27 replies to this topic

[DevPro]

Hi guys. I recently acquired a MY07 Lib 3.0R spec B 6sp. It goes great, looks great, but there are a few things I need to get sorted out before I'm comfortable with it if you know what I mean.

I noticed a bit of a chunk out of the sidewall of one of my tyres, not sure when it happened, but most likely needs a replacement...

DO I NEED TO REPLACE ALL MY FREAKIN' TYRES NOW?

How true is this rumour? I spoke to my mechanic, and he said not with the new subarus, don't worry about it. I rang Subaru, they said...yeah, there's a chance you'll stuff your gearbox (?) by running uneven treaded tyres...but they weren't that convincing.

Sounds like no one is really sure.....

But if it's true, what a pain in the A$%@!!

Thoughts...?

[skillionaire]

Hi,

What tyres are on there now?

Cheers,
Nik

[skillionaire]

Hi again,

Also, if you're not keen on laying out coin right now - why not throw the full size spare that you must have on?

Cheers,
Nik

[DevPro]

They're Bridgestone Potenza's

I have a full size spare which looks like a near new tyre....but if I put that on, I'm wondering if the tread difference between that and the other tyres will matter...the other tyres are a bit lower tread....

Who would have thought changing a tyre could be so technical...

[skillionaire]

Hi,

How worn are they? If you think the tread is that significantly down on a new tyre it sounds like they are pretty low on meat. They would be the original delivered tyres, not many garden spec drivers would replace the potenza's with new potenza's!

What kind of driving are you looking to do in the car?

Cheers,
Nik

[Morgan]

You can get a new tyre on one corner. It won't stuff up your gearbox.
I believe you'll stuff something up if you have for eg 18" rims on your car, blow a tyre and use a 16" stocky as a spare.
A few mm of rubber wont make a difference

Generally speaking it is a good idea to do all corners at once but sometimes we cant help it!

You'll be fine!

[DevPro]

Hi,

How worn are they? If you think the tread is that significantly down on a new tyre it sounds like they are pretty low on meat. They would be the original delivered tyres, not many garden spec drivers would replace the potenza's with new potenza's!

What kind of driving are you looking to do in the car?

Cheers,
Nik

Well, fairly worn according to my mechanic.

No, I wouldn't replace them with Potenza's that's for sure....$516 per tyre!...what??!

What would be a good tyre to run on a spec B? It's mainly used for commuting really, plus I'll hit the twisty's once in a while on a weekend.

Can you run 225/45/18's? They seem to be considerably cheaper.

[Shiv]

You need to be more precise.

How different is the tread depth between the spare and the tyres already on the car? If its a lot, I think you should probably be saving up for a whole new set anyway.

Don't skimp on tyres. Buy the appropriate replacement and be done with it. Slight variations in tread depth aren't going to kill your tranny or diff. Chucking an el cheapo tyre for the interim can do a whole lot more damage...

$500+ is clearly retail pricing. Don't pay that. If you search online (eBay, Trading Post, Gumtree etc) you could get yourself a wheel with rim for that price. Otherwise search your local wrecking yards that stock Subaru's and again you could snap yourself a bargain.

[Morgan]

$500 is wayy too much for Potenzas! They are fantastic tyres but not that fantastic!
I only have 17" rims but a set of RE001's + balance + alignment cost me about $900 a few months ago.
Definitely shop around a bit first

[DevPro]

You need to be more precise.

How different is the tread depth between the spare and the tyres already on the car? If its a lot, I think you should probably be saving up for a whole new set anyway.

Don't skimp on tyres. Buy the appropriate replacement and be done with it. Slight variations in tread depth aren't going to kill your tranny or diff. Chucking an el cheapo tyre for the interim can do a whole lot more damage...

$500+ is clearly retail pricing. Don't pay that. If you search online (eBay, Trading Post, Gumtree etc) you could get yourself a wheel with rim for that price. Otherwise search your local wrecking yards that stock Subaru's and again you could snap yourself a bargain.

Ok, well I will check tonight when I get the car back, mechanic is looking over it now.

I had a quick look on ebay and definitely cheaper tyres there. Falkens going for $194 each or Pirellis at a little under $250 each. Just found potenza's at $275 each.

Ahhh, I hate unexpected expenses after purchasing a car..

