Good Road(?) Tyres for Forester Diesel #2

[pitrack_1]

As a followup to 4xsama’s thread, are there any good recommendations for good tyres for a Forester Diesel?

Ours (wife &I)has 215/65 R16 89H rims with OEM Bridgestone Dueler H/T 687s. We’ve put approx 40k kms on, est. approx 10k kms of tread left. They seem OK, but as this is our first softroader I’ve nothing else to benchmark against. I’ve done a lot of dirt road driving in a small FWD sedan on road tyres, but the Forester with its size, height and design purpose is totally different kettle of fish.

Our driving is basically tar, both highway and urban with occasional excursions onto dirt roads. I tend to stay off the grass . But I (note not "We" ) hope to do more dirt road driving with the occasional excursion onto rougher roads and tracks. There may be a yearly trip to the snow. I don’t expect mud or sand.

I guess my priority is good on road performance for family safety with some secondary dirt/off-road capability. I want something with a bit more ‘bite’ on dirt roads (and tar too if I can get it) than the OEMs which seem comfort road biased.

I’ve read the “Good Road Tyres for Forester Diesel “, “New tyre advice needed[noparse][/noparse]”, “Toyo Open Country or Cooper CS4” and “Tyres for 2010 Outback” threads.

In tyres I’ve looked up online, there’s rather a restricted range in our tyre size (215/65R16):

Mainly considering (in broad line with the threads above):
- Yokohama Geolandar H/T-S (more on-road?) or A/T-S (more balanced cross-road?)
- Cooper CS4 Touring (more on-road?)

Others:
- Pirelli Scorpion STR (road?)
- Michelin Energy XM2, Agilis, Latitude Tour HP (all on-road?), Latitude Cross (more cross-road?)
- Bridgestone D687s (again, on-road OEM) or maybe Dueler A/T 697 (only 235/60 available, if they’ll fit: cross-road?)
- BFGoodrich website only returned errors

Recommendations, opinions, suggestions and experiences most appreciated!

P.S. Nachaluva: Crapstones- from personal experience the Firestones now market positioned underneath Bridgestones are the true Crapstones. Yeeeeuuuuck!!!!

[NachaLuva]

P.S. Nachaluva: Crapstones- from personal experience the Firestones now market positioned underneath Bridgestones are the true Crapstones. Yeeeeuuuuck!!!!

Lol. Worse than bridgestones? haha

IMO you cant go wrong with the Geolanders HT-s or AT-s. The AT-s grips well on wet roads (my main worry) & is an awesome compromise for offroad, plus it has a factory puncture warranty. I cant comment on the HT-s other than it should handle better onraod. How well it goes offroad who knows.

I went from the Bridgestone Dueler H/T 687s to the Geo AT-s. It should have gripped less well onroad but actually gripped better! Mind you I'm guessing it wont last as long but I'm not concerned bout that. I want grip not durability. What use is durability when you have to fork out an excess? Or worse!

Just my opinion

[GTFOZZY]

yep Geolanders are awesome tyre

[Gannon]

I had Bridgestone Turanza ER592's on my Outback last time around and I thought they were great. I currently have Ecopia EP100's because the ER592's had been discontinued, and I'm a little dissapointed. They aren't as grippy and they squeal when hard cornering.

If I were to get tyres again, I'd get the Turanza GR90's

[Subyroo]

I'm running Michelin Energy XM1's (2nd set) which have 59,000 kms on them, however I have only bitumen driving, no offroad ventures.

I did do a Forestry Fire Trail/Road after the Forester was run in just to see how it handled a little bit of rough road, I was happy with the ride and handling. It had the Geo-squealers on at the time.

I find the Michelin's hold the road well in both wet and dry conditions, the XM1's have now been superseded by the XM2.

[NachaLuva]

I'm running Michelin Energy XM1's (2nd set) which have 59,000 kms on them, however I have only bitumen driving, no offroad ventures.

I did do a Forestry Fire Trail/Road after the Forester was run in just to see how it handled a little bit of rough road, I was happy with the ride and handling. It had the Geo-squealers on at the time.

I find the Michelin's hold the road well in both wet and dry conditions, the XM1's have now been superseded by the XM2.

I heard the "Geo-Squealers" were discontinued...too much squealing?

[pitrack_1]

Thanks to all for your replies and opinions, much appreciated. It's always good to hear others' experiences.

