nahtanoj1 Posted October 16, 2006 Share Posted October 16, 2006 So I've been lurking for a while now and have found lots of good info on snow tires for my new OB. I think I am decided on The Dunlop M3's because I live in the Boston area, frequently heading north, but spending quite a bit of time, in the winter, on dry/wet roads. The Dunlop's seem to be the best all-around tire. TireRack suggets 16" wheels(205/45HR16's) as does the manual that came with the OB - does this make sense since the stock tires are 225/55 R17's? Won't moving to 16" wheels change my speedo numbers as well? Either way I'll be getting a new set of wheels - any ideas where to find a reasonably priced set of alloys? Should I buy direct from Tirerack with the tires? Thanks for your thoughts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eVoMotion Posted October 17, 2006 Share Posted October 17, 2006 225/55/17 = 26.6" diameter = 781 revs/mile 205/45/16 = 23.3" diameter = 894 revs/mile the math does not look good. Here is a great idea! Buy yourself some nice summer wheels/tires and use the stock wheels for snows . I did. I have Dunlop M3s and Toyo T1-Rs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nahtanoj1 Posted October 18, 2006 Author Share Posted October 18, 2006 eVoMotion - how did you arrive at those numbers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eVoMotion Posted October 19, 2006 Share Posted October 19, 2006 Hi - I went to the Toyo website and looked at the tire spec page as reference. They might not EXACTLY match the Dunlops, but should be very close...the ratios would give you a ballpark that Tireracks suggestion must be off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gianspi Posted October 19, 2006 Share Posted October 19, 2006 Your dealer should be able to readjust your speedo. enough zip ties and duct tape will fix anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garandman Posted October 19, 2006 Share Posted October 19, 2006 Page 8-10 of the 2006 Owner's Manual list the alternate snow tire sizes as 225/60r16 or 215/60r16. So something is wrong with this advice. I see the logic in going to a 16" rim with a taller sidewall for snows. But I don't like to go narrower - too high a downside and not much upside. The 16" recommendation seems designed to accomodate chains, which is not necessary in Greater Boston with a Subaru. We don't have many Alpine passes in New England like Austria, Swithzerland, or Italy. I went to Charles River SAAB and bought a set of SAABARU BBS RK's for $500. I put the summer tires on those. Then I used the stockers for the snows as they weigh 4lbs more. Tirerack doesn't sell Nokians so there are no reviews of them there. But I drive 20,000 miles per year and the Nokian RSI's I bought didn't seem to wear as much as I would have thought. They go on Dec 1 and off March 15 unless snow is forecast before or after those dates. I do drive a fair amount in northern New England on business. They are dedicated snows. Lots of people in Boston and elsewhere use the Nokian WR as a dedicated snow. I see a fair number of Dunlops in NH, though. www.snowtire.info has lots of reviews and comments. The German car club ADAC tested both. They found the WR a little better in the dry and on ice. They found the M3 a little better on wet roads and in snow. Noise was about the same: they gave the M3 better marks for wear. Most of the Dunlop owners I've talked to are happy with them. Another tire they gave good marks to and a good wear rating was the Goodyear UltraGrip. all the tests are at: http://www.adac.de/Tests/Reifentests/Winterreifen/default.asp If you click "Tabelle" it gives you the summary results. Trocken = Dry; NaS = wet; Schnee = Snow; Eis = Ice; GerauschKomfort = Noise; Rollwiderstand = Rolling Resistance; VerschleiS = Wear. Somebody else from MA here emailed me to say that the place I bought Nokians - Johns & Sons tires in Manchester, NH - had the best prices around on Nokians, FWIW. Some other chains carry Dunlops at prett competitive prices after including shipping and mounting. Who Dares Wins スバル Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eVoMotion Posted October 19, 2006 Share Posted October 19, 2006 edited tires sizes in second post...as I mistyped both as 17s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nahtanoj1 Posted October 20, 2006 Author Share Posted October 20, 2006 VVR - If I use your plan with the stock wheel for my winter tires how can I be sure, before I buy, that I will not have issues with tire/wheel well rubbing? The manual says use p225/60R16's or p215/60R16's presumably because snows have a higher profile thus creating rubbing on turns? I would like to go with the stock wheels with Dunlop M3's (I'll buy the SAABARU wheels for my summers)- Can this be done with 225/55/R17's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eVoMotion Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 ah...p225/60R16's or p215/60R16's are shorter and narrower than stock...no rubbing issues. I run M3 225/55/17s on stockers on the weekend snow adventures. Run 40psi on the dry and drop down when you hit the mountain. M3s could easily be a great all-season tire. VVR - If I use your plan with the stock wheel for my winter tires how can I be sure, before I buy, that I will not have issues with tire/wheel well rubbing? The manual says use p225/60R16's or p215/60R16's presumably because snows have a higher profile thus creating rubbing on turns? I would like to go with the stock wheels with Dunlop M3's (I'll buy the SAABARU wheels for my summers)- Can this be done with 225/55/R17's? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garandman Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 VVR - If I use your plan with the stock wheel for my winter tires how can I be sure, before I buy, that I will not have issues with tire/wheel well rubbing? The manual says use p225/60R16's or p215/60R16's presumably because snows have a higher profile thus creating rubbing on turns? I would like to go with the stock wheels with Dunlop M3's (I'll buy the SAABARU wheels for my summers)- Can this be done with 225/55/R17's? Unless the manual has changed for 07, those 16" sizes are listed as alternates. There are certain sizes listed that can be used with chains, and others that cannot. In many European countries a tire size cannot be used unless it is specified in the owner's manual, hence the list. Tirerack lists the 16" rims with 205/60r16 and sizes for an 07 OBW base model. For the H6 and turbo models, it lists 225/55r17 or 225/60r16. As the wheel well is the same, they will fit: I'm sure someone at tirerack will 'splain. Some folks believe that a narrower section is the best bet for snows: others don't. You can be sure they'll fit (along with hearing from folks like evoMotion here who have the tires you are considering) by going to a place like tirerack or a manufacturers website and looking at the diameter and tread width of the tire you want to put on, relative to the stock tires. For example, the stock Bridgestone Impotenza RE92A in 225/55r17 has a diameter of 26.9"; a section width of 9"; and a tread width of 7". The Dunlop M3 has a diameter of 26.9; section width of 9.7"; and the tread width is NA. I'd have to go to Dunlops site, or believe Tirerack, who lists them as suitable for my 06 OBW 3.0R. The Nokian RSI's I have are 26.7" in diameter and section width is 9.2" [on an 8"rim]. They don't come close to rubbing anything. The M3's would be 1/4" wider on each side at the maximum width and you have a picture of them as well! One caveat with the aftermarket wheels: without TPMS sensors in the stems (about $75 each) after 15-18 minutes of driving the low air pressure warning lamp will flash every 4 seconds. It's so unobtrusive that I haven't even bothered to tape it over. If you buy the stems, the car has to be reprogrammed at the dealer after each wheel change to recognize the new sensors. http://www.geocities.com/theseventhfirst/06subaru_f1.jpg http://www.geocities.com/theseventhfirst/06subaru_r1.jpg Who Dares Wins スバル Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eVoMotion Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 Nice detail...thought about doing a similar write up...but it is Friday. 2.5i has low air sensor? Cool. I have the light in the dash on the XT, but no sensor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garandman Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 Nice detail...thought about doing a similar write up...but it is Friday. 2.5i has low air sensor? Cool. I have the light in the dash on the XT, but no sensor. I thought all the 06's had them? Who Dares Wins スバル Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eVoMotion Posted October 20, 2006 Share Posted October 20, 2006 I am 05. I have the light in the dash...but it does not seem to be hooked up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arumis555 Posted October 26, 2006 Share Posted October 26, 2006 Regarding winter tires for Outback 3.0R(I mean for the REAL winter conditions) Currently mounted 225/55R17 Bridgestone Potenza can not be used in such conditions . I'v got R16 wheels from Outback2,5 and going to mount 215/65R16 GoodYear Ultragrip 500. In this case road difference in 1 turn is +20,74 mm. That is +0,94%.An option it can be 205/65R16, then road difference is -20,1mm ( -0,94%). The only issue is what to do with tire pressure monitoring system? What are You going to do with it when changing the wheels? Normally people , when they have winter set of wheels+tires changing them by themselves or in the nearest repair shop. Even if I put other tire pressure sensors on winter wheels , whole system will not work without manual intervention of subaru dealer (every time when any wheel is changed they have to perform transmitter ID registration). So in this case I am forced to change wheels at offical subaru dealer only.... What is Your experience in this Tire Pressure Monitoring system? I do not see any essential use from it. Is it possible to temporalily disable TPM ( swich off TPM warning light too)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garandman Posted November 9, 2006 Share Posted November 9, 2006 /// The only issue is what to do with tire pressure monitoring system? What are You going to do with it when changing the wheels? Normally people , when they have winter set of wheels+tires changing them by themselves or in the nearest repair shop. I put a 1" square piece of black electrical tape over the light..... Who Dares Wins スバル Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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