Best tires for the Lincoln LS
Top picks across four categories for the Lincoln LS, anchored to the current-generation OEM size 225/55R16. 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.
Cooper
CS5 ultra touring
UTQG 800 with a 80,000-mile warranty; long-wear all-season compound built for the daily-driver mileage profile typical for Lincoln LS owners.
Bridgestone
Potenza RE97AS 225/55R16
Touring-tuned all-season compound; balanced ride, grip, and tread life for everyday driving.
Continental
ContiProContact
Touring-tuned all-season compound; balanced ride, grip, and tread life for everyday driving.
Continental
ContiProContact 225/55R16
Touring-tuned all-season compound; balanced ride, grip, and tread life for everyday driving.
Lowest cost per mile
Best budget
Best price-per-warranty-mile in this size. Trade-off is shorter warranty vs premium options, not safety.
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.
Yokohama
AVID ascend GT
Lowest sticker price in this size that still meets the OEM load index. Trade-off is shorter warranty vs premium options.
Falken
Sincera SN250 A/S
Lowest sticker price in this size that still meets the OEM load index. Trade-off is shorter warranty vs premium options.
Uniroyal
Tiger paw touring A/S
Lowest sticker price in this size that still meets the OEM load index. Trade-off is shorter warranty vs premium options.
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.
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.
Michelin
X-Ice snow
71 dB cabin-noise rating per the EU tire label; well below the segment median. 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.
Side-by-side
Pick the trade-off that matches your driving
| All-season Cooper CS5 Ultra Touring | Best winter Michelin X-Ice Snow |
|
|---|---|---|
| UTQG treadwear | 800 | - |
| Mileage warranty | 80,000 mi | - |
| Cabin noise | 70 dB | 71 dB |
| Season class | all-season | winter |
| Type | touring | passenger |
OEM tire sizes by year
What size does the lincoln LS 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 | |
|---|---|---|
| 2000–2006 | 235/50R17 | Year-specific fitment → |
How we ranked these tires for the lincoln LS
We started with the latest model-year's OEM tire size; 225/55R16; 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 lincoln LS
Top issue category: Tires (General)
Reported across: 2006 – 2006 (1 year)
What owners described
Sidewall failure appears in 25% of these reports; about 1.7× as often as across all tire complaints. Percentages are shares of the 16 reports covering every model year of the Lincoln LS 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sidewall failure | 25% | 15% | 1.7× |
| Blowout or sudden deflation | 13% | 20% | 0.6× |
| Loss of control, rollover or collision | 13% | 8% | 1.5× |
| Bubble or bulge in the tire | 6% | 6% | 1.1× |
Mileage at failure
6 of these reports state an odometer reading. The middle report is at 52,152 miles, with 8 in 10 falling between 6,000 and 120,000 miles.
In owners' own words
Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA about Lincoln LS. Reports are published by NHTSA as filed and are lightly cleaned here only to remove intake codes.
IN APRIL OF 2000, I PURCHASED A NEW LINCOLN LS, AND I HAVE HAD 2 FIRESTONE TIRES BLOW APART AT THE SEAMS. IN INCIDENT #1, THE TIRE TOTALLY SEPARATED INTO 2 PIECES, AND IN INCIDENT #2, THE TIRE BLEW OUT ON THE INSIDE WALL, CREATING A WHOLE ABOUT 8" IN DIAMETER. AS A STATE HIGHWAY OFFICIAL HERE IN MASSACHUSETTS, I BELIEVE THAT THE FIRESTONE FIREHAWK LH SHOULD BE RECALLED.*AK (TIRESIZE: P235/50R17)
REAR DRIVER'S TIRE SIDEWALL RIPPED AT 15 MPH WITH 100 MILES ON 2005 LINCOLN LS. TIRE - CONTINENTAL CONTITOURING P225/55R16 CV95, DOT #ACT4 465B 1904 PER CONTINENTAL, TIRE MANUFACTURED IN COLUMBUS? ON 19TH WEEK OF 2004 APPEARANCE OF THE STEEL CORD EXPOSED IN SIDEWAY APPEARS VERY THIN. DEALER AGREED TO REPLACE TIRE, BUT HAVEN'T GOTTEN CAR TO DEALER YET. CALL TO CONTINENTAL COMPLAINT CENTER (1800-847-3349) RESULTED IN A STATEMENT THAT THE TIRE WAS NOT KNOWN TO HAVE ANY ISSUES. MY OBVIOUS CONCERN IS THE SAFETY OF THIS TIRE BUT CONTINENTAL SAID THERE IS NO SAFETY ISSUE!!!
MY MICHELIN PILOT SPORT MS TIRE 235/45Z/R17 DEVELOPED A BUBBLE ON THE INSIDE WALL OF THE TIRE AND LEAKED AIR. THE TIRE WAS USED UNDER A NORMAL COMUTING ROUTINE AND NEVER PLACED UNDER ANY UNUSUAL STRESS OR ROAD CONDITIONS. IT COULD NOT BE REPAIRED AND HAD TO BE REPLACED. THIS IS CONSISTENT WITH THE RECALL OF 255/35ZR20 97Y EXTRA LOAD. I BELIEVE THE 235/45Z/R17 SPORT MS IS ALSO DEFECTIVE AS IT HAS THE SAME CHARACTERISTICS. THE OLD TIRE WAS LEFT AT THE TIRE DEALER AND WAS DISPOSED. A LETTER FROM THE DEALER CONFIRMING THIS CONDITION IS POSSIBLE.
OVER THE PAST 13 MONTHS, WE HAD HAD A TOTAL OF SIX VERY LOW OR FLAT TIRES, INCLUDING ONE BLOWOUT ON AN INTERSTATE. NO DEFECTS WERE FOUND IN THE TIRES (PUNCTURES). WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE BLOWOUT, ALL TIRES WERE ABLE TO BE REINFLATED. WE HAVE BEEN TOLD BY TWO SOURCES (A FORD DEALERSHIP AND A TIRE DEALERSHIP) THAT A KNOWN PROBLEM WITH ALLOY WHEELS CAUSES THE TIRE SEAL TO BREAK. THERE HAVE BEEN NO INJURIES TO-DATE, BUT THE FREQUENCY WITH WHICH THIS IS HAPPENING IS A CONCERN. THE LAST FLAT TIRE OCCURRED YESTERDAY (01/13/2004).
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 Lincoln LS →
FAQ
What's the best all-season tire for the Lincoln LS?
Should I get a cheaper tire for my Lincoln LS?
Does the Lincoln LS need winter tires?
Can I run a different tire size on my Lincoln LS?
Where can I buy these tires?
Last verified 2026-10-07.