Forester: Tire questions

[Niels]

4 questions about the tires on a Subaru Forester; mine happens to be a 2004
XT.

1) How fast can you drive with the full-size spare tire?
2) How many miles have Forester owners been getting out of their initial
set of tires?
3) Any opinions on replacing only 2 tires at once, vs. all 4 at once?
The manual says that all 4 should be replaced at the same time.
4) What are Forester owners preferences for replacement tires?

Niels

 

[Edward Hayes]

Q1: My 2000 Forester has a full size,same brand spare so I go as fast as I
want. Q2. Original tires= 22,000 miles. Q3. Tire circumference should not
exceed 1/4 inch, so if two if remaining have like nearly new tread depth.
Q4. I'm running Michelin Xone but there are many other good ones which
you'll hear about. ed

 

[Woody]

4 questions about the tires on a Subaru Forester; mine happens to be a 2004
XT.

1) How fast can you drive with the full-size spare tire?
2) How many miles have Forester owners been getting out of their initial
set of tires?
3) Any opinions on replacing only 2 tires at once, vs. all 4 at once?
The manual says that all 4 should be replaced at the same time.
4) What are Forester owners preferences for replacement tires?

Niels

1. Same as with the original 4 tires.
2. On our '98 Forester we got a very disappointing 18K on the original
Croak-ohama tires. And the snow traction sucked. Remains to be seen if
the Croak-ohama tires on our new '04 are any better. I am not
optimistic.
3. You should replace 4 at a time unless some are almost new (hence
diameters are all the same).
4. Anything but Croak-ohama's.


Woody; 95FXDS

 

[Niels]

Thanks guys!

#1) Nice to know that I can still drive on the PA Turnpike & other fast
roads.
#2 & #4) I'm past that point now, and I NEVER have been impressed by the
Yokohama tires. (With respect to Subaru, any car that I have owned, came
with horrible tires.) Time to research new tires, just to be prepared; one
is patched after eating a bolt.
#3) Argh! Time to keep a close eye on the tire wear.

Niels

 

[Cixcos]

My 2002 Forester S came with the 16" Yokohama Geolandars. They lasted
for 32K miles, which here in Puerto Rico is exceptional given the road
conditions. One thing I notice, this being my first "AWD" is that the
tires wear down very evenly. Usually on FWD cars, the fronts wear out
fast while the rears last much longer. I've since installed Cooper
Lifeliner Touring LE tires. I like the ride and the handling, but I like
best the 620 threadware rating. Let's see how much they last.

Ben

 

[y_p_w]

Thanks guys!

#1) Nice to know that I can still drive on the PA Turnpike & other fast
roads.
#2 & #4) I'm past that point now, and I NEVER have been impressed by the
Yokohama tires. (With respect to Subaru, any car that I have owned, came
with horrible tires.) Time to research new tires, just to be prepared; one
is patched after eating a bolt.
#3) Argh! Time to keep a close eye on the tire wear.

I've never made assumptions about a tire based on brand name. Yokohama
makes all kinds of tires. Some wear poorly, while others wear quite
well. Some have better performance than others. I wouldn't assume that
the performance you experience with OEM Yokos will translate to their
aftermarket offerings.

 

[Henry Paul]

I had a set of Geolander A/T on my old jeep 235x70x15 worn bald in 17,000
miles.

 

[Edward Hayes]

My 2000 Forester with original Geolander H/Ts went 22,000 miles. A great
tire for our dry/hot and rainy days in Fl but, somewhat short lived. I think
Yokohama tires are a very good tire for the money but, as with most
manufactures you must pick the model tire to match your driving and driving
skills. ed

 

[Henry Paul]

That's the thing about it though. I never did any off-roading. Those were
all highway miles. I wonder if they are designed to be that way for extra
traction at the price of accelerated wear?

 

[David Coggins]

My Forester 2000 GT went 65,000Km (about 40,000m) on Aussie roads with the
original Geolanders, which I was quite happy with. The spare was a full size
Geolander on a steel rim, so I bought 3 more and used the original spare as
the fourth. I don't do much off-road, mostly high speed highway with the
usual shopping runs.

Generally, sticky tyres get that way because they are a softer compound, so
naturally you leave more rubber on the road.
I don't know if Geolanders in the US are different to Aussie ones though?

