Best Tires For Ford Transit Connect: Complete Guide

8 Best Tires For Ford Transit Connect

Originally developed in 2002, the Ford Transit Connect actually began its life as a European vehicle. But since 2010, it has been a popular panel van vehicle option in North America ever since it started being imported overseas.

The Ford Transit Connect is the perfect bridge vehicle between a standard car or SUV and a full-on commercial vehicle like the typical Ford Transit. This makes it great for small businesses, passenger transport, or even large families that need more room.

With how versatile the Transit Connect is, they get driven quite a bit. As you can imagine, this leads to tires being worn out left and right. And when that happens, you need to replace them with a fresh set to keep its performance top-notch. But the tire search can be hard and stressful.

Using this guide, you’ll be able to avoid all the noise and fluff out there and quickly determine the best tire for your Ford Transit. Whether you want a high-quality all-season touring tire, a winter tire to get you through the snow, or a high-performance summer tire to push your Ford Transit Connect to its limits — we’ve got you covered.

Let’s end the talk and get into the nitty-gritty details we all love. Here are the 8 best tires on the market for a Ford Transit Connect.

Michelin Premier A/S — Best All-Season

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When you take everything into account that makes a great all-season tire — tread life, comfort, reliability, traction, safety, etc. — the clear choice for the best option on the market is the Michelin Premier A/S. The best tire for most vehicles that these tires fit, the Ford Transit Connect is no exception.

The Michelin Premier A/S is a Michelin Total Performance tire, which means that it was designed to excel in many different aspects of the tire industry. This includes everything from traction, handling, control, braking distance, fuel efficiency, and more.

Arguably the best feature of this amazing tire is Michelin’s proprietary Evergrip tread compound, which enhances wet-braking and improves traction year-round. In fact, this Evergrip tread technology ensures traction throughout the life of the tire, even when it’s wearing down.

The Michelin Premier A/S can be found in common (and sporty) tire sizes from 15” through 19” wheel diameters. So no matter what year and model your Ford Transit Connect is, you should have no problem finding a set that will fit.

Specifications

Some specifications may vary based on the exact tire size selected.

• Warranty: 60,000 miles
• Max Load Capacity: 1,477 lbs
• Max Inflation Pressure: 44 psi
• Tread Depth: 8.5/32”
• Tire Weight: 21 lbs
• UTQG Treadwear: 640
• UTQG Traction: A
• UTQG Temperature: A
• The ideal combination of performance, longevity, and comfort
• EverGrip Technology ensures traction in all conditions throughout the life of the tire

FAQ

How can these be the best tires if they don’t have the longest tread life warranty?

When we’re rating these tires in their various categories, we look at a lot more than their mileage warranty. The Michelin Premier A/S offers the best combination of a long tread life, a comfortable ride, reliable traction year-round, and safety features. It’s the best overall tire on the market.

Can I drive on this tire in the snow?

Yes, the Michelin Premier A/S is a top-notch all-season tire that offers traction on all road conditions, including light snow. With its EverGrip Technology, the Premier A/S provides consistent traction throughout its lifetime as well, even as it wears down.

Is this Michelin better than the Defender T+H from the same brand?

As an overall tire — taking everything into account — we have the Premier A/S just slightly edging the Defender T+H as not only the best Michelin all-season tire for the Transit Connect, but as the best all-season tire period for the Ford Transit Connect.

Cooper CS5 Ultra Touring — Best Touring

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For those who want to get a little more life out of their tires than the aforementioned Michelin Premier A/S tires have to offer, a high-quality touring tire is perfect for your Ford Transit Connect. And the best touring tire on the market is the Cooper CS5 Ultra Touring.

Designed for passenger cars, crossovers, and small SUVs, the CS5 Ultra Touring was specifically engineered to offer a great combination of a smooth ride, little to no road noise, and responsive handling — the ideal touring tire.

Through the utilization of Coopers StabilEdge Performance technology, the CS5 Ultra Touring uses an interlocked design of tread components to increase the handling of your Transit Connect and reduce flexing in the shoulders.

