Best Tires For Buick Lucerne

Table of Contents

‍Tire Size Designation For Your Buick Lucerne

It is important to understand the tire size designation for any car's tires specified in the owner's handbook. Always stay with the tire size recommended by the vehicle manufacturer as the tires sizes are chosen to:

Create a safe contact footprint with the road;
Fit inside the wheel-well of the car body;
Allow the wheel to rotate and travel up and down on the suspension without making contact with the underbody;
Allow the speedometer to be accurate to within the specified tolerance;
To work in conjunction with the braking and suspension systems for optimized handling and stopping distance.

Tires offer the vehicle four contact patches roughly the size of your hand to make contact with the road. Tire selection is a key strategy to winning in motor racing due to its critically important role.

Each tire is described by tire size and type designation that is quite a mixture of metric and imperial dimensions and requires some understanding:

In the tire size designation, P225/60R16, the letters and numbers have the following meanings:

P – indicates that it is a passenger vehicle tire. Other types are described by (P = Passenger, LT = Light Truck, T = Temporary, ST = Special Trailer)
225 is the nominal tire width in millimeters (mm)
60 is the Aspect Ratio between the tire width and the sidewall height. An aspect ratio of 60% means that the sidewall height is 60% of 225mm = 135mm
R indicates that the tire has a steel belt radial internal carcass construction
16 indicates the diameter of the wheel rim in inches

The three tire sizes specified for the Buick Lucerne are:

P225/60R16 – passenger tire of 225mm wide and a sidewall height of 135mm of radial construction fitting a 16-inch wheel rim
P235/55R17 - passenger tire of 235mm wide and a sidewall height of 129.25mm of radial construction fitting a 17-inch wheel rim
P245/50R18 - passenger tire of 245mm wide and a sidewall height of 122.5mm of radial construction fitting an 18-inch wheel rim

These three tire sizes will all fit on the Buick Lucerne CX, CXL, CXS, and Super models, depending on whether the vehicle has 16, 17, or 18-inch rims.

Aspects To Consider When Buying Tires For A Buick Lucerne

Depending on where you live and drive your Buick Lucerne, you have to consider the weather conditions prevailing in your area and understand that you may need Summer, Winter, All-Season, Touring All-Season, or High-Performance All-Season tires.

All-season tires have developed such good winter and summer season grip that it has almost made the need for a set of summer and a set of winter tires obsolete, saving you the hassle of tire storage and seasonal rotation and the associated costs.

If you live in Alaska and have to contend with frozen roads for most of the year, you may need to consider a set of winter tires, but all-season tires should also serve you.

The Best 225/60R16 Tires For A Buick Lucerne

The Buick Lucerne was launched in 2006 with 16-inch rims as the specified rim sizes for the Buick Lucerne V6 Sedan 4 Door CX. The following tires are ideal for replacement tires on all 2006 to 2011 Buick Lucerne's with 16-inch wheels.

All-Season

Continental TrueContact
General Altimax RT43
Michelin Defender T+H

Touring All-Season

Cooper CS5 Ultra Touring
Michelin Premier A/S
Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season Plus

High-Performance All-Season

Goodyear Eagle Sport All-Season

Continental TrueContact 225/60R16

Continental is a leading German tire manufacturer with an impeccable reputation for building quality tires since 1871. The company has an international manufacturing footprint, and its passenger tire plants in the US are based in Mount Vernon, IL, and Sumter, SC.

The Continental TrueContact is designed with a tread compound design to provide low treadwear, good fuel efficiency, and great traction in wet, dry, and icy road conditions. The TrueContact combines the best attributes of the Continental EcoPlus technology with an all-season tread design.

The tires are fitted with the Performance Indicators molded into the tire tread to alert drivers when the tread wear has reached a point where replacement is recommended. The specially engineered traction grooves allow the tire to eliminate ice, water, or dirt and maximize the grip on all road surfaces.

General Altimax RT43 225/60R16 98H

General Tire is an affordable brand in the Continental Tire stable. The General Tire brand was founded in the US in 1915 in Akron, Ohio. The brand shares a modern US-based manufacturing platform in Mount Vernon, IL, and Sumter, SC.

