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Subaru Outback Tires


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Guest snowplow

The original tires on my 2000 are finally shot after 72,000 miles! Any suggestions on a good tire choice for all season performance? We get a lot of rain here and I use the car for skiing.

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Guest remarcable

The best thing to do is put some grippy summer tires on the stock rims and get some 15" steel rims or perhaps a set of used WRX 16" alloy rims (or ones from a legacy gt) and put snow tires on them. Any all season tire is going to be a compromise.

 

I do, however, like the Dunlop SP5000 but I've heard the snow performance is not great. In addition I'll be needing a new set of tires after only 15k miles - they wear really fast since they are made out of a soft compound designed to stay grippy in hot AND freezing climates.

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Guest Commuter

I can tell you a bit of my experience with my 97 OB.

 

I do a lot of commuting, so I wanted a high mileage tire. That may not be the right thing for you.

 

Good luck with a set of Michelin X-Ones. Good in dry, ok in wet, so-so in slush and snow. Hard to go wrong with this tire.

 

Currently have Toyo 800 Ultra's on. Similar to the X-One. Wearing like iron (100k km and still half the tread left). Surprisingly good grip for such a hard tire. Sightly better than the X-One I'd say. Good in the slush and ok in the snow. Touch of noise, but not bad. My main issue with them is that I have to keep them very well balanced or I get a slight vibration. I'm not sure if it is the tires, or the combination of tire to car, or just what. Luckily, I have free lifetime balancing with them.

 

Marc is right though. Any all season is going to be a compromise.

 

Commuter

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Guest renobk

First, that's amazing treadlife out of the OEM Firestones...the same tires on my 2001 Outback lasted only 33K miles before the outside edges were shot. I replaced the OEM's with Dunlop SP Sport A2's because they are very highly rated tires, but they cupped after a few thousand miles and got REALLY loud. The pressure was checked weekly and kept around 34/32 and the tires were rotated 3x, but they were toast 18K miles later and Discount Tire replaced them (free) with Michelin MXV4 Plus tires.

 

The Michelins were far superior to any of the previous tires I had owned (on any of my cars). The balancing was spot on, the ride was amazingly quiet and smooth, and they seemed to handle well overall in rain and snow. I would recommend them in spite of the price -- they are worth it, in my opinion. I had the MXV4's for about 10K miles before I traded the car on a new WRX, so I don't know about the longevity of that tire, but they are known for relatively long wear.

 

Check Costco for prices, too...they will special order a tire if they don't have it in stock and their prices seemed very good

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