Tires are the most underrated component of your Chevy Equinox. Not just because the right set of tires can enhance the qualities that have helped this SUV scale the best-selling charts in the US – an agreeable and easy drive, competent handling, and accurate steering.
There’s another reason why you should take your tire search seriously. The wrong set can aggravate this crossover’s drawbacks. Among which none is more frustrating than its dull acceleration, which translates into a sluggish performance, especially with an AWD drive.
In this article, we’ll recommend the top 10 best tires for Chevy Equinox. We’ve included a buying guide to help you decide which of the below models can meet your requirements. Plus, we’ve answered some of the most frequently asked questions about Equinox’s tires.
#1. Continental CrossContact LX25 – Best Overall
The Continental CrossContact LX25 is one of the best Chevy Equinox tires on the market, especially for drivers who spend a bulk of their time behind the wheel on the highway or in city traffic.
An eco-friendly tread compound has reduced the LX25’s rolling resistance, enabling these tires to consume less fuel per liter than many of their rivals. The reduced rolling resistance will also have a positive impact on the Equinox’s acceleration, which is notoriously sluggish.
These tires won’t just settle for boosting this SUV’s fuel economy or acceleration, though. They will also enhance the Equinox’s wet and snow performance, thanks to the circumferential grooves which quickly and effectively evacuate water to minimize the risk of skidding.
Comfort Control Technology will see to it that the LX25s improve the Equinox’s ride quality. Plus, a continuous center rib will make the SUV more stable at high-speeds, with a wide contact patch increasing road grip for even tread wear and, thus, extended road life.
Continental also backs these tires with a 70,000-mile treadwear warranty. What’s more, this tire has an additional layer of rubber beneath the tread area. One that helps it absorb road vibrations and deflect road noise to prevent either from ruining your driving experience.
Pros
- Backed with an excellent 70,000-mile treadwear warranty
- Offers excellent dry and wet performance
- Best-in-class hydroplaning resistance
Cons
- Not the best for spirited driving
#2. Firestone Destination LE3 – Best Runner Up
The Firestone Destination LE3 is an exciting addition to the all-season highway tire options. This model features various improvements over its predecessor. But it’s on three specific areas where drivers who have used the LE2 would notice the upgrades.
The first of those areas is light wintry performance. Ask anyone who may have used the Destination LE2, and it’s likely you’d hear stories of skidding and slipping on snow. Fortunately, that’s not the case with the LE3, which can keep you safe on light snow and ice.
The credit for this goes to three features – multiple sipes, circumferential grooves, and HydroGrip Technology. Their separate actions gives this tire the added grip on snow and ice, while also improving this model’s wet traction as well as hydroplaning resistance.
The second improvement you’d notice in the LE3 is that this tire’s fuel consumption is significantly lower than that of its predecessor. The third and the final improvement, meanwhile, comes in the shape of treadwear warranty, with this model backed for 30,000 extra miles.
You read that right. While the Destination LE2 was only backed for 40,000 miles, its successor comes with an above-average 70,000-mile treadwear warranty. The only area where this model hasn’t improved over the LE2 is ride quality over uneven roads, which is below-average.
Pros
- Comes with a 70,000-mile treadwear warranty
- Boasts short braking distances in wet conditions
- Doesn’t produce much noise at high speed
Cons
- Minor road imperfections can hurt ride quality
#3. Michelin Premier LTX – Best All-Season Touring
Four features make the Michelin Premier LTX one of the best all-season touring tires for this SUV. They include its superb dry and wet performance, a super-extended treadlife and treadwear warranty, and superb road manners on paved roads.
The sunflower oil and silica tread compound deserves the credit for this tire’s excellent dry and wet performance. Sunflower oil gives the rubber the flexibility to deal with wet roads, with silica providing it with the firmness needed to tackle dry conditions.
Unlike most tires out there, the Premier LTX won’t face a dangerous loss of traction when its tread depth hits dangerous limits. The credit for this goes to EverGrip Technology – which will introduce new grooves once the first ones wear out – to ensure consistent traction.