The Altimax RT43 is an all-season tire with excellent built-in safety features such as Peak Anti-Slip Design (PASD) Technology and Low Surface Abrasion (LSA) for optimal grip in the most demanding icy weather and excellent performance in sunny, dry weather.

The tires are fitted with VAI Technology (Visual Alignment Indicator) that allows you to monitor that the Lucerne's wheel alignment is good within the first thousand miles on the new tires. Early wheel alignment adjustment can give you significantly improved tire tread life.

Michelin Defender T+H 225/60R16

Michelin is one of the largest tire manufacturers in the world and was founded in France in 1889, with headquarters in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. The Michelin brand has been manufactured in the US since 1950 in South Carolina and Alabama.

The Michelin brand is well known in Formula One racing and MotoGP motorcycle racing. The brand was the industry leader in developing All-Season tires and had an excellent reputation for quality, safety, performance, and environmental sustainability.

The Michelin Defender T+H tire was developed to offer vehicle owners the optimal tread life while providing excellent all-season safety. The tires are ideal for luxury passenger and SUV models as they provide a quiet and comfortable ride experience and are backed by an 80,000-mile warranty for six years.

Cooper CS5 Ultra Touring 225/60R16

The Cooper Tire brand originated in 1914 when two brothers, John Shaefer and Claude Hart, purchased the M&M Manufacturing Company in Akron, Ohio. The company originally produced tire repair kits but soon grew its activities to include tire manufacture.

The company was listed as the Cooper Tire & Rubber Company in 1946 and by July 11, 1960, and has manufacturing locations in the US-based in Findlay, OH; Clarksdale, MS; Texarkana, AR, and Tupelo, MS.

Cooper is not one of the big players in the tire world, but they are held in high esteem for the quality, high-performance tire brands such as Mickey Thompson and Cooper Tires. The Cooper C55 Ultra Touring tire is an all-season tire manufactured for a high-performance ride.

The tread design and rubber compounds used in the manufacture provide a smooth, quiet ride, excellent tread life, and high-performance handling. The high silica content in the tread rubber ensures low rolling resistance, improved durability, and better grip in wet and dry conditions.

Michelin Premier A/S 225/60R16

The Michelin brand also offers the Premier All Season brand in the size and speed rating required for fitment on the Buick Lucerne. As leaders in all-season tire technology, the Michelin A/S remains effective in wet, dry, and icy conditions even when the tire wear is down to fifty percent.

Rated as having the best stopping distance on wet roads than other leading competitor brands, the Michelin Premier A/S provides optimal safety, luxury, and comfort. The product is supplied with a 60,000-mile warranty for up to six years after the date of manufacture.

Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season Plus 225/60R16

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The Pirelli brand is another well-known to motoring enthusiasts as it has a long-standing association with Italian sports cars and Ferrari in particular. Founded by Giovanni Battista in 1872, the GB Pirelli & Co was formed in Milan, Italy.

The Pirelli brand is currently the exclusive supplier to the Formula One Championship and the World Superbike Championship. Pirelli Tire North America has its research and development and corporate headquarters in Rome, Georgia. A state-of-the-art manufacturing location is based in Silao, Mexico.

The Pirelli Cinturato P& All Season Plus range of tires can fit sixteen to twenty-inch rims on luxury touring cars like the Buick Lucerne. The Cinturaro P7 provides excellent mileage, comfort, and safety in wet, dry, and icy road conditions.

Goodyear Eagle Sport All-Season 225/60R16

No list of recommended tire brands would be complete without the iconic Goodyear brand. The company is named after Charles Goodyear, the inventor of the rubber vulcanization process, which gives tire rubber its durability.

The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company were founded in 1898 in Akron, Ohio, by Frank Seiberling. The company is one of the tire giants in the world, along with Michelin, Continental, and Bridgestone.

The Goodyear Eagle Sport All-Season tire is a performance tire that provides excellent handling and grip in all types of weather conditions. The tread design and rubber compound make the Eagle Sport All-Season ideal for good performance during hot summer road surfaces or icy road conditions.

