Yokohama Geolandar Tires on Forester

I've responded to similar inquiries recently, but here goes...

My 04 Forester (Geolandars) bought new. When I picked it up I noticed the ride very jittery, especially over railway tracks and rough pavement. Tire pressure check showed over 40psi in most of the tires. I wonder if they did the PDI that I paid for. Anyway... after correcting and then tweaking with tire pressures I still thought the ride somewhat jittery. I noticed the ABS kick in quite often on wet roads. A bit of research revealed a world of tires out there, most of which outperform the Geolandars. I ended up buying Goodyear Triple Treads. I got $40/tire for my Geolandars and ended up with a tire that has more than twice the tread life and better traction, plus they're more comfortable riding and more responsive. I think the change was a no-brainer. But.... Choose a tire based on your driving needs.

Here's a snip from an earlier post....

Triple Tread - They have a better rating than Michelin Hydroedge (all-season). Note that the stock Geolandars have a Treadwear rating of 340 and a Traction rating of B. Compare that to the Triple Treads with a treadwear rating of 740 (roughly 2.5 times the tread life) and Traction rating of A. The Triple Treads really made the Forester seem like a different (better) handling car. I think the Geolandars would be a disaster on anything but a sophisticated AWD vehicle like a Subaru. What was Subaru thinking with that choice?

Same Same but different --

As far as the WRX goes with the RE92A tires, I know a lot of people swap them for the Triple Treads as well......

I did similar research a while ago and, please correct me if I am wrong, isn't the speed rating of the Triple Tread one less than the stock Potenzas? I understand it is never advisable to go down in rating...

The Geos on my Forester are A temp, B traction.

All H rated tires should get a A temp rating, since the speed required for an H speed rating is higher than required for an A temp rating.

Any tire with a UTQG traction rating better than B should outperform the Geo on wet roads, without standing water anyway--the traction rating doesn't consider resistance to hydroplaning. That group includes every other H-rated tire I've ever heard of.

Fairly recently they've added a UTQG AA traction rating, which is even better (for wet braking anyway), than A.

True the triple Treads are 1 rating down for temperature. The triple treads are rated for 118MPH (200KPH). Plenty of reserve for almost everybody I know. It's a typically american thing to overkill everything just because one can. Does the Triple Tread safely meet the needs of almost every driver in the world? Yes with room to spare.

H

The trick is to get a tire with BOTH the A (or AA) traction AND a long tread life. The Geolandars have a short treadlife AND compromised wet traction (B). PLUS the ride is crappy. There are hundreds of tires out there that will out perform Geolandars at a reasonable cost.

Per

Goodyear's utqc is 740AB. Per Michelin's utqc is 760AB for all sizes except 205/65TR16, which is 800AB. ? ?

My experience (03 Forester) with the Geolanders is not good. I replaced them at 28,000, which was MUCH too late. I was simply lazy/dumb and hadn't really checked out my tire tread - just driving along......duh.........and broke loose in the snow last year and put a dent in my Subie......arrgghh!!! So THEN I finally take a good look at my tread and notice I've got next to nothing...........the single biggest automotice blunder/oversite I ever made in 33 years of driving.

I figure I should have replaced those at about 20,000 - they never did very well in the snow, even when new, and wet traction was marginal (even when new) Dry taction was OK (when new). I have since replaced with BF Goodrich Traction T/A and have been very pleased with snow, wet and dry handling/traction. To early to tell on wear, but I have 5,000 on them and they still look new.

Rich wrote:

Glad to hear, because that's what I plan to get. The user ratings on Tirerack and 1010tires.com are outstanding, as are the AA/A UTQG ratings.

My Geos are somewhere between 26k & 27k miles. The outsides edges of the tread are pretty thin, which seems to be a common Subaru wear pattern. The rest is OK, but they haven't been nearly as good in the snow this season as last.

Our other car, which is unlikely to see snow again recently got inexpensive Fulda Assuro Carat tires (A/A ratings) from Big O, and they've been outstanding in the wet. I'm expecting even better wet performance from the Traction T/As, although without side-by-side tests on the same car, I'll probably never really know.

It's not valid to compare ratings from different manufacturers because the values are from tests done by the manufacturer and reported by the manufacturer without much standardization from the government (I'm paraphrasing a Consumer Reports article). You can probably figure on longer life with a treadwear rating of 740 vs 340, but it's too much to claim that it is 2.5 times.

-R.

For.2002........Geos started to act "strange" at 18k. Thread was thin at

27k. Replaced at 35k. Other than that, the car's great.

I've read lots of posts here bemoaning the Geolander 900's but I have to say they have done fine in my case. On my '03 Forester XS, I have 38,000 miles on them and they're only showing moderate wear. I'm hoping to get another 5 to 10 thousand at least. Driving 46 miles daily on them, I have no complaints on ride or traction - in rain, snow or dry conditions. I have faithfully rotated them every 8K miles, and keep pressure at 30-32lbs. ( Mine also came from the dealer at >40lbs) I'm sure there's better tires out there, but no complaints from me on the Geolanders.

Larry Davis Cortland, IL 60112

About his tires, David remarked:

A common wear pattern for Subarus, or a common wear pattern for people who under-inflate their tires?

The underinflation pattern involves both sides of the tire (outside edge & inside edge). And I've read many Subaru owners complaining about the same wear pattern.

35,000km on mine, and they are quite worn on the outside, and slightly better on the inside, but almost need replacing.

I run 38psi rear, 36psi front when on bitumen, and rotate them.

Have heard good things about Michelin Synchrone, which are available for Forester size 215/60-16.

Good luck :-)

David wrote: