GT Forester Tyre recomendations?

[SuBaRiNo]

Just after some advice on what tyres i should get for my 01 GT Forester.

Currently it has some Neuton brand (they lookk a bit cheap) and the size is 215 60 r16. The spare is brand new and is the same size, it is a Yokohama Geolander H/T.

I would like to go something a little bigger but i do not want to go a size that requires any cutting or bashing. Also i want a full size spare to fit in the factory spot under the boot floor if possible. I might be being un-realistic here but i thought i would see what people think.

The use of the tires will be roughly 90% road and 10% offroad however we are just about to leave on a trip in the car around australia so it might be closer to 99.9% road use for this trip.

Any suggestions on brands/size or are any of you perth guys hoarding a set of tyres that might suit.

Dave

[longy99gt]

i have put on yokohama geo ATR's
they are 215/70/r16,
they do rub a little, they have given me a 1"lift, as they are 2"biggr overall,
i would suggest you dont go quite as big?
i rebuilt my boot, removing all that crap in the back, so my spare will go randomly in,
i would recommen either the yoko atr's or geolander atr's
both are really good,
dont get coopers, pirelli and other high quality manufactuers are ok,
you can pop over and look at my tires if u want? so u can see how close they fit
all you'd need it a tiny bit of grinding to stop most of the rubbing, i havent got the equipment,
longy

[RSR 555]

Dave.. I would stick to the same size unless you know for sure what other size will fit in your spare wheel well. But in saying this.. if you have the room on your trailer then I would go the next profile size up (215/65R16) this will only increase the rolling diameter by 5%.. sometimes just enough for those soft sandy spots and no need for remodeling the body work.

With regards to brand and style.. then look no further than the Coopers CS4.. trust me you'll never buy another brand again

[longy99gt]

ps, ive just come back from 3.5 weeks on a coastla tour,
came across, mainly highway, they were quiet, and performed well in the wet, not that i was trying to lose traction this time, went off road in sand, mud, gravel, rock climbing, most of it with a fully loaded car, gloss to its GVM....
very happy with them, even tho they were 250 each, i onyl got 4, and left the spare original

[longy99gt]

im sorry rsr,
but i was keen on coopers myself,
went to put them on, and the guy said they have the highest return rate world wide?
i was shocked, after reading about how good they say they are?
so did a bit of research, looked on a few different forums, etc, found the BFG were pretty good,
coopers had a huge variety of good and bad reviews, and yoko's turned out to have pretty good reviews, ,
ive heard 4x4 action monthly or a mag like that has done a tyre comparo lately, and bfg come out on top?
but they are biased and half the time whoever pays the most advertising in those gets better reviews...so read carefully between the lines.
whichever you get, i found most people said get them balanced and rotated etc regularly to get the most life out of them,
my cousin has done about 50-60,000 k's on his yoko ATR's on his 4wd, reckons he has another 30-50 to go or so,
go chat to a couple of different tire retailers that sell different brands and see what they say.

[longy99gt]

i'd go a 215/65-16 like rsr suggested, will fit well, without rubbing, increase rolling diameter a lil, but you may find it still wont fit in the bott well, it will be a close squeeze,
your 10% off road, if its likely to be more sand, stick with highway terrains, or if you want a more heavy duty tire off road, atr's have stronger lugs and better sidewall protection for say, driving on little sharp rocks etc? and help in mud more than highways, i have torn a sidewall on the track from lancelin to cervantees via wedge, and i can accross soft sand, corrugations and sharp exposed rocks, and matty, with the big orange liberty, (95liberty) just tore a sidewall later that arvo in the powerlines track when we all went, and he has those cooper cs4's.....
altho mine rub, i have noticed the speedo is perfectly accurate to within about 1% which can be down to the tie pressure at any given time,
instead of the usual 7% they are set at,
if you go bigger, you will struggle to fit anything in that wheel well regardless,
hence i kept my spare as the original, hopefully i wont have to put the spare on the front tho if anything happens, now that i dont store it in the boot anymore, i will look at finding matching sized spare,
sorry to fill up your page with all these posts!
haha cya

[RSR 555]

No probs Adrian.. I don't take offence to peoples opinions as long as they have had experiance with them.. good or bad but I would have to say you are compairing your A/T-S (all terrain tyre) with Matty's CS4 (highway tyre) so please don't think they will be the same on rocks.

I have had both Yoka Geos H/Ts and Coppers CS4s on my 2003 Outback and from that I wouldn't buy anything else again but that's just my opinion.

But one thing I must say is that no matter what tyres Dave or anyone else buys.. make sure they are all the same size (even the spare) and rotate regularly or you WILL distroy your centre diff.. this is even more so in all the late 8 bolt housing gearboxes as they use a completely different clutch pack and are notoriously known to locking up.

[SuBaRiNo]

Interesting read guys... thanks.

Anyone out there with experience with what the max size that will fit in the spare wheel well?

Also if i do keep the same size im sure its probably not a good idea to keep a HT tyre as my spare and have ATRs all round would it? Giving my spare is a un-matching rim this would not be used during a normal rotation.

Dave

[RSR 555]

hehehe.. thanks dave

I forgot you have a steel rim for the spare. That rim will be the same in size and offset as your alloy rims but would look ugly for everyday use. I would still make sure all 5 are the same because driving long distance on your spare will stuff up your centre diff.

[D3V1L]

i aggree...go coopers....lots of huff and fluff about them but they are an awesome tyre. they own award winning micky thompson so cant be doing too bad. and i had a couple of sets that just performed beautifully


davo

[longy99gt]

well, the boot lining rest on the spare tire, so if you got a wider profile, eg 225/60/-16 then the lid wouldnt close flush,
and i know mine, the 216.70-16's dont fit,
try and go to a tire shop, see if they have any 215/65/-16's lying around that you can drop in to see if it fits?
thats your only chance?

[robdddd]

The wife's 2003 forry runs 235/60/16 coopers and I asked the guys to check the spare would fit before proceeding...... Turns out the tyre off the rim fits, different story for fully inflated. Currently squished in at 12psi but the cover sits about 10 mm high.

[Corax]

Know I will probably get a beat down for asking this question:), but what do you guys think about the Bridgestone D694? For all us people that cant afford the cooper tyres:)

[Corax]

Liked the look of the geolanders and been doing a bit of research online. Had a look on bizrate (US) and found the average price was arounnd $150-$160 and found one shop had them on special for $104. Given the aussie $ is almost on par with the US $ I thought the price might be around the same over here. Walked into Knob Jane T mart the other day and was quoted $259 for the 215/60r16's. Ouch!

[longy99gt]

yeah i paid 250 each for the 215/70/16's
ouch indeed!!!!