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Best Tyres for the Ford Focus mk2

Ford Focus mk2 drivers have left 185 tyre reviews on Tyre Reviews, covering 2,048,621 miles of real world driving. Every tyre they rated is ranked below, so you can see what actually works on this car. The numbers include 3 Focus mk2 variants, listed further down.

This page covers the Ford Focus mk2 specifically. For the full picture, the Ford Focus page combines 1,003 reviews from every variant. All Ford Focus reviews →

  • 185owner reviews
  • 2,048,621 milescovered on them
  • 121different tyres rated
  • 76%average tyre score
Most fitted size - 90 reviews 205/55 R16 To scale, mm
Ø 632 205 113 16" 113 All 205/55 R16 data →

The quick answer

The quick answer - Ford Focus mk2
Season Owners' pick Owner rating Our category test
Summer Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance 8.3 Current version: Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance 2 91% from 4 reviews Best Summer Tyres
Winter Avon Ice Touring ST 7.6 74% from 3 reviews Goodyear UltraGrip Performance 3 Best Winter Tyres

Highest weighted owner score from Ford Focus mk2 drivers. Full rankings and the evidence behind them below.

The best rated tyres for the Ford Focus mk2

Rated only by drivers of this car. Each tyre needs at least 3 reviews from the Ford Focus mk2 to be ranked; the order weights a tyre's score by how many reviews back it, so one glowing review cannot top a table.

Summer tyres

The highest rated tyre in the Summer category for the Ford Focus mk2 is the Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance - 91% from 4 owner reviews across 67,000 miles. The current tyre in that line is now the Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance 2.

Summer tyres ranked by Ford Focus mk2 owner rating
# Tyre Owner rating Reviews Distance reviewed TR Score
1 Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance Replaced by Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance 2 91% 4 67,000 miles 8.3
2 Michelin Pilot Sport 3 PS3 Replaced by Michelin Pilot Sport 5 87% 4 107,300 miles 8.1
3 Bridgestone Turanza ER300 Replaced by Bridgestone Turanza 6 86% 3 38,547 miles 7.9
4 Michelin Pilot Sport 4 Replaced by Michelin Pilot Sport 5 85% 3 38,600 miles 9.3
5 Bridgestone Turanza T001 Replaced by Bridgestone Turanza 6 81% 5 45,250 miles 8.1
6 Continental Sport Contact 2 Replaced by Continental SportContact 7 81% 3 61,000 miles 7.5
7 Dunlop SportMaxx RT Replaced by Dunlop SportMaxx RT 2 81% 3 31,000 miles 8.2
8 Dunlop SP Sport Fast Response Replaced by Dunlop Sport BluResponse 80% 3 35,048 miles 8.7
9 Avon ZV5 Replaced by Avon ZV7 80% 3 32,000 miles 8.2
10 Dunlop Sport BluResponse 75% 6 56,421 miles 7.8
11 Michelin Primacy 3 Replaced by Michelin Primacy 5 75% 6 100,600 miles 8.3
12 Uniroyal RainSport 2 Replaced by Uniroyal RainSport 5 72% 5 28,000 miles 8.8
13 Cooper Zeon CS6 69% 3 10,600 miles 7.8
14 Bridgestone Turanza ER30 Replaced by Bridgestone Turanza 6 62% 4 96,500 miles 6.6
15 Goodyear EfficientGrip Replaced by Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance 2 62% 6 64,010 miles 6.7
16 Sunny SN3800 34% 3 6,500 miles 4.2

Want test data as well as owner opinion? Best Summer Tyres →

Winter tyres

The highest rated tyre in the Winter category for the Ford Focus mk2 is the Avon Ice Touring ST - 74% from 3 owner reviews across 36,000 miles.

Winter tyres ranked by Ford Focus mk2 owner rating
# Tyre Owner rating Reviews Distance reviewed TR Score
1 Avon Ice Touring ST 74% 3 36,000 miles 7.6

Want test data as well as owner opinion? Best Winter Tyres → Test winner: Goodyear UltraGrip Performance 3

TR Score is the tyre's overall Tyre Reviews rating out of 10, built from independent test results and every owner review of that tyre - not just the reviews from this car. The owner rating column is this car only.

