Forester: Tire questions

1. Same as with the original 4 tires.
2. On our '98 Forester we got a very disappointing 18K on the original Croak-ohama tires. And the snow traction sucked. Remains to be seen if the Croak-ohama tires on our new '04 are any better. I am not optimistic.
3. You should replace 4 at a time unless some are almost new (hence diameters are all the same).
4. Anything but Croak-ohama's.

Woody; 95FXDS

Thanks guys!

#1) Nice to know that I can still drive on the PA Turnpike & other fast roads. #2 & #4) I'm past that point now, and I NEVER have been impressed by the Yokohama tires. (With respect to Subaru, any car that I have owned, came with horrible tires.) Time to research new tires, just to be prepared; one is patched after eating a bolt. #3) Argh! Time to keep a close eye on the tire wear.

Niels

My 2002 Forester S came with the 16" Yokohama Geolandars. They lasted for 32K miles, which here in Puerto Rico is exceptional given the road conditions. One thing I notice, this being my first "AWD" is that the tires wear down very evenly. Usually on FWD cars, the fronts wear out fast while the rears last much longer. I've since installed Cooper Lifeliner Touring LE tires. I like the ride and the handling, but I like best the 620 threadware rating. Let's see how much they last.

Ben

Niels wrote:

I've never made assumptions about a tire based on brand name. Yokohama makes all kinds of tires. Some wear poorly, while others wear quite well. Some have better performance than others. I wouldn't assume that the performance you experience with OEM Yokos will translate to their aftermarket offerings.

I had a set of Geolander A/T on my old jeep 235x70x15 worn bald in 17,000 miles.

That's the thing about it though. I never did any off-roading. Those were all highway miles. I wonder if they are designed to be that way for extra traction at the price of accelerated wear?

My Forester 2000 GT went 65,000Km (about 40,000m) on Aussie roads with the original Geolanders, which I was quite happy with. The spare was a full size Geolander on a steel rim, so I bought 3 more and used the original spare as the fourth. I don't do much off-road, mostly high speed highway with the usual shopping runs.

Generally, sticky tyres get that way because they are a softer compound, so naturally you leave more rubber on the road. I don't know if Geolanders in the US are different to Aussie ones though?

Dave

I looked at the tread on one of the back tires. At best, I have another

There are not as many choices as I would have liked, but the one that got good reviews on

I was pretty impressed with the performance of my Yokohama YK420 tires. Most OEM tires are a compromise between cost and performance, leaning at least a little toward the lower cost end. Keep that in mind and you'll be alright.

-Matt

I believe that's how it works. I'm not a tire expert, but I do know that there are different rubber compounds used, and the type and combination are going to influence your tread life and traction. Personally, I'd rather run a tire with tons of traction and very low tread life, while most people out there would gladly buy a tire with a 100,000 mile tread life - even if it caused the vehicle to handle as if it was on ice. ;)

-Matt

I would have to agree. I am leaning towards wanting more grip on the road and compromising a little on the longevity.

While tire design is all about compromise and trade offs, traction vs durability isn't always a direct trade-off. Some tires do both well, some do neither.

In case you can't tell the traction isn't great when they squeel too easily on corners (that also suggests the treadlife may be short), check the sidewalls. The B traction rating on the stock Geolanders indicates sub-optimal wet braking. Wet braking is something I'd like my tires to do well.

Mine have lasted OK for 18000 miles so far. The tread isn't anywhere near worn out anyway. Little chunks are breaking off the tread blocks, more so than I've seen from tires in the past.

I also agree. Looking at my 1989 Toyotal Camry, I got 51 000 mi on Firestone Firehawks, and 19 000 mi on Goodyear Aquatred II's. The former were noisy & didn't handle well, while the later got me through the 3 foot blizzard of 1996.

It seems there 6 characteristics to look at when buying tires. In my personal order of preference:

And we all have to balance those factors. But are there any that I missed?

On my 91 Explorer I've tried to get 5-tire rotation every time (sometimes I forget to ask). I've done this to get a little more life (I figure they will last a little longer since each tire gets a rest

I'm also thinking that if I did four-tire rotations always, if I had to put on the spare after a few years, its circumference would be more than the others by more than 1/4 inch and therefore not good.

Is this true?

And (since I'm replacing the Explorer and a Forester is high on my list) would the same be true in this case? My Explorer has five identical steel wheels but I don't know about the Forester (sometimes spares seem to be steel no matter what the others are).

Thanks!

andrew [ snipped-for-privacy@wwwebbers.com]

My 2000 Forester has 4 aluminum on the ground and a steel same tire spare. Somewhere ~ 1/2 life I exchanged spare tire to ground replacing the most worn ground tire. ed

Thanks!

andrew [ snipped-for-privacy@wwwebbers.com]

That's the same order I'd put my preferences. So what are you driving on now? I've got 33k on my Geolanders and am beginning to look for replacements.

Niels wrote: