viperboy Posted June 3, 2006 Share Posted June 3, 2006 Hi. I'm new to this forum, and it is really a great source of information. I read the thread about the best tires, but alot of people have 2 sets of tires. I am looking to get an 05 Outback 2.5 XT Ltd. in the very near future, and i have read about the stock tire on tirerack, and it seems like the tires arent very good. However, i have driven the car, and the tires seem to be decent, but maybe that could be in part due to the AWD system. On my 98 Cabrio, I use BFGoodrich Traction T/A's and they are the best tires I have ever used - the grip is great, no matter what the situation is (snow, rain, dry, etc...) When I looked on the BFGoodrich site though, they said that for the Outback, they don't have tires that fit. But i pulled up the tires, and looked at the PDF, and it showed they made 225/55/R17's so I shoule be able to get those tires, but does anyone have a suggestion about better all-season tires? I am just very hesitant to switch to a different tire, since the BFG's work excellently. And in the future, I might switch to 18's, should i use a different all-season tire for 18's? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim1969 Posted June 3, 2006 Share Posted June 3, 2006 where do you live? Do you see alot of snow? that will affect your choices. I live in the Northeast and use Pirelli PZero Nero M+S tires. Do a search. Very good all seasons but only okay in snow. If you have more snow then consider the Nokian WRs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ih8vtec13 Posted June 3, 2006 Share Posted June 3, 2006 The RE92s are more of a jack of alll trades and master of none then a bad tire. They can manage in any terain for the most part but are not really that great at any. People here do go overboard on bashing them too, some will even tell you that they caused cancer and killed the dinosaurs. If you do not drive them past their limits they will get you throught the year. Why dont you do what I did, drive them for the first year, save cash, after the winter get rims and summer tires, then use your stock wheels for a set of Nokians or some oher winter tire. The Nokian WR may be a good choice for you if you only want 1 set of tires, they are better then the stock in all aspects and they are great in the snow. If you are buying from a dealer then they will probably change the tires before they sell it and I was at Wayne Subaru yesterday and we noticed that the 06s on the lot all had a Yokohama tire on them now. Odds are that if they put new tires on the car then they will use these rather then RE92s Like i said thhey are a pretty good all around but nothing great and very overpriced. I do not plan on ever getting a set again and sticking with my Kumho MX (great tire BTW) in the summer and Nokian WR (also a great tire) in the snow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken S Posted June 3, 2006 Share Posted June 3, 2006 There have been quite a few new entries into the Ultra-high performance AS tire section. Here's a recent test from Tire Rack: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/bs_potenza_re960as_pole.jsp Both the Bridgestone RE960 and Yokohama Advans look promising. Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brett s Posted June 3, 2006 Share Posted June 3, 2006 I had the Traction T/A's (H rated) on my old Forester XT & loved them too (much better than the oem G900's or ZE-512's I had prior) - looks like they don't make it in our size for the OBXT though, the "T" rated version is totally different tire than the H & V ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viperboy Posted June 4, 2006 Author Share Posted June 4, 2006 yes, i live in pennsylvania, and i do tend to drive my cars, not hard, but spirited. so yes dry and wet traction is very important, and snow traction is important, but there isnt much you can do about handling in the snow anyway. and i have thought about getting a second set of rims and tires for the winter, but since i havent even bought the car yet, it is just a thought. the reviews on tirerack seemed like the stock tires were really bad. are they? from driving it, i couldnt tell that, but i did only drive them in the dry and slightly damp, not raining. thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andrew_j Posted June 4, 2006 Share Posted June 4, 2006 I have known a few people who complained so much about the RE92's OEM stock to Bridgestone customer care they took them back and gave credit for other Bridgestones. (they have a program like this for 30days on new tires but in writing not applicable to OEM). An equivalent and nice tire to BF TA's are the Bridgestone G009's. A nice step up is RE960 (very well rated) however winter traction is a unknown at this point in time. That all being said I am a OEM RE92 owner X 3 (95Honda Civic, 2004 WRX, and 05 LGT). They are sketchy in winter weather but otherwise ok for a about 50-70% of their treadwear. Once they hit a certain point they are awful in rain and bordering dangerous in winter weather(esp ice). The best thing I can say about RE92's are they are extremely predictable and give warning when about to break traction under spiritied driving on dry/wet road. Some very(ultra) high performance tires cannot say this. Nokians WR's are decent tires but not incredible handlers. Great compromise with winter traction bias. They are $$$$. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highwaydrifter Posted June 4, 2006 Share Posted June 4, 2006 Dude the nokian wrs kicked the living crap out of my re92s in the dry.. In the rain they are amazing on an awd car.. it is like driving in the dry.. They are not summer tires, that is for sure, but when pushed to the limit (read drifting) they handle amazingly well, there is no suddeness to how they give out, and they are extremely controlable at that limit (esp for having sipes).. Amazing tires.. In the snow if you drop the pressure down in them they do amazingly well for being an all season (read i never ever had to worry about traction in the snow, no matter how deep i drove thru.. but again this is NOVA not AK) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highwaydrifter Posted June 4, 2006 Share Posted June 4, 2006 Oh and search for the nokian group buy, i am sure the place i posted up would honor the same deal (read give you a good price break) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daedalus Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 Avon Tech m550 A/S. My favorite all-season. You can get them at http://www.tirerack.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