The best rated tyres that fit the Ford Focus mk2

The rankings above can only speak for tyres a Ford Focus mk2 driver has already reviewed. These are the highest rated tyres we hold that are actually manufactured in the sizes these drivers run - 205/55 R16, 225/45 R17, 205/50 R17 and 225/40 R18 - whether or not anyone here has fitted them yet. They are ranked on the TR Score, which is built from independent test results and every owner review of that tyre.

Summer tyres

Our highest rated tyre in the Summer category, in this car's sizes, is the Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 6, at 9.7 out of 10.

Highest rated Summer tyres made in Ford Focus mk2 sizes
# Tyre TR Score Made in Ford Focus mk2 reviews
1 Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 6 9.7 225/45 R17, 205/50 R17, 225/40 R18 Be the first →
2 Continental SportContact 7 9.7 225/40 R18 Be the first →
3 Bridgestone Potenza Sport Evo 9.5 All your sizes Be the first →
4 Continental PremiumContact 7 9.5 205/55 R16, 225/45 R17, 225/40 R18 Be the first →
5 Falken ZIEX ZE320 9.4 All your sizes Be the first →
6 Michelin Pilot Sport 4 S 9.4 225/45 R17, 225/40 R18 Be the first →

Want test data as well as owner opinion? Best Summer Tyres →

Winter tyres

Our highest rated tyre in the Winter category, in this car's sizes, is the Hankook Winter I*cept Evo 4, at 9.6 out of 10.

Highest rated Winter tyres made in Ford Focus mk2 sizes
# Tyre TR Score Made in Ford Focus mk2 reviews
1 Hankook Winter I*cept Evo 4 9.6 225/40 R18 Be the first →
2 Goodyear UltraGrip Performance 3 9.5 All your sizes Be the first →
3 Michelin Alpin 7 9.5 205/55 R16, 225/45 R17, 205/50 R17 Be the first →
4 Michelin Pilot Alpin 5 9.5 225/40 R18 Be the first →
5 Bridgestone Blizzak 6 9.4 All your sizes Be the first →
6 Goodyear UltraGrip Ice 3 9.4 All your sizes Be the first →

Want test data as well as owner opinion? Best Winter Tyres → Test winner: Goodyear UltraGrip Performance 3

All Season tyres

No Ford Focus mk2 driver has reviewed a tyre in the All Season category yet. Of the ones made in this car's sizes, the Pirelli Cinturato All Season SF3 is our highest rated, at 9.6 out of 10.

Highest rated All Season tyres made in Ford Focus mk2 sizes
# Tyre TR Score Made in Ford Focus mk2 reviews
1 Pirelli Cinturato All Season SF3 9.6 All your sizes Be the first →
2 Michelin CrossClimate 3 Sport 9.6 225/40 R18 Be the first →
3 Continental AllSeasonContact 2 9.5 All your sizes Be the first →
4 Michelin CrossClimate 3 9.5 All your sizes Be the first →
5 BFGoodrich Advantage All Season 9.5 All your sizes Be the first →
6 Vredestein Quatrac 9.5 205/55 R16, 225/45 R17, 225/40 R18 Be the first →

Want test data as well as owner opinion? Best All Season Tyres → Test winner: Goodyear Vector All Season 4

Fitment comes from each tyre's manufactured size list, and the sizes are the ones drivers reported when they reviewed. Check the size, load index and speed rating on your own doorplate before buying - a size a previous owner ran is not always the size your car left the factory on.

How long do tyres last on the Ford Focus mk2?

Across 23 end of life reviews from Ford Focus mk2 drivers, a typical set of tyres was worn out after 22,000 miles. Half of all worn-out sets lasted between 13,600 miles and 30,000 miles.

Distances are self-reported by drivers whose review marked the set as worn out; figures are medians, so a single unusual report cannot move them.

Every tyre reviewed on the Ford Focus mk2

The complete record, including discontinued tyres and tyres with too few reviews to rank, ordered by the amount of evidence. A further 89 tyres have a single review each; they count toward the totals but are not listed.

