Forester Tire Suggestions

"Tripper" (tripe46) 12/20/2019 at 10:36 • Filed to: None

0

33

My wife’s forester is about to tag 4ok miles, and the shit tires it came with are ok on dry roads but have seriously degraded in the rain performance department. I wanted to replace them with all terrains, but the only ones that fit the stock wheels are an Continental that I have never heard of.

Then I’m like, “do I throw on a set of Blizzaks and get her new wheels and tires for the summer?”

or

“Do I get new wheels now that will fit a set of the KO2s that I really want for it”

or

Other suggestions?

I want to get something on before we leave on Tuesday.

EDIT: 2017 Forester 2.5i 6mt on the most basic wheels 17x7" stock tire size is 225/60R17

Textured Soy Protein > Tripper 12/20/2019 at 10:43

0

Um, what’s the year/trim of said Forester. Or, the tire size?

Tripper > Textured Soy Protein 12/20/2019 at 10:46

0

Right lol, 2017 Forester 2.5i 6mt on the most basic wheels 17x7" stock tire size is 225/60R17  

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Tripper 12/20/2019 at 10:47

0

I hate to be the barer of bad news but some high quality all season M&S rated tires is really all that is needed. I don’t think AT tires would be good for fuel economy, noise and wear. 

Wacko > Tripper 12/20/2019 at 10:48

0

General grabber AT2

Had some on my SX4 and if I go AT on my forester, it will be General Grabbers too

facw > Tripper 12/20/2019 at 10:56

1

I suggest having tires!

MKULTRA1982(ConCrustyBrick) > Wacko 12/20/2019 at 11:05

0

I can vouch for these specific tires or wear over time, but both sets of General Tire tires I have purchased have been excellent, especially for the price point 

Wacko > MKULTRA1982(ConCrustyBrick) 12/20/2019 at 11:12

0

and not too much road noise.

Textured Soy Protein > Tripper 12/20/2019 at 11:18

3

If you just want good plain old regular tires with above average winter capability, General Altimax RT43. It’s what I tell everybody to put on their non-enthusiast cars in places that have winter.

There are also an increasing number of all-season tires with the mountain snowflake stamp for severe snow duty rating, many of which come in your size: Michelin CrossClimate+, Goodyear Assurance WeatherReady, Firestone WeatherGrip and Vredstein Quatrac 5. 

Ash78, voting early and often > Tripper 12/20/2019 at 11:22

1

If she’s getting 40k miles on a set of tires, that’s probably a good chunk of highway driving. I’m not sure I’d buy A/T tires unless you’re trying to send a message of hatred :)

My favorite all-around tire at a reasonable price was the Continental ExtremeContact DWS.

After years of Michelin, Pirelli, Bridgestone, Continental and Falken, the only two brands that never let me down were Bridgestone and Continental.

OPPOsaurus WRX > Tripper 12/20/2019 at 11:25

1

I spent a bunch of money on ATs on my old Sport Trac because they looked cool. I know recognize that waste of money, especially since the truck didn’ t really see ‘all terrains’ but mostly pavement with the rare dirty hoonage. Cater the wheels to the actually driving conditions, not the fantasy. Maybe you (wife) do go offroading a lot. I would say if you are concerned about performance, get winters for winter/dirt hoonage and summers for summer.

i’m ot really up on my tires, but I thought Continentals were supposed to be in the upper side of the tire world.

Tripper > Ash78, voting early and often 12/20/2019 at 11:31

0

I didn’t mind the AT’s on the Ranger. MPG suffered but they weren’t noisy

Tripper > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 12/20/2019 at 11:33

0

Fuel econ for sure. However I had KO2s on the ranger and they weren’t any louder than the all seasons I pulled off.

It does not look like any really fit well on the stock wheels at stock ride height, so that will probably keep me to a normal tire.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Tripper 12/20/2019 at 11:37

0

Given where you live I’d go for the Blizzaks and get some good all seasons in the spring. Both me and my wife got sideways coming back to the house last night and we both have Blizzaks on our cars. If we didn’t have snow tires we would have been  getting our cars towed out of a snow bank 30 minutes apart.

Tripper > Textured Soy Protein 12/20/2019 at 11:46

0

The price is right on those Generals! However those Michelin’s are super well reviewed and have a neat gimmicky pattern! Guess I will have to see what the cost is at the local place

Tripper > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 12/20/2019 at 11:49

0

Dedicated sets is def the best way, however its also the most expensive and this car is never that fun to drive so I wouldn’t go for anything cool on the summer set.

So summer set or these?

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?message=singleSize&tireMake=Michelin&tireModel=CrossClimate%2B&partnum=26VR7CCPXL&autoMake=Subaru&autoYear=2017&autoModel=Forester&autoModClar=2.5i

Boxer_4 > Tripper 12/20/2019 at 11:51

2

I’ve had my Crosstrek 2 months and am looking forward to justifying ditching the stock Geolandars.

