The 7 Best Tires for the Porsche Macan
Searching for the best tires for your Porsche Macan? Whatever tires you choose should be capable of enhancing this SUV’s qualities and mitigating its drawbacks.
Start with the attributes that make the Macan the sports car of compact SUVs. These include an exciting driving character, thanks to powerful engine options and a chassis that is designed for performance. An uber-responsive steering further adds to its appeal.
Unfortunately, while it’s unmatched in terms of road competence, there are areas where the Macan could do better. Take, for instance, its thirty petrol engines, which can increase your trips to the pump if you keep pushing this SUV to its limits.
Keep the above factors in mind while choosing tires for the Macan. Alternatively, leave the decision to us. We have compiled some of the best tires for the Porsche Macan that will amplify this SUV’s strengths while offsetting its limitations.
#1. Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 4
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Several qualities make the Pilot Sport A/S4 one of the best tires for Porsche Macan.
Start with the fact that it offers the best of both worlds. As a high-performance all-season tire, the Pilot Sport A/S 4 offers the dry performance you rarely get from all-season tires. Think of a high cornering grip, superb straight-line tracking, and lots of feedback to the steering.
At the same time, it stays true to its all-season roots. Michelin has equipped this tire with its Extreme Silica Compound, which helps it offer short braking distances on wet roads. Plus, due to wide channels in its tread, the risk of aquaplaning and, by extension, slippage, is slim.
This tire also features Michelin’s famous 360 Degree Variable Sipes. These are biting edges that can be noticed, provided your eyesight is 10 out of 10. However, even if you can’t see them, their effect – better performance on snow – can be felt in harsh weather.
To further sweeten the deal, Michelin has slapped this tire with a 45,000-mile treadwear warranty. Sure, the guarantee isn’t quite as high as you get on premium all-season tires. But it’s almost class-leading for any model in the UHP all-season category.
Pros
- Offers light steering with plenty of feedback
- Short stopping distances on wet and slippery surfaces
- High treadwear warranty for a UHP all-season tire
Cons
- Stiff sidewall makes the ride somewhat harsh
#2. Pirelli P Zero
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The Pirelli P Zeros are Macan’s OE tires for several reasons.
The first of which is that Porsche trusts these tires. Besides the Macan, the P Zeros are the original equipment tires on various other Porsche cars, including the 911 Carrera GTS, Boxster, and Cayman, all muscle cars that can quickly eat any ordinary pair of tires.
Why does Porsche trust this car so much? Perhaps because its engineers are aware of this tire’s outstanding performance on wet roads. Unlike many tires in the UHP category, the P Zeros don’t struggle when the roads get dicey, letting you drive confidently in the rain.
Another reason is that these tires offer a refined ride (at least for models in the ultra-high-performance category). A sound-absorbing foam attached to their inner sidewall helps them absorb vibrations. You can thus expect a comfy ride, even when the roads get bumpier.
Some people are put off by Pirelli not offering any treadwear warranty on this tire. For them, our top pick (which is backed to last at least 45,000 miles) might be a better pick. However, if you want better ride comfort, the P Zeros are an absolute no-brainer.
Pros
- Superb dry and wet performance
- Decent refinement for daily driving
- Responsive and direct handling
Cons
- No treadwear warranty
#3. Michelin Latitude Sport 3
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If you go through our tire recommendations for Porsche Cayenne, you’ll see that the Latitude Sport 3 gets a mention there as well. Here’s why we think this tire is so good that it deserves installation on two of Porsche’s hot-selling vehicles.
The Latitude Sport 3 perform really well in dry conditions, which isn’t surprising considering they are designed to excel in them. Improved handling, higher road feel, the ability to execute quick lane changes at breakneck speeds – all these qualities are in abundance.
Wet performance is another area where these tires shine. This is astonishing since many of their high-performance colleagues struggle on slippery surfaces.
Another quality that is a rarity among performance tires is the treadwear warranty. Guess what? Once again, the Latitude Sport 3 break with tradition. A 60,000-mile treadwear warranty means that an average American driver can expect to get 4 years out of these.
Which is great news, considering that their long-term running costs will be low. How can we be so confident? Because these tires are tremendously better than colleagues in terms of rolling resistance and, by extension, fuel economy.
Pros
- Will improve your Macan’s handling
- Superb road grip and handling on dry roads
- Excellent wet traction for a high-performance tire
Cons
- Doesn’t come cheap
#4. Pirelli Scorpion AS Plus 3
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The Pirelli Scorpion AS Plus 3 offers multiple reasons to install it on your Macan.
