*Official Offroad Tires Thread*

[Boxxerace]

Post your experience or questions surround the best tires for offroad Outbacking.

Start with this format:

Vehicle: "2005 Outback XT"
Wheels: "Stock 17 x 6.5"
Tires: "Craptenzas"

"I think the best offroad tire I have ever used offroad on our Outback are the Bridgestone....

I found while driving up near vertical walls of rock I did not get any wheelspin at all! "

* note: this is a cheezy example, but you get the idea

[skyphix]

Car: 2004 Subaru WRX STi
Wheels: Bronze Rota SDR 17x7.5 48mm offset
Tires:Nokian WR Passenger 225/45/17

Ok, maybe not as offroad as you'd be going with an Outback, but on some severelly rutted roads, and a lot of quite large mud puddles, and wet grass... and wet clay mud... these tires did the trick, and quite well I might add. They are "all weather" tires. I got 48k out of mine and could've stretched another season with them.

Probably what I'll use on the Outback, and probably on those same Bronze Rota SDR's but in 235/55/17.

[06baja spt]

Great thread! Thanks!

[Brucey]

2000 Outback
Stock 16X6.5 wheels
Tires: Goodyear Viva II (Walmart Special)

Junk! not bad on highway, but I ripped the sidewall twice, once at 35 psi (my mistake for leaving them that high and going offroad) and once at 20 psi. Traction was decent. But even for the cheapest of the cheap, just dont bother unless its an emergency.

Tires: Goodyear Tripple Tread 225/60/16

Ran them at 20 psi usually, and they actually got me around decently, never tore the sidewalls up. I still cant recommend them because of their cost and if you tear them up you're screwed, but I was pleasantly surprised by how well they got threw loose dirt and mud. They also churned their way through a few feet of water the other day.

[rockhopjohn]

I guess this is a question as much as anything, and one that I am sure Scooby could answer. It would appear that there are many more off road tire option that would fit an outback, in a 15" wheel size, so what I am wondering is if there are fitment issues with clearing brake calipers on a 2nd Gen outback with a 15" wheel. Seems like remember a thread long ago where Scooby have to hit his front calipers with a grinder to make the 15" wheels fit.

Also on to the main topic. I spend a lot of time on Forest Service roads, and I run dedicated winter tires, but I still have the Potenzas for my summer tire, and plan to run them as long as I can. But when it comes time to replace them I want something that is going to do well with gravel, mud, a little rock scrambling, and be fairly punture resistant. Preferably they would fit in 16" rims. So, is their such a beast?

[rockhopjohn]

In response to my own question, I do see that Yokohoma is coming out with the Geolandar A/T - S and they will have a 215/60R16 in the fall.

Here is a link to the tire on Yokohama's Website

[Terrain.org]

I'm with you, except I don't use winter (or summer) tires. I'll keep the Potenzas until they wear out, then replace with a light A/T if I can get one that fits. I think I have 17's with the 06 XT, though.

[06baja spt]

The new Yokos look pretty good but why did they skip over 225/60/16?

[rockhopjohn]

Yeah, it looks like they did, these tires will be ~5/8" narrower, and about 3/8" shorter if I have done the math right, anyway, that should fit, and that is the key for me personally. I would prefer wider, but I am not sure if a 235/60R16 would be too big, it is only a half inch or so taller, and half inch or so wider. Guess I will just have to go out and measure with the steering locked.

They do have a 225/60R17 that might work on a 17" for you guys with larger wheels. But that tire is an inch taller than the stockers, so it might be little much, you would just have to measure.

[skyphix]

Thanks for finding that, John.

It seems that people are running some pretty big tires on the new-gen Outbacks so it is possible. Time to do some research...

Edit: Biggest I found on an '05-'06 Outback was 235/50/18 which is 27.25" (approx), and the 225/60/17 is 27.63" (approx).

He had no rubbing at stock ride height, but my concern would be rubbing on hard suspension compression. I guess there's only one way to find out. Anyone rich and want to try it