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Best Tires for the Toyota Starlet

Toyota Starlet drivers have left 19 tire reviews on Tire Reviews, covering 331,412 miles of real world driving. Every tire they rated is ranked below, so you can see what actually works on this car. The numbers include 4 Starlet variants, listed further down.

  • 19owner reviews
  • 331,412 milescovered on them
  • 16different tires rated
  • 72%average tire score
Most fitted size - 4 reviews 195/50 R15 To scale, mm
Ø 576 195 98 15" 98 All 195/50 R15 data →

The quick answer

The quick answer - Toyota Starlet
Season Owners' pick Owner rating Our category test
Summer Toyo T1R 7.6 Current version: Toyo Proxes T1 Sport+ 57% from 3 reviews Best Summer Tires

Highest weighted owner score from Toyota Starlet drivers. Full rankings and the evidence behind them below.

The best rated tires for the Toyota Starlet

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

Summer tires

The highest rated tire in the Summer category for the Toyota Starlet is the Toyo T1R - 57% from 3 owner reviews across 38,000 miles. The current tire in that line is now the Toyo Proxes T1 Sport+.

Summer tires ranked by Toyota Starlet owner rating
# Tire Owner rating Reviews Distance reviewed TR Score
1 Toyo T1R Replaced by Toyo Proxes T1 Sport+ 57% 3 38,000 miles 7.6

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

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

The best rated tires that fit the Toyota Starlet

The rankings above can only speak for tires a Toyota Starlet driver has already reviewed. These are the highest rated tires we hold that are actually manufactured in the sizes these drivers run - 195/50 R15, 185/55 R14 and 165/70 R13 - 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 tire.

Summer tires

Our highest rated tire in the Summer category, in this car's sizes, is the Falken ZIEX ZE320, at 9.4 out of 10.

Highest rated Summer tires made in Toyota Starlet sizes
# Tire TR Score Made in Toyota Starlet reviews
1 Falken ZIEX ZE320 9.4 195/50 R15 Be the first →
2 Nokian Hakka Blue 3 9.1 195/50 R15 Be the first →
3 Kumho Ecsta HS52 9 195/50 R15 Be the first →
4 Uniroyal RainExpert 8.9 All your sizes Be the first →
5 Nokian WetProof 8.9 195/50 R15 Be the first →
6 Michelin Primacy 4 8.8 195/50 R15 Be the first →

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

All Weather tires

No Toyota Starlet driver has reviewed a tire in the All Weather category yet. Of the ones made in this car's sizes, the Vredestein Quatrac is our highest rated, at 9.5 out of 10.

Highest rated All Weather tires made in Toyota Starlet sizes
# Tire TR Score Made in Toyota Starlet reviews
1 Vredestein Quatrac 9.5 195/50 R15 Be the first →

Want test data as well as owner opinion? Best All Weather Tires →

All Season tires

No Toyota Starlet driver has reviewed a tire in the All Season category yet. Of the ones made in this car's sizes, the BFGoodrich Advantage All Season is our highest rated, at 9.5 out of 10.

Highest rated All Season tires made in Toyota Starlet sizes
# Tire TR Score Made in Toyota Starlet reviews
1 BFGoodrich Advantage All Season 9.5 195/50 R15 Be the first →
2 Michelin CrossClimate+ 9.4 195/50 R15 1
3 Kleber Quadraxer 3 9.4 195/50 R15 Be the first →
4 GT Radial ClimateActive 9.1 195/50 R15 Be the first →
5 Falken Euroall Season AS220 9.1 195/50 R15 Be the first →
6 Laufenn G Fit 4S 9 195/50 R15 Be the first →

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

Winter tires

No Toyota Starlet driver has reviewed a tire in the Winter category yet. Of the ones made in this car's sizes, the Kumho WinterCraft WP52+ is our highest rated, at 9.3 out of 10.

Highest rated Winter tires made in Toyota Starlet sizes
# Tire TR Score Made in Toyota Starlet reviews
1 Kumho WinterCraft WP52+ 9.3 All your sizes Be the first →
2 Vredestein Wintrac 9.3 195/50 R15 Be the first →
3 Continental WinterContact TS 870 9.2 195/50 R15 Be the first →
4 Goodyear UltraGrip Performance+ 9.2 195/50 R15 Be the first →
5 Hankook Winter i cept RS2 9 195/50 R15, 185/55 R14 Be the first →
6 Bridgestone Blizzak LM005 8.9 195/50 R15 Be the first →

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

Fitment comes from each tire'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.

