I currently have a 90 Suburban and it works, but the mileage is a killer for long trips. I also have a 2001 Forester, but it is time for it to go to a new home, needs more work than I want to put into it. I want to replace it with a low mileage 2009-2012 Forester XT.
I have found a few that will work and now I am looking into tires. This Forester will be used for mostly driving to the airport just over 100 miles away every week and sometimes driving to customers up to 200 miles away. On the weekends and vacations it will be used to do some light offroad Overlanding type stuff.
With that said I do not want to compromise the basic handling of the car too badly. The stock tire size is a 215/65-16, I want to go up to a 215/70-16. This is the max I can go without major modifications to the car, that I don't want to do.
After much research I have narrowed it down to 4 tire options. I do not have the BFG KO2 on the list as it is just too heavy and will ruin the way the car handles. (34lbs)
While money always matters, the cost difference between the tire options is not enough to be a factor. Here are my options:
Yokohama Geolandar A/T G015 12/32 tread and 27lbs
Falken Wildpeak A/T Trail 10/32 tread and 26.9lbs
Cooper Discoverer AT3 13.5/32 tread and 29lbs
General Grabber APT 14/32 tread and 30lbs
All tire options have the 3 peak mountain snow flake rating that I want/need due to snow here. As you can see the tire weight goes up as well as the tread depth. The stock tire size is 23-25lbs depending on the all-season car tire you want. At this point the Falken and the Yoko seem to be the closest to the stock tire weight, with the Yoko having more tread depth. I will look into lighter wheels also to maybe even get the overall weight down to or below the stock weight.
What are your opinions on these options?
I have found a few that will work and now I am looking into tires. This Forester will be used for mostly driving to the airport just over 100 miles away every week and sometimes driving to customers up to 200 miles away. On the weekends and vacations it will be used to do some light offroad Overlanding type stuff.
With that said I do not want to compromise the basic handling of the car too badly. The stock tire size is a 215/65-16, I want to go up to a 215/70-16. This is the max I can go without major modifications to the car, that I don't want to do.
After much research I have narrowed it down to 4 tire options. I do not have the BFG KO2 on the list as it is just too heavy and will ruin the way the car handles. (34lbs)
While money always matters, the cost difference between the tire options is not enough to be a factor. Here are my options:
Yokohama Geolandar A/T G015 12/32 tread and 27lbs
Falken Wildpeak A/T Trail 10/32 tread and 26.9lbs
Cooper Discoverer AT3 13.5/32 tread and 29lbs
General Grabber APT 14/32 tread and 30lbs
All tire options have the 3 peak mountain snow flake rating that I want/need due to snow here. As you can see the tire weight goes up as well as the tread depth. The stock tire size is 23-25lbs depending on the all-season car tire you want. At this point the Falken and the Yoko seem to be the closest to the stock tire weight, with the Yoko having more tread depth. I will look into lighter wheels also to maybe even get the overall weight down to or below the stock weight.
What are your opinions on these options?