I was in a bit of a quandary as to whether to go for somewhat better road-biased tyres, as that is most of what I do, or go for something with a bit more off-road bite (and maybe better on-road anyway) and durability, 'cos that is what I'd like to do

I said "was"...

Well, this afternoon I got a flat left rear tyre. I think I've isolated the nail/wire culprit, one of those slow flats. What was disturbing was that I didn't notice any really adverse effect on the handling- the car even steered straight, more or less, 'hands-off'. I only stopped when I noticed a vibration under acceleration, and I was on a dirt road. I got out of the car only because I wanted to convince myself it was some minor corrugations. Well, it wasn't!

Well, that's annoying, you say...what about the "Aaaargh"?

It happened:
1) 3km outside Sutton ~15km north of Canberra
2) At 5pm giving me no chance to get back to fix it this afternoon
3) When we have to go on a road trip tomorrow (now today) to the Central Coast. Meant to be leaving early.
4) On a dirt road with soft surface and passing traffic
5) On a hot 30+C day
6) With storms visibly coming (luckily didn't arrive in time)
7) Only adult but with a infant on board (she put up with things wonderfully )
[noparse][/noparse] The spare is brand new and the other tyres are old...not good for AWD with a 110km/h freeway back home (got some vibrations)
9) The small hub cap from the alloy wheel doesn't fit on steel spare, exposing the hub to direct dirt/dust ingress (dusty road)
10) It was completely flat and I'm unsure how long it was so. So the actual carcass may be damaged.

At least there's a REAL spare! One of the reasons I bought the Forester.

But that means I may be up for 4 new tyres, if not 5 (change the spare to match) due to AWD and quickly. So much for an extra 10k kms perhaps! And maybe can't get Yokohama Geolandar A/T-S if there's a still a 3-month wait (haven't asked yet).

The ABS/VDC/Traction control didn't throw an error or even warning light relating to differential wheel speeds or loss of traction, either before or after the wheel change.

However I've had a better result that the Ford Escape I saw two weeks ago that, with 2 small children on board, had lost a *front* tyre and gone sidewards into a tree. Luckily noone hurt- very luckily as the tree impacted less than a metre behind the driver's door and it didn't flip after the tyre had rolled off the rim. Cabin was disrupted enough to have popped the sunroof out and onto the ground.

So...Aaaargh!

[pitrack_1]

Well, it turns out that the puncture was a 'star puncture' from a penetrating stone (through the thread block in fact) and irreparable due to the carcase damage. Contributory factors can be speed (not on that section I must say, was faster earlier) or high pressure (40psi- but set by last service at dealer i believe). Thus I need to get a set of 4 (or 5) new matching tyres.

I have quotes in Canberra for $249 for the Cooper CS4 Touring and $250 for Yokohama Geolandar H/T-S or A/T-S, all overnight availability. Do these figures seem reasonable to people? Do I need to get a matching spare?

Only decision is whether to go road-bias or slight-offroad bias. I might get the Yokohama H/T-S simply 'cos noone else seems to have and we mostly do on-road.

Oh and since it was a Bridgestone that failed, Nachaluva was right- Crapstone!

Thanks,

[Johnny T]

hey buddy, if your looking for good tyres try this place called ozzytyres (find it on google), they are located in perth and last time i checked they have free shipping,

my mate got a set of nitto tyres for his 05 sti he got the semi sliks that are for track and road, they grip like no tommorow and he got it for 220each.

hope that helps ya with selecting tyres

[pezimm]

I heard the "Geo-Squealers" were discontinued...too much squealing?

Nopes, they're still out there... Saw a guy getting one today when I took the car for wheel alignment... He paid 280!!

If only everyone stopped buying them, maybe they would discontinue them...

[pitrack_1]

I heard the "Geo-Squealers" were discontinued...too much squealing?

Which ones are the "Geo-squealers"? The OEM fit Geolandar 900? Saw a neat turbo forester (pre-current one) yesterday (Fri) coming into Sydney with Geolandar 90xs (could properly see the last digit, might have been 906) couldn't see the tread pattern.

Thanks,

[NachaLuva]

Which ones are the "Geo-squealers"? The OEM fit Geolandar 900?

yep, they have a reputation for squealing around corners. Have given geolanders a bad reputation among some people, undeserved as the geolander HT-s & AT-s are excellent tyres...nothing like the 900.

