Best all terrain tires for 2015 Subaru Outback.

[anotherVTskibum]

Eh, I believe it...but I also don't put much stock in it as a true test of tires on ice. "100%" doesn't tell me much.

Lots of discussion on this here: https://www.tetongravity.com/forums/...ighlight=tires

This is probably the newest/best tire test I've seen (goggle translate to english or whatever your native language is): https://www.motor.no/artikler/2017/o...g-pa-glatt-is/

Here's an older, but more easily digestible (aka in english and a single pdf) test: http://www.brunowessel.com/content/p...d_r_review.pdf
...
Sadly, none of those tests include the modern crop of "all-weather" tires with the 3PMSF rating, like the BFG K02, G015, Cooper ATW, Hankook ATM, etc.

I agree that "100%" isn't particularly helpful. They provide a little bit about their methodology in the videos, but they don't provide raw (or even per-test comparative) data, which is annoying. However, they're the only outlet I've seen that has shared any sort of real testing that includes both 3PMSF AT tires and dedicated winter tires in the same test.

As you note, the biggest issue with the nordic reviews is that they don't include modern AT tires (nor LT tires at all, which is annoying as an F-150 driver but not particularly relevant to this thread). I'd love to see a similar test done with the modern, 3PMSF-rated AT tires in the mix. I've got 3PMSF-rated AT tires for summer that suck on packed snow and ice compared to my winter tires (studded Nokians), but I don't know if it's just the particular brand/model or the traditional "you can't have it all" tradeoff..

[auvgeek]

I've got 3PMSF-rated AT tires for summer that suck on packed snow and ice compared to my winter tires (studded Nokians), but I don't know if it's just the particular brand/model or the traditional "you can't have it all" tradeoff..

Which summer tires?

Like I said before, I do something similar with studded Nokians in the winter and G015 for summer/3-season use. The difference on packed snow and especially ice is huge -- the AWD masks it a bit for acceleration but it's super noticeable during cornering and braking. But the G015 is still leaps and bounds ahead of the crummy stock "AT" tires and totally safe/drivable in most winter conditions if you slow down a bit. At least so far with <20k miles on them.

For those not sold on a dedicated winter tire: to me, they're pretty cheap insurance against black ice, especially when you're driving 70 mph on a 2-lane highway in the middle of the night. YMMV.

I'd love to see a similar test done with the modern, 3PMSF-rated AT tires in the mix.

Yes! And especially if they repeated the test after the tires had 20k miles on them.

Here's a solution to the full-size spare not fitting: https://www.wilcooffroad.com/shop/hitchgate-solo/

I've been looking at these. Definitely the way to go. The thing is, it's technically my wife's car, and she has made it clear that she doesn't want to manually swing a tire to the side to open the lift gate. If I really cared, I'd consider trying to install a little motor to swing it out and then try tie that into the automatic lift-gate electronics so you could hit the button and have it all open seamlessly...but I can't really see finding the time to experiment with that.

For those who care, a 225/65R17 tire will not fit in the wheel well, even fully aired down.

[anotherVTskibum]

Which summer tires?

Like I said before, I do something similar with studded Nokians in the winter and G015 for summer/3-season use. The difference on packed snow and especially ice is huge -- the AWD masks it a bit for acceleration but it's particularly noticeable during cornering and braking. But the G015 is still leaps and bounds ahead of the crummy stock "AT" tires, and totally safe/drivable in most winter conditions if you slow down a bit.

For those not sold on a dedicated winter tire: to me, they're pretty cheap insurance against black ice, especially when you're driving 70 mph on a 2-lane highway in the middle of the night.

I've got Radar Renegade A/T5s. I thought the tire shop was ordering Falken AT/3Ws and didn't realize until the tires were on the truck that they'd swapped on me, and at that point I didn't have time to deal with it before driving away. The Radars perform well (IMO) on dry pavement; the performance hit relative to the OEM HT tires was far less than I expected, although there is probably a mileage hit as well. They're more rugged than the OEM tires, which was my number-one criteria after cutting a sidewall inside of 1500 miles on the truck, and they are inexpensive (which was important as I had planned to wait until the following summer to buy AT tires). Gravel/dirt/rock performance seems fine, but I don't really have much of a baseline; wet-pavement performance is also good (despite silly power and a serious frontwards weight bias, I don't have trouble with the rear tires spinning up unexpectedly, which some people complain about with the F-150 and certain tires).

[drakeson]

I had a really good experience with a set of Toyo Open Country AT IIs on my AWD Honda Element. Those puppies lasted something like 50k or 75k miles in just about every condition imaginable.

Had a set of Open Country AT IIs also. They are decent all-around tires. These toyo tires can perform well in heavy rain and in snow. They are quite heavy though.

[bobz]

I'll probably be getting the Yoko Geolander G015 for my '15 Outback, and appreciate that this topic was here for the info and recommendations.

Other tires I've been looking at (available for '15 Outback, and presumably other crossover type cars):
- Goodyear Assurance WeatherReady
- Pirelli Scorpion All-Terrain Plus
Both of those have decent treadwear (the Goodyear has a 700 spec and 60K rating, the Pirelli 640 spec and 50K rating; the Yoko G015 is 600 spec and 60K). And both [like the G015] have the "three peaks" snow certification [edit: incorrect parenthetical remark removed]. The Goodyear seems to be the better choice for a quiet ride on roads, the Pirelli the better choice for dirt roads though still decent for highway driving (and they look cool). Whereas the Yokohama has the best snow rating [edit: actually no], and seems to fall between the Goodyear and Pirelli on road versus dirt, and on longevity. All three choices are pretty much exactly the same price.

[auvgeek]

both have the "three peaks" snow certification (less snow-worthy than the G015's "snowflake" cert, but a significant step better than the broad field of M+S rated tires). .

Isn't the 3PMSF the same as the "three peaks" snow cert? I looked at the Pirelli tire you mentioned, and tire rack says it has the 3PMSF rating.

That said, I have never once been let down by the G015 off road. The OB's awful approach angle keeps you from getting too aggressive off road.

[bobz]

I'm sorry, you're right. All three tire models I mentioned have the same snow certification, which is the same certification that proper winter tires have. While all three tire models are not strictly speaking winter tires, and would all not be expected to have as good winter performance as proper winter tires. Still leaning towards the Yohohamas.