team23jordan Posted June 5, 2006 Share Posted June 5, 2006 Kumho Ecsta ASX great freakin tire Perrin BIG maf intake Perrin Turbo Inlet HKS SSQV BOV Megan Racing header with UP (ceramic coated) HKS DP (WRX) DMH E-cutout Custom 3" catback UTEC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imperator Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 Personally I like Continental ContiExtremes, at tirerack for $110 each. They're not as aggressive in summer conditions as some all-seasons, but they are incredible in the snow. I've had 3 sets of these so far (2 for my WRX) and I buy them simply because of the snow performance (wifey, baby, etc.), Continental's website claimed their quantification for grip on these tires worked out to be only "around 10%" less in snow than dedicated snow tires. Bold claim, but they're incredible in the snow. Dry and wet performance is substantially better than the RE92s, but not as good as some summer tires, but then again one shouldn't expect them to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HansGT Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 Avon Tech m550 A/S. My favorite all-season. You can get them at http://www.tirerack.com check the weight....they're a little porky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HansGT Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 Kumho Ecsta ASX great freakin tire great...I've heard they have week sidewalls compared to P Nero M+S or some others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HansGT Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 errr weak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HansGT Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 There have been quite a few new entries into the Ultra-high performance AS tire section. Here's a recent test from Tire Rack: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/bs_potenza_re960as_pole.jsp Both the Bridgestone RE960 and Yokohama Advans look promising. Ken yep, but the RE960 is a bit heavy. 2lbs. per tire over our stockers at the same size. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gfxdave99 Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 I have driven in snow/rain/sun in my Toyo Proxes 4 and they are 1000000x better then the re92's Just my opinion of course If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough. - Mario Andretti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HansGT Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 I have driven in snow/rain/sun in my Toyo Proxes 4 and they are 1000000x better then the re92's Just my opinion of course what about road noise and tire pressure...any issues? (what i've heard) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gfxdave99 Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 what about road noise and tire pressure...any issues? (what i've heard) I have had no loss in pressure in any of my tires since they have been mounted a few mos back, and as far as road noise, I never hear the tires... If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough. - Mario Andretti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ih8vtec13 Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 I have heard some really good things about the Toyo Proxes 4, I was looking into them before i decided to go wit a straight up summer tire. Once you get some uber stickey rubber on those wheels you car is a whole new best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gfxdave99 Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 I can take ramps/corners faster with the new tires for sure, i havent managed to break them loose yet If everything seems under control, you're just not going fast enough. - Mario Andretti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iMouseGT Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 Personally I like Continental ContiExtremes, at tirerack for $110 each. They're not as aggressive in summer conditions as some all-seasons, but they are incredible in the snow. I've had 3 sets of these so far (2 for my WRX) and I buy them simply because of the snow performance (wifey, baby, etc.), Continental's website claimed their quantification for grip on these tires worked out to be only "around 10%" less in snow than dedicated snow tires. Bold claim, but they're incredible in the snow. Dry and wet performance is substantially better than the RE92s, but not as good as some summer tires, but then again one shouldn't expect them to be. I swear by these also. I had them on my 2000 Celica and even as a FWD car the traction and handling was awesome in the snow. The sidewalls are a bit soft to be a great summer tire but you can't have it all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 Went in to get the ContiExtremes myself, but came out with the P Zero Nero M+S's, and I've been extremely pleased with the Pirelli's, for an all-season tire. And I've never said that about a Pirelli tire before! I bought mine almost a year and a half ago, and at the time the Conti's and the Nero's seemed to be the two most highly recommended all-season tires here, and the shop was able to get me a much much better deal with the Pirellis. Based on everything I've seen, I'm sure you'll be happy with either of these. Seek first to understand, then to be understood. In other words: SEARCH before you post! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xenonk Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 Id opt for Michelin Exaltos or Pilot Sport A/S.. track used and proven by me, yes, they hold up very well. Keefe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HansGT Posted June 7, 2006 Share Posted June 7, 2006 Id opt for Michelin Exaltos or Pilot Sport A/S.. track used and proven by me, yes, they hold up very well. if you got the cash.. or a sponsor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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