which tires to buy for my Forester

[rhebner]

Last year I bought a '99 Forester and the tires need replacing.

I put a lot of miles on it and almost all of it is city driving.
Currently have Bridgestone 215/60R16 S rating
I have a set of winter tires which go on early December and come off
late March

The fellow at the local tire store is recommending a Cooper tire, but
I've never bought that brand. I'm not looking to spend a lot and I'm
not too worried about the speed rating on the tire.

Any recommendations?

thanks,
r.

 

[Catherine Jefferson]

Last year I bought a '99 Forester and the tires need replacing.

Check. Last year my husband and I bought a '99 Forester, and we
replaced the tires at that time. (One of the tires was defective.)

I put a lot of miles on it and almost all of it is city driving.

You have *got* to get that car offroad. We've taken ours over some jeep
trails that would have stretched the capabilities of an average Hummer.
They're great cars.

Currently have Bridgestone 215/60R16 S rating
I have a set of winter tires which go on early December and come off
late March

Roughly where do you live? That should have a significant bearing on
what types of tires you buy.

The fellow at the local tire store is recommending a Cooper tire, but
I've never bought that brand. I'm not looking to spend a lot and I'm
not too worried about the speed rating on the tire.

Any recommendations?

We are using Michelins, but our driving profile is different from yours.
We live outside of Los Angeles, so our winter driving over snow and
ice is currently restricted to trips into the mountains. Otherwise, we
drive on pavement (occasionally wet pavement; we do get some rain here)
or on dirt roads. We've had a good fifteen months experience with
Michelin Harmony tires, but they might be a bit pricey for you.

My only experience with Cooper tires was on a friend's car twenty years
ago. They were inexpensive bias-ply (not radial) and would have been
completely unsuited to a Forester or any AWD vehicle, even for street
driving. Before you buy them (or any tire), be sure that they're
radials with a decent tread that are suited to the vehicle.

I'll let others pipe up with suggestions for inexpensive 3-season tires
for mostly street driving.

 

[DK]

Last year I bought a '99 Forester and the tires need replacing.

I put a lot of miles on it and almost all of it is city driving.
Currently have Bridgestone 215/60R16 S rating
I have a set of winter tires which go on early December and come off
late March

The fellow at the local tire store is recommending a Cooper tire, but
I've never bought that brand. I'm not looking to spend a lot and I'm
not too worried about the speed rating on the tire.

Any recommendations?

Put Goodyear Assurance TripleTred on wife's Forester a year ago.
By far the best tires I've ever purchased! Great, great all-season
tires. Excellent on wet roads, very good on snow. It's also highest
rated tire available for Forester on TireRack.com.

Alas, they are not made in small enough sizes for my old Impreza
so I had to settle with Michelin Harmony - which are also pretty
good (but seem to wear out faster than I was hoping for).

DK

 

[Brad]

Last year I bought a '99 Forester and the tires need replacing.

I put a lot of miles on it and almost all of it is city driving.
Currently have Bridgestone 215/60R16 S rating
I have a set of winter tires which go on early December and come off
late March

The fellow at the local tire store is recommending a Cooper tire, but
I've never bought that brand. I'm not looking to spend a lot and I'm
not too worried about the speed rating on the tire.

Any recommendations?

thanks,
r.

You will like the Cooper tire, I have the Lifeliner SLE T rated on one
of my cars and will be putting a set of the CS4's on my Outback soon.
The SLE is the best waring, riding tire I have ever owned.

 

[Tony Hwang]

Last year I bought a '99 Forester and the tires need replacing.

I put a lot of miles on it and almost all of it is city driving.
Currently have Bridgestone 215/60R16 S rating
I have a set of winter tires which go on early December and come off
late March

The fellow at the local tire store is recommending a Cooper tire, but
I've never bought that brand. I'm not looking to spend a lot and I'm
not too worried about the speed rating on the tire.

Any recommendations?

thanks,
r.

Hi,
Michelin X.

 

[phillystyle]

My experience with the Tripletreds is the same as dk's. They are by fa
the best tires I'ever owned. I drive a Baja with 130,000 miles on the
and this is my 2nd set (one set had to be replaced after a car accident).
They're great on any road conditions, resist hydroplaning and are great o
wear. They even come with free tire rotation & a roadside assistanc
package at a competitive price. I also recommend Tirerack.com. Goo
prices, good customer service and they'll deliver to your home or the sho
you pick to install your tires

 

[rhebner]

Roughly where do you live? That should have a significant bearing on

what types of tires you buy.

I live in Ottawa Ontario. 99% of all the driving I do is on pavement,
only occasionally do I drive on gravel.

 

[Tony Hwang]

I live in Ottawa Ontario. 99% of all the driving I do is on pavement,
only occasionally do I drive on gravel.

Hi,
I live in Calgary. Believe me, go to Costco, get a set of Michelin X.
Good on wet surface, long wearing tire. Costco has life time free
rotation, flat repair, winter/summer switch over service. Also they
fill tires with Nitrogen.

 

[Catherine Jefferson]

My experience with the Tripletreds is the same as dk's. They are by far
the best tires I'ever owned. I drive a Baja with 130,000 miles on them
and this is my 2nd set (one set had to be replaced after a car accident).

<snip, but read>

I'll add a vote for these tires. I had them on my previous Subaru, a
1998 Outback Sport that had roughly the same mileage on it as this Baja.
They're good tires, on and off road.

But the best I've had are the Michelin Harmony tires we now have.