Hi folks. I acquired my 3rd Subaru (a 2013 Outback 2.5i Ltd with EyeSight/Nav) at the end of November as a replacement to a 2010 Audi A4 Avant which I loved but had outgrown in size. I previously had a 2005 Legacy 2.5 GT 5MT wagon (an awesome, affordable mid-life crisis car) preceeded by a 1998 Impreza Outback Sport. I'm well versed in the Subaru life, formerly a member of the LegacyGT forums.
I'll cut to the chase. I knew I would not be happy with the '13 OB tires (ContiProContact) from the start but have a huge dilemna about what is an appropriate substitute for my somewhat unique driving situation. With my previous vehicles, I have either run dedicated performance winter tires in winter (Dunlop M3s), or with the Audi and the LGT wagon I eventually switched to ContiExtremeContact DWS tires for a compromise using one tire in all four seasons. Life is more complicated now, however.
I have a home in the Mid-Hudson Valley/Catskill Mountains (anyone want to buy it?) and a new home on Lake Erie in western NY, south of Buffalo (the land of lake-effect snow). This year, I am between both homes, but next year the Catskills home will be no more. Driving conditions in the Catskills and in western New York technically both require winter tires but for different reasons. Both are generally very cold in winter, so even without much snow winter tires are a good idea. The Catskills have hilly roads with "predictable" snow falls and less predictable icing, whereas western NY is generally flat but with unpredictable lake-effect snow fall and less predictable snow-plowing. I go back and forth between the two homes at least once every 3 weeks, a 300+ mile trip one-way via I-90. So far, this isn't complicated. Given my driving habits, I usually replace tires every two years as I average 15k-24k miles annually).
Here's the complication: from Feb 1-Mar 15 this year, I drive down to South Florida to escape some of the winter. In previous winters I spent only a month in Florida, this year it will be 6 weeks, and next year it might be 8+ weeks (yeah, poor suffering me). My point is that I escape some of the winter, but I still have to deal with at least a bit if not a lot of winter driving. Then I end up in warm weather. So, using winter tires, IMO, is not practical unless I want to swap them on and off four times a year!
The '13 OB uses 225/60-17 size rubber, for which I have found no perfect all-season compound, except the winter-rated and expensive Nokian WR-G2 which I don't want to purchase because of the difficulty in getting replacements in an emergency situation. I'm not sure if I could do a plus-zero size 235/55-17 on the OB: if this would work, I could get the Conti DWS in that size and my problem might be solved.
So, I've considered other A/S tires in the running. The Hankook Optimo H727 seems like a decent compromise, but I have read about/seen less than ideal wet weather performance with it. The ContiProContact with EcoPlus is supposed to be better than the existing tire in winter conditions, but I question the tread design as it is almost identical. I know that everything is a compromise in an all-season rubber, so I want to know what brilliant ideas any of you enthusiasts might have for me.
From the frozen north to the warm Florida winter, what would you pick for the '13 OB as the best compromise to get me through winter driving safely, and yet be acceptable in warm and wet climates too? I might just suffer through the rest of this month with the existing tires and wait until next fall to deal with this, hoping that a better tire will materialize for next winter.
Thanks in advance for the feedback.
I'll cut to the chase. I knew I would not be happy with the '13 OB tires (ContiProContact) from the start but have a huge dilemna about what is an appropriate substitute for my somewhat unique driving situation. With my previous vehicles, I have either run dedicated performance winter tires in winter (Dunlop M3s), or with the Audi and the LGT wagon I eventually switched to ContiExtremeContact DWS tires for a compromise using one tire in all four seasons. Life is more complicated now, however.
I have a home in the Mid-Hudson Valley/Catskill Mountains (anyone want to buy it?) and a new home on Lake Erie in western NY, south of Buffalo (the land of lake-effect snow). This year, I am between both homes, but next year the Catskills home will be no more. Driving conditions in the Catskills and in western New York technically both require winter tires but for different reasons. Both are generally very cold in winter, so even without much snow winter tires are a good idea. The Catskills have hilly roads with "predictable" snow falls and less predictable icing, whereas western NY is generally flat but with unpredictable lake-effect snow fall and less predictable snow-plowing. I go back and forth between the two homes at least once every 3 weeks, a 300+ mile trip one-way via I-90. So far, this isn't complicated. Given my driving habits, I usually replace tires every two years as I average 15k-24k miles annually).
Here's the complication: from Feb 1-Mar 15 this year, I drive down to South Florida to escape some of the winter. In previous winters I spent only a month in Florida, this year it will be 6 weeks, and next year it might be 8+ weeks (yeah, poor suffering me). My point is that I escape some of the winter, but I still have to deal with at least a bit if not a lot of winter driving. Then I end up in warm weather. So, using winter tires, IMO, is not practical unless I want to swap them on and off four times a year!
The '13 OB uses 225/60-17 size rubber, for which I have found no perfect all-season compound, except the winter-rated and expensive Nokian WR-G2 which I don't want to purchase because of the difficulty in getting replacements in an emergency situation. I'm not sure if I could do a plus-zero size 235/55-17 on the OB: if this would work, I could get the Conti DWS in that size and my problem might be solved.
So, I've considered other A/S tires in the running. The Hankook Optimo H727 seems like a decent compromise, but I have read about/seen less than ideal wet weather performance with it. The ContiProContact with EcoPlus is supposed to be better than the existing tire in winter conditions, but I question the tread design as it is almost identical. I know that everything is a compromise in an all-season rubber, so I want to know what brilliant ideas any of you enthusiasts might have for me.
From the frozen north to the warm Florida winter, what would you pick for the '13 OB as the best compromise to get me through winter driving safely, and yet be acceptable in warm and wet climates too? I might just suffer through the rest of this month with the existing tires and wait until next fall to deal with this, hoping that a better tire will materialize for next winter.
Thanks in advance for the feedback.