04-09 Outback Tyre Options for standard wheels...

Barry

Barry

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Melbourne, Vic.
Apologies for being such a 'noob', however I'm unclear as to what degree postings on other threads, which predominantly relate to Forries or modified specs, are also applicable to Outbacks on OEM wheels. (My understanding is that OBs and Libs post the L Series share the same basic road wheel specs, so hopefully a specific thread will be useful to a number of site members.)

My OB is a manual MY05, N/A. I am fitted with a towing hitch, but the only towing I do is to the tip about once a year. However, do intend to do 'fully loaded' touring / camping without a trailer.

My needs are for tyres which are suited to predominantly road driving - I do 750km a week 100kmh freeway driving (against the peak flow! :monkeydance:) between Melbourne and Geelong - but which would be suited to 'light duty' off-road as well.
Basic questions are:
1/. What range of brands/models is available?
2/. What are other OB owners using and how do you find them?
3/. What would you recommend?

I look forward to the views and advice of other current / previous OB owners.

Barry
 
I fitted Maxxis Ua(i think) series - and they have given sensational milage so far. They are also on the cheaper side of tyres - about $120 each. Also very quiet. Im expecting 70000k's from them - and they are quiet and handle very well
 
I am in a similar boat to you with the Forester. I do 95% road, with gravel backroads and mine access roads for the rest.

I used to use Toyo MP3s. As well as being a good road tyre, they had reasonably wide stipes, and the stipes were tapered, which all meant they gripped OK off-road, and shed mud and small rocks pretty well. The main advantage is that they had a really stiff outer sidewall, which meant that they didn't suffer the usual rounding of the outside shoulder that reduces tyre life on AWD vehicles.

The MP3 has been replaced by the MP4. Narrower stipes that are parallel. They don't perform as well on gravel, but road wise, they are fine.

If I was looking for a road tyre that would suit a bit of off-roading, I would look for something with a reasonable outer sidewall - partly for cornering stiffness and also for damage protection. This will preclude most of the 'soft-roader' tyres, which tend to have thinner sidewalls for a more compliant ride. Then I would look for tread depth and width.

I was once looking at a set of Continental Contactsomething or others. They were a 215/60R16 road tyre, but the carcass was a 4 ply carcass, as used on the Continental A/T tyres. The only thing that put me off was the price.

Jon
 
the maxxis i mentioned i found pretty good for dirt tracking, sand etc - they have a reasonable tread gap... but i run pretty high PSI on the black stuff so they can be scaty on gravel - when pressures are lower they grip and track really well
 
I have a set of Bridgestone Turanzas https://www.bridgestone.com.au/tyres/treads/er592.aspx on my 04 OB. These are typically used on Falcodores and the like and are a middle of the road tyre (which is where you want them to stay!). The Tassie police have them on their patrol cars.

I've had them about 2 and a half years now - about 50k km on them. They are a bit stiffer than the original Yokohamas, have better turn in and cornering grip. On gravel they seem more secure too. Tread wear has been very good - they still look quite new. I run them at 32 to 34 psi. I picked them because they seemed to be fairly robust for a road tyre, and I'm quite happy with them.
 
Thanks for that Grump. This is the sort of local info that is good to know, especially as I also run my tyres at 34psi.

Interesting that the Tassie Police are using them - patrol cars need to deliver the goods, and I imagine that a larger percentage of police miles in Tassie than say Vic. or NSW would be non - urban. (As I recall the map of Tassie is mostly bush. :poke:)
 
just_bj said:
I've got Turanza's on my 03 Forrie - Quite happy with them.
Click to expand...
Had a look at my tyres when I parked it this morning.
I am running Turanza's as well.:p
They were on the car when I got it, and have done 25,000 kms (15,000 miles) on them in the past 8 months, without any problems.

Thanks to Grump & Just BJ for letting me know that I am already on a good thing. Guess I'll stick with them. :iconwink:
 
I run Firestone Winterforce tires year round. in the interest of typing time here is the reveiw I wrote at tirerack.com

"I live in Southern Oregon where it can be sunny and 45 in the valleys and 25 and a whiteout on the mountain passes on the same day. I hunt and fish year round and drive paved roads to jeep trails in a variety of conditions. My daily commute is 100+ miles. I needed a very unique tire. one that had excellent tread characteristics (like a off-road tire) but also good wear characteristics(like a passenger tire),Oh yeah it also had to fit in a very narrow size range because I own an outback. This tire NEVER failed me, not even once! Deeep snow, heavy Oregon rain or dry rocky desert. The bonus was I didn't have to pay $150 a piece."

