Michelin CC2's

[Max Capacity]

Just got home from having these tires put on my 18 Outback 3.6R.  The tire place also did an alignment. The car had Bridgestone Duelers the dealer installed when the car went in at 15,500 miles for tire wear. They aligned and put the new tires on.

I could tell the difference in these Michelin's while pulling out of the parking spot, going a little further in the parking lot, it only got better. No tire noise, great ride over bumps, I even think the brakes feel better.

The last time I felt this much of a difference in tires was back in the Fall of 2005 when I took off the summer only's, Dunlop's (something 101's) and had the Michelin Alpine Pilot PA2's installed, by the trusted mechanic down the street. I was ready for a snow tire feel from the Alpine Pilots, but was amazed is how much they were like the summer only's on the cold pavement.

 

I don't expect the CC's to be a performance tire such as those were. I chose them as a great all-season tire with great snow performance for an all-season. At this age, I don't need to have two sets of wheels and tires around, summers and winters.

[silverton]

I had a short conversation with a guy who had CC2's on his 2006 WRX yesterday.  I don't have experience with them but he said "better traction in the wet than the dry, so strange".

New tires will always feel better than 5 year old tires though. One of the reasons most manufacturers recommend replacing at 5 years, the rubber gets hard and can't dampen some of the things they used to giving a poor driver feel.

[Max Capacity]

I'm kind of in tune to my cars. Those Duelers were not very pleasant from the beginning. I remember telling the Dealer Service Manager that a few days after picking the car up from them. 

 

I'll also add, I remember when I test drove the 00' Legacy GT wagon. I had a 98 GT wagon that I bought in March 1998. A buddy at work bought a 00' GT and told me the dealer told him Subaru made some 150 or so changes to the car, yet the price increase was small. So Nov 99, when I started the 00' and drove it off the dirt mound in front of the dealership and onto the asphalt, I said, wow, what a difference. I bought the car that day.