[creso]

When I bought my 2012 Outback 2.5i Premium I immediately swapped the stock tires for Yokohama Geolander AT/S in the stock 225/60R17 size. When I picked up my 2013 I was planning on getting the same Yokohama Geolanders again. Apparently the 225/60R17 is on international back order until next year! Discount Tire couldn't find them anywhere, so I called Yokohama direct and they said 42 week backorder.

My local Discount Tire had a set of 225/65R17 in stock, so I went for it. They fit fine, but they rubbed in one spot on the front Splash Guards. I removed them and trimmed a bit, and now no rubbing. I took it offroad and articulated all corners, and the front at full wheel lock, and no rubbing. Three guys at the tire shop sat in the cargo area with no rub in the rear.

Just drove 60mi at 65-75mph and averaged 29.5mi/gal. Everything looks good for now, I'll post an update after I get a few more miles on them.

 

[combatmedic870]

Looks great!

I like how the outback logo looks vs the 10-12!! Not far! Time to paint!

 

[unsub1]

**** it! Was just getting ready to order these. Got my local Discount Tire guy looking for me now. Thanks for the heads-up!

 

[bradze]

good choice swapping out the tires. id recommend losing the factory splash guards. the only thing theyre good for is filling up with snow/sand/whatever. get rally armor mud flaps, worth every penny. and very glad to see someone who actually took their outback offroad. thats pretty rare among owners of the 4th gen it seems.

 

[Thai]

What about your spare? Did you buy 5 tires? If you had a flat, then the spare will not have the same circumference/diameter as the other 3 tires. This may wreck havoc on your traction control and stability control which monitor how fast your tire spins relative to the other tires. You change circumference, you change how fast a tire spins.

If the bigger size fits in the spare tire location, then i may go for this down the road. I always like increasing ground clearance in IFS/IRS vehicle via tire sizing. How much has it affected your speedo?

 

[Space Wrangler]

can you post a pic of the trimming you did? ...i don't see any splash guards ..just the factory plastic.

 

[creso]

What about your spare? Did you buy 5 tires? If you had a flat, then the spare will not have the same circumference/diameter as the other 3 tires. This may wreck havoc on your traction control and stability control which monitor how fast your tire spins relative to the other tires. You change circumference, you change how fast a tire spins.

If the bigger size fits in the spare tire location, then i may go for this down the road. I always like increasing ground clearance in IFS/IRS vehicle via tire sizing. How much has it affected your speedo?

I have not purchased a 5th for spare yet, but yesterday I removed the OEM spare and took some measurements. It appears a full diameter donut will fit in place, allowing the stock storage compartments to remain. I also believe a full 225/65R17 if I remove the upper foam storage caddy. I have not decided which route Im going, but Im definitely going to replace the OEM spare with a proper diamater tire.

Re: Speedo - Surprisingly I found the 65-75mph range to be spot on using a GPS for comparison. Perhaps the factory config was at the outer limit, and the .9" increase in diameter corrected this?

 

[txmatt]

The speedo on my '11 3.6 Outback with stock tires reads 2-3mph fast at highway speeds. Slightly taller tires would probably make mine spot-on.

 

[combatmedic870]

The speedo on my '11 3.6 Outback with stock tires reads 2-3mph fast at highway speeds. Slightly taller tires would probably make mine spot-on.

Mines reads 3mph slow at 75mph, which is good. keeps me from getting pulled over! LOL

 

[combatmedic870]

good choice swapping out the tires. id recommend losing the factory splash guards. the only thing theyre good for is filling up with snow/sand/whatever. get rally armor mud flaps, worth every penny. and very glad to see someone who actually took their outback offroad. thats pretty rare among owners of the 4th gen it seems.

This is wise!!
I lost one of mine due to snow...i found it but it will never be the same. Rally armor is the way to go!


Also...Hey now I take my OB "off road" quite often.

Off road meaning old logging roads and some pretty ruff "roads" (that require me to have skid plates) for hiking/camping!

But here in Oregon, I cant recommend the Nokian WRG2XL's enough!! The are GREAT in the rain and snow/ice/slush, as well as mud and "off roading".
I was going to get the A/T-S's But 95% of my driving is on the road. So I went with the 4 season.

 

[jrabdawg]

I have a GGM '13 too and your skybox and tire tread both look sweet. Me likes a lot.

 

[subiesailor]

The Sequoia I bought back in May has Geolanders on it so far not all that impressed with them very noisy and don't seem to wear all that great. Please report back after you get some miles on it let us know how the tires are doing.

Replacing mine end of this month 40,000 miles on the stock junk conti's which are bald as Mr clean at this point. Pretty much set on BFG Touring rubber which another family member put on his Matrix that has 230,000 miles on it lots of tires to compare he is pretty sure they are the best tires he's put on it. I lost count of how many different brands he's had on that car ha ha.

 

[creso]

When I said "I took it offroad and articulated all corners" this is what I meant (no rubbing):

 

[creso]

I have not purchased a 5th for spare yet, but yesterday I removed the OEM spare and took some measurements. It appears a full diameter donut will fit in place, allowing the stock storage compartments to remain.

Tried to fit a 225/65R17 into the spare location -- no dice. The stock spare is a smaller diameter than the stock tires (1.62 in smaller), so perhaps this wont matter for emergency situations? New Subarus come with 3yr roadside assistance, so I dont plan on moving the car if I get a flat on a highway. Still a bit concerned about getting a flat deep in the woods.

Maybe the spare area can be hammered out a bit and a full size tire / oem wheel could fit? Anyone have luck with this?

OEM Tire (225/60R17) Diameter: 27.62 in / 701.54 mm
Yokohama Geolander (225/65/R17) Diameter: 28.51 / 724.15 mm
OEM Spare (145/80R17) Diameter: 26.13 in / 663.70 mm

 

[combatmedic870]

When I said "I took it offroad and articulated all corners" this is what I meant (no rubbing):

Sweet! Now do it going 30mph! :17: YES! :crazyp::crazyp::crazyp:

 

[combatmedic870]

Tried to fit a 225/65R17 into the spare location -- no dice. The stock spare is a smaller diameter than the stock tires (1.62 in smaller), so perhaps this wont matter for emergency situations? New Subarus come with 3yr roadside assistance, so I dont plan on moving the car if I get a flat on a highway. Still a bit concerned about getting a flat deep in the woods.

Maybe the spare area can be hammered out a bit and a full size tire / oem wheel could fit? Anyone have luck with this?

OEM Tire (225/60R17) Diameter: 27.62 in / 701.54 mm
Yokohama Geolander (225/65/R17) Diameter: 28.51 / 724.15 mm
OEM Spare (145/80R17) Diameter: 26.13 in / 663.70 mm

Put a steely on it, Spray down the wheel well with some lithium grease or...wd40... get that bitch in there. Keep a small 50 or what not PSI air compressor in there some where. You get a flat, pull it out, put it on, fill it up. :29:

Just use the OEM tire and save the money. As you noticed the donut is smaller vs OEM....so im sure you would be fine on the OEM for atleast 70-80 miles.

EDITED FOR ERRORS

When i get some more money to spend on the OB. im going to have the well cut out and closed off and make it so i can mount a full size under the OB
First things first......rear light/bumper bar!!

 

[Thai]

Put a steely on it, let as much air out as you can.

Not sure if you can do that since modern tires are radial tires...they don't like to mushed up.

 

[chuchu]

Just make sure you put the oem up front......i cant remember why its recommended you put the donut up front.....I dont know.

You're never supposed to put the donut on the front wheels. If you get a flat on the front tires, you need to move a rear tire in its place and mount the donut on the back. I believe this is stated in the manual somewhere, and I think it's for safety reasons - ie: you would not want the vulnerable donut in front doing steering duties. The other thing (and I have no proof of this, just my conjecture) is that the awd system may be more tolerant of a smaller diameter in the rear, than in the front. I'm basing this off the fact that the recommended tire inflation pressure is a couple psi lower in the rear than the front.

 

[combatmedic870]

You're never supposed to put the donut on the front wheels. If you get a flat on the front tires, you need to move a rear tire in its place and mount the donut on the back. I believe this is stated in the manual somewhere, and I think it's for safety reasons - ie: you would not want the vulnerable donut in front doing steering duties. The other thing (and I have no proof of this, just my conjecture) is that the awd system may be more tolerant of a smaller diameter in the rear, than in the front. I'm basing this off the fact that the recommended tire inflation pressure is a couple psi lower in the rear than the front.

Thats it! LMFAO!

The recommended tire pressure it lower in the rear due to the lower weight(no engine back there).

....I think.... LOL

 

[combatmedic870]

Not sure if you can do that since modern tires are radial tires...they don't like to mushed up.

Well....Im almost positive that a full size will fit back there.....someone said they got one to fit!