Sure, the Premier LTX might not be as fuel efficient as our top pick. But that doesn’t mean that it will turn your Equinox into a fuel guzzler. Their lightweight construction and low rolling resistance makes us confident in these tires’ ability to keel gas consumption down.
To further sweeten the deal, Michelin backs these tires with a 60,000-mile treadwear warranty. This means at least 4 to 5 years of road life if you take care of these tires. Which seems just about right for tires whose asking price can blow a hole in most peoples’ pockets.
Pros
- Offers long-lasting dry and wet traction
- Provides a refined driving experience
- Backed with a 60,000-mile treadwear warranty
Cons
- The tire is expensive
#4. Goodyear Assurance MaxLife – Best All Season Touring
The Goodyear Assurance MaxLife proves that sometimes in life you get more than what you paid for. This all-season touring tire costs less than the Premier LTX. But you couldn’t guess that by looking at its treadwear warranty, which is 25,000 miles higher.
Goodyear remains tight-lipped as to how it could back this tire with a market-leading 85,000 miles treadwear warranty. But we suspect that TredLife Technology – which expands this tire’s contact patch for better road contact – deserves the credit for this.
Another area where this tire competes with its rival touring tire is road manners. It does that thanks to its contact patch, which gets bigger every time it hits the surface. The result? Comfortable driving experience, superb fuel economy, and above-average acceleration.
Wet traction is another area where this tire defies its mid-range asking price. Four circumferential grooves perform a commendable job of keeping the tread area free of water particles. Their effective action is why you won’t have to worry about aquaplaning with this tire.
Lastly, while you cannot expect this tire to help you win many races. What you can expect from it is excellent high-speed stability with little wobbling.
Pros
- Class-leading 85,000-mile treadwear warranty
- Outstanding grip in dry and wet conditions
- Offers a quiet and comfortable driving experience
Cons
- Lackluster steering feedback and responsiveness
#5. Goodyear Assurance WeatherReady – Best All Weather
The Goodyear Assurance WeatherReady is the perfect example of the various differences between all-weather and all-season tires. While this model is as useful in warm, dry, and mild wet conditions as its A/S counterparts. It’s much more suitable for heavy rain, slush, and snowfall.
An all-season tread compound and Three Peak Mountain Snowflake (3PMSF) symbol are reasons why this model can keep your car safe on snow and ice. The 3PMSF symbol is standardized by EU authorities and only awarded to tires that can perform reliably in light wintry conditions.
Dual aqua channel grooves evacuate water from within the rubber to minimize the risk of hydroplaning and keep the contact patch dry, enhancing this tire’s wet traction.
Goodyear’s ‘Evolving Traction Grooves’ ensure that this tire doesn’t face a dangerous loss of traction during its last few months on the road. They do that by replacing the initial grooves as the latter wear out, helping the WeatherReady provide consistent, long-lasting traction.
A 60,000-mile treadlife warranty gives you little reason to complain. The same goes for its 2/32”” of treadwear warranty and 12-month workmanship and replacement guarantee. All in all, while the WeatherReady isn’t a perfect all-weather tire, it comes pretty close.
Pros
- Comes with the 3PMSF emblem
- Offers excellent traction on wet roads
- Provides excellent and long-lasting traction
Cons
- Mild road noise at higher speeds
#6. Pirelli P Zero All Season Plus – Best High-Performance All Season
Multiple features enable the P Zero All Season Plus to take your Equinox’s performance to the next level. These include a sticky rubber compound, nano rubber composites, and ‘S’-shaped sipes. Here’s why we’re so bullish about these features and their prospects.
Start with the sticky rubber compound, which does precisely what its name implies, not letting the road contact break regardless of whether the road is dry or water-logged. All that grip being afforded by the tread compound will give you a greater feel of the road at the steering.
The nano composites also increase grip. However, while the above compound increases this tire’s road grip as a whole, the composites are more focused on the shoulder blocks. As such, you can credit them for this model’s excellent cornering performance and grip.
