Buy a BMW you bought the wrong car. BTW tire size will not fix the handling and there is very little to zero room with the OB for going to wider / larger tires anyway.

 

It is what it is. The Gen 4 Outbacks are marshmallows in the turns. Tires will not remedy the situation... you might find some tires that are a bit better but the problem lies in the suspension, not in the tires. Also do not even think about running 2 different sizes. The AWD is not set up for that to work properly... you will likely damage the system overtime.

 

Thank for the information about AWD. Did not know about that before.

oh

 

Different tires on any full time AWD vehicle will destroy the AWD in very short order. This is not a Subaru thing its simply a full time AWD thing. Same tires all the way around or destroy the AWD.

 

Depends on your definition of AWD I would guess. There are several BMWs, Cadillacs, and Mercedes out there with AWD and different sized tires front and rear.

 

What you are looking for is a stiffer Rear Sway Bar then the stock one. There's a ton of roll in the rear of the car with the stock one. Drives more luxury like... I hated it too. I put in the Rally Tech racing one, 19mm, and boom, my suby handles like a audi/bmw/etc. Huge difference, tight turns, sporty feel, though you do get some hop sideways when you hit some bumps at speed.

So ya don't listen to these people... just get the 19mm RSB. Many many a poster on this forum has done it and it's TOTALLY what ur asking for.

http://subaruonlineparts.com/subaru-outback-rear-19mm-sway-p-2163.html

 

What you are looking for is a stiffer Rear Sway Bar then the stock one. There's a ton of roll in the rear of the car with the stock one. Drives more luxury like... I hated it too. I put in the Rally Tech racing one, 19mm, and boom, my suby handles like a audi/bmw/etc. Huge difference, tight turns, sporty feel, though you do get some hop sideways when you hit some bumps at speed.

So ya don't listen to these people... just get the 19mm RSB. Many many a poster on this forum has done it and it's TOTALLY what ur asking for.

Subaru Outback Rear 19MM Sway Bar Kit (Part No: 20451FG020/20464FG020 x2): Subaru Online Parts

Wow, this small stick makes a magic... Interesting.
Is it original Subaru?
As i found i can install it by myself?
http://www.subaruoutback.org/forums...self-illustrated-guides/75793-diy-gen-4-rear-sway-bar-rsb-upgrade-oem-19mm.html

Thank you.

 

'Lo all, my wife and I recently purchased a '13 Outback Premium after having done test drives in newer subies. Initially, I was deterred from considering a subie, as I had owned both an '80 4WD wagon and later an '82 4WD wagon during the 80's. Although either of these vehicles could easily outperform most other 4WD vehicles during our tough NE winters, they were annoyingly underpowered and, at times, downright scary in terms of handling rapid turns. Besides, their motors reminded me of watercooled VW lookalikes. Not the case with the '13 Outback! Its motor (though still somewhat conservative in terms of HP) reminds me of something that Enzio Ferrari might have dreamed up--likewise the paddle shifters! Furthermore, the handling of the '13 Outback is impressive compared to that of the cars I mentioned above. I installed the 19mm rear sway bar and a set of Conti ExtremeWinterContacts mounted on somewhat classier rims from Tire Rack, and I have to say that the new rear sway truly does tighten up our '13 OB's handling. Now, both my wife and I can't wait for the onset of our usual snowy winter weather in order to "put her thru her paces". Find myself now looking over KYB shocks, etc....

 

My 2013 Outback H6's handling was improved with the addition of P235/60/17 (H-rated) tires. I haven't done the Rear Sway Bar Upgrade because the new tires have made a difference.

 

My 2013 Outback H6's handling was improved with the addition of P235/60/15 (H-rated) tires. I haven't done the Rear Sway Bar Upgrade because the new tires have made a difference.

Do you mean 235/60/17?

Have those affected the mpg? Mine are 225-65-17 and mpg is about the same out of town, a bit worse on short hops.

 

Just curious, how come most people upgrade the tires to 225x65 or 235x60 (from 225x60x17)which will be higher with larger overall diameter. If you don't mind changing the overall diameter, why not go with 235x55? the difference is less with the car sitting just little lower instead and that should help handling.

Is it because of different purpose between off/on-road handling? I don't like the idea of having a larger overall diameter but If I ever decide to go for it, it would be 235x55 because I don't go off road. And if I really want to improve on dry traction, it will be summer tires.

 

Along with a few other mods, I installed 255/45R18 tires. No rubbing, even lowered almsot 4 inches. The outback has MASSIVE fenders. Don't be afraid to go up a size, especially in width.

 

Don't your after-market wheels have very low offset, which give more inside clearance for the width. With your tires, the width increase almost 12%. Your over-all diameter increases 2.2%. The OB might have huge fender gap but only by the top area of the tires, not by the mud flap area. This is why people have to trim the mud flaps for taller setup.

245x55x17 would be perfect (for my case with 7.5x17 wheel) but I'm worried it might be too much compromise for noise and fuel, assuming no issue with clearance.

Do you have a pic with 3/4 view that shows the width of the tires?

Thx

 

According to some calculations, I have 19mm less clearance on the inside, so it's almost a full inch further in, and 45mm further out. Actually, I think the overall diameter is just slightly smaller than stock. I think you got your percentage backwards, they're about 2.5% smaller overall diameter than stock. But I could be wrong. My speedo is only about 3mph high at 65 mph (so true speed is 62mph when speedo is at 65).

Correct. There isn't as much clearance in front and behind the wheel as there is above it. But, like you said, some minor trimming fixes the problem. I kind of assumed that someone wanted to fit a larger tire wouldn't mind trimming a few bits of plastic:smile2:

 

You're correct about your over-all diameter. I had it backward. Do you have pic? and how is the ride and fuel mileage?

Thx

 

I'll try to get some better pictures. I'll be putting the 255s back on when I drive home for Christmas. Not much snow in the central valley of California.

No noticeable drop in mileage. Ride feels no different that when I have a 60 profile OEM tire on. Currently have 225/60r16 snow tires, and they actually ride worse than with the 255/45R18.

 

Now i remember your car. Wow! Those are 255x18, correct?