[Larali]

I need new all-season tires for my 2006 Suburu and I'm a bit overwhelmed with tire shopping! My car presently has Michelin Premier A/S 215/60R16 94H tires on it (rated at 60,000). These need replacing now, with 47,000 miles on them. I'm on a budget and don't want to spend as much as I did on the Michelins b/c my Suburu has a lot of miles on it & I may be selling in next year or two. Also, I need to replace the timing belt too--a big expense! So I'd love to not spend a fortune to get a good quality, safe tire. I'm considering General Altimax RT43's, which were recommended on CR, but I see a lot of bad reviews for them & the ones they tested were T, not H, rated. From what I understand, I need to get the H rating. Also looking at Hankook H757 Kinergy PT. which I could get below $90/tire. Anyone else have a 2006 Suburu Forester with tires you love on it? I'd love to spend less than $100/tire if I can, but not with sacrificing safety, etc.

 

[TMX]

Welcome.
You will want H rated tyres or higher I expect, if for nothing else, insurance reasons as that is the stated speed rating of the tire in the owners manual.

With your pricing aim in mind, I would suggest looking at the Hankook 4S2 H750 which is shown on discount tire as $10. Perhaps send @Discount Tire a message and see if they can do preferential pricing for forum members?

https://www.discounttire.com/buy-tires/hankook-kinergy-4s2-h750/p/89874

This is how the Hankooks performed in that exact tire size you are looking at: 2020 Auto Bild SUV All Season Tyre Test - Tyre Reviews and Tests

I run the Hankooks on a Honda Civic, similar weight to your Forester and I've been happy with them - They haven't been tested in snow though. I don't know if that is important to you. If snow performance is vital, I would suggest looking at the Nokian All Season options as they literally invented winter tires and their all seasons still routinely test outstanding in the white stuff.

 

[Larali]

@TMX,
Hi! I really appreciate your replying and your suggestion, thank you. But I just looked the kinergy tires up and while they look like great tires, they are V-rated as far as I can see, and also definitely over my budget (I see them for $107 at the cheapest). So they don't look like they would be a good choice for me. I can look at the Nokian--haven't yet. Just to clarify, I'm looking for a 215/60R16 94 or 95H all season tire (incl. snow). Ideally, I'd like to pay $80-90/tire max.

 

[Kevin]

Welcome @Larali
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[Mr.AC]

I need new all-season tires for my 2006 Suburu and I'm a bit overwhelmed with tire shopping! My car presently has Michelin Premier A/S 215/60R16 94H tires on it (rated at 60,000). These need replacing now, with 47,000 miles on them. I'm on a budget and don't want to spend as much as I did on the Michelins b/c my Suburu has a lot of miles on it & I may be selling in next year or two. Also, I need to replace the timing belt too--a big expense! So I'd love to not spend a fortune to get a good quality, safe tire. I'm considering General Altimax RT43's, which were recommended on CR, but I see a lot of bad reviews for them & the ones they tested were T, not H, rated. From what I understand, I need to get the H rating. Also looking at Hankook H757 Kinergy PT. which I could get below $90/tire. Anyone else have a 2006 Suburu Forester with tires you love on it? I'd love to spend less than $100/tire if I can, but not with sacrificing safety, etc.

I would trust a tire gauge before a silly number said by the manufacture. Chances are you can safely go beyond 60k as long as it has plenty of tire thread depth.
Same goes with the T, H, V rating. Its just a supposed speed rating. T rating is for over 113mph V is for 149mph. So unless you plan on going over 100 mph I would not even bother with letter ratings.

You are asking a lot from a tire that can do high speed, and do snow all for under $100. If snow was really an issue I'll buy a set of dedicated winter tires. You'll only need to buy one winter set and they would pay themselves off the next winter, cause you'll only use them for a few months. You might even get 3-4 years or more out of them. Storage is the only downside.

That being said, Hankook tire you mention is a good brand.

 

[TMX]

@TMX,
Hi! I really appreciate your replying and your suggestion, thank you. But I just looked the kinergy tires up and while they look like great tires, they are V-rated as far as I can see, and also definitely over my budget (I see them for $107 at the cheapest). So they don't look like they would be a good choice for me. I can look at the Nokian--haven't yet. Just to clarify, I'm looking for a 215/60R16 94 or 95H all season tire (incl. snow). Ideally, I'd like to pay $80-90/tire max.

H Rating is a minimum speed rating of the tyre. V rating is much higher, so perfectly safe to use. The V rating tyres are just rated to higher speeds, so some might argue, less likely to suffer blowouts from overheating compared to an H rated tyre, assuming both are equally inflated.

I would absolutely stick to the minimum speed ratings for tyres from your owners manual. If you were to fit a lower speed rating T-ratied tyre, your insurance might argue you were using out of specification tyres, should you have a claim......... T rating are typically limited to commercial vehicles with speed limiters fitted elsewhere in the world. It seems odd the US hasn't joined that similar trend, especially with the money-thirsty lawyers.

 

[Discount Tire]

@TMX, thank you for the recommendation.

@Larali, Let us know if we can be off assistance with your new tires.