The Best 235/55R17 Tires For A Buick Lucerne

The Buick Lucerne was launched in 2006 with 17-inch rims as the specified rim sizes for the Buick Lucerne V6 & V8 Sedan 4 Door CXL models. The following tires are ideal for replacement tires on all 2006 to 2011 Buick Lucerne's with 17-inch wheels.

All-Season

Continental TrueContact
General Altimax RT43
Michelin Defender T+H

Touring All-Season

Continental PureContact
Michelin Premier A/S
Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season Plus

High-Performance All-Season

Continental ExtremeContact DWS06
Michelin Pilot Sport A/S3 Plus
Pirelli P Zero All Season Plus

The list of tire manufacturers is the same as those recommended for the 16-inch replacement tire models.

Continental, General Tire, Michelin, and Pirelli all manufacture excellent All-Season tires for fitment to your Buick Lucerne. The tire models have the same performance characteristics as their 16-inch derivatives.

The Best 245/50R18 Tires For A Buick Lucerne

The Buick Lucerne was launched in 2006 with 18-inch rims as the specified rim sizes for the Buick Lucerne V8 Sedan 4 Door CXS models. The following tires are ideal for replacement tires on all 2006 to 2011 Buick Lucerne's with 18-inch wheels.

Touring All-Season

Bridgestone Turanza Serenity Plus
Michelin Primacy MXM4
Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season Plus

High-Performance All-Season

Continental ExtremeContact DWS06
Goodyear Eagle Sport All-Season
Pirelli P Zero All Season Plus

The list of tire manufacturers is the same as those recommended for the 16-inch and 17-inch replacement tire models.

Continental, Michelin, and Pirelli all manufacture excellent All-Season tires for fitment to your Buick Lucerne. The tire models have the same performance characteristics as their 16-inch and 17-inch derivatives.

The only company not mentioned previously would be Bridgestone. The Bridgestone Corporation is a Japanese multinational founded by Shojiro Ishibashi in Fukuoka, Japan, in 1931.

The name Bridgestone is a translation and transposition of the founder's surname Ishibashi which means stone bridge when roughly translated from Japanese. Bridgestone is also one of the global tire giants and has manufacturing locations in the US.

The Bridgestone Turanza Serenity Plus is an excellent all-season tire renowned for generating very little road noise and providing a safe and quiet ride. The tire comes with the 50,000km Wear Life Guarantee from Bridgestone and is highly regarded by tire experts.

The tires recommended thus far are all manufactured by premium brand tire companies, and they are priced accordingly. If these tire brands fall outside your budget, we must consider some worthy Korean and Chinese tire brands as budget alternatives.

Budget Brand Replacement Tires For A Buick Lucerne

The automotive industry has changed significantly in the past two decades. China has become the biggest automotive market, and as such, the supplier base in Asia has made rapid advances in the quality and value of its products.

Tires are no different, and some Korean and Chinese tire brands are well worth considering if you are looking for a set of replacement tires. Tire quality is well regulated globally as the modern automobile relies heavily on solid contact with the road surface for the plethora of safety features to function properly.

The top fifteen tire brands in the US in 2022, as rated by consumer feedback, tire fitment experts, publications, and US government agencies, are:

1. Michelin (4.9 of 5.0) - France

Michelin was voted the top tire brand globally and identified as a leader in product innovation and building trust with their customers. Rated as the Best Tire Brand by Golden Wrench with a near-perfect score of 98%

2. Continental (4.6 of 5.0) - Germany

Continental is widely regarded as an industry giant and serves the high-tech market with a range of tire products designed for competitive cyclists and motorbike riders. They are \the brand of choice for many vehicle manufacturers as an OE supplier and were rated as the second most trusted tire brand with a score of 92%.

3. Cooper (4.4 of 5.0) - USA

Cooper Tires is proof that size does not matter. The company produces high-quality tires for niche segments and is well regarded in Off-road racing circles with the Mickey Thompson brand. The Cooper tire brand is an extensive size and application offering that offers low rolling resistance.

