Starting to shop for new tires for my Subie

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I have been wanting to replace the tires on my 2012 Subaru Legacy for a while, but couldn’t bring myself to ditch the OEM Bridgestone Turanza’s. They now have 30,000 miles and look to be only half worn, but I can’t live through another snow or even rain storm with them.

Hope to find a good deal on Black Friday on a solid A/S tire, also want to move from the OEM size 215/50/17 to 225/50/17. Michelin’s are out as they are too expensive & Coopers are out as I have not been impressed with the CS4’s on my wife’s Odyssey; therefore, I am considering the following tires:

- General rt43
- Continental PrueContact
- Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season Plus

Open for feedback…looking for something quite and smooth-riding with good wet/snow traction.
 
I have the RT43's on my Camry and the P7's on my 04 VW Beetle TDI.

If I had to choose between the two without being concerned on price, I'd choose the P7's. They're fantastic. But the RT43's are excellent as well, just not as sporty of a tire but if you aren't concerned with cornering and super awesome handling definitely get the RT43's.

It doesn't sound like you're going to use snow tires and the RT43's are supposed to be great in the snow.
 
Had those OEM tires on my 2012 Legacy. Those are absolute and total junk tires.

I ditched them at around 30,000 miles as well.
 
When I was getting tires for my Subaru last year, I was torn between the Continental PureContact and the Michelin Premier A/S.

I went with the Michelin because I was able to get them at Costco on sale for $70 off. If you time it just right, you can get them on sale from Costco for $70 off, and get a Michelin $70 off rebate that they run one or twice a year. Overall I'm very happy with the handling of the Michelins, and they significantly improved my winter weather handling in snow and ice (I live in an area that doesn't get snow/ice enough to justify a dedicated winter tire).

Check out TireRack.com they have a really good review comparing the Continental PureContact and Pirelli Cinturato P7 along with a couple other tires (including the Michelins). The review tests the tires in dry, wet, snow, and ice.

Here's the dry and wet test video: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/videoDisplay.jsp?ttid=188&videoID=251

Here's the snow/ice test video: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/videoDisplay.jsp?ttid=188&videoID=302

And here's the overall results: http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tests/testDisplay.jsp?ttid=188

It really seems like you can't go wrong with any of the tires you're considering. If I had to do it again, I'd get the Michelins again. But if I was getting one of the tires you listed, I'd probably go with the Continentals.
 
^ Thanks for the links to the reviews, I have already read and viewed the video's. The Michelin's look nice, but it is hard for me to justify $40-50 a tire more than the Continentals or Pirelli's or even $80 a tire more than the Generals.

I am leaning towards the Continentals as they seem like a lot of tire for the money, but I have read several positive reviews of the Pirelli's that have more torn. Then of course I threw in the Generals as everyone on this board speaks so highly of them.
 
You can get the Generals on line at Walmart no shipping for in store pickup. Mounting is $12/tire.
 
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I need to put a set of tires on Sis's 2005 Outback (P225-60-16), so this is a timely topic for me as well.

It currently has a set of Firestone Precision Touring tires on it (it was bought with these tires on it). They were like new when the car was bought, so replacing them wasn't an option, unless they were awful.

The Precision Touring tires performed much better than Sis expected them to. She even said that she'd take a second set (which is quite surprising considering she doesn't want anything but Michelin on her Subies). However, she and her husband just bought a house, so there's no budget for a set of overpriced Michelin tires right now.

I'm likely going to hold out to see what Black Friday brings. As a rule, one of the local Farm Supply stores has a "Buy 3 Get 1 free" on Thanksgiving weekend, and rebates can be used on top of that. The problem with the Farm Supply store, is that the people in the service center are dumber than a bag of hammers. Not good when it is time to install the tires.

Plus, we'll see what DTD decides to offer on Black Friday as well.
 
There are many choices for size 225/60-16, Cooper CS5 Touring (Ultra or Grand) are good tires especially for quiet ride and long lasting, I don't know about ice and snow handling.
 
I have the the P7's on a higher performance Legacy GT(turbo) wagon and beyond happy. Wonderful balance of performance and comfort.
 
Change of plans I am not going to pursue the aftermarket plus size wheels, I am going to stick to stock 16” wheels for now. However, I still want to replace the stock tires on my 2012 Subaru Legacy 205/60/16 91V. I have narrowed it down to the following based on my budget and feedback:

General RT43 205/60/16 92H – Only H speed rated?

General RT43 215/60/16 95V – This is a plus zero size, but it allows me to get the V speed rating.

Cooper CS5 Ultra Touring 205/60/16 92V – We currently have the Cooper CS4 on our Odyssey but I haven’t been impressed with the winter traction (thus we purchased snow tires for this car as this is our primary vehicle). Do you think the CS5 in conjunction with the Subaru AWD will provide a better result than we experienced with the CS4 and the Honda?