3D Micro-Gauge sipes and grooves throughout the tread of the tire helps to channel water away from the center of the tire to enhance traction in all conditions, including rain and even light snow.

CS5 Ultra Touring comes in all major tire sizes from 15” through 20” wheel diameters, including all three tire sizes that come on the Ford Transit Connect.

Specifications

Some specifications may vary based on the exact tire size selected.

• Warranty: 70,000 miles
• Max Load Capacity: 1,433 lbs
• Max Inflation Pressure: 44 psi
• Tread Depth: 11/32”
• Tire Weight: 22 lbs
• UTQG Treadwear: 640
• UTQG Traction: A
• UTQG Temperature: A
• Stabiledge Performance increases handling and steering response
• Designed to provide grip in all conditions, including light snow

FAQ

What sizes are offered?

The Cooper CS5 Ultra Touring is offered in most major tire sizes ranging from 15” through 20” wheel diameters. This includes all three tire sizes that come on the different years and models of the Transit Connect, so it should be a breeze to find a set on for yours!

What makes the Cooper CS5 Ultra the best touring tire?

A good touring tire will typically have two things at a minimum — comfort and longevity. And that’s exactly what you get with the Cooper CS5 Ultra Touring tire. With its Coupled Silica tread compound offering a comfortable ride and 70,000-mile warranty, it’s a fantastic touring tire.

Can I drive on these year-round?

Without a doubt! The Cooper CS5 Ultra Touring is an all-season tire that provides reliable traction no matter what the weather and road conditions are. They even offer traction in light snow during the winter. So feel free to leave them on your Transit Connect all year!

Michelin Defender T+H — Best Highway

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If you’ve ever looked into buying tires for any other vehicle besides your Ford Transit Connect, you likely know that Michelin is at the top of the industry, largely recognized as the best brand on the market. That’s why it takes the cake with two different options on this list, this time the best highway-terrain tire for the Ford Transit Connect — the Michelin Defender T+H.

This option from Michelin is such a great overall tire, that we have it as a very close second to the Premier A/S as our top-rated all-season tire overall. With its class-leading 80,000-mile tread life warranty, you can likely see why.

With this new tread design combined with a proprietary IntelliSipe technology to help whisk water and snow away from the tire’s contact patch, the Defender T+H offers reliable traction year-round and in all weather conditions.

The Defender T+H from Michelin will offer you and your Ford Transit Connect a quiet, comfortable, reliable, and long-lasting life. Many users of the Defender T+H have even reported getting 90,000 to 100,000 miles out of them before they wear out!

Specifications

Some specifications may vary based on the exact tire size selected.

• Warranty: 80,000 miles
• Max Load Capacity: 1,477 lbs
• Max Inflation Pressure: 44 psi
• Tread Depth: 10/32”
• Tire Weight: 20 lbs
• UTQG Treadwear: 820
• UTQG Traction: A
• UTQG Temperature: B
• High silica content in the tread compound promotes traction in all conditions
• Sipes and grooves whisk water away from the center of the tire to reduce hydroplaning

FAQ

Is the Michelin Defender T+H different from the regular Michel Defender?

Yes, the Michelin Defender T+H has replaced the older Michelin Defender as the brand’s number one all-season highway touring tire. With a new tread compound and tread pattern, the Defender T+H improved upon the already great foundation that the Defender provided.

Is this an all-season tire?

Yes! The Michelin Defender T+H is a top-of-the-line all-season tire. If it wasn’t for the Michelin Premier A/S seen above, we would have chosen the Michelin Defender T+H as our overall top-rated all-season tire. It’s an incredible tire that you just can’t go wrong with.

What is the mileage warranty?

The Michelin Defender T+H comes with an industry-leading 80,000-mile tread life warranty from Michelin. If that’s not crazy enough, many drivers have seen themselves getting upwards of 90,000 or even 100,000 miles out of a set of these tires!

Bridgestone Blizzak WS90 — Best Winter

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Walk into any tire store or spend a short amount of time online looking for the best winter tires on the market, and you’ll repeatedly hear about or see the Bridgestone Blizzak line of tires coming up. For the Ford Transit Connect, the Bridgestone Blizzak WS90 is the best winter tire on the market.