[skillionaire]

Hi,

I went from Potenza's to Ecsta KU31's Kumho brand. I am pretty happy with them, I don't track the car and they respond very well in the wet. Should be had for around $200/t.

Be a little careful of the eBay tyre racket, a lot of those tyres are produced in questionable factories although they bare the same markings.

Buying a car that has tyres with little tread shouldn't have lead this to be an unexpected purchase.

You might also find a rim & tyre package cheaper than just buying tyres, I have done in the past - note the binlids on my wagon.

Cheers,
Nik

[DevPro]

Hi,

I went from Potenza's to Ecsta KU31's Kumho brand. I am pretty happy with them, I don't track the car and they respond very well in the wet. Should be had for around $200/t.

Be a little careful of the eBay tyre racket, a lot of those tyres are produced in questionable factories although they bare the same markings.

Buying a car that has tyres with little tread shouldn't have lead this to be an unexpected purchase.

You might also find a rim & tyre package cheaper than just buying tyres, I have done in the past - note the binlids on my wagon.

Cheers,
Nik

Thanks for response, the ebay listing is from a dealership in sydney (st george tyres online) that has taken the tyres off delivered cars? Ie - they only have delivery k's on them, around 3 k's in some cases. Does this sound legit?

[skillionaire]

Hi,

Not to me it doesn't, but I honestly do not know. The only reason they would be taken off from brand new would be for people to fit new rims, or if the tyres were not ADR approved specification?

Cheers,
Nik

[Shiv]

Be a little careful of the eBay tyre racket, a lot of those tyres are produced in questionable factories although they bare the same markings.


Cheers,
Nik

Yes this is something to look out for! We only discussed it a month or two ago, but this just reminded me.

Essentially we established there is no real way of safeguarding against it......EXCEPT the old "if its too good be true..." rule of thumb

[DevPro]

Hmmm, interesting. So many things to look out for, it seems these days you can TRUST NO ONE!

Anyway, does anyone know if you can fit the slightly wider 225/45/18's on an '07 Lib 3.0R-B Wagon, as opposed to the factory 215/45/18's?

[Morgan]

You'll have no problems with the 225's.
Any bigger and you'll start to scrub

[hamish_023]

225/40/18 is the go.

235 would be fine but anything wider you will scrub

[skillionaire]

Hi,

I run 245/40/18 on mine without scrubbing, including a decent drop.

Cheers,
Nik

[DevPro]

ARGHH

But what about the change in circumference of the wheels? Anything apart from factory spec changes the circumference of the wheels....isn't that going to lead to issues with the diff/gearbox as it's designed for a certain dimension.

Is Subaru just being a pain in the arse by saying that differing tyre treads/dimensions is going to stuff your car.

So confused.

[Dylan]

You can get a new tyre on one corner. It won't stuff up your gearbox.
I believe you'll stuff something up if you have for eg 18" rims on your car, blow a tyre and use a 16" stocky as a spare.
A few mm of rubber wont make a difference

Generally speaking it is a good idea to do all corners at once but sometimes we cant help it!

You'll be fine!

Ok, well I will check tonight when I get the car back, mechanic is looking over it now.

I had a quick look on ebay and definitely cheaper tyres there. Falkens going for $194 each or Pirellis at a little under $250 each. Just found potenza's at $275 each.

Ahhh, I hate unexpected expenses after purchasing a car..

Thanks for response, the ebay listing is from a dealership in sydney (st george tyres online) that has taken the tyres off delivered cars? Ie - they only have delivery k's on them, around 3 k's in some cases. Does this sound legit?

Hey mate.

The issue is if you run a different rolling diameter. If you keep the same rolling diameter you will be fine - and if its out by a tiny amount (due to tyre wear) it will be OK until you replace it - just try not to do thousands upon thousands of KM's like that.

Check out Tempe tyres (they have a store on ebay) as well as st george tyres - they are both near one another.

Give them a call as well, you should be able to get some decent stuff from Tempe - all new - and they sell a LOT so all their stock should be fairly new. I am actually in the process of looking for rubber too, at the moment I am considering a road track RT615 (falken) or a KU36 - Jock (Member on here) says the ku36's have a softer sidewall than the RT615's - but I haven't used either of them so I am not sure. Also considering the KU31's too.

Have a look in this thread.

Dylan