This fall I will be needing to replace the skins on my MY00 S. Looking around I dont see many choices for the 215-60-16's The Geolanders offer a good blend of on and off road performance, however I didn't get many miles out of mine. I do alot of traveling and I do like the feel of good performance rubber, but I also on occasion take my Forester out on the Beaches of the Outer Banks of NC and other lite off road excursions. Anyone have any thoughts? Anyone get something other than the Geolanders??
Thanx
White Wolf

Try www.discounttire.com (http://www.discounttire.com) or www.tirerack.com (http://www.tirerack.com) they both offer a good selection and some pretty good info on tires. If you need to phone numbers are provided to talk to a tech rep.

Hope this helps....http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/smile.gif http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/wink.gif

If you look beyond light truck tires, you should find quite a selection in the stock size.

The Geolandars are nothing more than passenger car tires with a slighlty more aggressive tread pattern. You probably could switch without putting a damper on your activities.

Also, you might want to consider plus zero sizing. By going to 225/55R16 you have access to an even greater selection of tires and you don't need to buy new rims.

Ken

Is there enough room for a 225/60-16 ?

I am also looking for taller more aggressive tires for my 98S.

Has anyone successfully ran bigger tires? I know the drive system requires the same tire all the way around, but what else would be a gotcha to watch for?

EW

EW,

I think juice has 225s on his Forester. AWD shouldn't be an issue as long as all four tires have the same diameter. It's when you mix and match that it becomes a problem.

Aside from differences in ride and handling, you need to factor in gearing when switching tire sizes. Bigger diameter tires will effectively make you geared taller -- you'll see differences in the speedo as well as acceleration. The last item is unsprung weight. Bigger tires require bigger wheels which can increase your unsprung weight.

Ken

Help me out here, but isnt the 225 just wider than the 215 is the first number more than width?

Good tire info:
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/size.htm

Ken

Thanks. I should be able to stay with the 16" wheels that come with the S model Forester. TireRack would not tell me if I could put a bigger tire on. They said only 215s would work with my Forester.

Oh well. Maybe I'll take it to NTB later.
EW

so you are saying that i can put a set of 225 55 R16 on the stock Forester S rims??http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/rolleyes.gif
caz, i'm looksing for a set of new tires too and just wondering is it possible to get a high performance tire without changing the rims.http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/wink.gif

OK..I'm not a tire expert, but I'd say you could probably put 225/55/16 or 235/50/16 on your stock rims.

If I were doing it , I'd CALL TIRE RACK and ask for some technical advice. I don't think rubbing would be an issue but the tech rep will have good answers.

Use the info people are giving you and do a little research..it's your car and it's also how you are going to learn.

Hope I don't sound harsh..I'm on your side and am trying to help. http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/smile.gif http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/wink.gif

Isn't there a difference between the O.E.M. tires that companies put on new cars with the replacement ones?? I replaced the original Geolandars on my '99 Forester S at about 28K (yep that's right) with another set of Geolandars which now have about 20K on them and have much much more tread life left in them. Should go at least another 25-30K. And, tires have been rotated at 5K intervals without interruption. Finally, I went for the 4 wheel alignment when I replaced the tires. Perhaps that had something to do with it --I can't say, but it didn't hurt, that's for sure!

I have read lots of stories online of Forester and Impreza owners comlaining that their new cars were not aligned. MAny of them aligned them within the first 1k miles and noted improvement, while others, just like yourself, burned through their first set of tires before correcting the problem...

You would think the factory could spend an extra 15 minutes to make sure the darned things are aligned, or the dealerships, for crying out loud...

You should be able to put on larger tires on the stock 16" rims -- it's called "Plus Zero" sizing. Ask someone at Tire Rack about it. I think you can fit a 225/55R16 and maintain the same overall diameter.

Usually, OEM tires are different but in the case of the Geolandars, they are the same tire if you buy the stock size. The reason is that the Geolandars were originally designed specifically for the Forester. Yokohama later created other sizes but it's not the same tire.

The 215/60R16 are model G035. All other sizes are Y816. You can see this on Tire Rack's site. Also, note that the tire test conducted by Consumer Reports uses the Y816 which are not the same tires as the Forester S stock tires.

Ken

I have 225/60R16s on my Forester, but I also have wider rims (7" instead of 6.5" for the S' alloys) with an offset that places them 15mm further out from the spring base.

Caveat about Tire Rack - they are very conservative about fitment. They told me 225s would not fit, and would not sell those to me. Well, Discount Tire Direct said they would, and sold them to me, and they were obviously right. Tire Rack was completely wrong - mine have not rubbed once.

The 215 -> 225m affects more than width, but let's start there. First, you'll have wider rubber, but the rim stays the same. So they'll bulge out a little more, but it should be acceptable.

But a 225/60 is also slightly taller than a 215/60, so the sidewall is bigger. A wider tire that is also taller may rub the rear spring base or the front mud guards, I'm not sure.

Ken suggested 225/55, and I'm almost certain those will fit. They are wider, but the lower aspect ratio means they will actually be not quite as tall as stock. I doubt those would rub.

Take an up-close look at the rear spring base. You have about 1/2" of leeway, i.e. not much room to play with sizing on stock rims.

-juice

Well my search for new tires continues. I have found verry little thats comparable to the Geolanders duel nature. However if I move down to S or T rated 215/60-16 my choices increase. I'm not sure I want to do that due to the Foresters already had plenty of body roll to it. So after looking at H rated tires I feel that my real choices are between the Michelin XGT H4 and the Geolander H/T and Hope that my front end alingement solves the premature tire wear. Any Thoughts????

OK..went to www.tirerack.com. (http://www.tirerack.com.) selected tire size 215-60-16 selected H rating and selected ALL the makers listed. Went to search and came up with 10 sets that seem to match your criteria.

This took <5 min . Given a little more effort and maybe going to different sources (www.discounttire.com ...who by the way offer a i-club discount) I'll bet there are a lot more choices than you realize.

Also be a little flexible on sizing and speed rating.

All that said..it's your car and you need to decide what works best for you.

Trying to help...http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/smile.gif http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/wink.gif

Hey Lake:
I already did that plus I went to three dealers in the area to see what off brands where offered. Most of the tires were touring tires. If I am going to put new tires on I want to get something comparable to the Yokahama Geolanders or better. The nature of my post was to get feedback on going to an "S" rating vs the "H". The only "H" tires that floated my boat (read many posts on Tire Rack and read up on Consumers Report) were the Michelin and the Yokahamas.

White Wolf