If your main concern is weight, you may want to invest in lighter rims. That was my choice when I got new tires. Overall I reduced total unsprung weight by a couple of lbs per corner. I was also able to sell my stock rims for a decent price.

 

That's a good point. What rims did you go with? Also, do you know how much the stock Wilderness rims weigh? When I was researching rim weights, I couldn't find details for the stock rims, so it was hard to compare against alternatives.

 

Weight at the tread and belt area of a tire has a huge flywheel effect on acceleration and deceleration, as well as destroying ride quality. The Subaru is a lifted compact car and putting weighty truck tires on it is like wearing cement shoes. Losing weight at the wheel, the center of the flywheel, does not compensate very much for the weight at the perimeter of the tire.

 

I hadn't thought about the weight distribution like that before, but that makes sense. Do you know of a good way to calculate a "sweet spot" for tire/wheel weight? It's hard for me to determine how much of an affect/difference the increase of 6.8lbs (A/T4W) vs 2lbs (A/T Trail) would be.

 

I think it would depend on what your doing also
More street or more trail

 

+1 on the comment by @stroker ace.
If you are going to do a lot of offroad, you may want a tire focused for that.
The WildPeak Trail is good on offroad, but it is better on the highway than a more offroad focused tire.
"A" rating is better than a "B" rating, and the trail should also last longer.

 

caught my eye that something is off in either the rev/mile or overall diameter for the KO2.

 

I thought so also but I calculated the revs/mile for a 28.5" tire and the result is 707.65 revs. So the manufacturer's formulas obviously include a reduced rolling diameter due to tire sag.

Because the KO2 is made of concrete, it does not sag as much as the other designs, but rolling diameter is still reduced to get from 707.65 to 730. I would bet that these numbers are calculated weighing the tire down with some portion of its rated load, and the D load rating on the KO2 may also make a difference in the calculation.

A rolling diameter of about 27.6" gets you 730 revs per mile, which means the tire compresses by .45" (based on the radius, not diameter).

 

fwiw, I know some ppl that are happy with the Nittos

 

I currently use the nomad coming from the a/t trail
For what I do the nomad is the answer

 

@thewilderness, the only "sweet spot" I know of is to try to keep each tire under 30 lbs, and preferably around 25 lbs. If you look at factory tires on compact SUV's, you might note that they are sometimes a step down from the commercially available AT tires (shallower tread and thinner shoulders).

Any all terrain design with deep tread and big square shoulders is gonna have big weight at the perimeter of the tire. I have bought AT tires in the past and had them destroy the ride quality and gas mileage of vehicles, as well as adding intolerable amounts of noise. It's like riding a mountain bike with heavy knobby tires on the street (and I have done that also). Upsizing makes it that much worse by hurting leverage of the brakes and making the gear ratios taller. The Forester does not have a lot of extra horsepower to waste by heating up rubber tread blocks like dragging hundreds of squirming pencil erasers along the road.

If you need heavy AT tires for driving you will really do, make your choice.

My favorite compromise tough road tire is the Michelin Defender LTX M/S (and its LTX ancestors); I have had 6 sets of these and currently have them on my Grand Caravan (in 225/65x17) and Nissan Murano (235/65x18) but the idiots at Michelin have discontinued those sizes--otherwise I would have put them on my wife's '17 Foz. (I also had a set on my '09 Foz in 215/70x16 and 3 sets on full size vans.)

 

I noticed the Driving Sports TV YouTube channel has two videos testing the Falken Wildpeak A/T4Ws on a Crosstrek Wilderness.

In his 2nd video, he provides some feedback starting at 2:00, mentioning very minimal cabin noise, negligible mpg drop, and no rubbing:

In his 1st video, he provides details on the A/T4W starting at 0:56:

From the positive reception in these videos, I'm thinking I may be over concerned about tire weight, and these may actually work well on a Forester Wilderness

 

You might find this article of interest regarding sprung and unsprung weight. Also read "The Right Way" section:

Please Stop Ruining Your Subarus

You can get your crossover to go off-road without completely destroying what made you choose it in the first place

www.outsideonline.com

 

You might find this article of interest regarding sprung and unsprung weight. Also read "The Right Way" section:

This is a great article on why a Subaru is not the same as a giant V8 pickup truck. I will also add that ROTATING WEIGHT is part of unsprung weight but hurts performance way more. For example, the rear axle on a traditional rear wheel drive vehicle is unsprung weight, and unsprung weight is what's hard on suspension. But ROTATING weight is what has to be accelerated and braked on a smooth road. The solid rear axle on a pickup truck is pretty static on the road, but accelerating and decelerating tire mass, especially at the outer perimeter of the tire, is really hard on a small, low-torque engine.

I have ridden bicycles for tens of thousands of miles, and the rotating weight of a featherweight road racing tire vs that of a big knobby mountain bike tire is pretty obvious when trying to accelerate and decelerate the machine.

Some dude doing a YouTube video and saying that his gas mileage loss is "negligible" is not enough to convince me that anyone is immune from physics. Does he have a long term gas mileage record to prove that? How are his 0-60 times and braking distances? Did he use a db meter to determine noise comparisons?

 

thewilderness

It really depends on how the car/tires will be used, as to what is most important.
If the car spends all the time on the street, there is no point in equipping it with tires that "shine in the dirt", as there is little benefit to offset any weight penalty and any mileage hit from an aggressive dirt focused tread pattern.

OTOH, assuming that you actually need tires that can take a beating from non-paved roads, based on the fact that you are comparing pavement-less capable tires, lightweight tires and rims may not be a great idea, and could be shredded on the roads I drive on on a daily basis.
For me, the XL rated WildPeaks are worth the modest weight penalty, as I can actually get where I'm going, unlike my friend who had her tires ripped up and flattened on the same road.

One other point about the WildPeak Trails, is that they are very good in comparison to a more street focused tire like the Michelin CC2's, while also being very capable once the pavement ends.

Since I do a LOT of both rocky/dirt road and high speed interstate, they are the perfect choice for me.

 

Thanks all! This is great info and I appreciate it.

I think it's pretty clear that the A/T Trails are most likely best for me.

I know the KO2s are too heavy for a Forester, but I wasn't positive if the A/T4W would also be, as they are a lighter tire. For example, that article mentions their recommended A/T Trails added 5 pounds per tire. While for the Forester Wilderness, the A/T4Ws would add 6.8 pounds per tire (from the stock Geolandars at 28 lbs). So that minimal increase in weight didn't seem that significant to me

 

Enjoy the ride in " @thewilderness "

 

I just got some Wildpeak AT4s put on my forester, and let me tell you, I can definitely feel the difference. They’re heavy, especially since I sized up to 225/75r15s. I kinda wish I just got Toyo Open Country AT3 in 215/75r15 again. My Forster is a manual, so I really notice the gearing difference with the taller and heavier tires. I’m actually considering buying the Toyos and taking the Falkens off. I paid a pretty penny for shipping to AK, but it’s almost worth it to get these things off. I’ll probably have to eat the cost of the Falkens or get lucky selling them on eBay or something.

 

lots of ppl buy pre-owned. such as myself. I love finding take-offs make them a good price & they'll be gone in a jiffy

 

Sorry to hear, but thank you for the update!

I've decided to go with the Falken Wildpeak A/T Trails in 225/65R17, which look like they're 2 lbs. (8 lbs. total) heavier than the Toyo Open Country AT3 in 215/75r15. Might be worth considering those as well. I haven't made the purchase yet, but will update this thread when I do.