Next come the ‘S’-shaped sipes, which work together with this model’s longitudinal and circumferential grooves to minimize the risk of hydroplaning. That’s not all. The sipes have also made this model a capable performer on light snow, distinguishing it from HP tires.
Unfortunately, the only area where this model is like other HP tires is its treadlife. The P Zero will wear pretty quickly if you regularly push it to its limits.
Pros
- Excellent grip on dry and wet surfaces
- Superb cornering performance
- Produces low noise for a high-performance tire
Cons
- Treadlife could be better
#7. Nitto NT 421Q – Best High-Performance All Season
The Nitto NT421Q epitomizes what high-performance all-season tires should aspire to be. This model not only offers excellent dry handling, steering responsiveness and cornering performance. It also boasts superb wet traction and is reliable on snow as well.
An asymmetric tread pattern is responsible for this model’s excellent dry and wet traction. It is the major reason why this model’s road contact stays intact come what may. In fact, if you can cut it some slack, the pattern will also make this model usable in light snow.
Its outer shoulder blocks make the NT 421Q stable at high speeds and enhance its dry traction, handling, and cornering. The inner blocks does the same too, albeit with one key difference. They will improve this tire’s performance on wet and light wintry roads.
A 3D interlocking sipe design – the biting edges lock as you apply brakes – has provided this tire with extremely short braking distances. However, it may also open the door to uneven wear, especially if you’re fond of pushing your car to its limits on a daily basis.
To further sweeten the deal, Nitto backs the NT 421Q with a 60,000- or 75,000-mile treadwear warranty (depending on the tire size). This tire also features maintenance indicators to let you inspect the remaining tread life and whether the wheels are aligned.
Pros
- Comes with an above-average treadwear warranty
- Best-in-class dry, wet, and winter traction
- Superb dry handling and cornering
Cons
- Doesn’t come cheap
#8. Bridgestone Dueler H/P Sport – Best Summer Performance
The Bridgestone Dueler H/P Sport offers unrivaled dry grip. It also provides you with superior cornering performance, more steering feedback than you have ever received, and best-in-class wet traction. However, the absence of a treadwear warranty might bite.
A trio of features – UNI-T Technology, L.L. Carbon Black tread compound, symmetric tread pattern – are responsible for this model’s excellent dry grip and wet traction. The tread compound and tread pattern also ensure a quiet and relatively comfy driving experience.
Excellent cornering performance is made possible by two continuous center ribs. Running from top to bottom in the middle of the wheel, these ribs help the contact patch widen every time you press the accelerator, helping this tire stay stable at speeds.
Four circumferential grooves and as many lateral ones ensure quick water evacuation to reduce the risk of hydroplaning. You might be surprised to note that this tire has biting edges too, something you don’t normally expect to get in models of this class.
One thing you might want to note is that this tire comes in two versions. The run-flat version might look more appealing but it works better with more powerful SUVs, like the BMW X3. So, Chevy Equinox drivers might be better off with the standard model.
Pros
- Comes with a 40,000-mile treadwear warranty
- Offers superb cornering performance
- Excellent dry and wet traction
Cons
- Pricey
#9. Toyo Open Country A/T III – Best All Terrain
One of the best things anyone can say about the Open Country A/T III is that it features several upgrades over its predecessor. The reason why nobody should take this claim lightly is because the A/T II is no shrinking violet – it’s the preferred choice of many hardcore off-roaders.
A relatively wider void area – the space between the treads – enables the A/T III to ensure more even distribution of pressure forces than the model it replaced. The result? More even tread wear and lower rolling resistance for a much improved fuel economy.
Another difference that the A/T II didn’t come with the 3PMSF symbol that is adorning the A/T III’s tread area. As such you can count on this model to perform better in snow and ice, though dedicated winter tires still outperform the duo on hard-packed snow.
The A/T III has also retained the good features that made its predecessor so famous. One of the features retained is the cut- and chip-resistant tread compound. Another is the reinforced sidewall that enables the A/T II and now the A/T III to deliver excellent steering feedback.
