Subaru Outback Forums banner

Need tire recommendation!

4K views 15 replies 13 participants last post by  Discount Tire 
#1 ·
Hey guys, looking for a tire recommdation for my 2011 2.5L Outback!
I use my OB primarily for commuting, so I'm really trying to keep the MPG up, but I'm also a geology major, and do research and sampling all over the place off road so I need something that will still get me through some gnarly stuff! Also need to be m/s rated as a lot of this is in the mountains in the winter

Thanks guys for all the help in advance!
 
#3 ·
People's definition of gnarly varies from region to region. I have Destination LE2 on my 2011 (16"rims) and I can manage rutted red mud paths around Alabama pretty well. I also have Cooper Discoverer AT/3 on my Silverado HD. They have served very well in fairly gnarly field and off-road situations as well as heavy towing. I think I'm going to put those on the Outback next. See the post below for a member with these on an Outback...

http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums/81-wheels-tires-brakes-suspension/328897-cooper-at3-235-65-17-psi.html#post3738633
 
#12 ·
I couldn't have said it better myself. My BFG AT KOs have some road noise, and have knocked my milage down a few mpgs, but the confidence they give me offroad on debris strewn beach or rocky road is priceless. And after 20k miles on them, that confidence has grown to cover their performance on city road and highway too, from just rolling to 80+ mph, wet or dry conditions.

And my 2013 Outback with the BFGs still gets vastly superior milage than my F150, so I'm still way ahead.

What you say is true, a flat 20 miles down Padre Island National Seashore can be inconvenient and very expensive if you need a recovery vehicle. That flat 20 miles into Black Gap Wildlife Management area on un- or seldom patrolled roads could even be life threatening. Both are places I love to go in my Outback.

If I had any offroading to do at all, I'd get "real" all-terrain tires, like I did, or just stay with nice road tires and carry a couple of real spares. Anything in between "real" all-terrain tires and "real" road tires is giving up the best stuff about either.

I've noticed in watching self-made videos of my trips camping down beach or trail in my Outback that I without fail always zoom in on my tires and comment "I sure love my Outback's good AWD and my BFG all-terrains"
 
#7 ·
You should look at the reviews on Tirerack. Real people like you rating the tires on cars just like yours. I've done that for years on all kinds of tires for all kinds of cars. They were always right on target.
My 2010 2.5 Premium , had the OEM Continentals on it , and to say they sucked, was being kind. For an AWD car to be all over the road in snow, and a little slush with only about 30K miles and plenty of tire tread was a disgrace. I ended up ordering Continental TrueContact tires and now have 54K miles of happy driving.
They make all kinds with similar names, but TRUECONTACT by Continental, is the one you want.
When you go to the page that has overall ratings of tires in all different categories, you will see it's up there with Pirelli, and others at the top of the list. It is also not as expensive as certain tires too.
They have much stiffer sidewalls, so they ride slightly harder, but they are much quieter, supremely better in slippery conditions, and the overall handing is not mushy and vague like with the OEM tires. MPG is about the same ( about 29mpg highway). Hard to imagine Continental makes the same tire that goes for about the same price.
 
#8 ·
Tires that are all season and rated good in snow ate usually lousy tires on dirt roads. Most Geologists go places where the ground is exposed not covered in feet of snow.

My current set of BFG Touring tires have been some of the best car tires I've run on a subaru. Very durable, hold balance really well, sidewalls for sure seem better built than the ultra soft comfort Continentals that were terrible tires.

My only warning they are not great, good or even OK snow tires. But everything else they have been excellent and very durable. I'll put another set on in December. They will be at around 50,000 miles of hard use and be done at that point. Longest lasting tire I've ever run on my Subaru to date. Which sees lots of towing, heavy packed road trips, some dirt road action and the occasional canyon hustle which the OB isnt all that great at.

They arent Michelin price, but so far I've been very impressed. For sure its getting another set.

Perelli every time I get a set I swear Ill never put them on a car ever again. They never last long and are never anything special regarding handling etc and typically arent exactly cheap either.
 
#9 ·
This is what I have and am really impressed, will be putting another set on in Nov -Dec time frame at about 50,000 miles of hard use.

My continentals were absolute garbage by 20,000 miles, one tire was even out of round. I suffered till 32,000 and finally had to replace them given every 7000 they shook so bad and needed large amounts of weight change to get them back balanced. My BFGs have been balanced three times in 43,000 miles and are baby butt smooth.

They do appear to have added some sipping to improve snow performance. But wet and dry and dirt theyve been great.
BFGoodrich*Advantage T/A
 
#10 ·
I can tell you what not to get.
I recently purchased a set of Toyo Proxes 4 Plus (225/55/17) and I hate them already (approx 1 month, 1000 miles). They are M/S but also rated as "ultra high performance" with a treadwear rating of 560. So I figured they would be fairly quiet on the highway (I do mostly highway driving with the occasional trip into the mountains, but I have full snows for that). These tires on my 2007 Outback had a serious, low-freq "hum" at 40MPH+. I know, I know, turn the radio louder, which I do.
My wife has a 2011 Outback which we bought used and it had a brand new set of Sumitomo Enhanced HTR L/X (225/60/17). They are also M/S and "performance" tires. They are much quieter and have been decent on the highway in terms of road noise. They did us fine during the winter, granted it was a very mild winter here in Boston. For an inexpensive pair of tires, they have been okay. My only comment would be a little roll in the corners, but I can't fully blame the tires on this, the 60-series profile and the car characteristics themselves probably pay a big roll in that as well.
Good luck!
 
#14 ·
So I am retracting my negative endorsement of the Toyo tires. It turns out the wheel bearing assembly was going bad. It took a long time to go from bad to worse. After I got it replaced, the road noise from the tires appear to be as expected.

I can tell you what not to get.
I recently purchased a set of Toyo Proxes 4 Plus (225/55/17) and I hate them already (approx 1 month, 1000 miles). They are M/S but also rated as "ultra high performance" with a treadwear rating of 560. So I figured they would be fairly quiet on the highway (I do mostly highway driving with the occasional trip into the mountains, but I have full snows for that). These tires on my 2007 Outback had a serious, low-freq "hum" at 40MPH+. I know, I know, turn the radio louder, which I do.
 
#15 ·
I recently purchased a set of Michelin Defenders for my '12 2.5 OB and have been very happy with them. They are quiet, smooth, and so far are performing well in both wet and dry conditions.
I purchased them at America's Tire (AKA Discount Tire outside of California), and after my experience there I will never buy tires from any other store. They were extremely competitive on price, and so I made an online appointment for 0800 Saturday morning, and later that week received a call verifying the appointment and the tires. I showed up just before 8AM on the appointed day, and literally 20 minutes (20 minutes!) later I was pulling back out of their driveway with my new Defenders! I was blown away and have been singing their praises ever since. Can't go wrong with America's Tire!
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top