New Tyres - MY10 XT Forester

tuckerman

Forum Member
Joined
Mar 14, 2011
Messages
53
Location
Perth/Southwest W.A.
Hello, new comer to these forums, they look to have some great information for the general Subaru enthusiast that does use their car off the bitumen at times.

I have a current model XT and am pretty happy with it over all, its one of those cars that does most things pretty well. I am looking to replace the factory tyres with a decent upgrade. I am looking for something that is maybe a little bit more capable offroad but with minimal effect on noise etc on road. Was thinking possibly a slight larger all terrain that might have better grip and possibly bag out a little more when let down for the sand ?

Things to consider;

I am in Australia, South West of WA to be exact.

Tyre size can probably go up a little as the speedo reads 8k's higher than the car is actually going.

If I go up a tyre size will spare tyre still fit in well ? Will they fit without rubbing in any way

Any info / experiences would be much appreciated. Thanks
 
Hi tuckerman. Im up in Geraldton :biggrin:
Depending on the size of your rims and whether you want to lift your Foz or not will give you a good idea on what tire sizes you can fit. Personally I would stick with the standard size in a all-terrain. Like the Bridgestone Dueler 694. I am buying a set of these for my Foz since I don't want to go up in size anymore (will have huge effects on performance, especially offroad and since I only have a small engine I cant afford to loose power)
These duelers are quite and grip very well on the road and in the wet. They also work well in sand, gravel and rocks offroad, not so much thick deep mud. You could get something abit more aggressive but for a good compromise these are decent (and for the price)(my father has had 2 sets on his 4WD Mazda Bravo and got around 50,000km out of them) (my reasons for getting them)
A bigger size will most likely not fit in the wheel well as well :sad:


Regards
Taza
 
Power over all isn't a major issue (don't get me wrong the XT isn't the fastest thing on earth) but the 2.5 turbo goes well enough and is torquey enough that a slight change in tyre size wouldn't affect it too much. I agree though I want to keep them as close to factory as possible as to not cause any major issues. Currently the car sports 17" 55, 225's of the Geoloander G95 variety. From the looks of the guards and struts etc, I was thinkn possibly a 65 profile tyre might be available in an All terrain giving better grip, bit more sidewall flex for letting the tyres down and bagging out a bit more without rubbing.

Would consider lifting the forester to get a bit more ground clearance but they already have not too bad clearance considering, the new Forry series has a bit more than the older series (225mm the specs say which is the same as the new Pajero). Plus I am not sure that lifting my version is super easy as they have auto levelling rear suspension so I don't know if that makes it more difficult to use a lift kit or get taller springs.

anyhow the model of forry I have has been around for a few years now so I am sure some ppls have done tyre changes so hopefully I can get some feedback. Thanks for the lead on that tyre model though, might do a ring around tomorrow and see what sizes they are available in :)
 
Sorry I didn't notice the XT part. Yeah a tire abit bigger that will still fit in the wheel well would work well. Do some searching and see what other people have done with tires. Also have a look on subaruforester.org
Duelers, Geolanders, Cooper and BFG all do good A/T tires. It just might be hard finding a 225/65R17 Im not too sure.
My MY02 has self leveling rear suspension but im in the process of saving my money to get new springs that are bigger too (will give me a 35mm lift, so 235mm clearance in theory with a 1" body lift too) (total cost of about $800 with wheel alignment and fitting)
My rear springs are sagging about 1.5" so I have lost some clearance at the back.
 
ahhhk thanks for the info, definitely sounds interesting on the lift front! I am heading down south to Yugerup which I think will be a real test for the Forry on standard rubber and standard ride height. Will see how it goes.

might look to a mild lift like u mention in the future but to be honest its a 80% road car and 20% offroad (towing my trail bike or beach stuff when going scurfing) so I wouldn't want to make it too far away from standard handling.

yeh will have to ring around and see whats available in that range

thanks mate :raz:
 
Thats fine. Im probably 60% road 40% offroad. Go down the beach, a trail and gravel track every day. I go to a beach thats like its just mine and its only 5mins drive from my house :D

At the moment I have 4 bald highway tires and stock clearance. I seem to do alright. When I get my new tires that will made a difference. I would be lucky if I had 2mm of tread left on my back ones. lol They do alright in sand for highway tires, when deflated but are sh*t for everything else, especially gravel. Im looking forward to getting some kind of A/Ts and more clearance. Thats coming in the near future :D

