Sooo I've been pondering tires for my 87 GL sedan, and I can either get some aggressive snow tires, or go to SJR and have my hubs changed to 6 lug and run some General Grabber AT2's. My question is, does anyone run snow tires? Any thoughts on subaru offroad tire selection. I'll be mostly running trails and mud, some sand. Any input is appreciated, I do plan on a 2-4" lift in the future, till then dealing with stock. ( It's a dual range 5 sp =D )

I always used to use snow tires off road, just because of limited size options. The biggest issue with them is weak side walls. Catch them on sharp rocks, and they puncture easy.

Got any brand opinions? Like coopers etc.

What size are you looking for? I have used Winterforce, Wintermark radial HT's And a couple others

I Imagine on my 13'' wheels I can only accommodate 185/70's.

185 80's will fit, but are hard to come by.

    I'm a tire guy, so here goes. Snow tires are designed and made from rubber in cold climates. They are really a specialty tire, not a tire intended to replace an all season tire. I'd look to a light truck tire for an off road Subaru. If you just want to run it in snow, by all means, a snow tire would do best. In mud, it is difficult to tell the difference between any snow tire and a typical snow tire. 

    I used to Rallycross, and have run all season tires and snow tires on various models of Subarus. My last set was a set of 225/45R17 Hakka II's, they were amazing on snow, but they didn't do well on a wet Rallycross course. A light truck tire like the popular Grabber is built on a heavier casing meant to be run all year. A light truck tire would be much better for offroad use than a snow tire. 

i run general grabbers at2 with studs on my 2 inch lifted loyale on 14 inch pugs in the winter. they work amazingly and i can get to timberline no matter what. Mud isnt any probblem either .i used to own a set of Nokian Hakkapeliitta with studs and i think they were size 185/70/r13. they were also great tires.

Snow tires are for snow.

 

Suck in wet/mud

 

and they kill gas mileage on warm roads in summer and wear out quickly too.

 

Again, Snow tires are for snow.

 

No need to redrill the hubs.......Just get some 14" or 15" steel Toyota, Nissan, or Mitsubishi, or Mazda wheels.  Drill 2 new holes and mount them on your rig.  Done.

This is what I'm running.  I would argue that they will do fairly well in the muddy stuff.  I did really great on the gravel and dirt road on the way to the snow.  I was stoked to try them out at the RallyX, but it got cancelled.