Best Tires for the Jeep Compass
With so many options available on the market, it can be difficult to decide on the best new tires for your Jeep Compass. It's a complicated decision because it is based on how you drive, and your needs as a consumer. But don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Finding the right tires is easy once you figure out what you’re looking for.
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The Jeep Compass comes in several models with varying needs when it comes to tread. Perhaps you need durability, better road performance, off-road capability, or all-weather stability? No worries, there’s a tire for your Compass and we’ll help you find it.
Have an older Jeep Compass? See tire sizes for previous years.
Best Tires for the Jeep Compass Front-Wheel Drive (FWD):
- Continental Crosscontact LX25 - Best budget tire choice
- Firestone Destination LE 2 - Best mid-priced tire option
- Bridgestone Dueler H/P Sport - Best superior tire
Best Tires for the Jeep Compass Latitude / Limited 4x4:
- Yokohama Geolandar G055 - Best budget tire (OEM)
- Firestone Destination LE3 - Best mid-priced tire option
- Sumitomo HTR A/S P02 - Best superior tire choice
Best Tires for the Jeep Compass Sport:
- Michelin Premier LTX - Best budget tire option
- Kumho Crugen HT51 - Best mid-priced tire
- Goodyear Assurance All-Season - Best superior tire choice
Best Tires for the Jeep Compass Trailhawk:
- Goodyear Assurance ComfortDrive - Best budget tire
- Cooper Discoverer AT3 4S - Best mid-priced tire option
- Yokohama Geolandar A/T G015 - Best superior tire choice
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Original Equipment Compass Tires
What tires originally came with your Jeep Compass? The current-generation Compass has four wheel sizes: 16, 17, 18, and 19. The original equipment manufacturer (OEM) tires your Compass came with will depend on that wheel size and its trim level:
- The Latitude and Limited models come with 17-inch, 18-inch, or 19-inch wheels and 225/60R16, 225/55R18, or 235/45R19 tires. Original tires are Kumho Crugen Premium in 17-inch, Firestone Destination LE 2 in 17-inch, Yokohama Geolander G055 in 18-inch, Continental Contiprocontact in 19-inch, or Pirelli Scorpion Verde All Season in 19-inch.
- The Compass Sport has 16-inch wheels and tires sized at 215/65R16. Original tires are Continental Procontact LX Sport to fit.
- The Compass Trailhawk edition has 17-inch wheels and comes with Falken Wildpeak H/T HT01A tires in size 215/65R17.
Top Replacement Tire Brands for Jeep Compass We are recommending three tire options for each of the four wheel sizes for the Jeep Compass. Our recommendations are based on budget, with the lowest-cost coming first, a mid-priced option with a little more value next, and the Daddy Warbucks, price-doesn’t-matter version for those who simply want the best.
All of these tires have ratings of four-stars or higher based on consumer surveys:
16-inch Tires for Jeep Compass
- Budget: Michelin Premier LTX - These tires have a long tread life, good eco-performance for fuel economy, and are all-season tread.
- Moderately Priced: Kumho Crugen HT51 - These are all-season highway tires with an excellent tread life and high consumer praise. They are also snow service rated.
- Cost-No-Object: Goodyear Assurance All-Season - These tires have good tread life, excellent all-season ratings, and are moderately good off-road.
17-inch Tires for the Compass
- Budget: Kumho Crugen Premium - These tires are actually original equipment on some Compass models. They offer moderate tread life, good all-season performance, and touring comfort.
- Moderately Priced: Yokohama Avid Ascend GT - These are all-season touring tires focused on road comfort and long tread life.
- Cost-No-Object: Michelin Premier A/S - These all-season tires have strong tread life, good fuel economy performance, and high consumer ratings.
18- inch Tires for Jeep Compass
- Budget: Riken Raptor VR - These tires are new-to-market in this size, but offer excellent customer ratings and long tread life for the price.
