Best tires for the Chevrolet Malibu
Top picks across four categories for the Chevrolet Malibu, anchored to the current-generation OEM size 205/65R16. 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 Chevrolet Malibu 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 Chevrolet Malibu 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 Chevrolet Malibu 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 Chevrolet Malibu 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.
Hankook
Kinergy PT
800 UTQG with a 90,000-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.
Hankook
Kinergy PT
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 Chevrolet Malibu 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 Chevrolet Malibu 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 chevrolet malibu 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 | |
|---|---|---|
| 1964–1972 | 195/75R14 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 1973–1977 | 205/75R15 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 1997–2003 | 215/60R15 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 2004–2005 | 215/60R16 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 2006–2007 | 225/50R18 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 2008 | 225/50R17 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 2009–2012 | 225/50R18 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 2013 | 235/50R18 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 2014–2015 | 225/50R18 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 2016–2025 | 245/45R18 | Year-specific fitment → |
How we ranked these tires for the chevrolet malibu
We started with the latest model-year's OEM tire size; 205/65R16; 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 chevrolet malibu
Top issue category: Tires (General)
Most reported: Tires (General) (192) · Tread / Belt (75) · TPMS (14) · Spare Tire (8) · Sidewall (6)
Reported across: 1975 – 2023 (26 years)
What owners described
Cracking or dry rot appears in 16% of these reports; about 1.7× as often as across all tire complaints. Percentages are shares of the 170 reports covering every model year of the Chevrolet Malibu 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cracking or dry rot | 16% | 9% | 1.7× |
| Blowout or sudden deflation | 15% | 20% | 0.8× |
| Sidewall failure | 7% | 15% | 0.5× |
| Tread or belt separation | 5% | 13% | 0.4× |
| Loss of control, rollover or collision | 5% | 8% | 0.6× |
| Pressure-monitoring (TPMS) fault | 4% | 2% | 1.7× |
Mileage at failure
81 of these reports state an odometer reading. The middle report is at 20,000 miles, with 8 in 10 falling between 5,000 and 100,000 miles.
In owners' own words
Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA about Chevrolet Malibu. Reports are published by NHTSA as filed and are lightly cleaned here only to remove intake codes.
2013 CHEVROLET MALIBU. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARDS TO PURCHASED VEHICLE WITH NO SPARE TIRE IN THE TRUNK. *SMD THE CONSUMER STATED WHEN SHE PURCHASED THE VEHICLE, SHE WAS NOT INFORMED THE VEHICLE DID NOT COME EQUIPPED WITH A SPARE TIRE. WHEN SHE EXPERIENCED A TIRE BLOW OUT ON THE FREEWAY. IT WAS THEN, SHE WAS TOLD BY AAA, THERE WAS ONLY AN AIR PUMP, WHICH WAS OF NO USE, SINCE THE TIRE HAS SHREDDED. THE CONSUMER WAS TOLD, THERE WAS NO SPARE TIRE, BECAUSE IT SAVED ON WEIGHT, THUS HAVING BETTER GAS MILEAGE.
FIRESTONE FR710 TIRES. CRACKS WERE NOTED IN THE SIDEWALLS. THE TREAD APPEARS TO BE SEPARATING AROUND THE ENTIRE CIRCUMFERENCE OF THE 2 TIRES ON THE PASSENGER SIDE OF THE CAR. THE TIRES ARE DATE CODED 4210 AND HAVE APPROXIMATELY 17000 MILES ON THEM. THE TIRES HAVE BEEN WELL CARED FOR AND ROTATED EVERY 6000 MILES. PHOTOS ARE AVAILABLE FOR REVIEW.
I EXPERIENCED A SUDDEN TREAD SEPARATION ON A GOODRICH PASSENGER TIRE, LEADING TO IMMEDIATE AND COMPLETE TIRE DEFLATION. LUCKILY, I HAD JUST PULLED OUT OF A PARKING LOT AND WAS TRAVELING <5MPH. ON INSPECTION, THE OTHER 3 TIRES SHOWED INITIAL SIGNES OF SIMILAR FAILURE, AND ALL HAVE BEEN REPLACED.
THE CONTACT OWNS A 2013 CHEVROLET MALIBU. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE TIRE PRESSURE MONITORING SYSTEM DID NOT WARN IF THE TIRE PRESSURE WAS LOW. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE TIRES WERE TWO POUNDS LOW AND THE SYSTEM DID NOT GIVE A WARNING. THE DEALER AND THE MANUFACTURER WERE UNABLE TO CONFIRM THE AMOUNT OF LOW PRESSURE THAT WOULD SIGNAL THE WARNING. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS UNKNOWN.
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 Chevrolet Malibu →
FAQ
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Last verified 2026-10-07.