Tire Question

My new 2015 Subaru Outback (2.5i Premium)came with Bridgestone Dueler oem tires. Size is: 225/65-17

I want to replace them with a "better" rated tire for snow/ice here in New England conditions, but several I am looking at do not come in "65," only "60".

Is this difference meaningful ? Why ?

Potential problems possibly if I get a 60 spec. tire ?

And,

Anyone ever use Nokian tires ? Are they some "off-brand," or...?

Certainly don't see them ever advertised, and Tire Rack does not even offer them.

Any thoughts on ?

Thanks, B.

Reply to
Bob
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From theoretical calculations: Changing from 235/65R17 to

215/60R17 will give 4.8 % less circumference. (The speedo will show 4.8 % more at the same speed) 225/60R17 will give 3.1 % less circumference. 215/70R17 will give 1.2 % increased circumference. (The speedo will show 1.2 % less at the same speed) All these should fit the same rims and should not cause any problems. Up to +/-5 % circumference change from the originals is OK where I live. Narrower tires are considered advantageous in snow... Nokians are among the very best winter tires here, but as for all tires, the properties depend on where they are made and for what market.

Asbjorn from Norway

"Bob" skrev i nyhetsmeldingen: m8hit0$ot2$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me ...

My new 2015 Subaru Outback (2.5i Premium)came with Bridgestone Dueler oem tires. Size is: 225/65-17

I want to replace them with a "better" rated tire for snow/ice here in New England conditions, but several I am looking at do not come in "65," only "60".

Is this difference meaningful ? Why ?

Potential problems possibly if I get a 60 spec. tire ?

And,

Anyone ever use Nokian tires ? Are they some "off-brand," or...?

Certainly don't see them ever advertised, and Tire Rack does not even offer them.

Any thoughts on ?

Thanks, B.

Reply to
Asbjorn

You could go to a 235/60. 1.4% difference in diameter / speedo error. Assuming there is no problem with fender/suspension clearance (very unlikely on a Soob)

Reply to
clare

I'd say yes, the 60 would be 3.2% smaller than the 65 in diameter, which would put your speedometer off by a similar percentage. When your speedometer is reading 60 mph, you will only actually be going about

58.1 mph.

A much closer match would be a 235/60-17, which is off by only 1.4% smaller than than the 225/65's. At 60 mph, you will actually be doing

59.2 mph, not that far off.

Alternatively, you can go smaller and 215/70-17, which would be only

1.4% larger than the 225/65's. At 60 mph, you will actually be doing 60.8 mph, again not far off.

Speedometer reading wrong speed, and odometer getting progressively wronger.

No, they aren't some "off-brand", they are one of the world's highest respected winter tires. They come from Finland. The company, Nokian, was once part of the same corporation as the Nokia cellphone maker.

I had them on my old 2000 Outback, but not their winter tires, their all-weather tires which were better than most all-season tires in the winter.

Tirerack doesn't specialize in winter tires.

Yousuf Khan

Reply to
Yousuf Khan

Actually, they were not crap, they just fell WAY behind. Nokian Hakkepelita ice and snow tires were THE STANDARD for winter rallying back when I was in competition. Fantastic traction. For ice racing the Metzler "blue" had a narrow edge, but there was nothing, studded or not, that could go whe a "hak" couldn't. Nokian has the only permanent winter tire testing facility in the world.

Nokia is a city in Finland. Nokian means "from Nokia" Bridgestone is the major minority shareholder in Nokian at the moment.

Reply to
clare

AN advantage to the smaller 70 series is they will "cut through" sloppy wet snow to pavement better than the wide "toboggans" - which can mean the difference between getting stopped and not getting stopped with antilock brakes under some conditions. The wider tires are marginally better on hardpack and ice.

Reply to
clare

Hello,

Just a quick thanks for all the info. and help on this. Appreciate it.

Bob

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Reply to
Bob

You're welcome Bob.

Yousuf Khan

Reply to
Yousuf Khan

Hmm, an interesting perspective. I have actually started noticing that. My big 255/55-18 tires are doing a splendid job in brand new snow and freezing rain. But now as that snow and freezing rain are turning sloppy, I'm having to be very careful with these same tires.

Yousuf Khan

Reply to
Yousuf Khan

It's like driving on 4 flying saucers

Reply to
clare

I have an 04 Forester and have tried Godyear Ultragrip (good, not great), Michelin X-Ice (Excellent on ice, suck in snow/slush) and BF Goodrich KSI winter slalom (absolutely the best I have had yet in all categories - slush-ice-dry snow-wet snow-dry pavement, and they wear like iron). My 3rd season with them and I don't forsee changing them for at least 2 or 3 more.

I switch to Michelin Defenders in the summer.

As far as tire size there are no problems until you mix the sizes. As long as all 4 are the same size (and brand to a lesser extent) there wil be no mechanical issues. If you go to tirerack.com you can see all the specs of each tire and how they match the original fitment. I simply choose the closest in revolutions per mile as the original fitment from the list that match my rim size. I'm currently running 225/60-16. I once had 235/55-16's that looked awesome and made the thing much more fun to drive but they wore quickly so I'm back to a more sensible width, but wider than the original

215/65-16's.

Hope this info helps - check the data on that website and you will get more info than you can use.

Sandy

Reply to
4orester

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