Author Topic: Tires for 03 Subaru Forester XS  (Read 2207 times)

Danlisahall

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Tires for 03 Subaru Forester XS
« on: August 22, 2005, 07:41:36 pm »
I need new tires for my "new" car. Characteristics listed in order of importance - from greatest to least important:

 a.. A traction rating, A; A or B temp rating (tow boat on occasion).
 b.. $130 or less per tire.
 c.. T or H speed rating;
 d..  Excellent stopping and handling on wet roads.
 e.. Comfort (smooth / quiet ride).
 f.. Low rolling resistance for fuel economy.
 g.. Good, predictable handling on dry pavement.
 h.. Snow traction (likely to drive 50 -200 miles per year on compact snow/ice).
 i.. Tire wear (I average less than 1000 miles per month).

Tires I am considering after lots of research on Tire Rack site and 1010  
tires.com:

 a.. BFG Traction TA T: These were looking pretty good to me while I could find info on your site, but it is no longer available. I have since driven a Forester with these tires & my impression is that they are both louder and  
the sidewalls seemed pretty stiff transmitting road imperfections more than my current Yoko Geolander OEM tires.  They no longer look like such a good choice!

 a.. Kuhmo HP4s: Have had these on A4 & Honda Civic, no complaints so far.

 a.. Kuhmo Solus KH16: New Kuhmo model - advantages over HP4s???


 a.. Yoko Avid or T4, or TZD: I would consider any of these if they are  
likely to be superior to Kuhmo HP4s overall & available in the OEM 215 -60 x  
16 size.

Thanks

(Message edited by danlisahall on August 22, 2005)

Weebl

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Tires for 03 Subaru Forester XS
« Reply #1 on: August 23, 2005, 11:43:38 am »
What was the OEM speed rating on your car?  That will narrow your choice as you will want to match that rating as a minimum, or go higher.  I suspect you have H rated, therefore the T rated are a bad choice.  Check the owner's manual or tire placard to be sure.

Danlisahall

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Tires for 03 Subaru Forester XS
« Reply #2 on: August 23, 2005, 12:10:27 pm »
OEM tires are H rated. However, the Forester has a governed top speed of 107, so even if I wanted to exceed the speed rating of a S or T tire, it would not happen. I feel very safe & comfortable with a T rated tire.  And the winner is..?

Weebl

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Tires for 03 Subaru Forester XS
« Reply #3 on: August 23, 2005, 01:37:25 pm »
The speed rating actually has more to do with tire construction when you're shopping around, not the actual speed you'll be travelling at.  Generally speaking, almost all tires within a given speed rating will be constructed in a certain manner, which in turn affects how the tire performs on the road, even at very low speeds.  The performance factors that could be affected by a change in speed rating include handling (especially emergency manoeuvers) and braking.

That said, you may be able to find a lower speed rated tire that performs like your originals in that regard, but there will be no way of knowing that ahead of time.

Other times you may downgrade tire speed ratings, and this is always strongly cautioned with lots of butt covering:  driving style is very sedate (slower than grandpa on a Sunday morning), used as a winter tire where lower speeds are expected (and therefore less need to push the tire to handling extremes), but with the expectation and understanding that you are compromising things such as braking and losing road feel.  You could potentially be compromising your own criterias D and G.

So unless your needs fits into the above two scenarios (which I don't think it does), then I highly recommend against going to a lower speed rating.

From your needs, maybe consider the Falken ZIEX 512.  These are very well regarded, and competively priced, and would be a good match to the Forester.

Offline johngenx

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Tires for 03 Subaru Forester XS
« Reply #4 on: August 23, 2005, 04:28:23 pm »
Our Forester was purchased used and the PO put T-rated tires on it.  BIG GOOF!  The Forester needs those H-rated tires for the stiffer sidewalls and better handling abilities of the higher speed ratings.  You'll be disappointed if you downgrade the speed rating.  I'm installing winter tires this fall and then next spring those rim-protectors are coming off and a good h-rated tire will be installed.

Danlisahall

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Tires for 03 Subaru Forester XS
« Reply #5 on: August 25, 2005, 12:29:07 am »
OK, I will drop the T rating idea. That leaves the Kuhmo 4HP, Kumo Solus, and Avid TZD.  Any comments on which of these are most likely to best meeet the criteria in my original post?
Thanks!

(Message edited by danlisahall on August 25, 2005)

zeeboy47

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Re: Tires for 03 Subaru Forester XS
« Reply #6 on: September 16, 2005, 04:23:39 pm »
I was wandering through Ebay, and came across these.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=8000063339

Now that the winter is coming, you might be interested.

morty

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Re: Tires for 03 Subaru Forester XS
« Reply #7 on: September 18, 2005, 02:26:28 am »
Weebl is correct...recommended to stay with the OE speed rating or go higher. The BFG Traction TA does come in an H-rating and is very close to the price range specified. This tire is getting wonderful reviews and meets all of your criteria. However, dont recommend any All-season for snow use. Problem isnt getting going it is stopping. AWD stops just like any other vehicle. Brakes are only as good as the tires.

Offline johngenx

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Re: Tires for 03 Subaru Forester XS
« Reply #8 on: September 18, 2005, 02:31:15 am »
We had to park our Forester for most of last winter because we were unable (bought it in January) to get snow tires for it.  All-seasons SUCK on the Subie.  It's easy to use the AWD to get going, but steering and braking are horrid.  Our Forester has the LSD in the rear diff, which is great if you have the right tires, but is awful if you don't.  When the LSD grabs and you don't have traction, it just shoots the rear-end away.  On our (now sold) Outback Wagon, it also had the LSD, and with snow tires, it worked amazingly well.