Recommendations on tires for 2006 Outback?

[v8volvo]

Our '06 OBW with 75k is getting towards the end of its second set of tires and we are looking to replace them before our next trip into the mountains. It currently has some Firestones on it that, aside from getting down on tread, are horrible in the snow (look like sports tires, designed for looks and handling not all-weather capability -- the car had these on it when we bought it used last month).

 

I've looked into the Bridgestone Potenza RE92, which the car supposedly came with when new. I've never driven a Subaru riding on these stock tires but the impression I got from reading about them was not good. Any comments? Reviews online indicate very short treadlife and skittish behavior in any kind of snow. They are also pretty costly.

 

The "most popular" tire according to Discount Tire on this car in our area (Seattle) is the Yokohama YK520, followed by the Goodyear Assurance TripleTred. Both of those seem reasonably priced, have good treadlife warranties (60 or 80k), and are supposed to be pretty good in snow. Any thoughts on those? What have people found works well, or doesn't, on the new-gen Outbacks?

 

Our Sube mostly sees around-town duty in Seattle, which means plenty of stopping and cornering on slick wet roads. It also includes occasional ski trips in the wintertime up to the passes and to our property in the North Cascades, so some snow ability is important too. We have the 17-inch alloys.

 

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Edited January 26, 2009 by v8volvo

[idosubaru]

i think you may want to reduce your tread numbers a bit. i don't think you're going to get quality snow traction with 80,000 mile tires. and if they were acceptable i'd imagine they'd degrade quickly each year in snow traction.

 

then again, maybe "snow traction" to you and me are different since i live in the mountains and drive through steep, winding, passes that remain snow covered for extended lengths of time.

 

if you have significant snow/winter driving, get a dedicated set of good snow tires. the difference is phenomenal. all seasons are lame compared to good snow tires.

 

it shouldn't be hard to get some comments on the RE92's since they're stock. the one set i had were dangerous, but i suspect it was because they were old even though they had plenty of tread.

 

go to tirerack.com and read all their reviews on any tires that interest you.

[v8volvo]

Right, we don't need or expect them to actually last 80k, especially on a big heavy car with AWD (though the Goodyears are guaranteed for that mileage, meaning if we have to replace them before then there is a prorated warranty that gives us some credit towards new rubber). I'm just looking at those numbers as indications on which tires might be expected to last longer than others. I see people wearing through the RE92 OEM tires in sometimes 15-25k miles in the reviews, which is definitely inexcusably short. I think 40k from a set of tires is a respectable number on a car like this.

 

We've had good luck with a set of Kumho all-seasons on our '97 Outback, but it looks like those are not available in the newer car's size ('97 has 15s on it). They have worn well and their traction has been more than sufficient for what we have used the car for. We don't do enough real winter driving to justify dedicated snow tires. If we get into heavy stuff we just use chains (have only had to do so once or twice in 6 years of owning the old Outback) and get by with all-season rubber the rest of the time.

 

Thanks!

[Cougar]

The Nokians aren't cheap but they are a very good tire.

Edited January 26, 2009 by Cougar

[idosubaru]

I'm with you as using the mileage as an indicator, my point wasn't really anything about the mileage. Just that higher mileage tires usually means harder rubber is used, which means they aren't going to have as good of sloppy road traction. Lower mileage tires have softer rubber, which should grip better. But of course there's more to the equation than that.

 

Any extreme usually isn't good...because compromises have to be made. Something in the middle..unless you're going for dedicated use tires, is a good bet.

 

I just drove my 2002 OBW into work today on snow covered roads. Mine is the H6 VDC, big heavy car. It came with new tires on it. They did very well in the snow.

 

Being new I have no idea how well their wearing will be. Not even sure what kind they but this is what is on the sidewall:

 

Bridgestone Potenza G019 Grid

 

My car has the VDC stuff too, which was activating this morning, but I was really pushing it on some of the snow covered turns just to see how it would do. Tires seemed to do just what they needed.

 

Which is nice, I have dedicated snows on my other Subarus.

[Slegacy96]

Im on my second set of Goodyear Eagle RS-As. Def. worth the cost that they command, which isn't too bad.

[charm]

My next tire will be the Assurance Triple Tread.

 

A friend has them on his Audi All-Road. The tires are at 65k and we still can't get his car his slide on ice. I can get another friend's Audi to slide on his Blizzaks!

[idosubaru]

The tires are at 65k and we still can't get his car his slide on ice. I can get another friend's Audi to slide on his Blizzaks!

? i would question the "ice" and the age of the tires. don't think that's an accurate depiction.

[charm]

The mileage may be off by +/- 5,000 miles. The tires have been on his car for 4 years and he's a 20k per year kinda guy.

 

I was sliding my OBW on the same piece of road that we couldn't slide his car on. Granted, I'm told the Audi has a great traction control system, and my tires SUCK, but still.

 

I have other friends, frequent snowboarders, who haven't put on their snows because there's just no need with the triple treads.