4. Yokohama (4.4 of 5.0) - Japanese

Yokohama is well regarded in the motor racing fraternity for its excellent performance tire range. They have translated this know-how to produce an excellent range of passenger, performance, and truck tires at their US facilities in Virginia and Mississippi. The brand also serves the SUV, light truck, and all-season tire market with distinction.

5. Goodyear (4.3 of 5.0) - USA

Goodyear is as American as apple pie, a brand synonymous with the tire and rubber industry. Charles Goodyear was the inventor of the process of vulcanizing rubber, thereby greatly enhancing rubber's hardness and durability.

The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company has a vast array of rubber products and are a well-loved and much-respected brand.

6. Bridgestone (4.3 of 5.0) - Japanese

Bridgestone has the distinction of being the largest tire manufacturer in the world at present. The company has an extensive global manufacturing and distribution footprint offering more than 100 tire models to the market.

7. BFGoodrich (4.3 of 5.0) - USA

BFGoodrich is one of the oldest tire manufacturers and tire brands in the world, and they are much loved in the off-road racing and adventure driver circles for the all-terrain and mud-terrain tires. The distinctive BFG outside white lettering is the brand's trademark, much envied by others.

8. Pirelli (4.2 of 5.0) - Italy

The Pirelli brand is one of the world's oldest and most respected tire brands. Well known for supplying the racing tires for the Formula One World Championship for many years. The Italian tire brand is currently the fifth largest tire company in the world, offering an extensive range of products for almost all vehicle applications.

9. Firestone (4.2 of 5.0) - Japanese

The Firestone brand forms part of the extensive Bridgestone tire empire and is a very well-loved brand. The brand offers tire buyers a more affordable alternative to the premium range of Bridgestone tires without compromising quality or performance.

10. General Tire (4.2 of 5.0) - Germany

The General Tire brand was acquired by Continental but has maintained its distinct brand character. The General Tire brand offers tire buyers great value but lower prices than the premium segment brands. The band offers a full range of replacement tire sizes to the market and is an OE fitment for much light truck and off-road vehicles.

11. Hankook (4.2 of 5.0) – South Korea

South Korea has become well known for manufacturing high-tech quality electronics due to its well-trained and committed workforce. The Hankook brand overcame initial prejudice against low-cost Korean tires to become a very well-respected tire brand. The huge range selection, excellent product quality, and keen pricing make Hankook a serious player.

12. Dunlop (4.1 of 5.0) – Japanese/American

The Dunlop brand started as a British company with a strong racing heritage. The brand is older than a hundred years and is well known for innovation and product development. In recent years, the brand rights have been sold off to Goodyear in North America, Sumitomo in the Asia Pacific region, and Continental in European markets.

13. Sumitomo (4.1 of 5.0) - Japanese

Sumitomo is a Japanese tire company of some renown. The Sumitomo brand has an extensive product offering in all tire segments and has received favorable consumer reviews. The range of products covers the passenger, SUV, crossover, light truck, bicycle, and motorcycle range. Pricing is aimed at the budget replacement tire segment.

14. Milestar (2.7 of 5.0) - China

Milestar is a Chinese brand focused on the budget tire segment, and consumer research has shown that although cheap, the products do not deliver what is expected from a new tire. The brand is not a star in achieving good tire mileage despite its name and is not highly rated.

15. Chaoyang (2.4 of 5.0) - China

The Chaoyang brand made its mark in the Chinese bicycle tire market and has recently ventured into the more demanding realm of passenger, SUV, light truck, and motorcycle tires. The brand is not well known in North America, and we recommend you proceed with caution before committing your money to the brand.

How Long Do Tires Last?

All tires must have the Date Of Manufacture (DOM) identified on the sidewall. Rubber is prone to atmospheric oxidation and UV deterioration. Tires older than five years should be replaced as the rubber tread and sidewall compounds would have lost some volatile organic compounds causing the rubber to become hard and brittle.