All tyres reviewed by Ford Focus mk2 drivers
Tyre Season Owner rating Reviews Distance reviewed
Dunlop Sport BluResponse Summer 75% 6 56,421 miles
Michelin Primacy 3 Replaced by Michelin Primacy 5 Summer 75% 6 100,600 miles
Goodyear EfficientGrip Replaced by Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance 2 Summer 62% 6 64,010 miles
Bridgestone Turanza T001 Replaced by Bridgestone Turanza 6 Summer 81% 5 45,250 miles
Uniroyal RainSport 2 Replaced by Uniroyal RainSport 5 Summer 72% 5 28,000 miles
Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance Replaced by Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance 2 Summer 91% 4 67,000 miles
Michelin Pilot Sport 3 PS3 Replaced by Michelin Pilot Sport 5 Summer 87% 4 107,300 miles
Bridgestone Turanza ER30 Replaced by Bridgestone Turanza 6 Summer 62% 4 96,500 miles
Bridgestone Turanza ER300 Replaced by Bridgestone Turanza 6 Summer 86% 3 38,547 miles
Michelin Pilot Sport 4 Replaced by Michelin Pilot Sport 5 Summer 85% 3 38,600 miles
Continental Sport Contact 2 Replaced by Continental SportContact 7 Summer 81% 3 61,000 miles
Dunlop SportMaxx RT Replaced by Dunlop SportMaxx RT 2 Summer 81% 3 31,000 miles
Dunlop SP Sport Fast Response Replaced by Dunlop Sport BluResponse Summer 80% 3 35,048 miles
Avon ZV5 Replaced by Avon ZV7 Summer 80% 3 32,000 miles
Avon Ice Touring ST Winter 74% 3 36,000 miles
Cooper Zeon CS6 Summer 69% 3 10,600 miles
Sunny SN3800 Summer 34% 3 6,500 miles
Dunlop SP WinterSport 4D Replaced by Dunlop Winter Sport 5 Winter 93% 2 7,000 miles
Michelin CrossClimate+ Replaced by Michelin CrossClimate 3 All Season 86% 2 34,000 miles
Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2 Replaced by Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 6 Summer 84% 2 35,000 miles
Michelin Pilot Primacy Summer 84% 2 40,000 miles
Kumho Ecsta HM KH31 Summer 83% 2 15,000 miles
Nexen Arrowspeed CP661 Summer 82% 2 12 miles
Tourador X Wonder TH1 Summer 81% 2 40,000 miles
Pirelli CINTURATO P1 Summer 78% 2 22,427 miles
Continental Sport Contact 5 Replaced by Continental SportContact 7 Summer 76% 2 23,000 miles
Kenda KAISER KR20 Summer 71% 2 19,010 miles
Falken Eurowinter HS439 Replaced by Falken Eurowinter HS449 Winter 71% 2 8,000 miles
Falken ZE914 Replaced by Falken ZIEX ZE320 Summer 70% 2 8,000 miles
Sava Adapto HP All Season 50% 2 50,000 miles
Infinity INF 05 Summer 36% 2 8,000 miles

Tyre sizes Ford Focus mk2 drivers run

The sizes fitted in the reviews on this page. Each one links to the top rated tyres in that size, across every car.

Ford Focus mk2 variants, reviewed separately

These trims and body styles have pages of their own. Their reviews are already counted in the rankings above.

What Ford Focus mk2 drivers say

The most recent owner reviews from this car, in their own words.

80%
Continental UltraContact 205-55-16 Ford Focus mk2 20,000 miles October 8, 2026

For Family driving, very good tyre. Noise is very low like when they were new. Before I had michelins and after 25000, the noise was nearly unbearable. Will buy again.

