand markup.
Continental
TrueContact tour
Lowest sticker price in this size that still meets the OEM load index. Trade-off is shorter warranty vs premium options.
Cooper
CS5 ultra touring
800 UTQG with a 80,000-mile warranty works out to roughly 0.00¢ per 100 miles before install. Best price-per-mile in this size; no premium-brand markup.
Lowest cabin noise
Best quiet
Tread patterns engineered to break up the harmonic peaks that cause highway droning. Pick this if you commute long highway distances daily.
Bridgestone
Turanza QuietTrack
68 dB cabin-noise rating per the EU tire label; library-quiet. Tread pattern engineered to break up the harmonic peaks that cause highway droning.
Michelin
Defender 2
68 dB cabin-noise rating per the EU tire label; library-quiet. Tread pattern engineered to break up the harmonic peaks that cause highway droning.
Goodyear
Assurance MaxLife
70 dB cabin-noise rating per the EU tire label; library-quiet. Tread pattern engineered to break up the harmonic peaks that cause highway droning.
Cooper
CS5 ultra touring
70 dB cabin-noise rating per the EU tire label; library-quiet. Tread pattern engineered to break up the harmonic peaks that cause highway droning.
Cold-weather grip
Best winter
Dedicated winter or all-weather compounds that stay pliable below 7 °C. Necessary for >5 snow days a year.
Bridgestone
Blizzak WS90
Dedicated winter tire compound; stays pliable below 7 °C where summer/all-season rubber hardens. Recommended for Acura CL drivers in cold or snowy regions.
Michelin
X-Ice snow
Dedicated winter tire compound; stays pliable below 7 °C where summer/all-season rubber hardens. Recommended for Acura CL drivers in cold or snowy regions.
Side-by-side
Pick the trade-off that matches your driving
| All-season Bridgestone Turanza QuietTrack | Best budget Goodyear Assurance MaxLife | Best winter Bridgestone Blizzak WS90 |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| UTQG treadwear | 800 | 820 | - |
| Mileage warranty | 80,000 mi | 85,000 mi | - |
| Cabin noise | 68 dB | 70 dB | 71 dB |
| Season class | all-season | all-season | winter |
| Type | touring | touring | passenger |
OEM tire sizes by year
What size does the acura CL use?
Recommendations on this page are anchored to the latest model-year's OEM size. Confirm yours against the driver-door placard before purchase.
| Year | OEM size | |
|---|---|---|
| 1997–2000 | 205/55R16 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 2001–2003 | 215/50R17 | Year-specific fitment → |
How we ranked these tires for the acura CL
We started with the latest model-year's OEM tire size; 205/60R16; and filtered our catalog of 22,000+ tires to those offered in that exact size. From there, four parallel rankings:
- Best all-season ranks on a weighted score: tire type matches passenger car segment, season is "all-season", premium brand bonus (Michelin / Continental / Bridgestone / Pirelli / Goodyear / Nokian).
- Best budget ranks on cost-per-warranty-mile; the lower the better. Premium brands get no bonus here.
- Best quiet ranks on the EU tire-label dB rating; lower is quieter.
- Best winter filters to tires marked 3PMSF severe-snow rated or all-weather class, with a small premium-brand bonus because winter-compound R&D is capital-intensive.
For sedans and compacts, the all-season touring tire below is the best default; long warranty, low cabin noise, reasonable cost per mile. Switch to the quiet pick if highway droning is a deal-breaker; switch to the winter pick if you see significant snow each year. Use the side-by-side comparison above to weigh the trade-offs against your specific driving; highway-heavy, winter-state, performance-oriented, or budget-constrained.
NHTSA-reported issues for acura CL
Top issue category: Tires (General)
Reported across: 2003 – 2003 (1 year)
What owners described
Bubble or bulge in the tire appears in 50% of these reports; about 8.5× as often as across all tire complaints. Percentages are shares of the 10 reports covering every model year of the Acura CL that include a written account; a single report can describe more than one problem, so they do not total 100%.
| Reported problem | This subject | All tire complaints | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bubble or bulge in the tire | 50% | 6% | 8.5× |
| Sidewall failure | 40% | 15% | 2.7× |
| Tread or belt separation | 10% | 13% | 0.7× |
| Cracking or dry rot | 10% | 9% | 1.1× |
| Loss of control, rollover or collision | 10% | 8% | 1.2× |
Mileage at failure
10 of these reports state an odometer reading. The middle report is at 11,000 miles, with 8 in 10 falling between 4,104 and 151,000 miles.
In owners' own words
Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA about Acura CL. Reports are published by NHTSA as filed and are lightly cleaned here only to remove intake codes.
B.F.GOODRICH REPLACEMENT TIRES, 11000 MILES, DOT#E40215129, MOUNTED 0N 1999, ACURA CL. WHILE CONSUMER WAS DRIVING, HEARD A NOISE AND THEN FOUND OUT THAT NOISE CAME FROM FRONT LEFT TIRE THAT HAD EXPERIENCED TREAD SEPARATION. A FEW MONTHS LATER THE RIGHT SIDE HAD EXPERIENCED TREAD SEPARATION.*AK
SECOND TIRE TO DEVELOP SIDEWALL BUBBLE UNDER NORMAL DRIVING CONDITIONS IN UNDER 6000 MILES. MICHELIN CONTACTED AND RESPONDED THAT "THIS IS NORMAL ROAD HAZARD." FAILED TIRES ARE NEW "LOW PROFILE" TIRES. PREVIOUS VEHICLES USED OVER THE SAME ROADS WITH HIGHER PROFILE TIRES DID NOT DEVELOP SIDEWALL BUBBLES WHEN SUBJECTED TO THE SAME DRIVING PATTERN. ARE THESE TIRES SAFE?
NO EVENT LEAD TO TIRE FAILURE. GOODYEAR ALLEGRA 185/65R15 WITH 23K MILES ON THEM. FOUND CRACK ON TIRE ON 12/21/05. PURCHASE AT SAM'S CLUB ON 03/09/03, SAM'S REPLACED TIRE. ON 12/30/05 FOUND FLAT ON DIFFERENT TIRE, NO VISIBLE DAMAGE. INFLATED TIRE AND CHECKED WITH SOAP. LEAKING ON SIDEWALL IN TWO PLACES NEAR RAISED LETTERING. CONTACTED GOODYEAR VIA E-MAIL TO COMPLAIN. TIRES APPEAR TO BE DEFECTIVE AND A HAZARD.
THE CONTACT OWNS A 2001 ACURA CL. THE VEHICLE HAS MICHELIN AS SPORT TIRES (NA), SIZE 255/35ZR20 97Y. WHILE DRIVING 65 MPH, THE VEHICLE BEGAN TO VIBRATE UNCONTROLLABLY. UPON RETURNING HOME, THE CONTACT NOTICED THAT THE TIRE TREAD WAS BECOMING WORN. THE MANUFACTURER STATED THAT THE TIRES WERE NOT RECALLED. THE DEALER HAS NOT BEEN NOTIFIED AND THE TIRES WERE NOT REPLACED. THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 151,000 AND FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 150,000. UPDATED 11/6/08 *CN UPDATED 11/10/08.
Complaints are voluntarily submitted to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation and are not verified by NHTSA; they represent owner-reported problems, not proven defects. Counts can be useful as a relative quality signal across comparable tires or vehicles.
Tire recalls & safety complaints for the Acura CL →
FAQ
What's the best all-season tire for the Acura CL?
Should I get a cheaper tire for my Acura CL?
Does the Acura CL need winter tires?
Can I run a different tire size on my Acura CL?
Where can I buy these tires?
Last verified 2026-09-02.