Yokohama Avid TRZ?s, Bridgestone Turanza Serenity or other?
I may purchase a 2000 Subaru Outback and it turns out on inspection that the rear and front tires were not matched for tread type or tread wear, and no more than a 2/32 difference is recommended in tire size/tread, and all tires should be matched for tread. So I will have to replace them. Planning to drive the car on the W Coast in N California after relocating now from the NE, mostly for drives of 5 to 45 min during the work week, and occasional weekend trips, including ski trips to the mountains in winter. I?m looking for a top quality all-season tire that will handle well in summer and winter conditions.
I?d sincerely appreciate your advice as I?m very careful about tires every since I bought my first car in college, a 7 year old Volvo, which had tires that checked out well enough, but in a medium rain storm, driving 30 mph on a Cliffside with one lane in each direction, with no sudden acceleration or steering moves, the car fishtailed 180 degrees, and I was lucky to ?land? the car in my lane close to the inside of the road against the mountain. Some oil leaking down from a town above the road may have caused the road to be slick, but as soon as I put brand new top end all season tires on the car, it handled 10x better and safer. Never experienced that kind of slippage again.
In response to this question on Yahoo Answers, this poster below who owns 2 subarus recommended Yokohama Avid TRZ?s http://www…l=AVID+TRZ . I checked the reviews on Tirerack and the TRZs have an average overall rating of 8.52 out of 737 reviews, which is very good.
http://www…tireMake=- - - Yokohama&tireModel=AVID+TRZ&tirePageLocQty=&commentStatus=P
He was negative on Michelin for value and quick wear:
?I’m not sure if they’re available in Australia, but I ran Yokohama Avid TRZ’s on my 98 Outback… they have a 700 tread wear rating, and the rain/ snow traction is excellent (I know not a lot of powder down there, but in a sudden downpour, they are amazing)… I drive mostly on-road, over 60 km one-way to work, and have taken them off road on occasion… really surprising for an all season car tire. From my experience here stateside, Michelin is way overpriced, and the treads are too soft to get any real life out of; they do handle well though. Had nothing but bad experiences with Pirellis, may be just me. I’m currently running Dunlop Dirrezas on my 07 WRX… and they have been wonderful so far. Stick like glue, and good in the rain. They are a summer- only tire though? * 4 weeks ago Source(s): 17 years in the repair trade, employed with a national tire distributor; owner of two Subarus.
I spoke with Tirerack.com and these 2 tires were their top picks for performance + value for all-season tires for the 2000 Subaru Outback Ltd Wagon:
Bridgestone Turanza Serenity 225/60R16 $126 H sped rated - rated for 70,000 miles, supposed to offer just a little more responsive handling and a drop quieter ride than the Yokohama Avid TRZ, thanks to the stiffer tire, rated as a grand touring tire. There are fewer reviews for this than for the Yokohama Avid TRZ, but it appears well rated, though winter/snow ratings appear a little lower than the Yokohama Avid TRZ. Rated to 130 mph (as if I’d drive a 2000 Subaru Outback even close to that speed). Someone on Edmunds mentioned: ?The Serenity has replaced the Turanza LS series which for several years was the top tire on the Tirerack reviews for whatever category they were in.(do not confuse the Turanza LS with the ELs which are often OEM and suck) whether the Serenity is as good as its predecessor remains to be seen.?
Yokohama Avid TRZ 225/60R16 $94 T speed rated4/ - rated for 80,000 miles - rated as a touring tire. Very large number of ratings and very highly rated, both for summer and winter conditions. Considered an excellent mix of quality and value. The Yokohama Avid TRZ also got a very good review in Yahoo Answers.
I have to decide in 2 days (by Monday evening) in order to take advantage of a $75 rebate for four Bridgestone Turanza Serenity Tires, if I want them. The Bridgestone rebate brings the cost of a set of 4 Bridgestone Turanza Serenity very close to the cost of a set of Yokohama Avid TRZs.
I’d sincerely appreciate your advice ? I?ll be a first time Subaru owner and haven’t had to keep a car for a few years now, so haven’t bought tires in years.
Personally, I would go for best rated cheap tire. If you have a blowout or for some other reason you need to replace a tire, you will very likely need to replace all of the tires or risk damage to your AWD system.
Thanks jsutter,
With the rebate (which is not infrequent for the Turanza), there is only a cost difference of $50 between a set of four of each tire. I just wanted to pick up the best tire in this range. With my experience above, I know how important great tires are.
No problem. Both of those tires are very good, you can’t go wrong with either. I would suggest purchasing dedicated snow tires for the winter mountain driving and keep the all-seasons for the rest of the year.
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Bridgestone&tireModel=Potenza+RE960AS+Pole+Position&partnum=26WR6RE960PP&vehicleSearch=true&fromCompare1=yes&place=6&speed_rating=H&speed_rating=V&speed_rating=Z&speed_rating=W&speed_rating=Y&speed_rating=(Y)&minSpeedRating=H if you want Bridgestone
http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Goodyear&tireModel=Assurance+TripleTred&partnum=26HR6ATT&vehicleSearch=true&fromCompare1=yes&place=52&speed_rating=H&speed_rating=V&speed_rating=Z&speed_rating=W&speed_rating=Y&speed_rating=(Y)&minSpeedRating=H
for Goodyear
I agree. "All Season" tyres are really only good for three seasons. They don't do snow or ice well. If you are looking for safety with that AWD you will gain a lot more safety with winter tyres. AWD does not help you stop or keep you from sliding off the road. It only helps keep you going and winter tyres help keeping you on the road and keeping you going on the road.