57%
Firemax FM601 205-55-16 Ford Focus mk2 1,000 miles July 6, 2026
Simple budget tyres that do the job. Totally adequate proposal. I chose these ones because of a mix between low price and lower noise! This last one is a very important detail. These tyres are rated at 69 dB. I should have gone for even quieter tyres, but the price would go up substantially!
Would I buy it again? Probably not, mostly because of low (shallow) tread and noise level (69dB). I would prefer to settle with 67dB tyres. The regular >70dB make my old car sound like a tractor...
The tyres come with the proper red and yellow dot markings for assembly reference. I assemble my own tyres, so it's worth mention. They are rather easy on you, assembly wise.
On the road: Now start the mix feelings. Under dry conditions, it's an absolutely decent set of tyres. With some (normal) initial oversteering effect. That usually will soon turn more neutral with the increased km's. This should not be any different. On dry environment quite positive outcome, The road feedback is quite good and so on.
Now the real issue, wet conditions. It's worth notice that when I say wet, it was in fact pouring! With considerable puddles of water, not just wet spots.
Any tyre would struggle under such conditions! These tyres have really shallow treads! While they don't catch many stones between the treads. On "real" water puddles I felt more than once aquaplaning! Nothing terribly negative, but surely a good tell tale that their limits were showing!
Budget wise, it is a honest and rather decent choice! Recommended with the mentioned compromises.
73%
Bridgestone Turanza ER300 205-55-16 Ford Focus mk2 38,500 miles April 5, 2026
Bought a set of Bridgestone Turanza ER300 for my 2009 Ford Focus mk2.5 Ghia 2.0 Duratec in Dec/2019. DOT 4619, recent tires for the occasion.

As they are the stock tires that came in 2009 with my car, I didn't made any research at all. At first, on the initial kilometers, I found out that the wet grip was a stomp, even with the tires brand new, which made me aquaplane at just about 60 kph and lose control of my car. After a couple thousand kilometers, I noticed the wet and dry grip improve (about after 5000km) and the tire became predictable for all of its remaining life.

The wet grip is always bad, maybe the worse tires I've ever tested. If I get a steep slope at 90 kph with my car in 5th gear only at 2500 rpm with TC off, the wheels starts spinning even with best tarmac drainage. It's very very very dangerous. You get used to it, but the tires don't let you drive past 70-80 kph in wet conditions, even if the road is not slippery, it's simply not safe.

On the other hand, dry grip is spectacular. It's a predictable tire, soft and grippy, doesn't disappoint even if you force a oversteer reaction from the car or slam the brakes mid-turn. Seems like a different tire comparing wet and dry.

The noise is also very low, it's a really soft tire to drive.

Durability is its strong quality. I drove until now 62000km (about 38000mi) in Brazil's roads, which is common to encounter dangerous potholes and bad tarmac, and the tires simply never got a puncture even through almost 7 years of use. It's not even on TWI mark (about 1mm to get there).

For conclusion: I would never buy these tires again due to its wet grip, which is dangerous for most of the regular drivers. If I lived in a dry climate country, maybe I'd consider another set.
73%
Continental MaxContact MC7 225-45-17- Ford Focus mk2 8,000 miles April 24, 2025
A user experience from Taiwan (using translation software). I have used PS5 and Protenza Sport in the past few years. Let me talk about the disadvantages first: as the test comments on the website, the anti-skid performance is not very good. Pay attention to moderate water accumulation and bridge joints when turning in rainy days. Moderate water accumulation will make your car move left and right. On the contrary, the water-breaking performance is quite good when encountering deep water. The lateral deviation of the bridge joint will scare you (this is very interesting, because the performance of PTZS is exactly the opposite of MC7). The noise performance is already great compared with the two models mentioned above. After all, they are all summer performance tires. Advantages: comfortable, but the sidewall is still a bit soft (I used csc5 n years ago). Extreme cornering will make you lose confidence. Generally, the grip on dry and wet roads is very good. If you are also in a rainy and humid country and often use highways to commute, I would recommend ps5. In addition to the wear improvement, the straight-line hydroplaning performance is really great, but it also sacrifices a little grip. If you like to drive aggressively on mountain roads occasionally and don’t care about wear and the exciting straight-line hydroplaning, ptzs is the best choice. The hard sidewall and wet cornering impressed me. If you want to achieve some balance between the two, mc7 is what you should choose.
97%
Dunlop SP5000 195-65-15- Ford Focus MK2 1.6TDCI 2008 2011 120 miles April 7, 2025
Dunlop is a tire that has been successful in European tests without compromising on quality
79%
Goodyear EfficientGrip 205-55-16- Ford Focus MK2 1.8 TDCI 12,000 miles April 2, 2025
A good tyre. Quiet, fuel efficient and good mileage. Downside is they seem a little delicate, likely from soft sidewalls. In 3 full sets of 4 I've had to replace at least 2 tyres from punctures near the sidewall. 1 was clipping a tree root on a country lane which I feel most tyres would've shrugged off. I'd buy again though. Nice quiet smooth tyre that's very secure feeling in the wet.
50%
Bridgestone Turanza T005 205-55-16- Ford Focus mk2 21,000 miles November 1, 2024
After 21000miles and 5years the tires have excessive wear The wet grip is non-existent from the 1st day. The dry grip is average while there spin a lot when accelerating sharply. Definitely I'll not buy again.
81%
Hankook Kinergy 4S2 205-55-16- Ford Focus MK2 1.6TDCI 2008 2011 24,200 miles April 19, 2024
Fitted tyres based off reviews form this site. They exceeded my expectations, so much so I have also fitted them to my partner car also. Excellent ware (39,000km and still 1mm to ware bar), good dependable wet and dry handling, very good in colder temperature, Great in the snow (the little we get in Ireland)
Would recommend to anybody
83%
Michelin X Ice North 4 225-45-18- Ford Focus mk2 6 miles March 22, 2024
Coming from Finland, a country of winter snow and studs. Have these on two cars
- 2007 Focus Cabrio
- 1998 996 C2

