The car was at the dealership this week for a MAJOR unexpected repair (I will write about that and the events that followed in short time) but I want to give this topic first attention and get opinion.
I was planning on taking the car in for service soon and putting on my snow tires but this incident happened and forced me in. I had noticed that the tire tread is getting low, but did not think it was that bad, until the shop called me and told me that my front tires where pretty mush dead, the tread is gone, the steel is coming through, you cant drive on them any more. Fair enough, let put the snows on I said and so it was.
The car has 27K on it, of these about 5 where put on snow tires last year. So the factory installed tires lasted 20K or so. THAT is low in my opinion. I know they are performance, and tread life depends on “how you drive the car” but 20K? that is all you get?
Is that normal? what do you think?
I just ordered a 2010 WRX 265 limited package and hope to have it delivery next week.
Thanks for all the info on this site to help me make up my mind on the WRX 265. I was also looking at the Mazda Speed 3 which is a very smart looking car. In the end it is the AWD that win out.
I am driving a 1997 Forester and still loving it. The new version of the Forester is too big for us now (no more kids at home). We will use that as a second car to transport our dogs and other stuff.
I am also getting winter tires on the WRX as well. But on your questions on factory tires. My Forester came with Yokohama Geolander which were fantastic tires but apparently because they are high performance tires, they don’t last very long. However, I anticipate they last more than 25K.
Harry
congrats on the 2010, lots of fun, you are gonna need them tires soon, its coming down hard tomorrow where I am
I think all summer performance tires get bad tread life. I had a 2006 Infiniti G35 before I got my 2010 wrx and had to get 4 new tires at about 19K. They were 19 inch bridgstone potenza at about $350.00 a piece. I did not abuse the tires because I knew how much they cost. Also I could not rotate the tires due to the back rims were bigger. Even so I had to replace the front tires on a rear wheel drive car. I think bad tread life comes with these performance tires no matter what brand you choose.
mwrx
thanks for the info. btw have a friend with a G35 and he complained about the rims, said couldn’t get snow tires on with a cheapy steel rim the Brambo calipers where too large
Wonder how all season will perform on the car, thoughts?
Samer
Not sure how the all season tires would perform on the G35. I sure it will not handle the same. I only ran the summer performance tires. Never drove the car in the winter. Same with my wrx, I wont be driving it in the winter. My wrx will sit in the garage with 1,800 miles on it until march or I will drive it if the roads dry out. Not to sure about snow tires I never used them. I live in Cincinnati, OH and it ethier snows a lot or we dont get any. I own a landscaping company with plenty of 4 wheel drive trucks to drive.
I never got more than 20K on my BFGoodrich G-Force Sport tires. Fast wearing is just par for the course with soft, sticky performance tires.
I guess it is.
So next spring, we need to have a “what performance tires are best for the wrx” post. For now, snow shoes…..
Just got the wrx in mid november. Great car, but now that its fully broken in, I have the snowies on, and I can definitely NOT push the car as much, boohoo…. I have had the tires on for less than a week, and I noticed wear on the edges already!!
Btw, I ran RE 070(sti) tires on previous wrx and legacy GT and I still have tread left!!
Any one using 16″ winter tires instead of 17″. The dealer said it mkaes no difference in performance and mileage.
Is this true?
I’m using 205 – 16″ Dunlop 3D winter tires. Mileage is somewhat better, the performance on dry pavement, especially cornering, is definitely worse. I need to see more snow to have an idea how these work as designed. On the positive side, they are quieter.