Every tire reviewed on the Toyota Starlet

The complete record, including discontinued tires and tires with too few reviews to rank, ordered by the amount of evidence. A further 14 tires have a single review each; they count toward the totals but are not listed.

All tires reviewed by Toyota Starlet drivers
Tire Season Owner rating Reviews Distance reviewed
Toyo T1R Replaced by Toyo Proxes T1 Sport+ Summer 57% 3 38,000 miles
Yokohama S Drive Summer 74% 2 56,069 miles

Tire sizes Toyota Starlet drivers run

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

Toyota Starlet variants, reviewed separately

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

What Toyota Starlet drivers say

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

81%
Michelin CrossClimate+ 185-60-14- Toyota Starlet 1997 1,133 miles April 5, 2022
When fresh mounted the steering felt extremely light and a little seeking, but that disappeared within 2 weeks. Comford and noise is excellent, extremely quiet compared to my former Vredestein and Uniroyal summer tires, as if you're driving on a cotton road. Grip on dry and wet is as expected, very good. I really have to toss around the car to feel some understeer. Both wet and dry straight braking also very good. In the Netherlands we haven't had a lot of snow and ice yet this winter, but in light freezing temperatures at night both dry and wet grip was overwhelming much better then on any summer tire I've driven in my life. Hence the reason to choose all-season this time. I can't say much about wear and tear, but over 1100 miles done mainly on city roads and there's still no visual wear. My driving style is mainly easy but I know how to race too. Thanks to TireReviews I choose the CrossClimate because in the test these had the best dry summer performance of all tested all-season tires and in the Netherlands we don't have a lot of winter. The real summer still has to come and I can't wait to find out how they perform.
76%
Yokohama S Drive 185-55-14- Toyota Starlet 1996 31,069 miles May 12, 2021
make: Toyota Starlet 1.3 primo 16V 1998. Driving style: Rather medium to fast. Driving Roads: Highways but also bad country roads. First tire 1998-2003: michelin 175/60/13 did not last though soft. second tire: Michelin energy saver plus: liitle better but sides also soft. change to 185/55R14 with s.drive.I found my health. Reasons: a) My starlet is all mechanichal (No hydraylic steering, no ABS,no TCS). This tire helped me cause has the tension to oversteer if the turn angle begins to close a liitle bit further. b) Feeling the steering wheel and the tires enough simultaneously (at dry and wet also) is something i like. I want to feel the car not the automatic controls at any speed.The comfort is something i had to forget cause of Cayaba's front and rear, but i had confidence in open angle turns with high speed. This tire though is really great at summer not the winter times. After 2 years it start slippping and spinning at glassy roads though it is hard stuff but i have a heavy foot too.going to the country with open windows i liked the tire sound couse i heard the little stones going through the tire lines and sometimes i stopped and cleared them before the highway. i rebought 2011-2016 and 2016-2021. 4.5 to 5 years 15000km a year approximatly. One mysterious phenomenon. Although the valves were good and Rims were good, the tire Sides after 4.5 years (Greece-too hot country) the tire loosing air from the Rim sticking (is tubeless remember), so i oblidged to change them. The great disadvantage is the snow. Although you can drive them at snow if you are an artist of driving theese does not stop at all if braking at snow. but they had the tollerance at ice not to crack also at hard roads and hard parking......i liked them but i feel they are too expensive now.
73%
Falken Eurowinter HS435 145-80-13-T Toyota Starlet 2,000 miles November 19, 2020
I wear the falken eurowinter hs435 on a Toyota Starlet EP70 1.3 for second year and I have to say that they are very decent tires, but not the best that I had worn.
37%
Toyo T1R 190-50-15-W Toyota Starlet GT Turbo 1,000 miles February 23, 2018
Well... i had a set of these tires fitted on the front of my 200hp FWD car and at first was slightly unimpressed at the levels of dry grip... then one day it rained.