Even with my little Foz I was able to snatch out a 100 series Landcruiser and pull a Holden Viva through 150m of soft black trail sand yesterday afternoon. My tires were at 12psi and I was nearly bottomed out but I still helped them :D The best thing about taking a subi offroad is when it helps the so called 'real 4WDs' and the look on people faces when you go past and they are parked or stuck. haha
 
Welcome Tuckerman to ORS. Don't forget a sump guard.
 
haha yeh, they are quite capable for non real 4wd's as long as you keep in mind their basic limitations. Thanks for the Welcome Rally. Yeh already got that one covered mate, was one of my initial concerns so at the 40thou service I changed out the plastic cover for a powdercoated subaextreme bash plate :)
 
G'day tuckerman & :welcome: to ORS.

taza said:
Duelers, Geolanders, Cooper and BFG all do good A/T tires. It just might be hard finding a 225/65R17 Im not too sure.
Click to expand...
I have the Geolanders AT/-S (also know as GO12) on my Forry (215/65/16) & love them.
As for the same tyre in 17's they do come on 2 sizes. 225/60/17 & 225/65/17
Hope this helps :)

Regards
Mr Turbo
 
Thanks for the welcome and the reply mate!

Ok looks like they could be an option, by the looks of your photo gallery your Suby sees a bit of offroad use to!

How do you find your Geolanders in terms of quietness, grip etc ? Obviously there is quite a bit of difference between the Geolander model you mention and the factory spec ones I have on the Forry
 
Howdy and :welcome:tuckerman!!!

Looks like your tire question has been answered pretty well. I just want to throw in about the lift, there are 1" lifts and raised springs available for your car, but, I'm pretty sure you would have to ditch your self leveling rear shocks for standard ones.
 
ahhh k yeh I thought that was the case in regards to the suspension, I thought I had read before that you had to change the rear struts if you wanted to lift the car, that seems like too much E (effort). If it was just springs etc would prolly be ok and a lot cheaper.
 
With King Spring you have to replace the struts. With Dobbinson springs (which is what im doing) you dont. They fit directly into the existing struts.
 
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tuckerman said:
Cool! Does that apply to the 2010's as well ? what sorta coin per spring are you lookn at ?
Click to expand...

It will cost me $600 in Perth to buy the springs, get them installed (set cost, not by the hour), adjustable chamber bolts in the rear and a wheel alignment. They will raise the whole car 30-35mm. So instead of 220mm at the diffs and exhaust for a MY10 it would be a minimum of 250mm. Then you would have the same clearance, if not more than a 'real 4WD'. This would also give you the ability to fit bigger tires without rubbing.
My Forry would go from 200mm to 235 (my back springs are sagging over an inch anyway due to its age) + im probably getting a 1inch strut lift. So in theory about 280mm at the body and 235mm at my diffs, engine, drivetrain, etc... then the same day booking in for some kind of A/T tires.

I contacted Malaga Springs and Suspension for this. They have done Subarus before, so they know how to do it . Talk to Dean their, I found he was very helpful. It will talk roughly have a day to do aswell.

I would like to thank D_Generate for helping me find out about lifting my forry and pointing me to this place.

Contact them and just ask and have a look at their website.

https://www.malagasuspensions.com.au/

Hope this helps.
Regards
Taza
 
Hi I have 2006 xt forrester Standard tyre for me was 215 55 17 i went up to a
yokohama AT 215 60 17 tyre. I live in north west Qld and lived on a Cattle station with 200km of roads that where eather pritty good or really bad after the wet. They are a lot more durable than the standard Geolanders as i lost two tyres with side wall punctures on these roads in 6 months. Had the ATs on for over a year now really good wear still look reasonably new after 15000km. As for speed i originaly read on my gps 94 sitting on 100km/h on speedo now show 96km on gps would recomend to anyone to get yokohama AT with 60 profile over the 55 profile only thing does clog up easier in sticky blacksoil but lift kit should rectify that. This is the drawimg board for me as i got pulled up last year clocking up in back wheels on sticky blacksoil had to make up pad to put jack on a drop wheels of and clear mud the got aout without much trouble
 
Thanks for the reply mate. Yeh I had pretty much come to the came conclusion as you. I am getting the 17" 60 profile Yokohama Geolandar A/T's, they should be a bit better that the factory options offroad without requiring any modifications or losing any drivability onroad.

Yeh lift kit I had planned to get this installed at the next service,
- https://www.subtle-solutions.com/product_info.php?cPath=21_24_29_52&products_id=106

Again looks like a good solution that will keep most of the factory drivability etc but give me a little more ground clearance off road :)

 
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