Locations in Tennessee: 28
First Tennessee location opening date: Franklin TNN03 | September 20, 2007
Common vehicles: Pickup trucks, sedans, crossovers and some electric vehicles
Major regions/cities: Nashville, Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga, Clarksville, Murfreesboro, Franklin, Johnson City, Jackson, Hendersonville
Road conditions: Winding, wet, plenty of potholes, mix of urban streets and two lane country road switchbacks, ice and infrequent snow
Drivers in the state of Tennessee have their work cut out for them when it comes to choosing the right tires. With a healthy, growing population, a hilly and curvy terrain from the Great Smoky Mountains and a torrential climate prone to heavy rain, it can be difficult to choose the best tires for driving in Tennessee.
Though considered a southern state, Tennessee’s weather can be a little touchy. It’s not always the consistent heat you might imagine. The Volunteer State’s humid subtropical climate yields hail, damaging winds, ice storms, occasional snow and an impressive amount of rain.
Whether you’re wrangling Nashville’s city streets flush with commuters, transplants and tourists, tackling up the winding mountain roads or journeying on water-logged urban streets, the best tires can see you through it all.
If you’re not sure where to start, we’ve done some legwork for you to help you decide on the best tires for Tennessee!
BEST CAR TIRES FOR TENNESSEE
As expected, the car tire of choice in Tennessee is the jack-of-all-trades all-season tire. Many drivers want to maximize their tire purchases and avoid switching between seasonal sets. With a humid subtropical climate, this is entirely possible, but not always recommended. When winter is in full swing, your best bet is a set of winter tires!
According to Nick Bronge, the manager at the Cordova Discount Tire store in Memphis, the most popular car tire by far is the Michelin Defender 2. With a robust 80,000-mile warranty, class-leading comfort, long service life and winning levels of all-season traction, you can see why. Nick says the Continental ControlContact Tour A/S Plus is another killer option. It offers a generous mileage warranty and all-season grip with the added benefit of improved fuel efficiency and budget-friendly price.
(Bonus: if you have a performance or sporty ride, you can get in on the Continental action with the Continental Control Contact Sport SRS+, an all-season ultra-high performance tire specifically engineered for high-end sports cars!)
According to Nick, his customers prefer Michelin and Continental tires because of their performance pedigree and their track record of dependability.
Alex Rachettes, a 21 year Discount Tire veteran at the Mount Juliet store near Nashville adds that his customers enjoy these brand’s for their comfortable ride, controlled handling and tire longevity.
Alex says customers looking for an all-season tire that offers high-level performance should consider the Yokohama YK-GTX. It’s a top contender thanks to its long tread life, snappy performance and capability across many temps (read: all-season grip). It’s also available in a range of sizes, so it’s perfect for everything from coupes to minivans.
If customers are looking for a good deal (and they always are!) Chris Fagan, the manager at Chattanooga’s Gunbarrel Road Discount Tire, suggests the Arizonian Silver Edition All Season. This Discount Tire exclusive comes with all the bells and whistles without the platinum price tag.
We haven’t forgotten drivers with minivans or crossovers, either: you’ll love the Yokohama YK-CTX with its long lasting tread, dependable all-season prowess and lengthy 60,000-mile warranty.
According to Chris, his customers always come in looking for a steal but find the best deal isn’t always the cheapest option. According to Chris, tire longevity, excellent performance, safe grip and better build quality washes out a slightly higher price tag at the end of the day. “Chattanooga is really known for heavy rain, so customers often come searching for tires with that in mind specifically,” he says.
To that end, the Falken Pro G5 A/S is a budget tire with excellent wet weather grip. This Discount Tire exclusive delivers confident all-season performance with strong traction and responsive handling in wet weather (an absolute must for Tennessee). Customers also enjoy its 60,000-mile warranty. Compact and luxury crossovers can get all this tire has to offer with the Falken Pro G5 CSV!
Out in Knoxville, Stephen Champlin, manager at the West Town Discount Tire store, services many Teslas. The nine-year Discount Tire veteran rightly points out that electric vehicle tires require extra attention because they face unique challenges not seen by internal combustion (ICE) vehicles.
He also says many Tesla drivers also prefer Michelins. Try the Michelin CrossClimate2 or the Michelin Pilot Sport 4s for their high-performance capabilities, all-season applications and strength to support your EV’s battery.
Want more? the Pirelli P Zero AS Plus ELECT is an EV-specific all-season performance tire with a sweet 50k mile warranty. The ELECT technology features a low rolling resistance design specifically engineered to perform more efficiently than your OE tires, which help to increase your EV's service life in addition to extending your battery range.
