Replacement Subaru Tire Recommendations? (Aspen, Vail: sales, 2014, how much)

[michael1248]

I hopped on the Subaru bandwagon when I move here and bought a Forester. Surprisingly, according to the dealership, the original factory tires (Yokohama) have lasted about 50,000 miles. I've learned a lot about Colorado driving in those 50,000 miles.

So, I ask for your input...I am not a big off road driver, but I do like to head to the high country during the winter months...which sometimes gets me into those yucky conditions. Although I have been very pleased with my factory tires, even the dealership says they're not as good as others that are available.

What type of all-season tires would you recommend from personal experience...and any recommendations for tire shops that occasionally might run some great sales on tires, balancing, rotation, alignments?

[sunsprit]

I've been very happy running Cooper All-Season tires on my 1995-2001 Subie Wagons.

Even with many winter trips Den-Vail-Aspen in the worst conditions that present, these have always performed competently on the ice/snowpack roads. They're quiet, long lasting, and priced in the middle of the range for tires in these sizes (between the cheapie Chinese tires and Michelin or Pirelli tires).

Also had good service from Conti Contacts, or Michelin All Season tires that were on used cars that I'd bought. Don't know the mileage total they delivered because I don't know when they were installed. I did notice that the Michelin's sidewalls started cracking out in the UV much earlier than other tire brands which was cause for some concern. My 2001 OBW had sat for 5 years in a boneyard (blown engine due to failed radiator hose and the driver kept on driving ... she abandoned the car at the shop where it was towed to and they sold if for scrap to the wrecking yard for their mechanic's lien); the Michelin's on it had 75% tread but when I did my first test drive with a replacement engine at freeway speed, one tire catastrophically failed. I put the spare on which had never seen daylight before and it blew out 30 miles later; that tire was 11 years old at the time of failure.

These tires have always worked well on the dirt roads I drive in Colorado and Wyoming.

Discount Tires has been my "go-to" supplier ... decent prices and service. YMMV.

[Regajohn]

You know of course that City Data has a car section

Also you might go on the Subaru Forester site ( SubaruForester.org )which is full of Forester enthusiasts who will give you all kinds of great information about tires. And then there's tire rack.

The best option is to have two sets of tires on their own wheels) as all-season tires (aka "no season tires") will never do as well in the winter as winter tires ... and they will never do as well in the summer as summer tires will... and obviously they're not great for real off-roading. (Actually, crazy off-road enthusiasts have 3 sets or a dedicated vehicle for true off-roading)

The 2014 Forester XT we have that lives in Aspen has Blizzak ws80 tires on steel wheels for the winter time and the original all seasons were replaced with Michelin premier A/S.
The blizzaks + steelies came from a local independent shop in Aspen, the replacement Michelins from tire rack.

Tire Rack has great videos comparing snow tires to all season tires as does the general World Wide Web YouTube. I'm sure there's also videos that discuss off-road tires. For True off-roading, tire thickness (# of plies) is important as standard tires can puncture much much easier when one hits sharp rocks, etc.

And tires should always be replaced before they are 10 years no matter how much tread is left ... and really should be replaced when they hit about 7 years old.

And of course with Subaru symmetrical all-wheel drive (and any car really) you should always run the same make and type of tire on all four wheels and tires should be replaced as a set (all 4) as different tire diameters can screw up the 4 wheel drive system ( and running different makes and models of tires on a car is just foolish and potentially unsafe).

[Sobe Itsavized]

I can't recommend any tires yet since I just bought my replacements: Michelin Premier A/S

I picked them for tread technology Michelin uses in the Premier series even when the tires are worn.

My 2012 Subaru Forester XT had original tires for the last ~33k miles. I don't drive much or push my Forester very hard at all. I bought it brand new at the beginning of 2012 (when the 2013's were coming in soon). They lasted quite a while in my opinion and they still had some tread on them (not bald yet) before I replaced them last month.