Cars are expensive enough, so it’s a joy to cut costs when replacing the tires. Douglas tires are an affordable option—but does affordable just mean cheap? In this Douglas tires review, we aim to determine if these tires are the deal of the century or some deadbeat rubber roadkill you don’t want near your vehicle.
Here’s the bottom line: Douglas tires have a ton of value for their low price. They perform well, and their only issue appears to be their tread-life which is shorter than average. An extremely careful driver could make the tread-life longer.
If you’re in a hurry, check out Douglas tires here.
Douglas Tires Under Review
There are tons of Douglas tire models on the market, but there are two main tire types: all-season and performance.
The types are incredibly similar, which is fair, and there’s not too much variance between the models from what we’ve seen. In our review, we’ll compile customer feedback across all models.
Douglas All-Season Tires Review
All-season tires need to work on dry, wet, and icy roads. We’re going straight to the customers first; then, we’ll check out what kind of warranty the tires have. We’ll use these criteria to determine if we recommend them or not.
Dry Performance
These are some inexpensive tires—for this price, many customers don’t expect decent performance whatsoever. Despite that, the manufacturers included center-line notches, circumferential blades, and grooves to try and create traction that works in all conditions, all the time.
At first glance, this seems to work. Users say the tires grip the road well and don’t impact the quality of the car’s handling at all. This is a positive for them, although they don’t have great things to say. They use tame adjectives, and the praise isn’t overwhelming.
Customers describe the handling as “good” and say the tires “handle well,” but there are no claims of “greatness,” and one customer says they’re “good but not the best.”
All in all, these are adequate tires on dry roads, don’t feel terrible to handle at all, and appear to have very few negatives. Though we will say that one customer felt the handling on sharp corners could be better—drive with caution and low speeds.
Wet Performance
Customers have varied opinions on how the tires do in the rain. A few feel they could grip better, but no customers believe they’re dangerous or outright unpleasant. Again, feedback mostly feels like the tires are “good” rather than great in the rain, leaving room for improvement.
Although their performance and grip could be improved in the rain, one positive is that they still handle well, and users found them comfortable. Users report little to no difference between wet and dry road handling, which is a major plus for this set of tires. It proves they’re at least all-weather tires—but what about all-season?
Winter Performance
Over on the winter side of things, again, there’s more positive feedback than negative. We’ll warn you of the latter first: the tires lose pressure on snow and do not work as well as they do in the rain and on dry roads.
In 40,000 miles, one user says the tires were “never great” in the snow. This user lives in a snowy area, so knows what they’re talking about. They had some strange experiences with these tires, where one day they’d work wonderfully in six inches of snow. The next day they’d barely work, with a zero-traction feeling to them.
The user feels that the tires would be “just fine” in a less snowy area, though—and the positives of other users’ experiences agree. Most customers say the tires work well in snow but don’t specify how much snow. They also feel it’s a smooth ride and felt safe using the tires in snow as well as on ice.
Our consensus is that if you live in a heavily snowy area, you should look elsewhere for tires, based on the inconsistency of Douglas. But what if you live in a location with modest snowfall in winter? Go for it if Douglas is the only brand you can afford.
That said, we’d be wary of these tires on black ice as they may have great traction, but they don’t exactly have the grippiest rubber in the world. If black ice is a common issue where you live, we’d steer clear there, too.
Comfort and Noise
From what we can tell, every customer who commented on the tire’s comfort said they were quiet and smooth. Could this be because the tires don’t have larger, knobby tread that provides extra grip on the road? Maybe. But we see it as a positive.
Given that cheaper tires can sometimes feel rough and bump, we’d say the smoothness and silence are definitely a win for the Douglas. The sensation and sound remained constant regardless of weather and season, too, another huge pro.
Users even report that the smoothness stays while cornering—although you should still be extra careful cornering with these tires, based on other customers’ experiences.
With all that in mind, as far as we’re aware, this level of comfort and noise remains for the tire’s entire lifespan. We can’t be certain, though—you may hear slightly more noise as the treadwear runs down, based on feedback on the Douglas Performance tires.
Tread-Life
Again, most users found the tread-life adequate. They feel the tires are made of good American rubber, which provides sufficient tread and tread-life for the price.
About a third of users had less positive experiences from what we’ve seen, and mostly the complaints are about the lifespan. One customer said the tires lasted two years and went 20k miles before wearing down completely. The same person complained of a slow leak and a need to refill the tire every few weeks.
We feel that’s a user error—if your tire is leaking, it’s the tire’s fault, not the brand’s. You need to replace that tire.
Most users who experienced a similar tread-life didn’t have the leaking issue. However, they complained that the tread-life was only 15,000–26,000 miles. The variance likely comes from their driving style—and their disagreement with users with better experiences probably does, too.
A handful of users got 60,000 miles out of them, but they’re in the minority. The rest of the users experienced no issues with the tread-life but got nothing that wonderful. They felt they were below average, sure, and many thought they wouldn’t outlive their treadwear warranty—but they felt that was worth it for the price.
If you think about it, they’re not wrong. Say the tires last 40,000 miles across four years, and the tires cost 60 dollars each—that’s 300 dollars for five tires, every four years. Jump up to a premium brand’s all-season at around 170 dollars per tire (research-based example.) Let’s say they have a 60,000 in six years—that’s 885 dollars every six years.
We say that if the tires last four years and 40,000 miles, even if they don’t outlive their warranty, it’s a pretty good deal.
Warranty
Speaking of warranty, it’s 45,000 miles. That’s not bad, but several “inexpensive” brands have a treadwear warranty of about 50,000 miles. More premium brands usually have one of 60,000 and beyond.
We don’t feel the 45,000 miles is bad in any way, and users don’t have much to say about it. Based on customer experience, we think it’s a reasonable warranty but agree that the tires may not outlast it.
Value
Based on the calculations above, the warranty, and the performance, we determine these tires are of excellent value. From what we’ve seen, most customers agree and are very happy with what they got.
Many customers are surprised at the value the tires provide at this price. They expected something worse, more along the lines of “you get what you pay for.”
Would the customers compare the tires to a more premium or even a pricer budget brand? Absolutely not. But for people who do day-to-day driving and nothing fancy or off-road, the customers find these tires work.
Some customers found the tires even more valuable than others, mainly the customers who reached 60,000 miles and beyond.
Would We Recommend?
We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend these tires as an all-season tire in areas lacking heavy snowfall. Of course, there are several tires we’d recommend before them, like Falken and Lionhart—but for someone on an extreme budget? Sure.
Who Are Douglas Tires Best For?
We feel that Douglas tires are best for anyone who can’t shell out more than 60 dollars per tire. Maybe this is people in poverty-stricken areas; perhaps it’s people who have their first, cheap little car that needs a new set of tires. Regardless of the cause, we’d recommend these to people who need budget tires and budget tires only.
Realistically, tires of this price and quality will never beat a more premium brand, which we feel safer recommending to those that can afford it.
We also recommend that you upgrade your tires to a better brand, like Bridgestone or Michelin, as soon as you can afford it.
Douglas Performance Tires Review
To be fair in our review of the brand overall, let’s touch on Douglas’s performance tires. So far, Douglas only provides all-season and performance tires, so it’s easy to see if Douglas’s quality holds up across all tire types.
The performance tires are slightly pricer but not by much. Is that extra prince bump worth it, though?
Dry Performance
With performance tires, it’s all about the superior handling for those fancy cars. As far as handling goes with Douglas’s performance models, there’s practically no negative feedback.
Some customers describe the handling as “perfect” and others as “great” with the occasional “excellent” thrown in. Compared to the regular all-season tires, there are very few plain “they handle well” statements. It seems like the performance part is holding up.
Alongside the handling, people praise the traction and mostly call it “good” with a small selection of “great”s thrown in. People appear more impressed by the handling than the traction, but there are very few complaints.
The only complaints say the opposite of everyone else, essentially that there’s zero traction. Perhaps it was a faulty model or even a faulty driver.
Wet Performance
Performance in the rain holds up, too. Users say the handling doesn’t change, and Douglas performance tires feel as smooth on wet roads as they do on dry tarmac.
Even better, the traction doesn’t appear to change either. Customers call it great; some call it good, although, like with all tires, there are some negative experiences.
One user said the tires are bad in the rain, plus they wore out much sooner than expected. As this contradicts everyone else, we’re assuming it’s a user error.
Winter Performance
Though not called “all-season” specifically, Douglas performance tires are all-season, too—it’s just not their main selling point. For this reason, we’d expect them to function well in snow, and they don’t disappoint.
Are they the best? Absolutely not, but they remain wonderful to handle, with adequate traction. The worst thing people say about them is that they work “moderately/pretty well”—one customer comment among, yet again, many “good” and “great” statements.
Even the customers who were less than overly impressed note that the tires function well for the price. Although one user found that in an extra snowy area, the tread wore out much sooner than expected.
Comfort and Noise
Comfort is where the tires really excel. There are no negative comments to be found. Users feel the tires are smooth and quiet, and some prefer these tires to other brands they’ve tried.
As for noise, customers also comment that the tires are quiet. Of course, you’ll still have a small amount of noise from any tire but nothing extreme. They don’t growl, they don’t thud, and if they do, then perhaps you have tires from a bad batch, or you’re driving too harshly.
If noise creeps in later in their life, that’s to be expected. Customers state that the noise level increases as the tread wears down. Around the 50 percent worn mark, the tires reach their loudest and stay that way until replaced.
Luckily users don’t feel the tires lose any of their smoothness, traction, or superior handling as they age. Well, at least no more than you’d expect an aging tire’s performance to decrease.
Treadlife
Customers compliment the tread, liking both the pattern and performance. Many enjoyed the tread’s aggressive look, which they feel adds to its performance in snow. They were quite impressed by how aggressive the pattern was compared to the road noise—they expected much more sound.
Unfortunately, the aggressive tread pattern doesn’t add extra life. Like the regular Douglas all-season tires, the average lifespan is about 40,000–45,000 miles. A handful of users found they failed at around 34,000 or below, but perhaps they drive more aggressively than those who got the tires’ full worth.
Warranty
With a warranty of 45,000 miles, you’re still getting below what a premium can offer, but the tires live up to the warranty. This makes the performance tires slightly better than the regular all-season. If you recall, customers felt the regular all-season tires wouldn’t outlive the warranty.
The superior quality of the performance tires is desirable and something you may want to consider.
Value
Customers praise the value with no negative feedback, and we’re inclined to agree. We’d argue that the superior feel and the more reliable tread-life is definitely worth the extra few dollars you’ll spend on Douglas performance tires.
At most, it’s a 10-dollar price increase between regular all-season and performance all-season models. The traction and function in various weathers are the same, so you’re really just paying for a few extra miles and a smoother ride—definitely worth the money.
Would We Recommend Them?
Once again, we’d recommend Douglas tires. In fact, we’d recommend Douglas performance tires above the all-season ones. Yes, they’re pricier, but the most important thing is value, which they pack right in.
Like the all-season tires, we wouldn’t recommend them if you live in an excessively snowy area. They’re not winter tires, and you should always use real winter tires if you live in a snowy, icy area. We recommend at least springing for a premium brand for winter.
But for the rest of the year, if you really can’t afford anything more, then Douglas tires are perfectly adequate, not dangerous, and won’t decrease the quality of your car.
Douglas Tires Review: Consensus
People see 50–60 dollars for a tire and think, “wow, those will suck.” Douglas tires don’t suck.
They’ll never be the best—not even close. But for the price, Douglas tires pack in a ton of value and will last longer and perform better for more adept drivers. Treat them well, care for them, don’t drive recklessly, and you’ll get a good 40,000–60,000 miles out of Douglas, hopefully.
We wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Douglas to people on an extreme budget. They don’t make drivers feel unsafe; they’re not an unpleasant ride. All in all, they did far better than we expected when we first heard of these extreme budget tires.