- Moderately Priced: Firestone Destination LE3. - These mid-priced tires are strong on tread life and all-season performance.
- Cost-No-Object: Goodyear Assurance WeatherReady - These are highly consumer-recommended tires with very long tread life and good all-around performance in a variety of situations.
19-inch Tires for Compass
- Budget: Kumho Crugen HP71 - These tires off good tread life and all-season touring comfort.
- Moderately Priced: Michelin Premier LTX - With good tread life and well-rated all-season performance, the Premier LTX from Michelin also offers fuel economy savings.
- Cost-No-Object: Continental Procontact GX SSR - These grand touring tires come in a run-flat option, which we recommend. They offer good tread life and excellent all-around performance no matter the season or terrain.
When Should You Replace Tires?
Tires are replaced when either time or mileage (use) catches up with them. On the Jeep Compass, given the average mileage a person drives per year, that usage is more likely to be the deciding factor. Yet tires that sit or see little use also fade out with time as their chemicals change.
On average, the original equipment tires that come with the current-generation Jeep Compass are rated for about 40,000 miles or so. For most drivers, that means replacement comes at about the three year mark of ownership.
But how do you know? The life of a tire can be predicted by its Uniform Tire Quality Grade (UTQG) rating. These are supplied by tire manufacturers for each of their products and are voluntary, so some tires may not have a rating. This is especially true of trail-rated or all-terrain tires as well as some truck tires. For the Compass, however, most tires offered will have a UTQG rating. This rating also includes other information and comes in the form of three digits plus two (sometimes three) letters. This rating is usually on the sales information for the tire.
You can glean a bit of info about the tires by reading this rating:
- 100 - The three numbers given (starting at 100) are the durability rating of the tire. This is as the tire compares to a control tire with a tread life of 100. Tires are run around a 640-kilometer course for a total of 11,520 km. After every 1,280 km, tread depth is measured. At the end of the course, the average tread depth wear for each measurement is used to project an expected mileage longevity for the tire. The higher the number, the longer the predicted treadlife.
- A - This is the Traction rating of a tire, which indicates how well a tire stops in wet conditions. The highest letter grade is AA, followed by A, B and C.
- A - The second letter in the UTQG is the Temperature rating, which indicates how well a tire holds up to extreme heat. A is the highest, followed by B and C.
As a real-world example for your Jeep Compass, our recommended high-end Continental Procontact GX SSR tire in 235/45R19 has a UTQG rating of 500 A A. This means the tire should be good for about 50,000 miles of use and has excellent stopping and temperature ratings.
Time is the other enemy of tire life. Every tire has a raised date code on its sidewall, as required by the U.S. government. This sequence of numbers begins with the letters DOT followed by three four-digit groups. The first two groups give information on the tire’s chemical makeup and place of manufacture. The third number gives the date of manufacture. This date is given as a week (first two digits) and a year (second two digits).
For example, if your tire’s date code is 3217, that indicates the tire was manufactured in the 37th week of 2017, or some time between September 11 and 17th that year.
Tires have a shelf life of about five years. Once they’ve become five years old, they cannot be sold and should be replaced. The chemicals that make up the rubber in today’s modern tires help them resist the effects of UV rays, temperature fluctuations, and other environmental hazards. Over time, these compounds break down and no longer provide this resistance, making the tire vulnerable.
Why Not Replace with Original Equipment Tires?
There is nothing wrong with the OEM tires that came with your Jeep. We’ve even recommended one or two in our tire choice lists for the Compass. The tires that came with your Jeep Compass, however, may not necessarily be the best tires for how you use your vehicle. You may, for example, drive in more extreme weather, put longer highway miles on your Compass, or go off-road more often than most with your Jeep. In those and other cases, the compromise, middle-road OEM option might not fit your needs well.
When Jeep chose the tires for your Compass, they chose OEM product based on pricing, their relationship with the manufacturer, and what would be the best “average use” scenario for the vehicle. Often, fuel economy considerations also become forefront issues for original equipment choices.