Continental TerrainContacts seem to be ok, but winter performance is only acceptable based on reviews. They aren’t 3PMS rated, either.

Falken Wildpeak A/T Trails are A/T tires more geared for crossovers. They are fairly new and are getting good initial reviews, but I haven’t seen hard numbers yet.

Bridgestone Blizzaks are awesome! I ran WS80s on my old Forester. I can’t quite justify a set of WS90s or other snow tires for the Crosstrek due to the amount of snow we see around here, which makes me a bit sad.

Continental True Contact Tours are pretty good all seasons that I’ve run on several cars. DWSs would likely be even better (not sure about snow) but I don’t believe they’re available in that size.

I’ll likely end up with all-seasons again as much as I would like to put some light A/Ts on it.

Tripper > Boxer_4 12/20/2019 at 11:56

1

Yeah those geolanders are butt city, the final straw was my wife saying that she was sliding around a lot in the rain. I thought “If she’s sliding, that is really bad”

I’ve always run blizzaks for my cars that needed a winter set except for once (yokohama iceGuard/Trash).

I’m leaning toward https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?message=singleSize&tireMake=Michelin&tireModel=CrossClimate%2B&partnum=26VR7CCPXL&autoMake=Subaru&autoYear=2017&autoModel=Forester&autoModClar=2.5i

Boxer_4 > Tripper 12/20/2019 at 12:04

1

I’ll be curious how those perform if you go that route. I ran a set of the old Michelin Hydoedges years ago and they were great in the rain. Those weren’t good in snow, but these CrossClimate +s seem to be getting good reviews in all conditions.

HammerheadFistpunch > Tripper 12/20/2019 at 12:04

1

Falken Wildpeak AT3w 215/65/17

.4 inches taller, .4 inches narrower

I can’t imagine they would rub and they are great ATs for so much less than ko2

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Falken-Wildpeak-AT3W-215-65R17-Tire/720172241

Mountain snowflake rated and 20(!)/32nd tread depth.  plus an actual treadlife warranty, unlike the ko2

Michael > Tripper 12/20/2019 at 12:08

1

Whatever these are

Tripper > HammerheadFistpunch 12/20/2019 at 12:27

0

Dayum those look  awesome

HammerheadFistpunch > Tripper 12/20/2019 at 13:03

0

I’ve got them on the cruiser and I like them alot.  Quiet, great in all terrains (except mud where they aren’t great)

HammerheadFistpunch > Tripper 12/20/2019 at 13:07

0

The only downsides would be that they are 35% heavier per tire than OE

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Tripper 12/20/2019 at 13:15

0

A buddy just picked up a new Forester and put on K02's that are a size up from factory. Don’t know anything about yours specifically or if that works for you.

We put pirelli scorpion all terrain plus’s on my girlfriend’s RAV4, which are snow rated and have been excellent so far.

Just ordered Cooper discoverer at3's for my R-class. They're in the same vein as K02's and those scorpions. We'll see how they do, but I've had excellent experience with older iterations of the discoverer.

Tripper > HammerheadFistpunch 12/20/2019 at 13:53

0

ooof yea that is rough considering 170 hp haha. I will probably end up with a set those new “snowflake” tires

JustAnotherG6 > HammerheadFistpunch 12/20/2019 at 14:19

0

As a side note: Discount tire has them for the same price. And I’ve been seriously considering these for our Routan.

HammerheadFistpunch > JustAnotherG6 12/20/2019 at 14:32

1

Im getting a set for the GX.  So far they’re the best all rounders Ive run

gettingoldercarguy > Tripper 12/20/2019 at 15:51

0

I put Vredesteins on my wife’s car to bypass having to swap out winter/summer tires and love them

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Vredestein&tireModel=Quatrac+5

Tripper > Textured Soy Protein 12/20/2019 at 16:33

0

Went with the cross climate +. The guy said a lot of those new tires are back ordered, however I lucked out. They go on Monday plus an alignment.

Tripper > Boxer_4 12/20/2019 at 16:34

1

CrossClimate+ s go on Monday. I’ll let ya know.

The Snowman > Tripper 12/20/2019 at 16:38

0

Look at the weight of whatever you decide on, a heavy wheel tire combo on 4cyl Subarus is very noticeable in the acceleration department...

dieseldub > Tripper 12/21/2019 at 12:46

0

Were those Continentals Terraincontact A/Ts? If so, get them.

Put a set on my Touareg V10, they are fan-fuckingtastic. Great grip, surprisingly quiet and comfortable ride. Not like KO2s where you’re likely to get a LT rated super stiff sidewall tire that’ll jackhammer the ride. Great in the rain, too.

dieseldub > dieseldub 12/21/2019 at 12:49

0

Kind of funny, I was put off of Continentals for years because of their ubiquitous ProContact line that gets put on a lot of cars as OEM. I was never super impressed with them, but some of their more recent PUREcontact offerings and these Terraincontact A/Ts have brought me to reconsider.

Good stuff all around.