Best Tires for Toyota Yaris

I run grand-touring summers (H-rated Michelin Energy, used on the base Mini) on my Yaris year-'round here (Texas) and they are great, only getting a little scrabbly in sub-freezing temperatures. The summer Energy Saver (not the A/S) is the best all around tire I have ever had. Smooth, quiet, good steering response, excellent braking, tons of grip. If you slam on the brakes, it just STOPS without a bunch of scratching around and ABS intervention.

For a cruising around/daily tire, no spirited driving, the Yokohamas Avid-S I've put on my girlfriend's Yaris are the most amazing touring tires I've ever driven on.

Mine is so great in the city, can whip a U-turn anywhere and gets 30-35 MPG no matter how you drive it. I am kind of sad you can't get cars like this anymore, but it is kind of hard to justify when something that's an order of magnitude more refined is only like $1500 more. But there is something fun about ripping around in something 153" long that only weighs 2300 lbs. It never needs brakes and doesn't eat up tires no matter how "spiritedly" I drive.

Our '11 Yaris came with the almost universally-hated Bridgestone RE92s. At 18k miles/two years we were ready to replace them since we were getting lots of ABS and traction control action (wheelspin galore) on wet roads as well as occasional stability control intervention during quick-ish maneuvers in normal driving. Since this is my wife's car, I put a priority on traction, excellent braking and grip on wet roads and quietness/smooth ride over outright handling (she's a calm driver) -- so I had a set of Defenders put on her car today while Costco is having $70 off a set this month. They are really excellent and have transformed the car. Before, with the Bridgestones, it was difficult to carry on a conversation, especially with anyone in the back seat. Now, you can do it -- there's more engine and wind noise than road noise (previously it was the opposite). Minor impacts like potholes and reflectors are much less noticeable, too. Handling is just adequate since it's a standard touring tire, but steering response is decent (but not super quick, either) and there's a lot of ultimate grip there (definitely not all roly-poly). Braking seems much better, too. I stomped the brakes going down a bumpy hill leaving my neighborhood (ABS would always go off in this spot with the old tires) and the car just stopped without any drama, which was refreshing. Give them a shot if you're looking for a competent, quiet, smooth tire that lasts a long time (90k warranty!) if you have a vehicle in your household that doesn't require a sporty tire.

my Yaris came with H-rated Goodyear Assurance FuelMax tires. They aren't terribly sporty but the handling is competent, they're very quiet, ride well, do well in the wet and -- despite my best efforts -- seem to be very slow wearing. The car also gets 3-4 more MPG than our '11 Yaris which has an identical powertrain but normal tires (horrible Bridgestone RE92s).