Continental PrueContact 205/60/16 92V – About $10-15 dollars more a tire than the Generals or Coopers, are they worth it? Look very similar to the Continental DSW which are supposed to be decent in the winter.
 
Originally Posted By: Picky1
Change of plans I am not going to pursue the aftermarket plus size wheels, I am going to stick to stock 16” wheels for now. However, I still want to replace the stock tires on my 2012 Subaru Legacy 205/60/16 91V. I have narrowed it down to the following based on my budget and feedback:

General RT43 205/60/16 92H – Only H speed rated?

General RT43 215/60/16 95V – This is a plus zero size, but it allows me to get the V speed rating.

Cooper CS5 Ultra Touring 205/60/16 92V – We currently have the Cooper CS4 on our Odyssey but I haven’t been impressed with the winter traction (thus we purchased snow tires for this car as this is our primary vehicle). Do you think the CS5 in conjunction with the Subaru AWD will provide a better result than we experienced with the CS4 and the Honda?

Continental PrueContact 205/60/16 92V – About $10-15 dollars more a tire than the Generals or Coopers, are they worth it? Look very similar to the Continental DSW which are supposed to be decent in the winter.


I can't help much with comparing these tires but based on TireRack, BITOG, the Outback forums, and the set of Generals I had on my 4Runner, I've decided the RT43 will be the next tires for my Outback.
 
Originally Posted By: Picky1
However, I still want to replace the stock tires on my 2012 Subaru Legacy 205/60/16 91V. I have narrowed it down to the following based on my budget and feedback:

General RT43 205/60/16 92H – Only H speed rated?

General RT43 215/60/16 95V – This is a plus zero size, but it allows me to get the V speed rating.

Cooper CS5 Ultra Touring 205/60/16 92V – We currently have the Cooper CS4 on our Odyssey but I haven’t been impressed with the winter traction (thus we purchased snow tires for this car as this is our primary vehicle). Do you think the CS5 in conjunction with the Subaru AWD will provide a better result than we experienced with the CS4 and the Honda?


If the OE speed rating is V, then the new tires must be at least V. Many tire shops will not install tires with a lower speed rating than the car originally came with.

And since you're happy with Cooper, then the CS5 seems to be the best choice out of what you are considering.
 
Originally Posted By: Picky1
Change of plans I am not going to pursue the aftermarket plus size wheels, I am going to stick to stock 16” wheels for now. However, I still want to replace the stock tires on my 2012 Subaru Legacy 205/60/16 91V. I have narrowed it down to the following based on my budget and feedback:

General RT43 205/60/16 92H – Only H speed rated?

General RT43 215/60/16 95V – This is a plus zero size, but it allows me to get the V speed rating.

Cooper CS5 Ultra Touring 205/60/16 92V – We currently have the Cooper CS4 on our Odyssey but I haven’t been impressed with the winter traction (thus we purchased snow tires for this car as this is our primary vehicle). Do you think the CS5 in conjunction with the Subaru AWD will provide a better result than we experienced with the CS4 and the Honda?

Continental PrueContact 205/60/16 92V – About $10-15 dollars more a tire than the Generals or Coopers, are they worth it? Look very similar to the Continental DSW which are supposed to be decent in the winter.


+1 I had similiar experience with the CS4s, I was shocked at how good of traction I had in the snow considering it wasn't an agressive pattern. I think between the sips and silica tread helped.

I have heard great things about the Generals. Tirerack raves about them as well. When any of my cars need new tires I am going to make the switch myself.
 
Originally Posted By: Picky1
Change of plans....
Cooper CS5 Ultra Touring 205/60/16 92V – We currently have the Cooper CS4 on our Odyssey but I haven’t been impressed with the winter traction

Some people missed this I guess....
 
Picked up some RT43s for my daughter's Impreza, only T rated but that is fine for that car. Too early to have any real impression of them, but they are well reviewed on TireRack and Consumer Reports (they tied for 3rd in the T all season category and probably had the best winter marks in that group) and the price is great.
 
Originally Posted By: KitaCam
Originally Posted By: Picky1
Change of plans....
Cooper CS5 Ultra Touring 205/60/16 92V – We currently have the Cooper CS4 on our Odyssey but I haven’t been impressed with the winter traction

Some people missed this I guess....


whoops! I thought it had said *have* been impressed.
 
Like someone else mentioned, unless your car requires a V rated tire, there's no reason to "upgrade" to that. The H rated tire is more than adequate, and I would recommend sticking with the stock tire size. The H rated tire might offer better ride quality and maybe a slightly better gas mileage due to weight. (at the expense of handling)

I have no personal experience, but I don't think you can go wrong with the RT43s, especially for the price.
 
Generally the higher the speed rating the softer the rubber and less it will last. Always a trade off.
 
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