The Blizzak line of tires offers winter tires for just about every vehicle on the road, and they are widely accepted to be the industry-standard for winter tires. With its studless design, the Blizzak WS90 is as easy to have installed on your Transit Connect and used as any other tire.

Using a patented Multicell technology, the Blizzak WS90 was engineered to soak up the top layer of water off of snow and ice, which allows its biting edges to dig into the underlying snow or ice. This enables the tire to offer unparalleled traction in the most severe winter weather conditions.

As a Three-Peak Mountain Snowflake rated tire, the Blizzak WS90 has exceeded industry standards to be certified to provide traction in the worst conditions possible, so you know you’re getting the best in the business when it comes to winter performance.

Specifications

Some specifications may vary based on the exact tire size selected.

• Warranty: None
• Max Load Capacity: 1,609 lbs
• Max Inflation Pressure: 50 psi
• Tread Depth: 11/32”
• Tire Weight: 25 lbs
• UTQG Treadwear: N/A
• UTQG Traction: N/A
• UTQG Temperature: N/A
• Studless design means you don’t have to add metal studs for traction
• Biting edges dig into the snow and ice for unparalleled winter performance

FAQ

What does “studless design” mean?

Back in the day, all winter tires needed to have metal studs physically added to the tire’s tread to help facilitate traction in snow and ice. While there are still studdable tires on the market, high-quality winter tires, like the Blizzak WS90, use new technologies and tread design to offer even better performance than studded tires, without the metal studs.

What’s the tread life warranty?

The Bridgestone Blizzak WS90 comes with no tread life warranty. That’s not because it’s a bad tire or anything, but rather just because it was designed for use as a winter tire only. So you won’t be driving on them all year putting lots of miles on them. If used properly, you can expect to get around 3-4 winters out of them before they get worn out.

What sizes are offered?

The Blizzak WS90 is offered in all common tire sizes from 15” through 19” wheel diameters. This, of course, includes the three sizes that come on the Ford Transit Connect. So no matter what year and model Transit Connect you have, the WS90 is the perfect winter tire.

Continental ContiProContact 5 — Best Summer

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Anyone who wants to push their Ford Transit Connect to its limits performance-wise needs to look into an ultra-high performance summer tire. The best option on the market for the Transit Connect is the Continental ContiProContact 5.

With Continental’s proprietary Black Chili tread compound, the ContiProContact 5 was designed for optimal performance. This compound reacts to warm air and road temperatures to provide excellent grip and traction, enabling drivers to push their vehicles to the limits when it comes to cornering and aggressive driving.

This innovative compound has polymers that break apart differently to provide different benefits when needed. The short-chain polymers breakdown during breaking to add heat and reduce stopping distance. On the other hand, the long-chain polymers release energy at constant higher speeds to lower rolling resistance and increase fuel efficiency.

As with most other high-performance summer tires, you won’t be able to get the ContiProContact 5 in 15” or 16” sizes. So it’s reserved for those Ford Transit Connect with the 17” wheels from the factory — typically the sportier Wagon models.

Specifications

Some specifications may vary based on the exact tire size selected.

• Warranty: None
• Max Load Capacity: 1,356 lbs
• Max Inflation Pressure: 51 psi
• Tread Depth: 9/32”
• Tire Weight: 21 lbs
• UTQG Treadwear: 280
• UTQG Traction: AA
• UTQG Temperature: A
• Black Chili rubber compound designed to enhance grip and traction
• Shortens braking distance while remaining cooler at the same time

FAQ

Can I drive on this tire in the snow?

The Continental ContiProContact 5 is designed as a summer ultra-high performance tire. It will not perform very well in the snow at all, and we strongly suggest you do not drive on this tire in the snow. You won’t get much traction at all and it’ll wear out quickly if used year-round.

Does the ContiProContact 5 help reduce braking distance in addition to enhancing aggressive driving?

Yes! The ContiProContact 5 from Continental was designed to enhance all avenues of performance. So not only will it help with acceleration and aggressive cornering, it will also reduce the braking distance and help you stop sooner.

How many summers will these last?

