Best Auto Photo/Shutterstock

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

Walk into any tire store in America and you’ll be met with a wall of names. Some of these are familiar, some obscure, and many you’ve probably never seen before. With an endless number of brands competing for your attention, the U.S. tire market can feel overwhelming. However, at the top of the market, you’ll find household names in premium tires, such as Michelin. 

For many drivers, the decision often narrows to Michelin, even if it means paying more compared to a lesser-known mid-range tire brand. After all, Michelin is considered the best major tire brand in terms of customer satisfaction, but it also manages to top performance, durability, technology and innovation charts. However, hidden among the alternatives are brands that don’t command the same marketing budgets or name recognition, but can still offer more than you’d expect, sometimes even being able to trade punches with the best.

Within a tire market this saturated and intensely competitive, the gap between “premium” and “underrated” is often smaller than you might initially expect. With that in mind, when you do a deep dive in the delicate nitty gritty of specific categories and driving environments, you’ll find these four underrated tire brands that can compete with Michelin. 

jhxfilm/Shutterstock

In many independent tire tests, Vredestein manages to match credentials typically awarded to Michelin’s tires. For instance, in Consumer Reports‘ (CR) Best Tire Brands of 2026, Vredestein was ranked third, just four points behind Michelin. CR tested eight Michelin tires, all of them earned CR’s recommendation. CR also tested seven Vredestein tires, all of them also won recommendations, while also saying that “Vredesteins typically rank among the top tires in any category they compete in.”

When TyreReviews compared the Michelin’s CrossClimate 2 against the Vredestein Quatrac, although Quatrac lost, it did beat out Michelin in wet braking and handling. If we consider the Quatrac is, on average, 23% cheaper, that does signal great value, especially for those who value wet performance. TyreReviews also compared the Michelin Primacy 4 Plus and the Vredestein Ultrac for everyday use, and Vredestein actually beat the Michelin in terms of road noise and wet handling.

According to Auto Bild’s 2019 all‑season SUV tire test as reported on Austrian tire comparison site Reifen.at, the Vredestein Quatrac Pro+ finished first overall, with the Michelin CrossClimate 2 SUV in second place. In our own list of the best major tire brands of 2025, Michelin ranked first. However, Vredestein was the number one non-premium tire brand, placing fourth overall. Although Vredestein might not be nearly as coveted as Michelin, testing shows that it can certainly compete.

jhxfilm/Shutterstock

According to an Auto Express 2025 best tire category competition, the Hankook Ventus EVO beat the Michelin Pilot Sport 5 in terms of wet handling, dry braking, dry handling, noise and refinement, and price. In overall rating, Hankook took third place, while Michelin took fourth. In our list of the six tire brands with the best warranties, Hankook also ranked higher, thanks to a warranty that is 10,000 miles longer than Michelin’s.

When TyreReviews compared the Hankook iON FlexClimate with the Michelin CrossClimate 2, the Hankook outperformed Michelin in both dry and wet handling as well as braking. Wet handling was also the upper hand shown in Performance Plus Tire‘s testing of these two brands, where the Hankook Kinergy 4S2 managed better control than the Michelin CrossClimate 2, all while being approximately 25.65% cheaper. The Chris Review did a deep dive into the best all-terrain truck tires, and both the Hankook Dynapro AT2 and the Michelin LTX A/T2 made the cut.

Although Michelin manages to beat Hankook in certain categories it’s not always a clear win. Even at a lower price, as many of the independent tests show, Hankook tires can stand their own against Michelin’s best. In daily driving, the differences are typically not as noticeable as on the limit. According to TrailBuilt Off-Road, “the Hankook Dynapro AT2 is that tire that won’t let you down,” and that’s what makes Hankook very comparable.

John_doo78/Shutterstock

When EVO magazine tested the best car tires for 2025, they took the same car (a BMW M135i) and ran it through the same environment with different tires to make the best head-on comparison possible. The top five best tires were all premium brand tires, except one — Yokohama. More specifically, the Yokohama Advan Sport V107 took third place, while Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S ranked fourth. The Advan Sport V tire outperformed the Michelin by stopping nearly 0.6 feet shorter on wet pavement.

The Yoko tire ranked higher in wet cornering and was 0.97 seconds quicker per lap on the dry track. So, are Yokohama tires better than Michelin? It’s difficult to make a direct comparison without testing complete tire families, and Michelin outperforms Yokohama in other tests. That does not mean, as shown by EVO’s testing, that Yokohama can’t hold its own in certain environments.

When Tyre Reviews compared the Yokohama Advan Sport V107 and the Michelin Pilot Sport 5, among other tires, it was said that the Yokohama tire is “a completely different beast”, specifically noting how the steering response was even quicker and crisper than with Michelin, but ultimately, Michelin ranked higher overall. However, if you look at prices, you can get the Yokohama Advan Sport V107 305/40R20 at Walmart for $390.07 while the Walmart Michelin Pilot Sport 5 305/40R20 costs $513.99.

Al Grey/Shutterstock

Falken is a tire brand rooted deeply in motorsports and touring, and that is something that gives this brand the chance to compete with household premium brands like Michelin. This was also apparent in Tyre Reviews tests for the best touring tire where Falken’s ZIEX ZE320 went head-to-head with the Michelin Michelin Primacy 4+. The ZIEX was reported as better at dry and wet handling, as well as braking performance, while the Michelin Primacy 4+ excelled in comfort, noise, and aquaplaning.

Overall, the Falken tire managed to earn third place, while Michelin was behind at fifth place. Falken was also included twice in our list of the best tire brands that make off-road tires, while Michelin was not. This does not mean that Michelin’s off-road tires are bad, but it does mean that Falken can compete with more expensive and more established brands at the top end.

This has also been proven by separate Tyre Reviews testing where the Falken Wildpeak AT4W was actually crowned as the 2025’s best all-terrain tire you can buy, and Michelin did not make the cut at all. Once again, pricing is a big factor when buying tires, and through Walmart, you can buy the XL ultra-performance Falken Ziex ZE960 255/35R20 for $189.00 while the XL ultra-performance Michelin Pilot Sport 4 255/35R20, at Walmart, is $417.99.

Hryshchyshen Serhii/Shutterstock

First of all, we are not claiming that any of these brands are downright better than Michelin, nor do we explicitly state that Michelin is superior. The goal of this article is to identify areas where lesser-known, more affordable tire brands can compete with a high-end premium Michelin tire. To make our list credible and grounded in common sense, we reviewed independent tire tests from sources such as TyreReviews, EVO magazine, Auto Express, and Consumer Reports.

Moreover, we scoured through available community content. This means insights from long-standing tire retailers like Performance Plus Tire and Walmart. We also relied on previous research by our own writers to identify tires that have proven to excel in terms of warranty, all-terrain performance, customer satisfaction, and overall quality. With so many tires on the market, it is always difficult to pick out a few that stand above the rest, but we ensured that the brands listed here are capable of trading punches with Michelin.