In most winnter conditions amazing grip level. However, two shortcomings. 1) The modern light studs do not penetrate well if there is loose snow on top of hard snor/icy surface. Obviously this has more to do with regulations rather than the tyre brand and model. 2) These modern silica tyres seem to collect a layer of snow in slow speeds, say below 30..40 km/h . Both these properties make the tyres a bit Jekyll and Hyde. At best it gives enormous amount of grip but then you come on loose snow and you think you are driving very slow - and suddenly you have absolutely no grip. I wish we could still have the longer studs. I can tell it is not nice to get the impression of good grip for some 50 km (0.3 < muu < 0.5) and then in an open place wind has collected snow on the hard snow surface and a deer runs into your lights and you find absolutely no grip at all (like muu = 0.05). Fortunately I had my insurances. I dont think this would have happened with the old style big block, long heavy stud Hakkapeliittas. Those would have not given the level of grip on the 50 km stretch but they would have lost pretty much nothing coming to the loose snow.

What impresses me is the strong stud base. The cavity seems wrapped with a very strong compound and the studs seem to not come off at all. The construction of the tyre seems very good for winter purposes, not too stiff nor too soft side wall. Subjectively I think I would prefer a sharper shoulder but that is more like an image in my head rather than supported by my driving experience.

If I was to develop this tyre I would look into the slow speed attached snow layer phenomenom - perhaps on all the silica tyres. I also would like to try something like raised tread on the lines of studs to get the modern studs penetrate better the loose snow on top of the hard.

I know one problem with the winter tyre testing is that the tracks are always similar to get good comparability. But in real life the surfaces vary much more in winter conditions and a good winter tyre should even the grip levels to predictable. As good as the X-Ice 4 is it is not the most predictable tyre. Fortunately you can learn to predict the places where you will loose the grip. I find this all more of a result of rather compromized regulations than tyre makes development work.
79%
Tourador X Wonder TH1 205-55-16- Ford Focus MK2 1.8 TDCI 5,000 miles August 20, 2023
Simply good quality tyre with elegant look and stable while driving, very silent.

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Where this data comes from

Every rating on this page was submitted by a driver through the review form on this site, naming the car, the tyre, the size and the distance covered. Reviews are checked by hand before publication, and the page rebuilds automatically as new ones arrive.

About the TR Score

The Tyre Reviews Score rates each tyre out of 10 using independent test results and the full body of owner reviews, so you can check a car-specific ranking against the wider evidence.

Who does the testing

Every test published as a Tyre Reviews test is run by Jonathan Benson, who has been testing tyres independently since 2007.

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