[Jerry Havel]

I would appreciate advice regarding suggestions and experience with tires for an '04 Forester 2.5X. I need a new set, and would like to hear what people recommend. I am interested in, along with the obvious basics (wear, dry and wet performance, tire noise), what impact, if any, a particular tire type has on mileage as well. Thanks in advance for your input.
regards, Jerry

 

[crewzer]

Jerry,

Tire low rolling resistance (LRR) characteristics and their impact on vehicle fuel economy are starting to garner attention from manufacturers, consumers, and government. Yokohama claims their new ENVigor tire's "all new silica compound" delivers "ultra low rolling resistance", Tire Rack has added an LRR category to their filters, Consumer Reports includes an LRR rating in their tire tests, and California is considering some sort of RR scale for tire sales.

A new label proposed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) may look like this:

Link to additional info.

The Michelin Primacy MXV4 (with an "H" speed rating) appears to be one of the best all-around tires with relatively LRR. There are several mentions of this tire in these forum discussions, and I recently installed a set on my wife's 06 Honda Accord:

http://www.subaruforester.org/vbulletin/f72/tire-comfort-mpg-low-road-noise-73365/
http://www.subaruforester.org/vbulletin/f72/tire-advice-62107/

HTH,
Jim / crewzer

 

[YoGeorge]

Jerry,

Tire low rolling resistance (LRR) characteristics and their impact on vehicle fuel economy are starting to garner attention from manufacturers, consumers, and government. Yokohama claims their new ENVigor tire's "all new silica compound" delivers "ultra low rolling resistance", Tire Rack has added an LRR category to their filters, Consumer Reports includes an LRR rating in their tire tests, and California is considering some sort of RR scale for tire sales.

The Michelin Primacy MXV4 (with an "H" speed rating) appears to be one of the best all-around tires with relatively LRR. There are several mentions of this tire in these forum discussions, and I recently installed a set on my wife's 06 Honda Accord:

http://www.subaruforester.org/vbulletin/f72/tire-comfort-mpg-low-road-noise-73365/
http://www.subaruforester.org/vbulletin/f72/tire-advice-62107/

HTH,
Jim / crewzer

+1 on the MXV4's. My '91 BMW came with the original Michelin MXV's on it, replaced by a set of MXV4's which went 80k miles.

I put some Energy MXV4's on my old '98 Acura TL and they were great tires (still had a lot of tread when I sold the car with 60k on the tires), and we now have Primacy MXV4's on my wife's '07 Civic. After 30k miles they barely look worn.

They make a car ride like the chassis is $10k more expensive, do quite well in Michigan snow despite not having a super aggressive tread, and get great gas mileage.

George

 

[glehr]

Jerry,
If you don't want to slip/slide around in the snow, you've got to have real snow tires in the winter.
George

 

[adc]

Jerry,
If you don't want to slip/slide around in the snow, you've got to have real snow tires in the winter.
George

He is in Jersey. Sure there are a couple of days where true snow tires would be better. But an extra set of tires with rims isn't for everybody (including me) and I get more snow in Pa then he does.

 

[funkymonkey1002]

Continental extremecontact DWS or contiextremecontact. Not the best for gas mileage, but I haven't seen more than a 1-2mpg difference between any tires. I'd rather have good all year traction, ride quality, etc.

 

[bashfulbernie]

I put Michelin Primacy MXV4 H rated tires on my 2006 XT. Great tire, very quiet.

I went smaller, 205/60-16, instead of 215/60/16.
They handle better because of the lighter weight and shorter sidewall.

Lots of large rim/short sidewall tires are wider, and heavier. The shorter sidewall will help handling, the heavier weight will hurt handling, and the wider tread can help on hot dry road traction, and hurts everywhere else.
A narrower tread is quieter, more fuel efficient, and better in snow and wet.
You can compensate for the weight penalty of a larger tire by having lighter and very expensive rims, like BBS.

My 2006 XT now sits 1/4 inch lower than a stock 2006, but still 1/4 inch higher than the 2005.
The tread is 1/2 inch narrower, so I get an extra 1/4 inch clearance all around, enough for cable chains.