Thursday 5th January 2017

Subaru Forester STI: PH Fleet

Dan's Subaru gets gripped and sorted on fresh rubber

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Turns out it's surprisingly hard to get tyre fitters to, y'know, fit tyres. This being PH I fully expect someone to set me right on their business model being based on selling tyres as well as fitting them. But it is a little frustrating when you arrive at your third outfit in a row to find them hardly rushed off their feet yet unwilling to fit the set of fresh tyres you've arrived with.

Thanks chaps!

Uniting Forester with the set of Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3s I'd scored on test was a bit of a logistical exercise all-in. I'll spare you the details but it turns out you can fit four 18-inch tyres in an F-Type Coupe and spend three hours on the M1 with the acrid smell of rubber wafting from the passenger seat. Though I'd not especially recommend it.

Playing the 'financially astute' Yorkshireman card I thought I'd played a blinder by booking the car into the Halfords Autocentre in Leeds while I ran round and did some Christmas shopping, thereby ducking ruinous city centre parking charges. But they must have seen me coming. Thankfully their colleagues in Halifax did the job for £12 per wheel, just in time for the Forester to hit the wintry Yorkshire roads and put the Goodyears to the test.

I'm sure everyone has their own little checklists when doing the first walkaround of a prospective purchase but mine always includes looking at the tyres. Pick'n'mix budget rubber on a performance car to me speaks volumes about the owner's priorities and rings immediate alarm bells. On the flipside a matched set of quality rubber on a Shed-level car is reassuring. So the evenly worn Yokohamas the Forester arrived on from Japan were comforting, though the rubber had started to perish and they needed replacing.

I invested in a set of Eagle F1s for my old classic Impreza WRX back in the day and recall them working very well. The latest Asymmetric 3s launched last year and are Goodyear's 'Ultra High Performance' product, available in 17-inch to 20-inch sizing. Technology includes sticky Grip Booster compound and Active Braking Technology. This spreads the tread under load to increase the contact patch and reduces stopping distances by over two metres according to Goodyear's quoted DEKRA test - more info here in the promo vid.

Doing the job very well so far

Now fitted I'm sensing the sidewalls might be a bit stiffer than the Yokohamas (they're a slightly higher load rating, for starters) as there's a tad more feedback through the wheel over cambers and surface changes. No bad thing as Subarus don't tend to have a whole lot of steering feel as standard, and it doesn't seem to have come at the cost of low-speed comfort. Grip even on wet roads is eerily good, especially in partnership with the Forester's inherent traction. As much as I like cars that slide around a bit there's equal - if different - fun to be had in a car that can make the most of its performance even when the road surface suggests otherwise. Subaru weight distribution always means a degree of understeer on turn-in but once the nose is pointing where you want it you can go full beans in total confidence it'll just grip and go. Put it this way, I've been rather enjoying greasy slip roads of late. Passengers less so, possibly. Ditto my emboldened cross country pace on the local B-roads, further encouraged by my new burbly soundtrack.

An 'extra' 7,000 miles or so of wear life is another claimed benefit of the new Asymmetric 3s, which also appeals to my Yorkshire side given the £251.99+VAT official RRP for the 225/45 R18 91W size I needed. We'll see how that plays out over time but for now the Forester is playing to its strengths and very much in its element in the elements.

Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3 construction

Grip Booster

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FACT SHEET
Car: 2005 Subaru Forester STI (JDM import model)
Run by: Dan Trent/the long suffering Mrs Trent
Bought: December 2015
Mileage: 122,843km (at purchase)
Purchase price: £9,500
Last month at a glance: An even faster winter bus with new tyres fitted!

Previous reports: 
Dan scores himself one of his all-time dream cars
Living the Subaru lifestyle dream
Dan versus JDM wind deflectors (with a little help from Sticky Stuff Remover)
JDM habit runs deep in the Trent family, which could prove costly
New exhaust brings the noise!

[Sources: Goodyear UK via YouTube]

[HaggisHunter91]

Not entirely car related but is that Gisburn Forest car park in the first picture?

Also at a rough guess is it an Orange Five and Transition on the roof?

Kieran