Good Year Assurance tires - good after 35K

Hello to all, I just wanted to share my experience with the Good Year Assurance tires that were on the car originally.

 

The first 35K miles they were horrible. Steering constantly required micro adjustments and long trips were tiring. Now I can take off hands from the steering wheel and it will track straight with confidence. The steering finally feels precise and planted with nice weight to it so do not throw them away. Keep them for summer at last. There is also one good reason why you should keep them if you like good MPG and faster acceleration. Well, they are one of the lightest tires you can find. Example 225 55 17 is only 20lb everything else is at last 2-9lb more. If we go by the physics, you want the wheels to be as light as possible for faster acceleration and breaking. And the best is when the majority of the wheel's weight is inside the center.

 

Here is one challenge for you guys: post here if you find tire lighter than 20 lb in 225 55 17 size I really would like to see what tire is that and I hope it is in normal price range.

The first 35K miles they were horrible. Steering constantly required micro adjustments and long trips were tiring. Now I can take off hands from the steering wheel and it will track straight with confidence.

My experience with the OE Goodyear Assurance Fuel Maxes in my 2015 Legacy has been different than yours. No problems to date (~53,000 miles) with only routine maintenance: periodic attention to tire pressures (per Subaru specs) and rotation every 6,000 miles. There is still substantial tread above the wear bars, so I don't expect to replace them until somewhere beyond 60,000 miles.

 

N.B. According to data posted by TireRack, the OE 225/55R17 Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max tire weighs 25 pounds, not 20. Big difference.

Edited June 16, 2021 by ammcinnis

My experience with the OE Goodyear Assurance Fuel Maxes in my 0215 Legacy has been different than yours. No problems to date (~53,000 miles) with only routine maintenance: careful attention to tire pressures (per Subaru specs) and rotation every 6,000 miles. There is still substantial tread above the wear bars, so I don't expect to replace them until somewhere beyond 60,000 miles.

 

N.B. According to data posted by TireRack, the OE 225/55R17 Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max tire weighs 25 pounds, not 20. Big difference.

 

Hi Sir, me again.

 

Please check again Sir. Mine are Good Year Assurance All-season and they are 20lb unless they gave you different tires. OK. now I see that 2015 came with Fuel Max, My 2017 came with good year assurance all season - and they were horrible first 35K.

 

GOODYEAR ASSURANCE ALL-SEASON

Specs for Selected Tire

SIZE UTQG MAX.

LOAD MAX. INFLATION PRESSURE TREAD DEPTH TIRE WEIGHT RIM WIDTH RANGE MEAS. RIM WIDTH SECT. WIDTH TREAD WIDTH OVERALL DIAM. REVS. PER MILE COUNTRY OF

ORIGIN*

225/55R17

97T SL

600 A B 1,609 lbs 51 psi 9/32" 20 lbs 6-8" 7" 9.2" 7" 26.8" 780 US

Edited June 13, 2021 by aki334

Mine are Good Year Assurance All-season and they are 20lb ...

Thanks for the clarification. I agree that low rotating mass is desirable in a street or track tire for optimum acceleration/deceleration and fuel economy.

 

I am puzzled that my 2015 Legacy came standard with 'V' rated (149 mph) tires, while the tires you report your 2017 was equipped with are only 'T' rated (118 mph). That might explain some of the difference in tire weight. FWIW, TireRack says that your 2017 came equipped with the same Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max tires as my 2015 but, confusingly, they are different than the Goodyear Assurance All Season tires you report you have. (Both are all-season tires.)

 

Edit: For future reference, when discussing "Goodyear Assurance" tires please specify exactly which member of the Assurance family you're talking about. There are differences (per Goodyear):

 

• Goodyear Assurance All-Season
  
• Goodyear Assurance ComfortDrive
  
• Goodyear Assurance CS Fuel Max
  
• Goodyear Assurance Finesse
  
• Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max
  
• Goodyear Assurance MaxLife
  
• Goodyear Assurance WeatherReady
  

Edited March 15, 2022 by ammcinnis

Thanks for the clarification. I agree that low rotating mass is desirable in a street or track tire for optimum acceleration/deceleration and fuel economy.

 

I am puzzled that my 2015 Legacy came standard with 'V' rated (149 mph) tires, while your 2017 was equipped with only 'T' rated (118 mph) tires. That might explain some of the difference in tire weight. FWIW, TireRack says that your 2017 came equipped with the same Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max tire as my 2015, which is also an all-season tire but, confusingly, is different than your Goodyear Assurance All Season tire.

 

Another tire that I loved and was not that expensive but was not really good in snow was Kumho Solus KH-16. I have never seen Kumho tires with side wall problems (low spots on the sidewall). That tire had really nice linear steering and steering weight to it. The older it gets the better it gets most likely threads are not flexing that much.

