My '99 OB needs crampons.

[Harman]

I'm a new owner (1 month) and I was hoping for "crampon like" traction
on the snow packed roads today but I was severly let down. My back
end slipped around corners, the front tires started spinning, and the
braking was a little spooky. The car has 30K miles on the original
XW4s that are in reasonable shape and I've been driving in the snow
for 20ish years.

Are these tires really that bad?

Todd

 

[Diva]

I'll let you know as soon as we get our first snowfall. I drove through the winter with the Bridgestone Potenza All-seasons, and they absolutely and positively SUCKED! I just bought Michelin Arctic Alpins and will have them on by this weekend. As soon as the snow hits, I'll post.

June

I'm a new owner (1 month) and I was hoping for "crampon like" traction
on the snow packed roads today but I was severly let down. My back
end slipped around corners, the front tires started spinning, and the
braking was a little spooky. The car has 30K miles on the original
XW4s that are in reasonable shape and I've been driving in the snow
for 20ish years.

Are these tires really that bad?

Todd

 

[Stu Hedith]

If you are looking for traction, you need snow tires. it doesn't make
much difference if you have 2 or 4 tires turning if they are all slipping.

Stu

 

[Edward Arata]

I don't know about your original XW4s but my '02 WRX wagon came with stock
Bridgestone Potenza All-seasons and they are some of the worst tires! So
Subaru has a reputation of putting crappy stock tires on their cars.
(example: the new Mitsu Evo is rated much higher than the stock WRX in
lateral grip, YEAH no kidding, the Evo comes with stock Summer ONLY sticky
tires, the WRX comes with all season crap tires) Makes you wonder if you
are supposed to take the evo to the snow! Anyway, enough with the mitsu
bashing.

The Bridgestone Potenza All-seasons sucked in corners on dry (folded over if
pushed too hard), the rear end stepped out in icy corners, and I spun all 4
from a stop on snow. But if you weren't doing over 45 on ice they were
predictable, and now with 22k miles on them they are starting to let lose
nicely for 4 wheel powerslides. Destroying tires is great.

The point being, don't expect much from the stock Suby tires. If you want
winter traction buy a nice set of winter tires, if you want summer traction
by a nice set of those. That's my two cents.

Ed

 

[Harman]

It looks like I'll be calling my local Nokian distributor for a price
on a set of their all weather WR tires.

Does anyone have anything good to say about the XWRs?

Todd

 

[Mike Deskevich]

I'm a new owner (1 month) and I was hoping for "crampon like" traction
on the snow packed roads today but I was severly let down. My back
end slipped around corners, the front tires started spinning, and the
braking was a little spooky. The car has 30K miles on the original
XW4s that are in reasonable shape and I've been driving in the snow
for 20ish years.

Are these tires really that bad?

Todd

subaru's (as well as most other car companies) oem tires absolutely
suck. that's one place where the car makers can cut costs and people
really don't notice until it's too late. if you want dedicated winter
tires, look at the bridgestone blizzak, i have the winter dueler
(truck version of the blizzak) on my 4runner and it's great. if
you're looking for all season tires, i recommend the goodyear eagle
hp. i have them on my legacy and they performed great last winter.
one day i was driving home before the plows got out and i was going
down the highway at 50mph using the bumper as a plow and had no issues
at all.

mike

 

[GTT]

OE tires suck?
Hmm, I haven't had that experience with Subie OE tires. I had a blowout
and to get a matching new tire, I'm spending $145.00, installed. That is
not
a cheap tire, and I've priced tires in the discount places here. I can buy
Michelins/Goodyears, etc. for $124 or so. I"m still leery of any tire with
the
word "stone" in the name, even though "the problem" was probably Ford's.

But I rarely drive tires beyond 30K miles unless they are exceptional and
the car is very light and easy on the tires. I have always liked good
brakes
and great tires for security. 30K miles and they slip, what's to ask?
Buy new ones!

 

[ismlv]

I have a 99 SUS Ltd. that came with the standard XWRs on it and I have
nothing but praise for those tires. Got 62K miles out of them before I
put my second set on a few months back. The dealer was going to use
something else and I demanded the XWRs even though they cost more.
When I mentioned to the dealer how much I liked these tires he
mentioned that was one of very few "really good" stock sets they put
on. He said generally they use cheaper tires with softer rubber that
wears out faster but with proper alignment and careful monitoring of
air pressure, they've seen many people get 45 - 50K + miles on their
stock XWRs.