Hi all!

 

I'm on road to lift my 2.0 Forester with 1" spacers all around and was looking for AT tires options to get after the lift.

 

The standard size in my 2008 2.0 Forester was 215/60/16 but I'm currently running on 235/60/16 and I think the power is Ok, even though this engine has poor low end torque and that's why it comes with a mini dual range box (1:1.449 reduction).

 

I wanted to know if someone has fitted 215/70/16 tires with this engine and how does the car feels power and torque wise with these tires.  I don't plan to do a lot of rock crawling or extreme off roading, but I don't want to lose a lot of power in low revs.

 

Any experience or comment would be much appreciated. Thanks!

 

(I just noticed maybe I should have posted this topic to the Forester Club sub forum, sorry and please feel free to move it if you think it's convenient)

I shall move it for you now sir !

Not sure about the increase in sidewall profile, obviously the speedo will be out a little, may have some issues with diffs ? It's not something that's really done here in uk, if you want to do more serious off road stuff you buy a landrover or something weird,

Mr b's probably your best bet to answer your question, failing that have you looked over on www.forester.org or www.dirtyimpreza.com

2 tyre sizes I use a lot for off road foresters is 205/75/15 & 215/75/15, the 215/75/15 is almost same size as 215/70/16, I found them to be ok even for quite heavy load/towing as well as light off road use & not notice much difference in power/torque due to the larger diameter tyres effect on gearing  ...

Thank you Mr. B.

 

I'm between the 215/70/16 and the 215/65/16, General Grabber AT2.  In fact I don't plan or need to do heavy off road, but would love more clearance and better grip/handling in mud, gravel, etc.

 

My biggest fear is that I stop enjoying the car (it's my daily driver too), in which case I would prefer to sell it to look for a 2.5 N/A that has more low end torque, but the little dual range sometimes gives me nice surprises :)

, General Grabber AT2.  fear is that I stop enjoying the car (it's my daily driver too),

 

wouldn't want these tires for a daily driver... low MPG / noisy and not really good grip on tarmac...

 

and indeed the 2.5 n/a does have a bit more torque (had one back in Australia)

Michelin Latitude Cross are nice daily road & off road tyre, Continental ContiCrossContact LX also not bad & ok for light off road.

Thanks for your advice @bitman, I'll take that into account since I don't want to reduce too much my not so good current mileage (avg 25 mpg uk).  By the way, how do you manage to get 30 mpg with a 2.0 ??  Would you mind to share some of your secrets?

 

Thank you @MrB, the Michellin reviews look impressive. Will have to research their price and availability here :D  I still have some time since I should await for the arrival of the raised king springs and 1" spacers first.

sensible driving, using the cruise control a lot and bear in mind both are automatic. the UK one i only use V-Power

 

one thing Scoobie doesn't like is city traffic with lots of stop start traffic due heavy car. best MPG i did was when driving to one of my brothers living in the Netherlands; 37 MPG! could have even better MPG but had to fill up as the next fuel station wasn't a Shell one. so highway with cruise control is best but that goes for most car to be honest

 

then another point is tires. i have ditched those crap Geolandars for Nexen and oh boy way better MPG and less tire noise. you can see that in my Fuelly (in my signature) there you can also see my silver 2.5 XS i had