 

I've just heard too many great, not just good, things about this tire to put anything else on my car.

[Downbound]

I agree with Grossgary, you can't beat the performance of a dedicated winter tire. I run Good Year Ultra grip ice in the winter and Good Year Assurance comfort tread in the summer on my 99 forester and am very pleased with the performance. Also by running two sets of tires you will extend the life of your summer set.

[v8volvo]

I read somewhere that there are people who consider the Goodyear Assurance TripleTred the best all-around tire ever made. Sounds like maybe a little too much enthusiasm but seems hard to find someone who doesn't have something good to say about this tire. I think that may be the way to go.

 

Nobody on here who has tried the Yokohamas?

 

Thanks!

[nickb21]

I ran some Yokohama Avid V4s. Pretty decent tire, good wet/dry grip. They lasted about 45, maybe 50k miles, and by then they were down to the treadwear marks. I replaced them with the GY TripleTread's. So far the TT's are just slightly more "mushy" in hard cornering, but traction so far is great in the wet/dry/snow. Had 'em on for about 7k now. We usually don't get much snow in NJ, so I don't bother with snow tires...

 

The G019's mentioned earlier are the new version of the G009's, which had gotten pretty good reviews with regards to price/performance.

 

Good luck!

[zyewdall]

For a non-snow tire, the good year triple treads seem to be pretty good in the snow -- not nearly as good as a real snow tire, but if you are not driving on snow every day, pretty decent. Plus, they last longer and are quiter than studded snows (if WA even allows those any more... we needed them on the east side, but on the west side they are probably unecessary).

 

We switched our company cars (2006 outbacks) to the triple treads after the factory potenzas wore our after 20k miles. The factory ones were also terrible in the snow.

 

If you spend enough time in the mountains and east to want snow tires, my current favorite is the Hankook W409 Ipike, either studded, or not -- not sure if they make those in that size though (my cars take smaller, higher profile ones).

[abog]

My 1997 OB is on it's third set of michelins, the ones that came on it. Great mileage, 170,000 and the third set is still at 30%. Have always gone everywhere I wanted, even in deep snow and on ice covered roads. A little spendy, but worth it in the long run.

[crash321]

Although They are not run on a subaru, My wife 's saturn LS has the michelin X radials which were a top pick by consumer reports when we bought them a few years ago. I guesstimate that we put 50,000 miles on these tires and they have 80% of the tread left on them. Great in the rain, dry ect. Good braking and the car does not have ABS. I believe the tires were only available through costo or sam's though. I will buy them for my subie when the time comes.

[Dacia]

I have Yokohama avid trz, on my baja, they do pretty decent in snow here in CO.What impressed me most is how quiet the ride is.Tested them in snow from 7k feet, to about 11k on a "dirt" road, in 2-4 inch of snow, about two weeks ago. I'll get another set after this one, for sure.

[v8volvo]

Personally I love Michelin tires. I have a 1981 VW Rabbit diesel with Michelin X Metric tires on it that, after 25,000 hard miles (two cross-country drives, a winter in the snow on the East Coast, and a lot of gravel roads, Boston potholes, etc) still look brand new and perform great. The improvement when I put them on versus the set that was there before, some Brand X WalMart tire, was unbelievable. It was a whole different car. If those came in the 225-55R17 size we need on the 06 OBW, it would be a sure buy.

 

The only Michelin tire listed by Discount Tire in our size is the HydroEdge. Costs about the same as the Goodyear TripleTred and look kind of similar. Anyone have any feelings about those? Sure seems like there is a lot of enthusiasm for the Goodyear TT so I think that is the way we'll go unless someone thinks otherwise.

 

Thanks for all the ideas and opinions, it's a huge help.

[Petersubaru]

Personally I love Michelin tires. I have a 1981 VW Rabbit diesel with Michelin X Metric tires on it that, after 25,000 hard miles (two cross-country drives, a winter in the snow on the East Coast, and a lot of gravel roads, Boston potholes, etc) still look brand new and perform great. The improvement when I put them on versus the set that was there before, some Brand X WalMart tire, was unbelievable. It was a whole different car. If those came in the 225-55R17 size we need on the 06 OBW, it would be a sure buy.

 

The only Michelin tire listed by Discount Tire in our size is the HydroEdge. Costs about the same as the Goodyear TripleTred and look kind of similar. Anyone have any feelings about those? Sure seems like there is a lot of enthusiasm for the Goodyear TT so I think that is the way we'll go unless someone thinks otherwise.

 

Thanks for all the ideas and opinions, it's a huge help.

a great tire the michelin x..but haven't seem them for some time now (in my opinion the best all round tire)...I also have the mich. hyd edge..very good long wearing and excellent handling in almost all weather conditions, ..but since it is not a snow tire, the braking abilities in snowy conditions in my experience is very poor..with the Assurance TT tires a little more agressive then the mich hydro... tirerack gives good results for the Assur.TT tire

[howards11]

I would check out Dunlop.