The most important of which is that your fellow drivers trust it. Reviews on Reddit show that the P Zero AS Plus 3 has impressed users with its ride quality and snow performance. A few users have gone so far as to (rightfully) credit them for improving mileage.
Another thing these tires do well is remain quiet in normal scenarios. As long as you’re driving on paved roads, there will be less road noise, so much so that this tire will appear muted compared to rivals. I chalk this up to the optimized pitch sequence on this model.
They also strike a decent balance between comfort and performance. The handling is excellent, thanks to the sipes, which offer more gripping power across the tread. Also, even when I tested this tire to its limits, there was nothing to suggest that I was losing control.
That isn’t all the new tread does. Thanks to it, Pirelli was confident to offer a whopping 70,000-mile tread life warranty on these tires. As such, if you refrain from pushing it to its limits every now and then, you can easily get more than 4 years out of these.
Pros
- Whopping 70,000-mile treadlife warranty
- Delivers a confident and comfortable ride
- Stays stable in diverse weather conditions
Cons
- Doesn’t come cheap
#5. Continental ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus
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The Continental ExtremeContact DWS 06 Plus pushes the envelopes of high-performance all-season tires.
While many tires in this category settle for a stable driving experience on dry and (occasionally) wet roads, this model also offers excellent stability on snow and ice.
Its noise and comfort levels are also high for tires in this category. While I won’t go so far as to refer to its ride as whisper-quiet, you won’t hear much tread growl inside the cabin.
The dry traction levels are almost as high as ultra-high-performance tires. Similarly, as you throw it into a bend, there won’t be any hint of understeer or oversteer.
A 50,000-mile tread life warranty further distinguishes this tire from its peers. Many of which don’t come with any mileage guarantee whatsoever, let alone one as high as you get on standard all-season tires.
Pros
- Decent dry, wet, and light snow performance
- Offers a refined ride for a high-performance all season tire
- 50,000-mile treadlife warranty
Cons
- Dry braking distances are longer than competition
#6. Bridgestone Alenza AS Ultra
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The Bridgestone Alenza AS Ultra isn’t your standard all-season tire.
Mainly because your run-of-the-mill A/S tire cannot match its ride comfort levels. Whether you’re driving on paved or (mildly) broken roads, this tire won’t let much noise or vibration inside the cabin. The result? The kind of ride that can put everyone, bar the passengers, to sleep.
Another reason this tire is different is that it comes with dense siping. These biting edges boost traction in wet and light wintry conditions, making the Alenza AS Ultra the kind of tire you can count on to safely carry you from point A to point B in harsh weather.
It also has a number of its three closest rivals – Michelin CrossClimate 2 SUV, Continental CrossContact LX25, and Firestone Destination LE 3 – in terms of wet braking distances and aquaplaning resistance. Superb wet performance is thus guaranteed.
There’s a fourth reason why I rate this tire above the competition. It comes with a remarkable 80,000-mile tread life warranty, indicating excellent longevity.
Pros
- Class-leading 80,000-mile treadlife warranty
- Remarkable dry, wet, and light snow performance
- Superb comfort levels
Cons
- Average ice grip
#7. Michelin Pilot Alpin 5 SUV
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Tires like the Pilot Alpin 5 SUV are why Michelin is the market-leader in the winter tire category.
In tests conducted by the leading German auto magazine Auto Zeitung, this tire earned top marks in the wet braking tests. Additionally, it finished first in tests conducted to determine snow traction and wet handling. Its ice braking distances were also first-class.
Its aquaplaning resistance (though not measured by independent tests) is equally exemplary. The wide channels in the tread carry out an excellent job of evacuating water. In doing so, they keep the contact patch dry, thereby reducing the risk of slippage.
A 30,000-mile treadwear warranty further sets this apart from the competition. That is because 99% of winter tires don’t come with a mileage guarantee.
Literal grip (ability to maintain adhesion with the road surface) is this tire’s only weakness. But that is something expected, especially with the weight of the SUV.
Pros
- Excellent snow traction
- High treadwear warranty for a winter tire
- Shortest wet braking distances in the class
Cons
- Average lateral grip
Conclusion
The Porsche Macan is one of the few SUVs that are exciting to drive, whether you own the base Macan (that comes with a 261-hp engine) or the mighty Macan S with the 375-hp twin-turbo V6.
Now that you own such a beast, it will be blasphemous not to pair it with equally high-performing tires. Or else, you’d never see through the lie that SUVs are boring and sloppy-driving tools.