The tires may still look perfect and show no signs of deterioration, but the decay is at a molecular level. The vulcanization process which forms the long elastic carbon chains in rubber continues after manufacture and use, causing the rubber to become harder and more brittle.

With the effect of oxidation and ultraviolet degradation of the rubber, the tires will lose some key safety characteristics, such as stopping road-holding performance. Ask a tire fitment professional to show you where the DOM markings are on the tire and replace them if they are older than five years.

Tires are also fitted with tread wear indicators at various intervals on the circumference of the tire tread. The tread wear indicator is set at 1.6mm of tread as this is the absolute lowest limit at which the tire will still afford some safety.

When the tire is worn down to a tread depth of only 1.6mm, the tread wear indicator will form a solid connection between the tread grooves. Ask a tire fitment professional to show you where the tread wear indicators are on the tire and how to interpret them.

You can also purchase a tread depth gauge to measure the tread depth on your tires. New tires have tread depths of 12mm to 8mm, which will become progressively less as the tread surface wears down.

Tire Tread Depth And Inflation Pressures Are Critical To Performance

Despite making your car look good and providing excellent mileage, the main job of your car or truck tires is to make your vehicle safe. The vehicle may have an alphabet soup of safety features such as ABS (Anti-Braking-System), EBD (Electronic Brake Force Distribution), Hill Decent Control, and others. Still, none of these features work properly without a good tire grip on the road.

A tire has to be inflated to the correct cold tire temperature to operate at the correct tire pressure when at operational temperature. When the tire is overinflated, the tread surface is reduced as the tire will have more contact along the middle part of the tread surface and less on the edges.

Overinflated tires will cause poor stopping distances and will cause premature wear of the tire. If the tread depth of the center grooves is lower than the grooves on edge, your tires have been run over-inflated.

Under-inflation is as bad for safety as it is for fuel consumption. The most common condition in car park surveys is that tires are generally underinflated. The softer tire will have a much larger contact surface with the road leading to excessive wear and significantly worse fuel consumption.

Always check your tire inflation pressures at home in the morning when the tires are still cold. Tire pressure gauges are inexpensive and will pay for themselves in improved tire mileage. When the cold tire pressure is correct, the tire pressure when the tire is in use will also be correct, making your tires effective in gripping the road.

The tire grooves and sipes on the tread surface pump water away from the tire contact patch. Racing cars are fitted with "Racing Slicks" in warm and dry conditions as the tires need only provide maximum traction.

In wet road conditions, the tires must have longitudinal grooves and lateral sipes to expel the water on the road surface to allow the rubber to make contact with the road. If the tread is worn too much, the tire cannot pump the water away, and the tire starts to aquaplane.

Aquaplaning tires have no grip on the road surface, and the driver thus loses the ability to steer and control the vehicle with devastating consequences. Most vehicle accidents occur during the rainy season.

What Is The Perfect Tire?

A perfect tire is a tire that optimizes safety while providing optimal fuel consumption and extended tire life. A tire is always a compromise of conflicting priorities. A good tire is not a tire that gives you 100,000 miles. You were maybe just fortunate that you did not have to engage the braking in an emergency.

A great tire always augments the safety of the driver, passengers, and other road users by maximizing the vehicle's ability to maintain driving stability during all road conditions.

Tire manufacturers can design tires to have prolonged tread life, but that will always be at the expense of road holding and stopping distance. It would be best if you established the conditions in which you will use your vehicle and the prevailing road conditions.

In cold and wet climates, an all-season tire will serve you much better than a summer tire. In a sunny warm climate, a summer tire will serve you much better than a winter tire, but an all-season may be a good compromise to cope with those few wet and icy days.

Always follow the vehicle manufacturer's recommended tire size, speed, and load rating specified in the owner's manual. Deviating from the design intent of the vehicle will always be associated with increased risk to yourself, your family, and fellow road users.

Armed with this information, you can start your search for a new set of tires for your Buick Lucerne and ensure many more safe miles ahead in this American luxury sedan.

About The Author

Charles Redding

I've spent many years selling cars, working with auto detailers, mechanics, dealership service teams, quoting and researching car insurance, modding my own cars, and much more.