Best tires for the Saturn Aura
Top picks across four categories for the Saturn Aura, anchored to the current-generation OEM size 215/55R17. 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 Saturn Aura 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 Saturn Aura 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 Saturn Aura 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 Saturn Aura 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.
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 Saturn Aura 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 Saturn Aura drivers in cold or snowy regions.
Toyo
Celsius
Dedicated winter tire compound; stays pliable below 7 °C where summer/all-season rubber hardens. Recommended for Saturn Aura 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 saturn aura 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 | |
|---|---|---|
| 2007–2009 | 225/50R18 | Year-specific fitment → |
How we ranked these tires for the saturn aura
We started with the latest model-year's OEM tire size; 215/55R17; 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 saturn aura
Top issue category: Tires (General)
Reported across: 2009 – 2009 (1 year)
What owners described
Bubble or bulge in the tire appears in 22% of these reports; about 3.8× as often as across all tire complaints. Percentages are shares of the 9 reports covering every model year of the Saturn Aura 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 | 22% | 6% | 3.8× |
| Tread or belt separation | 11% | 13% | 0.8× |
| Sidewall failure | 11% | 15% | 0.7× |
Mileage at failure
5 of these reports state an odometer reading. The middle report is at 13,000 miles, with 8 in 10 falling between 4,000 and 90,000 miles.
In owners' own words
Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA about Saturn Aura. Reports are published by NHTSA as filed and are lightly cleaned here only to remove intake codes.
2007 SATURN AURA STORED INDOORS ALWAYS.40,964 MILES ONLY.1METAL BELT EXPOSED. REPLACED 2 TIRES. 5MOS LATER BELT SEPARATION IN SAME BRAND TIRE. AUTO PRESSURE CHECK SYSTEM (COMPUTER HAS OBSERVED CORRECT TIRE PRESSURE FOR LIFE OF TIRE). TIRES STILL LOOK NEW PLENTY OF TREAD (AT LEAST1/4").
PURCHASED A 2008 SATURN AURA XR FITTED WITH GOODYEAR LS2 P225/50R18 TIRES. CAR/TIRES HAS 4,000 MILES, NOTICED A SIDEWALL BULGE ON ONE TIRE..TOOK CAR TO GOODYEAR DEALER, MANAGER STATED BULGE DUE TO HIGH IMPACT DAMAGE. I DON'T KNOW WHAT HIS DEFINITION OF "HIGH IMPACT IS"? VEHICLE HAS NEVER BEEN OFF ROAD CONDITIONS, ONLY NORMAL CITY DRIVING. VEHICLE HAS NEVER EXCEEDED 45 MILES PER HOUR (TO DATE)...NEVER HITTING HOLE/HOLES TO CAUSE DAMAGE. VERY CONCERNED ABOUT QUALITY AND/OR DEFECTS IN 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 Saturn Aura →
FAQ
What's the best all-season tire for the Saturn Aura?
Should I get a cheaper tire for my Saturn Aura?
Does the Saturn Aura need winter tires?
Can I run a different tire size on my Saturn Aura?
Where can I buy these tires?
Last verified 2026-10-07.