 

I started using their SP50's all season tires on my 2000 Forester. The SP50 is only available in 205/70R15 but they have and SP40 and SP60 that are available in other sizes.

 

The SP50's seem ok in snow and ice. I used them this week in the storm we had. Seemed to do very well; no skidding and no problems in the snow.

 

Price was good too............$90 which included mounting, computer balancing and a valve stem.

 

~Howard

[half-fast]

I put general ultimax hp on our 06 outback. way better in the snow than the potenzas, smoother ride as well. I only have around 5k miles on them so far, but I only got 37,000 out of the potenzas.

[Bmm001]

The OE Potenza's on my recently purchased '03 Outback are OK... until it snowed. They're quiet and nice for dry and wet, were pretty awful in the snow and ice we got this week. Granted they have 30K on them (still have probably 7/32" of tread or so on them), but maybe I expected a little more since the OB also has a limited slip rear axle compared to my '95 Legacy?

 

We've had very good results with Kumho tires (they're on all 4 of my family's other Subarus). I'd check them out, their pricing is usually very competitive, especially from the Tire Rack. Of the different models we've had (Touring 732, Touring 795, Solus KR16), they've all been quiet, given good traction, and worn well.

 

Brian

Edited January 31, 2009 by Bmm001
grammar

[ShawnW]

I like both of the ones that discount recommended to you. Of those two I would let money talk. If you can spend the extra get the goodyears but the Yokohamas might be just a good a buy for you. (every time I priced them they were at least 40 a tire more than the Yokohamas and I wouldn't say worth the xtra 40 bux.)

 

Remember if you blow one tire at 1/2 tread on either one you will need a set of 4 new ones. The road hazard coverage is only useful if they will put 4 new ones on in the event of a blowout. Otherwise pocket the money it costs and sock it away yourself.

[v8volvo]

Well, after reading a lot of reviews on Tire Rack, we just ordered a set of Michelin HydroEdge tires for the 06. We were on the fence about the Goodyear TT's because they sound like a great tire, but the Michelins sound almost as good in the snow and maybe better in the rain (which is what a lot of our driving involves in Seattle). They also cost $20 less per tire at Discount, and have slightly longer rated treadlife. Also, I just have trust in Michelin tires so I'm always happy to buy em.

 

Here's the chart I used to make the decision, which might be useful as a resource to others in the future. The GY TripleTred and the Mich HydroEdge more or less neck and neck at the top. That Dunlop SP60 Howard mentioned is also right up there.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=AS

 

Doesn't sound like too many on here have used the HydroEdge so this will be an experiment. I'll let you know how they go. Thanks again to all!

[howards11]

Well, after reading a lot of reviews on Tire Rack, we just ordered a set of Michelin HydroEdge tires for the 06. We were on the fence about the Goodyear TT's because they sound like a great tire, but the Michelins sound almost as good in the snow and maybe better in the rain (which is what a lot of our driving involves in Seattle). They also cost $20 less per tire at Discount, and have slightly longer rated treadlife. Also, I just have trust in Michelin tires so I'm always happy to buy em.

 

Here's the chart I used to make the decision, which might be useful as a resource to others in the future. The GY TripleTred and the Mich HydroEdge more or less neck and neck at the top. That Dunlop SP60 Howard mentioned is also right up there.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/surveyresults/surveydisplay.jsp?type=AS

 

Doesn't sound like too many on here have used the HydroEdge so this will be an experiment. I'll let you know how they go. Thanks again to all!

 

V8VOLVO:

 

Safe driving on the new Michelins!

 

We're getting another storm late Monday evening (3" to 6") so I'll have another test of the Dunlops.

 

For the amount of driving I do Michelins would have been a waste of $$.

 

~Howard

Edited February 1, 2009 by howards11

[Kowboy]

I'm jumping in on an old thread, with an even older member...was off-line for the last few years. I have strong opinions about tires, as we are skiers and get up to the (Snoqualmie) pass and Crystal frequently during the winter. Just bought an 04' Outback with some road tires that start with a Z...Ziertex? Never heard of them, but they look like they will go another 40k for summer driving...I would not take them up to the pass though...seem kind of squirrely in the wet stuff. We also have a 93' Legacy Wagon that we run Toyo Observe Stud-less during the winter. If you are going to hit the mountains (snow) a lot, I would recommend a seperate set of tires, as no tire seems to do it all.

 

That said, our summer tire on the Legacy was a Goodyear Triple Tread and I think it did a decent job for all-weather, in fact, I got 70k out of them, and I could probably run them for another 10k this summer. Good tires....

 

For our Outback, I am looking at swapping tires next winter for skiing (or finding a set of rims and having new winter tires mounted) but I like the sounds of the Dunlop SP Winter Sport 3D's. If they are as quiet as they say, I might consider running them year round.

 

Please, let us know how your choice worked out...tire choices are like...well, you know, everyone has one.