As long as you use them how they’re intended — as summer tires — you can reasonably expect to get between 3-5 summers out of them. If you leave them on your Transit Connect year-round, you’ll be lucky to get a second summer out of them! They’re designed to perform exceptionally well in warm temperatures during the hot summer months.

Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ — Best Performance Street

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The Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3 was Michelin’s top-tier all-season performance tires for years already before it was improved upon even further, giving us the incredible Pilot Sport A/S 3+.

As you might have picked up on just now, this high-performance tire is actually an all-season tire, so it’s not dedicated for strictly summer use. This means that it offers enhanced performance throughout the year and in all road conditions, including even light snow.

This is achievable thanks to Michelin’s Extreme Silica+ tread compound that offers extreme grip and traction in all conditions. To make this even better, the Pilot Sport A/S 3+ also uses Variable Control Contact Patch 3.0, a technology that adjusts the contact patch in real time to ensure consistent traction during aggressive driving and cornering.

To offer better performance in the snow than its predecessor, the Pilot Sport A/S 3+ uses Michelin’s new Helios+ technology, which offers up to a 28% increase in snow traction than older models of the tire. It truly is the best tire on the market for year-round performance.

Specifications

Some specifications may vary based on the exact tire size selected.

• Warranty: 45,000 miles
• Max Load Capacity: 1,356 lbs
• Max Inflation Pressure: 50 psi
• Tread Depth: 10/32”
• Tire Weight: 23 lbs
• UTQG Treadwear: 500
• UTQG Traction: AA
• UTQG Temperature: A
• Ultra-high performance all-season tire that provides traction year-round
• Helios+ Technology increases traction in cold and even snowy conditions

FAQ

Is this a summer tire?

Even though it has a reputation for providing ultra-high performance — and rightfully so — the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ is not a summer tire. It’s actually a high-quality all-season tire! That means that the Pilot Sport A/S 3+ is able to offer reliable traction and performance year-round and in any condition, including even light snow.

How long does the Michelin A/S 3+ last?

When it comes to ultra-high performance street tires, the Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ offers one of the best mileage warranties in its class — 45,000 miles. Sure, it isn’t as long as highway or touring tires, but that’s not what the A/S 3+ is designed for. You can easily get a few years out of a set of them before you need to replace them.

Does this fit all models of Transit Connect?

The Michelin Pilot Sport A/S 3+ will fit the Ford Transit Connects that have the 16” and 17” wheel options. Unfortunately, the Pilot Sport A/S 3+ is not offered in 15” wheel diameter sizes, so if you have a Transit Connect with 15” wheels you’ll need to look elsewhere.

Westlake SA07 Sport — Best Temporary Spare

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If you’re looking for a temporary spare tire for your Ford Transit Connect, you undoubtedly have two main things in mind — affordability and reliability. And that’s exactly what the Westlake SA07 Sport has to offer, making it the perfect spare tire.

With its symmetrical all-season tread design, the Westlake SA07 Sport is able to provide traction all year and in any weather condition, including wet roads and even light snow. The grooves and channels also direct moisture away from the tire’s contact patch to ensure reliable traction at all times.

The SA07 Sport from Westlake comes with a 45,000-mile tread life warranty of its own, meaning that you can expect it to last for a long time, especially as a temporary spare!

But if you are looking for a new set of tires for your Ford Transit Connect and you’re on a bit of a tight budget, a set of these tires wouldn’t be a bad option to last a few years until you replace them with a better option.

Specifications

Some specifications may vary based on the exact tire size selected.

• Warranty: 45,000 miles
• Max Load Capacity: 1,356 lbs
• Max Inflation Pressure: 51 psi
• Tread Depth: 10/32”
• Tire Weight: 22 lbs
• UTQG Treadwear: 460
• UTQG Traction: A
• UTQG Temperature: A
• All-season tread design offers reliable performance and traction year-round
• Circumferential grooves and a network of sipes keep water away from the center of the tire

FAQ

Why is this a good temporary spare tire?

The Westlake SA07 Sport is a great spare tire because it’s reliable and affordable. What more could you want out of a spare tire? It comes with a 45,000-mile tread life warranty of its own and it’s also an all-season tire, so you’ll be able to get traction year-round, no matter when you need it.

