jlggomez

Thanks. No, no extra weight in the back. Dealer claims they cannot be adjusted down. Find it hard to believe.

Numbchux, thank you for the great post. To follow up: I was ready to buy a set of Nokians based on Idosubaru’s earlier recommendation here, but coincidentally my mechanic got in a set of the correct size (225/60R18) Blizzacks that a customer had used for one season (verifiable) on a vehicle that was sold. I am leasing my Outback and not knowing whether I’ll keep it or not after the 3 year lease, it made sense to get the Blizzacks and save $500. $250 for a set of Blizzacks seemed to good a deal to pass up. Glad to hear that the Blizzacks are not far behind the Nokians. On a related note. I have had a love/hate relationship with the Outback Onyx Edition since the beginning of the lease last Winter. As I mentioned, I have felt that in spite of all the claims about the superior snow handling, even with the X Mode on the Onyx I felt that the performance was not as great as I expected for our driving conditions. I’m sure the Blizzacks will get it there. The Outback has handled beautifully on dry roads and actually reminds me a little of the Saab’s that I used to drive before family and kids. Being old school I’m sometimes bothered by all the gadgetry, but the main problem for me has been the excessively bright headlights. During nighttime driving I am constantly getting flashed by incoming drivers as if my brights were on when they are not. I took it back to the dealer to check the alignment and was told everything is to spec and nothing can be done. My impression from the driver’s seat is that there is little real advantage to switching on the brights as the increased illumination seems to be focused well above the plane of the road. To my way of thinking this seems to confirm that the “Normal” headlights are too bright or aligned too high. Any thoughts? Thanks again to all; much appreciated. Lino

Thank you for your responses so far. And thank you, idosubaru for the detailed response.

Hello forum members, New member here and thanks in advance. Seeking suggestions and opinions on the best snow tires for my new Subaru Outback Onyx Edition XT. We live in a pretty secluded area in upstate NY where we have to drive on winding paved local roads as well as a mile long private community dirt road and a long steep private gravel driveway. We get tons of snow and very cold temperatures which often results in icy conditions especially on our 300’ or so gravel driveway. Last winter was our first winter with the new Outback and in spite of the claimed snow performance I felt that snow/ice performance was just OK. I would like to kick things up a notch or two and want to buy snow tires for this and future winters. Please share your experiences and any other thoughts and specific tire recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! Lino