Dave

 

[Niels]

I looked at the tread on one of the back tires. At best, I have another
1500 mi of wear left, which translates to nearly 20,000 mi for the original
Geolanders on my XT. But I don't think that I should push it that far. Too
much squealing, even taking turns at moderate speeds. Winter in NJ is no
where near as bad as those of you in NE & the Great Lakes region, but still.

There are not as many choices as I would have liked, but the one that got
good reviews on www.tirerack.com, was the Continental 'ContiExtreme
Contact'.

 

[Hallraker]

I've never made assumptions about a tire based on brand name. Yokohama
makes all kinds of tires. Some wear poorly, while others wear quite
well. Some have better performance than others. I wouldn't assume that
the performance you experience with OEM Yokos will translate to their
aftermarket offerings.

I was pretty impressed with the performance of my Yokohama YK420 tires.
Most OEM tires are a compromise between cost and performance, leaning at
least a little toward the lower cost end. Keep that in mind and you'll be
alright.

-Matt

 

[Hallraker]

That's the thing about it though. I never did any off-roading. Those were
all highway miles. I wonder if they are designed to be that way for extra
traction at the price of accelerated wear?

I believe that's how it works. I'm not a tire expert, but I do know that
there are different rubber compounds used, and the type and combination are
going to influence your tread life and traction. Personally, I'd rather run
a tire with tons of traction and very low tread life, while most people out
there would gladly buy a tire with a 100,000 mile tread life - even if it
caused the vehicle to handle as if it was on ice.

-Matt

 

[Henry Paul]

I would have to agree. I am leaning towards wanting more grip on the road
and compromising a little on the longevity.

 

[David]

Personally, I'd rather run
a tire with tons of traction and very low tread life,

While tire design is all about compromise and trade offs, traction
vs durability isn't always a direct trade-off. Some tires do both
well, some do neither.

In case you can't tell the traction isn't great when they squeel too easily
on corners (that also suggests the treadlife may be short), check the
sidewalls. The B traction rating on the stock Geolanders indicates
sub-optimal wet braking. Wet braking is something I'd like my tires
to do well.

Mine have lasted OK for 18000 miles so far. The tread isn't anywhere
near worn out anyway. Little chunks are breaking off the tread blocks,
more so than I've seen from tires in the past.

 

[Niels]

I also agree. Looking at my 1989 Toyotal Camry, I got 51 000 mi on
Firestone Firehawks, and 19 000 mi on Goodyear Aquatred II's. The former
were noisy & didn't handle well, while the later got me through the 3 foot
blizzard of 1996.

It seems there 6 characteristics to look at when buying tires. In my
personal order of preference:

1) Wet handling,
2) Dry handling,
3) Snow handling,
4) Tread life,
5) Ride comfort, and
6) Price.

And we all have to balance those factors. But are there any that I missed?

 

[Andrew Webber]

Q3. Tire circumference should not
exceed 1/4 inch, so if two if remaining have like nearly new
tread depth.

On my 91 Explorer I've tried to get 5-tire rotation every time
(sometimes I forget to ask). I've done this to get a little more life
(I figure they will last a little longer since each tire gets a rest
20% of the time).

I'm also thinking that if I did four-tire rotations always, if I had
to put on the spare after a few years, its circumference would be more
than the others by more than 1/4 inch and therefore not good.

Is this true?

And (since I'm replacing the Explorer and a Forester is high on my
list) would the same be true in this case? My Explorer has five
identical steel wheels but I don't know about the Forester (sometimes
spares seem to be steel no matter what the others are).

Thanks!


andrew [(e-mail address removed)]

 

[Edward Hayes]

My 2000 Forester has 4 aluminum on the ground and a steel same tire spare.
Somewhere ~ 1/2 life I exchanged spare tire to ground replacing the most
worn ground tire. ed

 

[Andrew Webber]

My 2000 Forester has 4 aluminum on the ground and a steel same tire spare.
Somewhere ~ 1/2 life I exchanged spare tire to ground replacing the most
worn ground tire. ed

Thanks!


andrew [(e-mail address removed)]

 

[thestick]

That's the same order I'd put my preferences. So what are you driving on
now?
I've got 33k on my Geolanders and am beginning to look for replacements.