Changed my Goodyear Assurance tires at around 120K miles on my 2019. Put another set on, great tires. Edited August 27, 2021 by Limeymike

All Subaru driver need two sets of wheels and tires. One for summer and one for winter. No matter where you live.

... Goodyear Assurance ... great tires.

"Goodyear Assurance" is the name shared by a whole family of tires. The OE tires on my 2015 Legacy were "Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max." Which specific tire model did you get?

Edited August 27, 2021 by ammcinnis

All Subaru driver need two sets of wheels and tires. One for summer and one for winter. No matter where you live.

I'm in Socal so I just run High Performance All Seasons Year around.. We don't have a Sport Sedan so nonneed to buy High Performance Summer Tires.

 

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All Subaru driver need two sets of wheels and tires. One for summer and one for winter. No matter where you live.

 

 

Gonna have to disagree with you. When I lived in San Fran (periodic drives to Tahoe for skiing), the Yokohama Avid Ascend (Grand Touring All Season) worked great. Brought that with me to Denver and also worked great last winter. In Colorado, unless you’re living up in the mountains, all seasons are just fine in the Legacy.

 

 

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I need all-seasons good enough to take 1 trip a year to upstate NY in the winter and the 1-2 snowfalls we get a year in NC. The Yoko Avid Ascend GTs on my wife's Forester are perfect for this. The OEM Goodyears on my Legacy are not quite as good in the snow, but they are fine for the most part.

"Goodyear Assurance" is the name shared by a whole family of tires. The OE tires on my 2015 Legacy were "Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max." Which specific tire model did you get?

 

My 2019 came with standard Goodyear Assurance, not the fuel max. Sorry for delay in getting back with you

My 2019 came with standard Goodyear Assurance, not the fuel max. Sorry for delay in getting back with you

 

 

The Ascends are OK tires and just OK. Better then most. I run Conti DWSs on all my cars and have never been let down in any condition. I will admit the new 06 pluses I have been running are wearing better then the previous versions. But that tire hands down is the best all season money can buy. And before I start a tire war no the AS3 and AS4 cannot even compare as I have both those sets as well lol.

 

@aki334,

 

The issue is to be sub 20 lb with tires is hard in the sizes these Subarus run. Won’t ever find it in a 225/55/17 as most of those are 24ish or so. Tire rack has weights on the tires as well so you can browse until the cows come home. Some summer tires will come close to that weight but it will be hard. Lighter wheels will get the difference of the combo down to most likely your perspective accomplishment the issue is those shells are not cheap at all(looking at say 2k a set). The Assurance is more of a daily driver tire and when you want planted it comes down to tread pattern as well as suspension setup. Once again Conti DWS will give you what you need.

 

Let’s be real unless you are tracking the car and need weight savings I would not go purchasing expensive wheels and tires for this specific car. I also noticed the specs for that size Goodyear are T rated which honestly are awful for anything except daily driving. Great through potholes etc but not corners. That’s where a lot of unplanted feel comes from as well. Trade up to something V rated or above as most high performance all seasons such as the DWS etc are all W rated. Now please take note 35k on tires for me is right about 4/32 of tread and then I generally trade then in for a credit and get a new set. I find 35k on a 50k rated set of tires very normal. Also you could go to a 235/50/17 and get a more planted feel as well for the same money in general.

Edited October 27, 2021 by MoleMan

Funny we have avid ascends on my girl's 3.6R (lightly modded), and I have 245 DWS06+ s on my heavily modded 3.6R. love them both for perfectly fitting each of our driving styles. I concur the DWS06+s are the best tires I've ever had so far, but I've driven neither through the winter yet. I look forward to seeing how they do in the snow but I never had 1 issue with the stock tires in NY winters, so these can only be better?

Funny we have avid ascends on my girl's 3.6R (lightly modded), and I have 245 DWS06+ s on my heavily modded 3.6R. love them both for perfectly fitting each of our driving styles. I concur the DWS06+s are the best tires I've ever had so far, but I've driven neither through the winter yet. I look forward to seeing how they do in the snow but I never had 1 issue with the stock tires in NY winters, so these can only be better?

 

 

After having The entire lineup of DWS’s for the last 15 years I can say with confidence that they handle about two inches and that’s pushing about the limit. You can get by if it’s more with greatly reduced speeds to about three inches but that is the max max. The DWS shines in the rain. People actually avoid being behind me because these tires spit so much water from them.

 

However that being said I had a Camry XLE V6 about seven or so years ago. Those has Avid Ascends on them and they got me up a unplowed mountain pass without issue at reduced speed at keep in mind 10/32 of tread. I also promptly put a new set of Blizzacks on the car after that and sadly that car was t-boned and never saw it again after that. Never had any issues really with Yokohama’s in general just not for me anymore.

 

 

As far as size what did you need to go on the sidewall size on those 245s 45 or 40? I have seen some tire sizes the wider you get are also not only harder to find but incredibly expensive.