Its 60,000-mile treadwear warranty means that this tire can easily last you 3 to 4 years.
Pros
- Outstanding 60,000-mile treadwear warranty
- Performs reliably in a variety of off-road conditions
- Comes with the Three Peak Mountain Snowflake emblem
Cons
Costs more than its previous version
#10. Bridgestone Blizzak WS 90 – Best Winter Tires
The Bridgestone Blizzak WS90 are one of the best winter tires on the market, thanks to the combination of a super-flexible tread compound, MultiCell structure, and asymmetric tread pattern
A silica-based tread compound has the uncanny ability of not stiffening up in sub-zero temperatures. The resulting flexibility is one of the main reasons the WS90 can plow through snow and ice.
Next comes the MultiCell structure, which works by trapping snow within the treads. This enables the tire to give better traction on snow as the friction generated by snow-on-snow contact is much bigger than snow-on-rubber.
The asymmetric tread pattern has been designed to offer bigger contact area. Together with the block edges, which rely on the above MultiCell structure to generate better friction, it helps this tire offer reduced braking distances on snow, ice, and slush.
Lastly, the WS 90 has been rated 3PMSF, thus backing its excellent durability in harsh wintry conditions.
Pros
- Dependable on snow and ice
- Excellent control and handling on winter roads
- Comes with the 3PMSF symbol
Cons
- No treadwear warranty
Best Tires for Chevy Equinox
All-Season Touring
Excellent treadlife and treadlife warranty? Check. Superb road manners in dry and wet conditions? Present. Enhanced fuel economy? Absolutely. All these qualities make premium all-season touring tires the first pick of the majority of Equinox drivers.
Yet another thing that goes in their favor is that A/S touring tires don’t cost as much up front as their performance or high-performance counterparts. Together with their long treadlife, this helps these tires remain cost effective in the short- and long-term.
All Weather Tires
Although they are often clubbed together with their all-season counterparts, all-weather tires perform much better in heavy rain, snowfall and slush. This makes them more suitable for areas which receive more than its fair share of low temperatures ever year.
All-weather tires are made with a rubber compound that can flex, grip, and perform at up to 7*C temperatures. Plus, their aggressive siping and tread design enables them to minimize the risk of slipping and skidding in mild-to-moderate wintry conditions.
Performance Tires
Above-average high-speed stability? Check. Enhanced steering feedback and responsiveness? Present. Top-of-the-line cornering performance and grip? Absolutely. All these qualities are what you can only expect to get from premium performance tires.
Bear in mind, though, that these tires also have some quirks. The most notable of which is their relatively small treadlife (vis-à-vis all-season tires), which will get even smaller if you push them to their limits. Also, they cost more than many other models out there.
All-Terrain Tires
All-terrain tires are an excellent option for anyone who does highway driving throughout the week and light off-roading on the weekends. Their tread patterns, though aggressive, doesn’t make them too loud on the highway or on the street.
That is not to say that A/T tires can replace their all-season rivals’ on your Equinox. These models short tread lives, relatively quick tread wear rates, and noticeably firm ride mean they aren’t the best option for everyday driving.
Frequently Asked Questions
What brand tires come on the Chevy Equinox?
The 2020 Equinox came with the following tires depending on the trim and wheel size.
The Equinox L, LS, and LT (all with 17-inch wheels) were paired with Bridgestone Ecopia H/L 422 Plus tires. The Equinox Premium (18-inch wheels) were installed either Michelin Primacy Tour A/S or Michelin Primacy LTX on the factory floor.
How long should tires last on a Chevy Equinox?
Provided your driving style isn’t overly aggressive and you cover around 12,000 to 15,000 miles a year, the tires on your Chevy Equinox may last 3 to 3 ½ years.
Conclusion
The Continental CrossContact LX25 are the best tires for Chevy Equinox drivers who do a lot of highway and city driving in mild to moderate weather conditions. However, if you want your tires to provide some oomph, the Pirelli P Zero All Season Plus may prove to be a better pick.
