Best tires for the GMC Terrain
Top picks across four categories for the GMC Terrain, anchored to the current-generation OEM size 225/65R17. 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 GMC Terrain 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 GMC Terrain 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 GMC Terrain 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 GMC Terrain 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 GMC Terrain 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 GMC Terrain 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 GMC terrain 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 | |
|---|---|---|
| 2008–2009 | 215/70R16 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 2010–2011 | 235/55R18 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 2012–2017 | 235/60R17 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 2018–2024 | 225/60R18 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 2025–2026 | 235/65R17 | Year-specific fitment → |
How we ranked these tires for the GMC terrain
We started with the latest model-year's OEM tire size; 225/65R17; 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 GMC terrain
Top issue category: Tires (General)
Most reported: Tires (General) (9) · TPMS (4) · Sidewall (1) · Valve (1)
Reported across: 2010 – 2019 (7 years)
What owners described
Pressure-monitoring (TPMS) fault appears in 50% of these reports; about 20.8× as often as across all tire complaints. Percentages are shares of the 12 reports covering every model year of the GMC Terrain 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pressure-monitoring (TPMS) fault | 50% | 2% | 20.8× |
| Sidewall failure | 33% | 15% | 2.2× |
| Tread or belt separation | 17% | 13% | 1.2× |
| Cracking or dry rot | 17% | 9% | 1.8× |
| Blowout or sudden deflation | 8% | 20% | 0.4× |
| Loss of control, rollover or collision | 8% | 8% | 1.0× |
Mileage at failure
7 of these reports state an odometer reading. The middle report is at 31,000 miles, with 8 in 10 falling between 10,000 and 112,790 miles.
In owners' own words
Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA about GMC Terrain. Reports are published by NHTSA as filed and are lightly cleaned here only to remove intake codes.
THE CONTACT OWNS A 2010 GMC TERRAIN EQUIPPED WITH MICHELIN TIRES LINE LATITUDE TOUR TIRES, SIZE P235-55-R18, AND DOT NUMBER: M33J-007. THE CONTACT STATED THAT ALL TIRES EXHIBITED TREAD SEPARATION AND CRACKS FROM THE SIDEWALL. ADDITIONALLY, THE STEEL BELT WAS SEPARATED. THE TIRES WERE REPLACED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE TIRE AND VEHICLE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 30,000. THE VIN WAS NOT AVAILABLE.
THE CONTACT OWNS A 2012 GMC TERRAIN. WHILE DRIVING 10 MPH, THE TPMS WARNING LIGHT FOR THE FRONT DRIVER SIDE TIRE. ON A LATER DATE, THE FRONT PASSENGER SIDE TPMS WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE FAILURE RECURRED ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A DEALER WHO MADE AN UNKNOWN ADJUSTMENT; HOWEVER, THE FAILURE PERSISTED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 10,000.
WHILE DRIVING @ 55 CENTER LANE FREEWAY INDICATOR LIGHTS SHOWED LOSS OF TIRE PRESSURE ON PASSENGER REAR TIRE. MOVED TO SHOULDER OF FREEWAY AND SAW REAR TIRE HAD NUMEROUS CRACKS ON BOTH INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR SIDE WALLS OF TIRE COVERING TOTAL CIRCUMFERENCE OF TIRE; TIRE HAD BEGUN SMOKING. ASSISTED BY STATE SAFETY PATROL AND TECHNICIAN MADE COMMENTS AS TO HAVE "NEVER SEEN A TIRE SHRED IN THIS MANNER". TREAD HAD BEGUN TO SEPARATE FROM TIRES EDGE AND CRACKS WERE APPROX.. 3 INCH'S APART AND ABOUT 2 INCHES IN LENGTH. TIRE TAKEN TO DEALERSHIP FOR REVIEW AND REPLACEMENT; DEALERSHIP ALSO COMMENTED ON THE DAMAGE AS BEING EXTREMELY UNUSUAL. VEHICLE IS 2011, SINGLE DRIVER WITH APPROX. 31000 MILES.
THE CONTACT OWNS A 2010 GMC TERRAIN EQUIPPED WITH MICHELIN LATITUDE TOUR TIRES, SIZE: P235/55R18. WHILE HAVING THE VEHICLE SERVICED AT THE DEALER, THE TECHNICIAN NOTIFIED THE CONTACT THAT ALL FOUR SIDEWALLS WERE SEPARATING FROM THE TREAD AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE TIRES WERE ORIGINAL EQUIPMENT. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE VEHICLE AND TIRE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 36,100.
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 GMC Terrain →
FAQ
What's the best all-season tire for the GMC Terrain?
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Last verified 2026-10-07.