Best tires for the Volkswagen Routan
Top picks across four categories for the Volkswagen Routan, anchored to the current-generation OEM size 225/65R16. 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.
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 Volkswagen Routan owners.
Hankook
Kinergy PT
UTQG 800 with a 90,000-mile warranty; long-wear all-season compound built for the daily-driver mileage profile typical for Volkswagen Routan owners.
Cooper
Cs5 grand touring
Reinforced sidewall all-season compound; balanced ride, grip, and tread life for everyday driving.
Falken
Sincera SN201 A/S
Reinforced sidewall 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.
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.
Michelin
Defender 2
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 LX
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.
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.
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.
Bridgestone
Blizzak WS90
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.
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.
Bridgestone
Blizzak WS90
Dedicated winter tire compound; stays pliable below 7 °C where summer/all-season rubber hardens. Recommended for Volkswagen Routan 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 Volkswagen Routan drivers in cold or snowy regions.
Side-by-side
Pick the trade-off that matches your driving
| All-season Michelin Defender 2 | Best budget Continental TrueContact Tour | Best winter Bridgestone Blizzak WS90 |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| UTQG treadwear | 800 | 800 | - |
| Mileage warranty | 80,000 mi | - | - |
| Cabin noise | 68 dB | - | 71 dB |
| Season class | all-season | - | winter |
| Type | touring | - | passenger |
OEM tire sizes by year
What size does the volkswagen routan 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 | 225/65R16 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 2009–2012 | 225/65R17 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 2013–2014 | 225/65R16 | Year-specific fitment → |
How we ranked these tires for the volkswagen routan
We started with the latest model-year's OEM tire size; 225/65R16; 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 volkswagen routan
Top issue category: TPMS
Most reported: TPMS (5) · Valve (4) · Tires (General) (2)
Reported across: 2009 – 2010 (2 years)
What owners described
Pressure-monitoring (TPMS) fault appears in 27% of these reports; about 11.4× as often as across all tire complaints. Percentages are shares of the 11 reports covering every model year of the Volkswagen Routan 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 | 27% | 2% | 11.4× |
| Loss of control, rollover or collision | 18% | 8% | 2.2× |
| Blowout or sudden deflation | 9% | 20% | 0.5× |
| Cracking or dry rot | 9% | 9% | 1.0× |
In owners' own words
Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA about Volkswagen Routan. Reports are published by NHTSA as filed and are lightly cleaned here only to remove intake codes.
FRONT DRIVER SIDE TIRE RAPIDLY DEFLATED CAUSING THE VEHICLE TO PULL RIGHT INTO ON COMING TRAFFIC. THE NEAR MISS COULD HAVE BEEN FATAL. UPON INVESTIGATION IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THE CAUSE WAS CORROSION OF THE TPMS VALVE. I DID A QUICK INTERNET INVESTIGATION AND LEARNED THAT THE CORROSION AND RESULTING TIRE FAILURE ARE COMMON INCIDENTS. WHY HAVEN'T THESE FAULTY TPMS VALVES BEEN RECALLED? THIS ISSUE WILL SURELY RESULT IN DEATHS WHICH I BELIEVE IS THE OPPOSITE OF WHAT THESE TPMS SENSORS ARE FOR.
THE VALVE STEM BROKE OFF WHEN I WENT TO PUT AIR IN IT AND THE TIRE (FRONT DRIVER SIDE) IMMEDIATELY DEFLATED. THE VALVE STEM IS METAL AND APPARENTLY CORRODED. ABOUT A MONTH LATER THE REAR DRIVER SIDE BEGAN TO LEAK AND HAD TO BE REPLACED. THEN TODAY (3/4/14) THE VALVE STEM BROKE OFF THE PASSENGER FRONT TIRE WHEN I WENT TO UNSCREW THE CAP (I COULD HEAR AIR HISSING OUT BEFORE I EVEN TOUCHED IT). IF THIS HAD HAPPENED WHILE DRIVING, I COULD HAVE HAD A SERIOUS ACCIDENT.
THE CONTACT OWNS A 2009 VOLKSWAGEN ROUTAN. WHILE DRIVING APPROXIMATELY 35 MPH THE FRONT DRIVERS SIDE TIRE BLEW OUT. THE CONTACT REMOVED THE TIRE AND REPLACED IT WITH THE SPARE TIRE. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER. THE TECHNICIANS STATED THE TIRE SENSOR VALVE HAD CORRODED CAUSING THE TIRE TO BLOW OUT. THE TECHNICIANS STATED THAT THE REPAIR WAS NOT COVERED UNDER WARRANTY. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO AN INDEPENDENT MECHANIC WHERE THE VALVE WAS REPLACED WITH A RUBBER VALVE INSTEAD OF THE ALUMINUM VALVE THAT WAS ORIGINALLY ON THE VEHICLE WHICH HAD A SENSOR ATTACHED TO IT. THE SENSOR WAS NOT REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS REPAIRED. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 33,000.
WHILE DRIVING AT A SPEED OF 50 MPH ON A RURAL ROAD, THE FRONT DRIVER-SIDE TIRE INSTANTLY DEFLATED. FORTUNATELY, THE VEHICLE WAS SAFELY PULLED OVER AWAY FROM TRAFFIC. UPON EXAMINATION IT WAS FOUND THAT THE VALVE STEM HAD BROKEN OFF, AND THE TIRE HAD DEFLATED AS A RESULT. THE REST OF THE TIRE WAS IN GOOD CONDITION. IN THIS TYPE OF VEHICLE, THE TIRE PRESSURE MONITORING SYSTEM (TPMS) IS PART OF THE VALVE STEM, AND THAT IS WHAT HAD BROKEN OFF. A SECOND SIMILAR INCIDENT HAPPENED APPROXIMATELY 6 MONTHS LATER WITH THE REAR DRIVER-SIDE TIRE OF THE VEHICLE, WHILE TRAVELING AT 55 MPH.
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 Volkswagen Routan →
FAQ
What's the best all-season tire for the Volkswagen Routan?
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Last verified 2026-10-07.