Let me regale you in my tire buying adventures

"Highlander-Datsuns are Forever" (jamesbowland)
09/22/2020 at 21:55 • Filed to: snow tires

Sunday evening I saw a set of what looked like nearly new Subaru Forester wheels with new snow tires on the FB market place. $850 all in. Well I looked at them today and they were at a private shop where a first generation Russian emigrant was buying totaled cars and fixing them up. He had a row of Outback’s in his yard. I examined the wheels and they had some deep gouges in the rim so he put the on the balancer and discovered two of the four rims were bent. So I walked as I wanted four wheels and tires not four tires and two wheels.

Back at the office I checked craigslist because that’s what I do on conference calls. I found some kind of no name brand wheels with tires that were off of someone’s 2013 Outback. The listing was 20 days old but I replied to the ad and the seller got back to me in 30 minutes. I bought them tonight. Apparently 17” wheels don’t clear the brake calipers of a 2020 Outback. This set was $500 and has studs for maximum noise. The Subaru is set for snowpocolyose 202/2021. They probably have tire pressure sensors too but I really don’t care.

As much as I like Blizzaks I couldn’t pass up this deal. I’d be looking at north of $700 to put new Blizzaks on my car on the existing wheels.

DISCUSSION (16)

ADDvanced > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
09/22/2020 at 22:12

I recognize that tread pattern, I ran those for years! They’re just firestone’s winter tire, and they have deeper lugs than blizzaks. Blizzaks were sort of the first mainstream ‘modern’ winter tire that handled/felt like an all season. These tires? Lol. Yeah, not so much. When they’re new you can feel the blocks of rubber squirm as you steer, very bizarre at first.

That said, in certain snow conditions, they kick the SHIT out of blizzaks. They are, however, fairly hopeless on hardpack/icey conditions, whereas other tires with microsipes will be a lot better than them. I run Michelin X-Ices now... got a set as a deal for my GF’s car, and oh man... they are awesome. Quiet. You can corner hard, they don’t even feel like snow tires, but they work awesome!

Boxer_4 > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
09/22/2020 at 22:19

Base and Premium trims still come with 17” wheels on the latest Outback (BT) . They are all 5X114.3 bolt pattern though starting with the previous gen ( BS), which I suspect is the bigger issue.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > ADDvanced
09/22/2020 at 22:20

They are for my Subaru Outback which already has an unfair advantage on shit roads. Even if I only drive thes e one season they will be worth it. I’ve gone through two sets of Blizzaks and absolutely love them, I was getting ready to buy a new set when I found these.

MM54 > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
09/22/2020 at 22:22

I had the same Winterforce tires on my crown vic. Could plow snow with the bumper. They are excellent in snow, slush, mild ice, and mud. Dry pavement is squirmy and noisy; I’d imagine studs make them more of everything previously described (probably makes them even better on ice) .

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Boxer_4
09/22/2020 at 22:23

I asked the guy about the bolt pattern and he said it was the size but you are correct the newer cars have a 5x 114 and my version has a 5x 100, and that’s why they won’t work on his new car.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > MM54
09/22/2020 at 22:26

Good to hear, Blizzaks are like driving on peanut butter when it’s warm so it shouldn’t be too different from what I’m used to.

shop-teacher > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
09/22/2020 at 22:54

I had those tires on the RallyMetro. They were INCREDIBLE in the dirt and mud! The muddy soup I rallycrosses through in that 58hp fwd open diff shit box, without ever getting stuck, was nothing short of astonishing.

VaporishPuma > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
09/22/2020 at 23:23

I’ve never driven on studded winters before. But, I did just replace my old X-Ice 2's with new X-Ice 3's, at more than $250 Canada bucks per tire... Oh well, was happy with the old ones, new ones should make me even more invincible.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > shop-teacher
09/22/2020 at 23:29

I like the positive reports I’m getting, sounds like they will work fine. Typical conditions at my house...

Kinja'd!!!

shop-teacher > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
09/22/2020 at 23:37

I think you’ll be happy with them.

VincentMalamute-Kim > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
09/22/2020 at 23:38

I’m having trouble with those wheels.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > VincentMalamute-Kim
09/22/2020 at 23:47

They are regular ugly Subaru oem wheels.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > VaporishPuma
09/22/2020 at 23:49

I’m not a fan of studs as they are very noisy on dry pavement but they do help a bit on ice. And our roads are solid ice 4 months out of the year and I’m not kidding.

VincentMalamute-Kim > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
09/23/2020 at 00:26

They look like fat spokes on one side of the hub turning into skinny spokes on the other - very asymmetric and weird.

I look again and now they look like alternating fat and skinny spokes - better.

It’s good to try new things, Subaru. But not that. I’m glad I’ve never seen those in real life.

ADDvanced > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever
09/23/2020 at 11:10

Blizzaks are my least favorite winter tire. I’ve had a lot of them, and they all had poor wear, one got a sidewall bulge the size of an egg, another had the outside edge of the tread deteriorate, another pretty much just went from new to worn out in one road trip. Not impressed. I suggest you try another brand... I like these winterforces over blizzaks, personally. They’re awesome in mashed potato snow.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > ADDvanced
09/23/2020 at 12:55

I’ve had great luck with blizzaks and since I don’t really like the noise from studs, they certainly do the job without complaint. I bet we got 20,000-25,000 miles out of the set on the Outback, and equal or greater mileage on the ones on my Mazda. There is very little dry pavement where I live in the winter so there isn’t much dry pavement driving for us. Town streets, our county road and the resort road are almost always packed snow and ice from early December through March.