If only everyone stopped buying them, maybe they would discontinue them...

Cos they're OEM people think you have to replace the original tyres with the same for best performance. What they forget is OEM isnt the best performance product...its the best COMPROMISE between performance & price.

At $280 each no wonder Yokohama keep making em lol

[pitrack_1]

Thanks once again to all who replied. In the end I've decided to give the Yokohama Geolandar A/T-S a go due to the wealth of positive reviews both here and elsewhere for both sealed and unsealed surfaces. This was balanced against my desire to do more off-roading, more chip/cut/puncture resistance and the reality of mostly highway running. I got 4 installed, balanced and aligned for $1000. The pressure has been set at 40 psi (again).

I've taken them for a brief trip (~50km) 'up the road and back' on sealed surfaces. Here's what I think of them compared to the original Bridgestone 687s:
- Quieter on smooth surfaces- asphalt. I can now hear the engine noise and transmission whine!
- Noisier on coarse aggregate or any roughened surface including what I call 'open-weave' asphalt- it has voids in the surface which prevent water sheeting except under heavy rain.
- A bit more vague or remote. Maybe due to higher tyre pressure
- They transmit bumps/lumps more e.g. you can feel every cat-eye. It also sends a resonance through the cabin.

The harshness can probably be partially attributed to the tyre dealer again running 38-40 psi in the tyres. He has advised me to drop the pressure to approx 30psi for dirt. He also said that the silica compound doesn't heat up whilst running so you don't get an extra 4psi from 'hot' tyres. I'll probably drop them down to 35psi and see how we go. But I also suspect the carcase is more solid in the Yokos, same with the tread/compound hence more transmission of shock/vibration. The B'Stone 687s were quiet and rode well.

I brought home the 687 with good tread left, intending to sell it. However a cursory examination shows lots of cuts. I'll check the inside tomorrow in the sun but I think I may be junking even this one as I thought I spied damage on the inside. And it's probably only done 200-300km on dirt roads. I've never had such a bad effect with sedan tyres.

[NachaLuva]

I brought home the 687 with good tread left, intending to sell it. However a cursory examination shows lots of cuts. I'll check the inside tomorrow in the sun but I think I may be junking even this one as I thought I spied damage on the inside. And it's probably only done 200-300km on dirt roads. I've never had such a bad effect with sedan tyres.

Yep, CrapStone! lol

I found a bit more noise on rough bitumen too. I'm happy to live with that given the benefits.

I'm sure when you drop the pressure they'll be more giving & you wont feel the bumps so much. 5 or 6PSI makes a big difference.

Cant wait to hear what you think when you head offroad

[pitrack_1]

I'm sure when you drop the pressure they'll be more giving & you wont feel the bumps so much. 5 or 6PSI makes a big difference.

Dropped them (I think) from ~42psi to 36psi. A lot less wandery, less harsh on the ride. No major loss of economy.

On road is good. I have to pay attention to hear (or perhaps only perceive) any extra noise and that's only on coarse surfaces. Seems quieter on smooth surfaces, absolutely no roar/rumble. Slightly more squirmy, but you have to push things to notice. Marginally worse economy. I'm happy.

Speeds[noparse][/noparse]speedo/GPS) now 62/60 (A/T-S) vs 64/60 (old B'Stones) and 104/100 vs 108/100. Lots more tread there...

Cant wait to hear what you think when you head offroad

Off road- 2 times on dirt road, only done a few hundred metres on dirt so far. Initial impressions are good, very stable on ~200m smooth dirt. The other road was 500m, but what a test road: started a smooth climb, then suddenly had big potholes, followed by a one-side-only wet clay patch, straight up onto exposed shale and rocks, then off and into an (ahem) wet clay climbing hairpin! The A/T-Ses (+AWD) pulled through that like a champ, would've been stuck in a 2WD and quite possibly too on the OEM road-biased Bridgestones (sorry, Crapstones). That's the first 300m, then ~200m of rutted/washaway dirt road to test the bump absorbency and grip, finishing at the crest. Very happy for such a small test!

[pitrack_1]

Well, just to let you know the Yokohama A/T-S (I think that's right) have lasted over 100,000kms on our car. Amazing. Yes, they're on their last legs but still amazing and great value for money.

Oh and the default suspension alignment must be good as they've all worn evenly save for me scrubbing the outer edges cornering hard (every car, every set of tyres, worse on the pax side).