The oxford English dictionary does not contain a single word to describe how bad this devil spawn of a tire performs when faced with any type of moisture. I had as much control as my 3 yr old nephews RC car on our laminate kitchen floor.

Turning the steering wheel on any kind of wet roundabout resulted in certain under steer whereby my car would just carry on in a straight line, comparable to your Xbox controller batteries running out mid corner online on forza motorsport.

I had these on for 1 month and removed them, straight line acceleration had my front wheels spinning more than an autistic kids fidget spinner throughout the whole of the 2017 craze.

Id buy them again if held at gunpoint to do so, and would highly recommend them to my ex girlfriend.
86%
Extreme Performance VR1 195-50-15- Toyota Starlet January 12, 2018
Using on starlet for racing only, i was shocked about the performance ,very grippy feel better than toyo r1r on dry.
Wet grip also very good.

I highly recommand the Extreme Vr1 tire.

I want to try the Extreme vr2 model , heard grippriet ,like glue on track.

Cheers
10%
Yokohama BluEarth AE50 205-45-16- Toyota Starlet Glanza V 10 miles December 10, 2016
the worst tires I ever use. after 10000km they melt and I don't drive aggressive. I will never use again this brand even for free
90%
Falken Sincera SN832 Ecorun 165-70-13-T Toyota Starlet 5,000 miles July 13, 2015
Very happy with these tires. I bought them on special offer for £140 for all four wheels. I've had them for about 8 months - I don't do a big mileage but have probably done 5000 or so miles on them. Grip is great and they feel just as good as more expensive tires I've had in the past.
59%
Barum Brillantis 2 185-55-14-V Toyota Starlet Glanza V 10,000 miles December 29, 2013
Decided to scrimp on tires again last year, as my motoring interests lay elsewhere. The tires were recommended by the garage, read a couple of reviews and they seemed ok. Got a set fitted, they were cheap.

The dry grip on these tires is good, they had a lot of feedback in the dry and could confidently corner at speed. The wear on them is excellent as well, I would note however that they do squeal a bit on some surfaces. Got some funny looks cornering sharply as they were squealing, for what would seem like not that sharp a corner. Now, on to the wet...

I felt these tires were ok in the wet at first, but have now decided they are pretty dangerous if you are travelling at any speed. They lose grip quickly and you will find yourself understeering towards the kerb. I learned to just deal with this and playfully slide the car about but it's not ideal, I would like to be able to drive properly in the wet with proper tires.

I have ran Barum Bravuris before and they seem about on par with these, if a little better in the wet. I will be replacing these with Uniroyal Rainsport 3's this week and keeping these tires for track days, dry track days. Plenty of tread left on them.
83%
Vredestein Sportrac 3 195-50-15-V Toyota Starlet Glanza V 5,000 miles November 16, 2013
This is a pretty good tire, and would recommend it to all the people who drive normal/sportive. Very safe tire in wet. I now run 8000 km with it on my (starlet glanza V) and the profile is now 3.5mm at the front and 5.6mm at the back. And now put the front to the back. And now considering to buy 2 new Bridgestone potenza re002 because the side wall of the vredestein is not stiff enough when you are doing quick cornering. Long corner grip is superb.
84%
Uniroyal RainSport 2 195-50-15-V Toyota Starlet Glanza V 7,500 miles November 29, 2011
Very good tires. Original tires when imported had good grip in dry but incredibly hard compound making them poor in the wet. The Uniroyals were a major increase in performance.

- Huge amounts of grip be it wet or dry, very little aquaplaning even on relatively deep standing water.
- very progressive give at top end,and grip recovered quickly when you dropped some speed.
- very informative about road condition, surface quality and bumps.
had incredibly even wearing compared to other tires i've used, especially for the length of time they lasted.
- VERY deep treads. can handle the occasional need to travel off track with ease

couple of downers;
- slight delay in steering feel at speed, but partly down to the tall, wide profile compared to the wheel (6.5J)
- can get a little noisy at speed because they pick up imperfections so well.

currently ordering my 3rd set and planning on fitting to the rest of the family vehicles with them when needed

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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 tire, 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 Tire Reviews Score rates each tire 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 Tire Reviews test is run by Jonathan Benson, who has been testing tires independently since 2007.

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