General Tyre / Tire Discussion

Has anyone tried to fit a 225/60r17 tire on a Forester XT SG?

I am wondering if there is enough clearance against the suspension? Will it rub with the wheels fully turned? I think sti had 225/45r18 as stock, so width-wise should be fine?

Also, do you think there would be enough space to for the snow chains?
 
Not sure about the tires but the snow chains won't fit.
 
Thanks, do you think the chain will clear on a 215/60r17?
 
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Maybe, depending on the tires and chains.

If you fit winter tires or pmsf rated AT tires, you should be fine without chains.

Another solution is to fit BG Outback rear shocks as their lower spring seat is 15mm higher than the SG but that might require other modifications (springs, top hats...)
 
I'm thinking about Yokohama Geolandar AT G015.

The rear looks like there is heaps of space, it's the front I was more worried about.
 
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@jf1sf5 In the Victorian snow fields, Sebna's state, you have to carry chains and they must fit else fines apply.

The "cable" type chains don't need much clearance.
 
The Yokohama AT GO15 has very good reviews here on snow (not as good as Nokian AT's though !)

Thank you Kevin for pointing the Victorian snow field rules...
 
Kevin said:
@jf1sf5 In the Victorian snow fields, Sebna's state, you have to carry chains and they must fit else fines apply.

The "cable" type chains don't need much clearance.
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Here, California has similar rules. However, from all I have read, Subarus on snow tires are only asked if they carry chains. If it becomes as bad as to require a Subaru on chains, they just close the road altogether.

Also, I doubt that Victoria can rival jf1sf5s home state when it comes to snow:lol:
 
That's right, I'm worrying about the Victorian snow chain rules.

[MENTION=114]Kevin[/MENTION], thanks for the tip, I'll have a look on the 'cable' type chains

[MENTION=13125]MiddleAgeSubie[/MENTION], in Victoria they don't care what tires you have and sometimes they require chains on AWD/4WD cars. Agree that Switzerland is far more snowy than Victoria, California probably as well ;) In Victoria, however, there is no point to change to winter tires, (unless you live in the mountains I guess). So when people hit the slopes for the weekend and there is snow on the road, they are asked to put snow chains. I guess they are mitigating the risk of accidents assuming majority of cars are on summer tires. This is my observation :)
 
SebNa/MAS I hold a 4wd permit for Mt Buller (Victoria) so I can drive into the village. For access to the village it is mandated that you must have either All Terrain tyres with M+S designation or the 3pmsf or dedicated snow tyres which must have the 3pmsf.

If you don't hold a 4wd permit you cannot access the village and can go only as far as the overnight car parks. For these there are no tyre requirements, however 4wds and awds must carry snow chains and you may be required to fit due to ice that we get on the roads.

The weekend just gone was a classic example of snow conditions requiring chains on 4wds/awds. It was snowing in Mirimbah at the bottom of the mountain, snow chains were required to be fitted on 2wds at the entry gate but not 4wds/awds. I drove up without chains and saw 4 other 4wds/awds which had slid off the road which included a Range Rover, a Discovery and a BMW X5 none of which were fitted with snow chains.
Whilst I had no difficulties with the conditions I elected to put front chains on before I got to the village.

For the record I use Yokohama ATS which work well in snow.
 
[MENTION=5023]havachat[/MENTION], what size are your Yokohamas?
 
I run two different sizes in the Yokohama ATS depending upon what I am doing. For off road I run 215/65/16. For snow trips off road and general snow driving I have the standard size, 215/60/16 because I cant get my chains to clear the front spring perch. I fitted KYB front struts specific to my model year, whereas if I fitted the front struts for the 2006 XT I would have had greater clearance.
 
Yeah, I think that clearing the spring perch is the main problem when trying to fit bigger wheels / tires.

In my XT the clearance between the current tire (215/55/17) an the spring perch is c. 20-25mm at the rear and 10-15mm at the front.

Is there a way to increase this clearance? E.g. with different struts and/or springs?
 
I think Konig T2 chains will fit. The only way to know is to do a trial fit. I'm sure KYB excel g struts will give you more clearance though. Changing the spring won't fix the clearance.
 
You already have the struts with the most tyre clearance. You can fit 215/70/16 or 215/65/17 but you won't be able to fit chains as well
 
It's certainly the wrong time to be looking for tyres! As a replacement for the BFGs I had narrowed my selection down to Toyo AT 21570R15, Maxxis AT771 20575R15 or Yoko GO15 20570R15 - no stock and no ETAs either due of course to the virus. :(
 
I definitely reccomend the G015's over the other two. They're super quiet on the black top, sticky in the wet, and have amazing grip off road for a AT. They're perfect if you don't need the added beefiness/puncture resistance the BFG KO2's provide
 
Thanks for the recommendation @SquiresSquire - it's the least size favourite of mine though. Not much choice for 15" wheels for tyres that are around 680-700mm diameter these days. A 21570R15 would be really good and avoid the little rubbing I've had on full lock with the BFG 21575R15 (which btw are also not in stock). Luckily I'm in no rush so can wait for stocks to be replenished.
 
@Kevin interesting, they made the old G012 in 215/70R15 but not the G015. I've run them in the past, and plan on getting a set in 17" to run around town, and leave the BFGs off for bigger trips away.
 
Maxxis AT and maxxis MT are nice tires well recomended.
 
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