Again, those original tires might fit your needs fine and replacing with the same is a no-brainer. Often times, however, that’s not the case.
Changing Jeep Compass Tire Sizes
Sometimes, changing the tire size or wheel diameter is important. It could be for aesthetics, for better tire options, or to make swapping winter tires easier. Whatever the reasons, there is one rule of thumb to follow when changing wheel diameter or tire size: always keep the overall diameter the same. The total diameter of the wheel and tire determines not only things like your speedometer reading and speed, but also affects handling, gear shifting, and other metrics for the vehicle.
How to Read Tire Sizes
Tire sizes are universal and are relatively easy to read. Most tires have their size printed prominently on the sidewall for easy reference. Those numbers may not make sense upon a first look, but they do once you understand the “code” behind them.
Using the Jeep Compass’ 225/55R18 95H standard size, we can learn that:
- 225 - indicates the width of the tire from one sidewall to the other in millimeters. This tire is 225 millimeters wide
- 55 - indicates the aspect ratio, or sidewall height, as a percentage of the tire’s width. In this case, it’s 55 percent or of the tire’s width or 123.75mm.
- R - means radial tires. Radials are the most common type of automotive tire and have fabric woven in at various angles with tread that is strengthened with additional layers of rubber.
- 18 - is the wheel that the tire fits with.
- 95 - is the tire’s load rating, which can be determined from a chart using this number.
- H - is the tire’s speed rating. Again, this is determined from a chart. These H-rated tires have a maximum top speed of 130 mph.
If you look at the various tire and wheel sizes available on unaltered Jeep Compass models, you’ll see that they retain the same overall diameter as measured by their wheel size and tire sidewall aspects.
There are, in general, four broad types of tires available on the market for road-legal vehicles. The Compass has options for all four:
- Touring and All-season tires - provide a smooth ride, good wet and dry traction, decent winter traction, and longer tread life. These tires are acceptable for winter use but can’t be expected to provide the traction and stopping power that a dedicated winter tire can.
- Performance tires - are focused on providing confident handling, better wet and dry traction, and a sporty feel. Their higher grip and speed ratings come with a tradeoff of shortened tread life and reduced ride quality.
- All-terrain tires - are built to maximize off-road traction and provide good durability overall. Their construction means more noise and less comfort on the road, but winter traction and tread wear is acceptable.
- Winter and snow tires - are made with special rubber compounds that maintain grip and pliability when temperatures drop. They are also built with special tread patterns to maximize the vehicle’s ability to start and stop on very slippery roads.
See our recommendations for the Best Extended Warranty for your Jeep Compass
Tire Sizes By Year
| Year | Trim | Size |
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Jeep Compass Tire FAQ
- What size tires does a Jeep Compass take?
That depends on the trim level you purchased. A Jeep Compass Latitude or Limited could come with anything from a 16-inch to a 19-inch wheel.
- What is the best Compass tire pressure?
Inside the driver’s door of the Jeep Compass is a yellow and white sticker with tire pressure ratings listed for your Compass’ tires. These are the recommended pressures to use. They usually fall between 32 and 35 psi. Note that the tire pressure rating on the sidewall of a tire is not the recommended pressure but is the maximum pressure the tire should not exceed.
- How often should I rotate my Jeep Compass’ tires?
Rotating tires is more about the tire than it is about the car. Typical rotation intervals fall between the 5,000 and 7,000-mile range. Most Compass owners rotate their tires at every oil change interval to keep things simple. It’s always a good idea to rotate and rebalance tires. It’s never a good idea to neglect this important maintenance.
- What is the best Compass tire change kit?
Your Jeep should have come equipped with a compact spare tire and changing tools in the cargo area. This means it came with everything you need to physically change the tire. You may want to carry an extra roadside emergency kit with an upgraded lug wrench, jumper cables, and emergency markers just in case, though, to make life simpler if an emergency does happen.