I have 245/45/18s. Tried to keep circumference as close to stock as possible while picking up more contact patch for the track and spirited driving. I realize that will hurt me a bit in the snow ...but then again I can just take her car

What you gained in width makes up for the loss in sidewall as far as I am concerned. Some people would complain more about the MPG loss more which I am guessing is about a mile a gallon or so from stock?

It's actually not much loss in sidewall because the aspect ratio is a percentage....smaller percentage of a larger treadwidth is only 0.66% less then stock.

 

Yes I do believe I lost an mpg or so but that doesn't matter to me at all. Also I've been running a couple pounds low I found....so that might play into it also. We'll see after 1000 miles or so.

It's actually not much loss in sidewall because the aspect ratio is a percentage....smaller percentage of a larger treadwidth is only 0.66% less then stock.

 

Yes I do believe I lost an mpg or so but that doesn't matter to me at all. Also I've been running a couple pounds low I found....so that might play into it also. We'll see after 1000 miles or so.

 

 

What I do is add a PSI for every quarter inch of rubber I go wider. I always have the same low feeling when the tire shops put an extra 3 PSI in from the door card when you get new tires. So generally if they put three extra in which is normally spot on go two above that. However in the snow you don't want that higher pressure lol. And agreed about 1-2 MPG loss is what I normally get with wider tires. But just like yourself it really does not matter to me.

 

They thing I like to do is try to get alternate tire sizes that are closest to the Revolutions of the stock tires. I hate having my speedometer to fast or to slow.

What I do is add a PSI for every quarter inch of rubber I go wider.

The proper way to adjust pressures for different tire sizes is by referring to the Load Index Rating, which is branded on the sidewall of every tire. See attachment. The tables may look daunting at first, but using them is actually pretty easy and you only have to do it once. Of course, the calculated book value is only the starting point in determining the optimum tire pressures for your vehicle and your driving environment.

Tire_Load_Index_Tables_1-2.pdf

Edited October 31, 2021 by ammcinnis

Thanks! Anyone know the stock tire's load rating? I forget which brand and type it is...

 

Also living in NY temperature fluctuates as much as 30-40 degrees a day in the fall and spring so it's hard to pin down...I adjust it up a pound or two every month as winter approaches ...

Thanks! Anyone know the stock tire's load rating? I forget which brand and type it is...

 

Also living in NY temperature fluctuates as much as 30-40 degrees a day in the fall and spring so it's hard to pin down...I adjust it up a pound or two every month as winter approaches ...

 

The stock Goodyear LS2's are load index 95 or 1521 LBS. Since these are OEM I would run the factory pressures and I would say the same for any tire with the same Load index rating. And thats if any of us are even running that tire. Different speed rating changes the load index.

 

I generally find tire shops inflate tires to three PSI above what the door card says and it works fine.

 

And where I live we have temperature differences sometimes 40 degrees as well. So I generally so the same as you and air up once every few weeks.

Wow, actually according to the index chart then I should be running 27 and 28 psi respectively. At 95 it's around 1400. At 100 load index, like my dws 245/45s, 1400 is 28.

 

It did seem a bit like it was getting on its tip toes when I went up to 33 and 32 like factory. Great info, thanks.

Anyone know the stock tire's load rating?

The OE Goodyears on my 2015 Legacy Premium are 225/55R17 97V (confirmed per the FSM). I don't know about the OE 18-inch tires, but the 2015 FSM lists them as 225/50R18 95H.

Wow, actually according to the index chart then I should be running 27 and 28 psi respectively. At 95 it's around 1400. At 100 load index, like my dws 245/45s, 1400 is 28.

 

It did seem a bit like it was getting on its tip toes when I went up to 33 and 32 like factory. Great info, thanks.

 

 

The main issue with me is I also have to account for altitude issues so generally just go 3 over plus one or two depending on the time of the year. The issue with the DWSs from a personal standpoint is they to me seem to get squishy the bigger you go from stock. That’s where I play around with the psi’s a bit if I know it’s a cornering day and not a 300 mile highway stretch.

 

To give you a comparative some people in this region will run Blizzacks all year for some reason. Not illegal by any means as they are not studded. However they do it for comfort as they may have had an injury that they need the softer ride. Personally I would never run a snow tire all year unless you enjoy paying for tires every 20k or so.

 

But PSIs always are a personal preference. I prefer a bit higher so I can get better fuel economy. However when a storm is coming I generally bring them down to factory cold pressures. Just remember factory pressures are cold so add two to three when the car is warmed up. For us in these cold winter climates it’s a pain in the butt to adjust at this time of the year because of the temperature fluctuations.

 

But at 28 you are losing fuel mileage. But gaining traction. At 28 you could possibly trigger the TPMS light as in the Camry the light would always trigger at about 28.