The Foz is 6 years old, and while low mileage, suffered from a lazy owner who never checked alignment. The OEM "all"-season tires suffered more than the winters, unfortunately leaving 4/32" on the outer block and 7/32" on the inner. Last fall, before we did the changeover to the Blizzaks, the Fozzie was hydroplaning more than usual and I determined that those OEM tires had seen their last season. They, at 6 years old, also were showing some minor signs of drying out. The Forester was around 71,000km at the time and has the dedicated winter tires to take some of those clicks.
Come this spring, I called up Kal Tire and ordered a set of Nitto Motivo 3-season 'ultra high performance" tires (according to Nitto, not me!!).
http://www.nittotire.com/passenger-tires/motivo-all-season-ultra-high-performance-tire/I had decided on those tires since I absolutely LOVE the Nitto NT421Q tires mounted to my dad's Lexus RX400h. At 3 years, there's barely any wear on them and they just slice through water as if it's nothing.
Figuring that I have the dedicated winter tires that we mount fairly conservatively, I don't care about how the tires handle a light dusting of snow and wanted a better tire so the Forester would be less rolly-polly in the turns.
The folks at Kal Tire were, as expected, fan-fricken-tastic (sorry, Ron!) to deal with. While waiting for the new tire mount, the tech came out and said, "listen, your current tires are OK. I feel bad selling you a new set when you don't
need them."
While I appreciated his honesty, I had already set aside the money and didn't want to deal with the hydroplaning anymore, so I told him to go ahead so I could enjoy my 'upgrade'.
The new tires were mounted, with an oil change done at the same time, in about an hour (while I was on work calls any way and enjoying coffee and
). Total was $832 for the oil change and all 4 tires in 225/55R17 - fairly reasonable in my opinion.
First impressions were, "holy fak, the steering feels heavier at parking lot speeds." I adjusted fairly quickly, however. Once I started driving, it was a revelation: steering was more direct, I could take corners 20km/h higher without any appreciable body roll, and then I found a large standing puddle...WHEEEEE!!! Blasted right through it without any hint of hydroplane. Straight-line driving is spot on.
They seem about the same in terms of "noise" from the Yokohama Geolanders they replaced, but the handling is unreal better. I feel much safer in them and would recommend them highly if anyone's looking. Rated to 100,000km for treadwear (UTQG 560 AA), I have high hopes these will serve us well for the next 5-6 years. They're W- and XL rated, FWIW.
