Longevity of tires

[P T]

I've bought a new Forester last August. I've seen some posts here
disparaging the tires. I'm pretty undemanding, so they work fine for me.
OTOH, I'm troubled by reports of them wearing out in 30,000 or fewer
miles.

On my former new cars I've gotten ~50,000 (Altima) to ~60,000 (Saturn,
Mazda 323) miles on the original rubber. This got me wondering about the
effect of climate.

I'm in Minnesota. The temperature is cool or cold six months of the
years, so the rubber should be harder and wear longer. Furthermore,
traction is marginal for about three months, so there should be less
friction and less tire wear.

Does anyone have any experience on tire wear in different climates?

 

[etienne]

PT,

I have a 2001 Forester. I was able to get almost 50,000miles on the
original factory tires. It really depends on more on driving style,
wheel alignment, tire pressures, etc....

 

[etienne]

PT,

Oops, forgot to mention, I live in Texas.

Etienne

 

[jabario]

Varies with car and tires.

1994 Isuzu Trooper w/ bridgestone 684 duelers . Tires lasted 30k and
were downright dangerous by the end. Replaced with Michelin LTX m/s
which lasted 60k with decent traction till the end

2004 Subaru Outback wagon w/ Bridgestone potenzas. currently have
41,500 miles and tires seem okay. Thought I had to replace them as they
were awful in the rain until I lowered psi to 32 all around. Had at 36
after reading that in this group but I would avoid that except maybe in
dry sumer weather. They will be replaced this summer as I wont want to
go through another winter on them. I expect to get about 50k out of
them

 

[Marcus]

98 Forester UK 2L non-turbo 66K miles, driven pretty hard, came with OEM
Bridgestone Duellers, lasted about 26K Miles, changed them for Yokohama
Geolander II, lasted about 30K Mile.

Have now fitted Kumho Roadventure AT tyres which are have a high wear
rating, time will tell !!.

 

[Tony Burns]

Yep, just got rid of my Forester Yokohama Geolander 900's after 33,000
kms (18,000 miles) Pieces of shit from day one, replaced them with
Yokohama CRIVE the replacement for A539's. Completely different tyres
with positive braking and cornering characteristics.

HTH

 

[Greg]

Got 30K out of first 2 sets on my 02 Impreza and 28K out of first set on my
04 OBW. I live in the mountains in California (or as Arnold says
"Cal-le-forn-ya").

 

[Cixcos]

I replaced the Geolandars in my 02 Forester at 32K miles. I put in
Cooper Lifeliner Touring SLE tires with 620 treadwear rating (the
Geolandars were 230 or so). The new tires have almost 20K with no signs
of wear and very nice performance. I'm in Puerto Rico, and the roads
here are tough on tires.

Ben

 

[Hal Whelply]

Everybody says they're pieces of shit. Nobody says why. So what's wrong with
them?

HW

 

[Edward Hayes]

My 2000 Forester came with Geolander H/T and were gone at 22,000 miles
here in SW Fl. I think they were very good wet/dry tires but, with
tread wear rating of only 260 and the "shell" roads I drive on did
them in. I think they are good tires and replaced with Yokohama
touring tires with at tread wear rating of I think 560.

 

[Rat]

Everybody says they're pieces of shit. Nobody says why. So what's wrong with
them?

HW

I wouldn't say they are complete pieces of shit, just OEM on the wrong
car. As long as you stay within their limits they do fine.

Poor traction on dry pavement, weak sidewall flexes too much in
cornering, wear unevenly, and they don't last very long. Definitely not
good for spirited driving.

Not a bad tire for a casual driver, but tires that compromise so much
dry traction should not be original equipment on a 240hp vehicle built
on a sports orienteed platform. These would be fine on a CRV or any
other 90hp cute-ute.

 

[Tony Burns]

How's the handling in the wet?

I replaced the Geolandars in my 02 Forester at 32K miles. I put in
Cooper Lifeliner Touring SLE tires with 620 treadwear rating (the
Geolandars were 230 or so). The new tires have almost 20K with no signs
of wear and very nice performance. I'm in Puerto Rico, and the roads
here are tough on tires.

Ben

 

[H]

the Geolandars are terrible, any halfway sudden stop and the anti-skid has
to kick in, since I replaced mine at 17000km with Goodyear Triple Treads,
the antiskid has never kicked in... and I've pushed them. I drive logging
roads and typical west coast wet highways all the time. the Geolandars are a
major compromise. What gives anyway, poor treadwear coupled with poor
traction and feel. These vehicles do not need a "small-truck" tire. They
need passenger car tires.

 

[Tony Burns]

Actually I was asking how the Cooper tyers are performing. I have a
friend who put them on his Liberty and said they were terrible in the
wet.

HTH

 

[jabario]

i wish there were some good light truck tires in 225/60-16. The
outback would be more suited for light off roading with them

 

[Deb]

2002 OBW LLBean, 53K miles, still have original Potenzas on there, but
I think they should be replaced soon.