How long will it last?

The Westlake SA07 comes with a 45,000-mile warranty, so you can reasonably expect it to last that long. However, keep in mind that we’re only recommending it as a temporary spare. So you shouldn’t ever actually get to the point that it will wear down!

What sizes are offered?

The Westlake SA07 is offered in two of the three sizes that come on the Ford Transit Connect — 215/55R16 as well as 215/50R17. If your Transit Connect has the other remaining size (205/65R15), then you should consider using the Westlake RP18 instead for your temporary spare tire.

Continental ContiProContact — OEM Tire

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At first glance, the Continental ContiProContact seems like a fantastic OEM tire for the Ford Transit Connect. After all, Continental is one of the best tire brands in the world, offering high-quality tires for just about every vehicle out there.

But for some reason, they just don’t seem to perform very well on the Ford Transit Connect. If you just look at the 80,000-mile tread life warranty, you might think that they’ll last for quite some time. Unfortunately, their design doesn’t meld with the Transit Connect and most owners are typically only getting about 40,000 miles out of them.

That said, the ContiProContact is actually a great tire, while they last on your Ford Transit Connect. With its all-season tread pattern and proprietary PROactive Edge Technology, the ContiProContact offers continuous contact with the road, providing traction in all conditions year-round.

So for an OEM tire, they’re not bad at all. But due to the fact that they just don’t seem to last long on the Ford Transit Connect, we strongly suggest that you go with one of our other suggestions in this guide once the stock tires wear out.

Specifications

Some specifications may vary based on the exact tire size selected.

• Warranty: 80,000 miles
• Max Load Capacity: 1,433 lbs
• Max Inflation Pressure: 51 psi
• Tread Depth: 10/32”
• Tire Weight: 22 lbs
• UTQG Treadwear: 500
• UTQG Traction: AA
• UTQG Temperature: A
• Tread design prompts continuous contact with the road for increased handling
• PROactive Edge Technology enhances traction while lowering road noise

FAQ

How long will these last from the factory?

When you look at the tread life warranty of 80,000 miles, you might think that the OEM Continentals will last a long time. Unfortunately, Transit Connect owners are typically only getting about 40,000 to 50,000 miles out of them before they get down to the wear bars.

Should I put ContiProContacts back on my Transit Connect?

Continentals are typically really good tires and the ContiProContacts perform well for what they are. But for whatever reason, they just do not wear well on the Ford Transit — hence the above answer. For that reason, we suggest going with one of the other recommendations in this guide.

Are the OEM Continentals comfortable to drive on?

Even though you might not get the life out of them that you would want, the OEM Continental ContiProContacts are a very comfortable tire to drive on. Not only are they comfortable, but the PROactive Edge Technology also reduces road noise so they are incredibly quiet as well.

Ford Transit Connect Tire Sizes

Shopping for tires for your Ford Transit Connect is easier than most vehicles because there haven’t been too many different models over the years, so there also haven’t been too many different tire sizes. The Ford Transit Connect has only had three different OEM tire sizes over the past decade, ranging from 15” through 17” wheel diameters as follows:

• 205/65R15
• 215/55R16
• 215/50R17

As you just saw above, the Ford Transit Connect hasn’t had too many different tire sizes over the years. That’s great when it comes to your tire search since that’ll make it easier to figure out what size you need to order. But to make it as simple as possible, we’ve created a spreadsheet to take all the guesswork out of it. As long as you know the year and trim level of your Transit Connect, just check out the sheet to figure out the tire size you need.

Ford Transit Connect Tire Buyer’s Guide

Do I Need Commercial Tires For My Ford Transit Connect?

The Ford Transit is one of the most popular commercial vehicles in the world. With that in mind, it makes sense that you’ll typically choose to put commercial-rated tires on the Ford Transit. But the Ford Transit Connect is not typically used as a commercial vehicle, but rather a panel van used for small businesses and human transport. So do you really need to put commercial tires on your Ford Transit Connect?