I have put 52000 mi on these tires and will buy them again.

https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tire...26SR6FWF&vehicleSearch=false&fromCompare1=yes
 
Sourcing an additional spare.

Want to pick up a second spare 'steelie' as insurance for up-coming trip. Any ideas as to where I'd be likely to find one in Melb?
(Original Geolander spare is fine, and would be happy with a second similar.)
 
If you like Bridgestone and do mainly road work these are the go.
https://www.bridgestone.com.au/tyres/treads/Adrenalin.aspx
Don't worry about the money. It's your life you are playing with. Time and time again i have read tyre tests/comparisons and i don't know how many times i have seen alarming results from cheap tyres. Especially in the wet when some of them in reality should be banned. IMO:)
If you spend $35,000 on a car why spend $10 on a tyre????
For my trip next year i am fitting these.
https://www.bridgestone.com.au/tyres/treads/d693.aspx
They are a 65 series but that's OK. Will give me more clearance especially with the raised king springs i will have fitted.
 
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Pirelli P7 Tyres.

silver said:
... For my trip next year i am fitting these.
https://www.bridgestone.com.au/tyres/treads/d693.aspx
They are a 65 series but that's OK. Will give me more clearance especially with the raised king springs i will have fitted.
Click to expand...
Silver, will the 65 series fit on 'totally stock' running gear, or must they have the largerr springs, as you have?

Anyway, I reconed I had 10,000 km on my tyres when I left on the big trip in October, and 11,000 km later I think I am a pretty good judge of tyre wear. ;)

So I went looking at tyres this morning. My local independent tyre bloke, from whom I have had good service, literally, from the day I got my licence, has Pirelli P7 tyres in stock.
https://www.pirelli.com.au/web/cata...van/CAR_P7_SUMMER.xml&vehicleType=CAR-SUV-VAN

At $169 fitted and balanced, they are actually a bit cheaper than the Turanzas.
Traction grade is AA (the top level) and Temperature rating is A (also the top level). They are 215/60R16 99V,
[Speed symbol "V"Designed as a fitment for vehicles with a speed capability not exceeding 240 km/h (e.g. 225/55 R 14 91 V) The 99 is a load rating
The Turanzas are rated 95H (previous were rated 95V).

The Pirellis seem like a very good tyre at a competitive price.

Does anyone have any recent experience with Pirelli's?
 
Barry,when i got the alloys for the car they had P6's on two rims which i fitted to the front. I did not like them at all. The car felt 'dead' and it seemed to 'track' ruts etc. Not at all impressed. Bit squeally also.
The 65 series are only about 38mm bigger in OD. Should be no problem but a decent tyre place will fit one so you can see.
The best thing is to make up your mind what sort of tyre you need. The ones that are a 'little bit off road' are , in my opinion, not worth getting.
Normal road tyres will do just as good off road but be MUCH better on road.
The tyres like the Bridgestone 694's or maybe the Yoko At-2s are really what you would call a semi off road tyre, not things like the P7's or the old Geolander that was fitted to the Foresters. They are really a nothing sort of thing.
The BEST option is to have 2 sets of rims with proper roads tyres and say, the 694's or similar.
Sending you a PM.:)
 
I used Turanzas on my previous car, with 18"s, and I thought they were a particularly good tyre, and reasonably priced.

Regarding the tyre quality vs price argument, everything Silver is saying is spot on. I may be young, but I've seen enough tyre tests to know that this is one area you shouldn't skimp. On test I particularly remember was a brake to stop from 60km/h. The difference between cheap Korean tyres and the $250 Michelins/ Contis etc was 9 metres. That is a very, very big difference, and easily worth the extra $5-700 on all corners in my mind at least.

Of course, once you start wanting to go off-road, things become complicated!
 
I am very happy with the Pirelli P7, an excellent road tyre, which is what really matters, given the small amount of off-roading I get to do atm.
 
I'm nearing the end of the second set of Bridgestone Potenza RE001 Adrenalins 215/55 17 on my Foz XT and have decided to replace them with the same again. I am still that impressed with them. Grip and response on sealed surfaces both wet and dry is almost unbelieveable, they last 55,000km and even with trips to the Flinders Ranges, Cameron Corner and the Gibb River Road in WA, I have never had a flat. The original Yokohama Geolandars were crap in almost every way - they wouldn't even wear out quickly. The contrast is monumental. There would definately be more suitable, durable and better gripping dirt tyres around than the Adrenalins but my priority is still the extra safety of grip on wet bitumen.
 
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