The Michelin Pilot Sport 4s, on the other hand, is a summer performance tire with 30k mile warranty, run-flat technology (in some sizes), and race-ready handling in both wet and dry conditions.
BEST TRUCK TIRES FOR TENNESSEE
Pickup trucks and four-wheel drive vehicles are a fact of life in Tennessee, and so are all-terrain tires. Trucks are probably the most popular vehicle type in the state and are a frequent sight in our service bays.
According to Chris Fagan, the undeniable king of truck tires for Tennessee is the Nitto Ridge Grappler. With its unique, aggressive tread pattern, the Ridge Grappler is consistently the most popular all-terrain truck tire. Nick Bronge in Memphis admits that this is 80% due to looks and about 20% for performance. Drivers just love the way this tire looks, even if they don’t take their rig off road.
If you need a straight all-terrain tire for rugged work and off-road fun, Stephen in Knoxville recommends the BFGoodrich All Terrain T/A KO2. Sporting advanced off-road technology, this all-terrain tire is as tough as it gets, and it delivers excellent severe weather traction, all backed by a 50,000-mile warranty.
Chris Fagan says the Cooper Discoverer AT3 XLT is another choice for rugged off-road work. It features 4x4 based additions, including stone ejectors, alternating shoulder scoops and a rugged build with advanced grip for mud, sand and boulders. It also features a robust 60,000-mile warranty.
While many drivers dig the rough-and-tumble look, if you don’t need that much grit for your pickup, there are some other great truck tire options.
As an alternative, Alex Rachettes near Nashville offers the Michelin Defender LTX M/S. With a robust mileage warranty, excellent all-season capability, premium comfort and excellent winter weather stopping distances, it’s an appealing choice. If you’re looking for a highway tire for your pickup, it quite literally doesn’t get better than this.
DO I NEED SNOW TIRES IN TENNESSEE?
Discount Tire highly recommends using winter tires when the weather turns consistently cold.
You should change to winter tires if/when temps regularly drop below 45F.
Tennessee receives a bit of snow most years, although it doesn’t stick around for long. That said, Gil Garcia, Discount Tire’s Tennessee-region vice president, urges Tennesseeans to strongly consider winter tires:
“I think the term ‘snow tires’ is easy to dismiss because, hey, we don’t really get much snow,” Garcia explained. “But ‘winter tires’ is the correct term, and I believe they’re absolutely necessary. Winter tires are really about temperature, not just wet, snowy and icy conditions. Winter tires perform better in cold temperatures and are designed to help you stop safely. The winding roads so common in our state mean that inclines, corners and stops are problematic and can lead to safety incidents and traffic jams.”
Tennessee's hilly terrain paired with a wet climate and often freezing temps is a recipe for a safety disaster. Your typical all-season tire is probably not up to snuff to handle winter conditions. Meanwhile, winter tires stay flexible in cold weather, keeping you in control regardless of how cold it gets in Tennessee.
This is especially true with sporty vehicles that require high performance tires. While these tires are perfect in warm, and even rainy conditions, they fare terribly when the mercury drops. If you drive a performance vehicle (think BMW, Audi or other sporty vehicle) consider high-performance winter tires to keep safe this winter season.
Pickup trucks and four-wheel drive rigs are naturally a common sight in the Volunteer State. Gil warns that drivers shouldn’t assume four-wheel drive or all-wheel is a safe alternative to a set of winter tires. “They’re meant to move you, not to stop you!” he notes. We also know that all-terrain and mud tires tend to perform poorly compared to winter tires. Even if your AT tires are rated for severe weather, they won’t perform as well as pure winter tires.
Don’t let winter tire shopping leave you in the cold. We can help you with your winter or snow tire changeover and installation!
We understand if you’re overloaded with excellent options for the best tires for Tennessee. You can use Treadwell, our smart tire buying guide, to find the ideal tire for you. Just enter your vehicle make, model and trim, tell us how you drive, and we’ll give you the best tire recommendations for driving in Tennessee.
If you have other questions or want to upgrade your wheels or tires, just give us a ring, drop by or make an appointment online! (Customers who buy and book an appointment online get a 30% shorter average wait time in-store!)
It’s always a good idea to check your windshield wiper blades before you hit the road. We recommend changing wiper blades every 12 months. Need new wiper blades? You’re in luck. We stock a full supply of high-quality, low-priced windshield wipers!
Check out our pick of the best winter wiper blades, too!
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If you have other questions or want to upgrade your wheels or tires, just give us a ring, drop by or make an appointment online! Customers who buy their products online and book an appointment ahead of time wait less time in-store!