Malaysia best tire brand: Ah, every time someone ask me this question I would give them a big smile and answer “it depends what you are looking for”. To be honest, it is hard to judge which brand is the best in Malaysia but I will try to go through the brands with an objective evaluation. As the tire companies have a long history in Asia, lets have a deeper look into it. The brands below are tire brands worth considering when you make your next tire purchase.
Table of Contents
Michelin
The undisputed best tire company in the world goes to Michelin. It was founded in 1889 having French roots and made it big when they invented the radial tire back in the 1940’s. Most of the tire companies do not publish much results about the products but not for Michelin. They are one of the selected few which is willing to published test results of their latest products against its premium competitors to show how strong they are. Lately they have been focusing a lot on wet braking & also performances over lifetime. Michelin was the first tire manufacture to focus on suitability & fully advocate to use their products down to its legal tread depth limit. They recently overtook Bridgestone as the largest tire producer in the world while having the most advance technology. You can check out our detail post about Michelin right here. From the tire test results, we would highly recommend the Energy XM2+ & Primacy 4st as there are definitely the best in class tires in their respective segment.
| Segment | Product |
| Comfort | Energy XM2+ (2019) |
| Touring | Primacy 4st (2017) |
| UHP | Pilot Sport 4 (2016) |
| SUV | Primacy SUV (2015) |
From a European press test perspective, Michelin has a balance win rate throughout is tire portfolio. This demonstrates its main technical excellence whereby it can compete in all different domains.
| Press test wins percentage | 19% |
| Tireline with the most wins. | Primacy 4 (5 wins out of 21 test) |
Bridgestone
Bridgestone is a well known tire manufacturer from Japan which supplies a wide range of passenger, truck & aircraft tires. The brand was a tire supplier for Formula 1 from 1997 till 2010. It has been the largest tire manufacturer from 2009 till 2020 until it was overtook by Michelin. Bridgestone has expanded rapidly around the world and has at least one tire factory in all 7 continents of the world (except Antarctica of course) with a total of 52 tire plants around the globe. Due to its shear volume of tires produced, Bridgestone tends to offer a premium product with a mid to high price range. With a competitive price range and a premium status, Bridgestone tires are definitely worth considering.
| Segment | Product |
| Comfort | Ecopia EP 300 (2017) |
| Touring | Turanza T005 (2018) |
| UHP | Potenza RE004 (2020) |
| SUV | Alenza 001 (2017) |
When it comes to press testing, Bridgestone did fair well by winning 18% of its test that they have participated. However this is highly skewed to one particular product which is the Blizzack LM005 (winter tireline). This tire is widely sold in the middle European countries where it excels in snow & wet braking performances.
| Press test wins percentage | 18% |
| Tireline with the most wins. | Blizzack LM005 (9 wins out of 15 test) |
Goodyear
Goodyear is a American company which was founded in 1898 and named after the inventor of vulcanized rubber Charles Goodyear. Major key highlights from Goodyear’s past history includes a timely transition into radial tires during the 1970’s and also the partial ownership of Dunlop’s north America & Europe business together with Sumitomo in 1999. Goodyear also recently announced the take over of Cooper tire to cement it status as the 3rd largest tire manufacturer in the world. From APAC perspective, Goodyear has tire plants spread across Asia such as China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan & Thailand. Product wise, Goodyear has a dedicated APAC tireline in the comfort segment which is the Assurance TripleMax 2. From the available test results in the public domain, we would highly recommend the EfficientGrip SUV as it provides an all round good balance in both wet & dry surfaces while having great comfort. Recently news of Goodyear not paying its foreign workers in the Malaysia plant fairly has been made public. From a consumer point of view, “we” should really think twice on buying any product when these issues happen. Companies definitely should adhere to high integrity levels and treat their workers fairly.
| Segment | Product |
| Comfort | Assurance TripleMax 2 (2018) |
| Touring | Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5 (2019) |
| UHP | – |
| SUV | EfficientGrip SUV (2018) |
Goodyear has also a good wining precentage in press test delivering a press winner 17% of the time. However they have 2 primary press test winners in the form of its Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5 in the UHP segment and also its all season segment with the Vector 4 seasons gen-3 tire.
| Press test wins percentage | 17% |
| Tireline with the most wins. | Eagle F1 Asymmetric 5 (4 wins out of 17 test) |
Continental
Continental is a German automotive manufacturer which mainly supplies products to the original equipment manufacturers. Its first foray into the Malaysia market came as the technological partner of Sime Darby tires in 2002. Along the years, Continental’s share of the joint venture grew higher and eventually in 2012 Continental took 100% ownership. Continental is primary a big brand in Europe but fairly weak in both the America & APAC market. As part of the deal when it took over Sime Darby’s deal, Continental also obtain the rights to Dunlop in Malaysia, Brunei & Singapore. Continental has 3 plants in APAC (Malaysia-Alor Setar, China-Hefei & Thailand-Rayong).
| Segment | Product |
| Comfort | Comfort Contact 6 |
| Touring | Max Contact 6 |
| UHP | – |
| SUV | Ultra Contact 6 SUV |
When it comes to press test wins, Contiental rein supreme wining 38% of the time. They do have a range of good products which all segments contributed a fair share of winners. Most notably the winter contact TS860 which has won 50% of the press test it has entered.
| Press test wins percentage | 38% |
| Tireline with the most wins. | Winter Contact TS 860 (10 wins out of 20 test) |
Pirelli
As the sole Formula 1 tire provider since 2011, Pirelli is a well known brand in the motorsport arena. The company’s head quarters is in Milan, Italy which is where it was originally founded. Pirelli was subjected to a take over by ChemChina in 2015, as the China state company paid 7.1 billion euros for it. In regards to the APAC market, Pirelli does not have a region specific tireline product unlike Michelin or Continental. Pirelli tends to engineer the same product to be used in all regions. Their products which are sold in APAC are generally much older compare to other top 4 premium manufacturers.
| Segment | Product |
| Comfort | Cinturato P1 (2010) |
| Touring | Cinturato P7 Blue (2012) |
| UHP | P Zero Corsa (2014) |
| SUV | Scorpion Verde (2010) |
When it comes to press testing, Pirelli is pretty much a no show. From what we have gathered, the current tire line up of Pirelli did not yield any press test wins. In my humble opinion, Pirelli is focusing a lot in marketing through motor sports and do not have a great emphasis of being the best in class winner in test magazines.
| Press test wins percentage | 0% |
| Tireline with the most wins. | – |
Summary
When performance is the main criteria for selection, there is no doubt that the tire brands above would be able to deliver the best in class product. There are certain segments which some brands are much stronger but overall you are quite safe when you are choosing between these tire brands.