Toyo Tyres Review & Buying Guide 2023

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The only thing that separates you from the ground, tyres are the most important consumable part on your vehicle, and the safest thing you can do for your car is ensure the tyres are of a good brand, have enough tread depth and are properly inflated.

There are a lot of tyre brands out there - some good, some not so good, and in this article we’re going to go through a very popular manufacturer making some decent tyres. I’m a mechanic who has fitted tyres to vehicles for over ten years. In that time I’ve fitted some of the best and some of the worst tyres you could think of.

If you’re looking to put Toyo tyres on your vehicle in 2023, we’ve done a full review of Toyo tyres and presented you with all the data you’ll need to make an informed decision about whether Toyo tyres are suitable and safe for your car.

Who are Toyo?

Toyo Tyres are a Japanese company founded in 1945. Initially confined to the Japanese domestic market, they began exporting to the USA in the mid-1960s. As of 2023, Toyo tyres distributes into every major market in the world.

If you want to read more about Toyo’s products and innovation in the industry, you can read more at their website.

Our picks for the best Toyo Tyres

The exact Toyo tyre you go for obviously depends on your vehicle and your wheel size, but we’ve picked out some of the most popular and best performing Toyo tyres on the market compared to other brands.

You can purchase any of these tyres through Amazon, where you can have them fitted yourself, or for peace of mind you can purchase them through our tyre partner ProTyre. ProTyre have over 160 locations across the UK and 8 out of 10 customers would recommend them to a friend.

If Toyo tyres are not available at any of our partners, we recommend Nexen or Falken tyres as equivalents.

How do Toyo tyres perform?

Handling and safety

In the dry

We’ll look at a few specific tyres in this section, mainly the popular summer touring tyres that Toyo makes, the Proxes Comfort and the Proxes TR-1.

Toyo tyres are praised for their low rolling resistance and good dry braking. For example, the 2023 Tyre Reviews Summer Tyre test ranked the Toyo Proxes Comfort 9th of 13 tyres and commented on the safety and performance of this tyre in the dry.

This is one of the most popular Toyo tyres out there, and the dry performance is decent but obviously not as good as a premium brand such as Pirelli or Bridgestone.

In the wet

Frequent comments about Toyo tyres suggest they’re not great in the wet, with a tendency to aquaplane and a lack of steering feedback in the wet.

For example, when looking again at the Toyo Proxes Comfort series of tyres, the 2023 ADAC Summer Tyre Test ranked it 14th of 50 tyres and commented on the tyre’s weakness on wet roads, and the 2023 Tyre Reviews Summer Tyre Test made specific mention to the extended wet braking and poor wet handling of these tyres.

This seems to be a common theme across the range of Toyo Tyres, which also affects the rest of the Proxes range and the Nanoenergy range.   

In the snow

Toyo makes an all-season range called Snowprox, although they are a little bit more difficult to find in the UK.

Unfortunately these aren’t very well regarded by a number of industry publications, including Auto Bild, who in 2021 ranked the Snowprox S954 11th out of 14 tyres and remarked on the tyre’s poor snow grip, and significant understeer in the ice and the wet.

Despite this it seems the tyres do well with deep, fluffy snow - so depending on the kind of winter weather you get in your area, this may be one to look at.

Wear and longevity

This is where we seem to get mixed results depending on the kind of driving you do. Toyo make a good tyre, and in some instances you may find the tyre can last up to 25,000 - 30,000 miles. However, as we mentioned this is entirely down to the kind of driving you do and additionally what type of car you have.

Your mileage is going to vary here, so I would suggest if you do a lot of motorway driving these are probably going to last you well, but if you’re doing town driving you might not get your money’s worth out of them.

I’ve heard a few reports of cracking within a few years - even when the tread is only half worn, so be aware of this, as these might not be the best tyres for you if you leave your vehicle standing for long periods of time. If you’re only using your car to pop to the shops once per week I would avoid Toyo tyres as you may have problems with perishing or cracking.

Ride comfort

Toyo seems to do well here. This is why Toyo are a good choice for anyone doing a lot of motorway driving, or even if they are just looking for a comfortable tyre to drive around town (despite concerns about poor wear and tear in this instance.) Toyo Proxes Comfort and TR-1 tyres seem to have good reviews for ride comfort, so if this is important to you, you should consider purchasing a Toyo Tyre.

Cost

Toyo tyres are mid-range tyres. You will pay more for them than you would for cheaper brands like Landsail, but you will pay less than you would for say, the equivalent Michelin or Bridgestone.

In order to give you a rough idea of what it might cost you to fit Toyo tyres to your car, we have picked some common makes and models of car and calculated what it’ll cost you to put the most appropriate Toyo tyre onto your vehicle, as well as a full set of 4 if you need to replace them all.

We’ve used a variety of industry sources for this information, including BlackCircles, ProTyre and Asda tyres. These prices are correct at the time of writing but may have changed by the time you read this.

Road noise

Toyo seems not to excel or disappoint in this area - road noise seems to be very standard without cause for complaint, but without any real praise either. Obviously it’s not just your tyres that contribute to cabin noise - your car has a lot to do with this as well, but there’s not much to say here – Toyo tyres seem to put out a reasonable amount of noise - not too much that it’s distracting, but certainly not the quietest tyre I’ve ever used.

Are Toyo Tyres a premium brand?

Toyo tyres are a mid-range brand. Generally when buying tyres you have budget brands like Landsail and Hifly, mid-range brands such as Falken or Avon (or Toyo) and premium brands such as Pirelli and Michelin. Of course, in general, you can expect better performance from the premium tyre brands and poorer performance from the budget and mid-range tyre brands. However, it’s likely that despite not being a premium brand, a Toyo tyre will be perfectly suitable for your vehicle depending on the use case.

How long do Toyo Tyres last?

There have been reports of Toyo tyres lasting up to 30,000 miles in some cases, and having terminal damage at as little as 15,000 miles in other cases. It depends entirely on the car you have, your driving style, the type of driving you do and how well you maintain your tyres - for example if you consistently keep your tyres under-inflated, they won’t last as long as tyres that were kept at the right pressures. Toyo tyres don’t seem to wear any significantly worse or better than any other mid-range brand like Nexen.

What’s the best month to buy tyres?

The best time to buy tyres is when you need them. In the UK we don’t tend to switch out to winter tyres in October and switch back to summer tyres in March like they do in some countries, so there’s no real need to be concerned as to when is the best time of year to put new tyres on your car. Put new tyres on when your old ones are worn out - which is when the tread is below 3mm.

How often should I rotate my Toyo Tyres?

Toyo’s warranty suggests rotating your tyres every 7,500 miles to ensure the best performance and wear from your tyres. This involves jacking the vehicle up and swapping the front nearside with the rear nearside, and the front offside with the near offside. Never mix sides - once a tyre is on one side of your car, it needs to stay there.

Where can I buy Toyo tyres?

Toyo tyres are widely available at most garages across the UK. We would recommend you purchase them from ProTyre as they will fit, balance and dispose of your old tyres for free. There’s also a huge range of other brands available if Toyo tyres are not what you’re looking for.

Alternatively you can order them on Amazon and have them fitted by a trusted fitter or fit them yourself.

Summary

And there we have it - everything you need to know about Toyo tyres.

We've written about a number of tyre manufacturers, so if you're comparing tyres, you should check out some of the following reviews.