Best tires for the Lincoln MKZ
Top picks across four categories for the Lincoln MKZ, anchored to the current-generation OEM size 245/45R18. 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 Lincoln MKZ 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 Lincoln MKZ 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 Lincoln MKZ 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 Lincoln MKZ 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.
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.
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.
Pirelli
Cinturato P7 all season plus 3
69 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.
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 Lincoln MKZ 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 Lincoln MKZ 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 lincoln MKZ 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 | |
|---|---|---|
| 2007–2012 | 225/50R17 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 2013–2020 | 245/45R18 | Year-specific fitment → |
How we ranked these tires for the lincoln MKZ
We started with the latest model-year's OEM tire size; 245/45R18; 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 MKZ
Top issue category: Tires (General)
Most reported: Tires (General) (10) · Bead (3) · Sidewall (3) · TPMS (2) · Valve (1)
Reported across: 2007 – 2014 (6 years)
What owners described
Cracking or dry rot appears in 29% of these reports; about 3.1× as often as across all tire complaints. Percentages are shares of the 14 reports covering every model year of the Lincoln MKZ 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 | 29% | 9% | 3.1× |
| Sidewall failure | 21% | 15% | 1.4× |
| Bubble or bulge in the tire | 14% | 6% | 2.4× |
| Tread or belt separation | 7% | 13% | 0.5× |
| Pressure-monitoring (TPMS) fault | 7% | 2% | 3.0× |
Mileage at failure
9 of these reports state an odometer reading. The middle report is at 37,440 miles, with 8 in 10 falling between 4,491 and 184,187 miles.
In owners' own words
Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA about Lincoln MKZ. Reports are published by NHTSA as filed and are lightly cleaned here only to remove intake codes.
THE CONTACT OWNS A 2007 LINCOLN MKZ. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE FRONT PASSENGER AND DRIVER SIDE TIRES BECAME FLAT. THE CONTACT MENTIONED THAT THE TIRES WERE INFLATED BUT THE FAILURE RECURRED MULTIPLE TIMES. THE CONTACT STATED THAT BOTH OF THE REAR TIRES EXHIBITED THE FAILURE AS WELL. THE VEHICLE WAS INSPECTED AND WAS FOUND THAT THE TIRE VALVE STEMS WERE CRACK AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS INFORMED OF A CUSTOMER SATISFACTION CAMPAIGN RELATED TO THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 55,000.
2014 LINCOLN MKZ. CONSUMER WRITES IN REGARDS TO VEHICLE TIRE ISSUES AND REIMBURSEMENT FOR TIRE REPLACEMENTS. *SMD THE CONSUMER STATED THE VEHICLE DID NOT PASS INSPECTION, BECAUSE A BUBBLE HAD FORMED ON THE RIGHT FRONT TIRE IN THE SIDEWALL. THE TIRE WAS REPLACED AT A COST OF $ 250. ON MARCH 16, 2015, THE RIGHT REAR TIRE WAS REPLACED DUE TO A BUBBLE FOUND IN THE SIDEWALL. ON MAY 13, 2015 DURING A SERVICE VISIT AT THE DEALER, THE CONSUMER WAS INFORMED THE FRONT TIRES HAD SIDEWALL BUBBLES AND NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. *JB THE CONSUMER STATED FIVE TIRES OVER THE LAST FOUR MONTHS HAD SIDEWALL BUBBLES. UPDATED 02/01/16.
THE CONTACT OWNS A 2008 LINCOLN MKZ. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE TIRE PRESSURE MONITORING SYSTEM INDICATOR ILLUMINATED CONTINUOUSLY. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC, WHO STATED THAT ALL FOUR TIRES EXHIBITED LOW TIRE PRESSURE DUE TO THE SEVERELY RUSTED RIMS. THE FOUR TIRES WERE INFLATED TO THE PROPER AIR PRESSURE ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS; HOWEVER, THE FAILURE RECURRED EVERY TWO WEEKS. THE RIMS WERE NOT REPLACED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 35,000.
THE TREAD SEPARATED FROM THE TIRE BODY ON A REPLACEMENT FIRESTONE TIRE. THE REPLACEMENT WAS MADE BY FIRESTONE BECAUSE OF A RECALL FOR THE SAME PROBLEM. THE TIRE HAD SEVERAL THOUSAND MILES ON IT SINCE IT WAS REPLACED. THE TREAD STARTED SEPARATING SEVERAL WEEKS BEFORE WE HAD IT REPLACED WITH A GOODYEAR TIRE.
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 MKZ →
FAQ
What's the best all-season tire for the Lincoln MKZ?
Should I get a cheaper tire for my Lincoln MKZ?
Does the Lincoln MKZ need winter tires?
Can I run a different tire size on my Lincoln MKZ?
Where can I buy these tires?
Last verified 2026-10-07.