You don’t need to put commercial tires on your Ford Transit Connect. If you peruse back through our complete guide here on the best tires for the Ford Transit Connect, you actually won’t see any commercial tires listed. Since it was not designed for commercial use, we don’t recommend using the Transit Connect as a commercial vehicle, and therefore we don’t suggest any commercial tires for it.

If you do decide to load up your Transit Connect with excessive weight and use it as a commercial vehicle, then we suggest looking into some commercial tires for it to account for the additional weight. To get the best suggestions on the market, we suggest taking a look at our Ford Transit Complete Tire Guide as well. We go over a couple of the best commercial tires available today in that guide, so it could help you determine what’s best for you.

Does The Ford Transit Connect Have The Same Tire Sizes As Other Transit Models?

The Ford Transit Connect is a submodel of the overarching Ford Transit, so it can be hard to differentiate between the two and keep it all straight in your mind. Which one is used for what? Are any of the parts between the two interchangeable? What’s different between them? And what about the wheels and tires, does the Ford Transit Connect have the same wheel and tire sizes as other Ford Transit models?

The Ford Transit Connect has three unique tire sizes that the regular Ford Transit does not use. In fact, the Ford Transit only comes with 16” wheels, and one of the sizes (235/65R16C) is only for commercially-used Ford Transits. As you learned in this guide, the Ford Transit Connect has models with 15” wheels, 16” wheels, and even 17” wheels. Even on the 16” wheels, the tire sizes are not the same between the two. So you won’t really want to try swapping tires between models, because they will not be the proper size!

This makes sense if you remember that the Ford Transit Connect was not designed to be used as a commercial vehicle. It’s much smaller in size than a typical Ford Transit and it’s used more to transport people than anything. That’s why the tire sizes that come on the Transit Connect are more similar to regular crossover and SUV tire sizes than a big commercial van — because that’s really what the Ford Transit Connect is!

Which Transit Connect Models Came With 17” Wheels?

All that said just above about the different models and submodels of the Ford Transit and the Ford Transit Connect might have confused you with more, so let’s try to clear it up a bit. By now you know that the Ford Transit Connect comes with 15”, 16”, and 17” wheels, but how is that broken down. Bigger wheel sizes are typically seen as a sportier option to smaller ones, so which Ford Transit Connect models come with the 17” wheels from the factory?

The 17” wheel option was only offered on the Wagon models of the Ford Transit Connect from 2014 through 2019. This includes the Wagon, Wagon 5-Passenger, Wagon 7-Passenger, and Wagon Titanium models that popped up during that time frame. Any other year and model of the Transit Connect came with either 15” or 16” wheels, with 16” wheels being the most common option.

As we alluded to above, the Wagon models of the Ford Transit Connect are typically seen as the far “sportier” models over the vans, but they have fairly similar performance and capabilities. That said, you’d be able to swap the 17” wheels from a Wagon model to a different model of the Transit Connect with no issues, the chassis and other workings are all the same. But since the Transit Connect is not really a vehicle typically used for all-out performance trials, we don’t suggest doing that without any real reason!

How Long Do Tires Last On The Ford Transit Connect?

Tires are one of the most expensive recurring costs that vehicles have. Just like how oil changes never end and your vehicle never stops needing to have its fuel tank refilled (unless it’s electric), tires will always wear out, no matter how well you take care of them. So it’s important to have an idea of how long they will last so you can start making sure you have money set aside for when they do wear out. So how long do tires last on the Ford Transit Connect?

The biggest factor in how long the tires on your Ford Transit Connect will last is of course the tire itself. An 80,000-mile tire will just about always outlast a 40,000-mile tire, all else being equal. But it also depends on the condition of your Transit Connect as well as your driving habits. That said, most of the tires we suggest in this guide will last between 50,000 and 80,000 miles or more if they’re well-maintained.

You can always get more life out of your tires by taking proper care of them. The easiest ways to do this are to ensure they’re kept at the right air pressure, getting them rotated and balanced roughly every 5,000 miles, and ensuring your Ford Transit Connect is properly aligned by having its alignment checked twice a year. If you do that for any tire, it will just come down to the tire itself, with higher-quality tires typically outlasting lower-quality tires as expected.