mr_hollowpoint

So the good news is, the Hancooks are awesome and the car no longer slides sideways around roundabouts.....unless I intend it to. The bad news is, it turns out 4 of my wheel nuts were only on finger tight, this is because 3 of them are completely mullered and one of the studs has no threads on it! We did manage to get all but 2 torqued up properly, but I will be ordering a new stud and a set of 16 wheel nuts (have 4 locking ones which are fine) today, but meanwhile driving very cautiously lol.

Sorry but I think you're wrong, all of the above, are a consideration. Once you've got past the fact that you're not going to buy budget tyres, you're going to buy a branded, renowned make, you've satisfied the criteria for 'safety' already. You can go further as I did and rule out anything with a wet rating of less than C, but after that, everything comes down to cost, road noise and fuel economy. Unless, you're stating there is only one particular tyre that is absolutely epic on an impreza and you know exactly what the tyre is and you're willing to pay anything to get it, regardless of whether your MPG goes down to say 10mpg and road noise is produced that will make you industrially deaf? When the brands available are all tyres used in motor sport, all have a wet rating of C or above on a scale from A to G, all that's left is cost, mpg and road noise to decide on. It's not like the Impreza is an F1 car and you only drive it once a week, on perfect tarmac, with earplugs in and someone else is paying the fuel bill! It's a road car, that is likely to be used in all weathers, for all sorts of journeys and with varying amounts of sound deadening, types of fuel, road surfaces, etc. etc. etc.

Just thought I should clarify my MPG credentials, lol. This is my current list of cars: 1996 P38 Range Rover 4.0 V8 Auto - Wifes daily 2000 Classic Subaru WRX Wagon 2.0 Turbo - My daily 1991 300zx 3.0 Twin Turbo - First project car (Currently getting a BIG engine build) 1981 280zx 2.8 Turbo - Second project car (Currently getting a FULL restoration including Acid Dip) MPG is FAR from the most important thing on my list with cars as you can see

Yeah tyre compound and tread can both make a massive difference. In one way, the grippier they are the worse they are on efficiency as they create resistance, but then on the other hand, if they're not grippy enough and you get constant slippage, that's wasted energy, which is wasted fuel. The right tyres, with the right inflation can make huge differences in MPG. Like I said, MPG is far from top of my list, if it was I wouldn't have a scooby at all, but that doesn't mean I'll happily spend the same money, on tyres that will cost me more in fuel and or create more unwanted road noise. I bought the scooby to enjoy the exhaust noise, not drown it out with the noise of the tyres against tarmac and it's thirsty enough, without knowingly putting inefficient tyres on it. lol

To be honest, whilst I see what you're saying, to me, yes both matter. lol I drive the car every day and mostly on the motorway, the drone of the exhaust is one thing, road noise is something completely different and is something I don't want. Wind Noise is another annoyance. We will address both using FAT MAT sound deadening at some point, which serves numerous purposes, prevents rattles, cuts out road and wind noises and keeps noises inside the car from escaping like the stereo etc. As for fuel economy, I do 50 miles per day and whilst I'm not looking for a cheap car on fuel (I sold a 3.0 BMW that was reasonably fuel efficient to move to the scooby) I do also think that spending wisely on tyres and other things that will eek out some extra MPGs is not a bad idea. It's one thing to accept that the MPG on the car is bad, it's another to just flout it completely when making decisions about things like Tyres, spark plugs, etc. Whilst I don't really care that the MPG is atrocious, any savings in that area, with the amount of mileage I do every week, has to be a bonus. Whilst I'm aware the car is loud and I will be keeping the De-Cat 3" exhaust my car has, road noise is a horrible sound, which drives me mad. Because the car is used all year round, I need grip all year round, wet grip, dry grip, warm, cold, slimey, etc. So I think all in all, I've chosen the best tyre I can.

Well black circles made the choice for me really, I noticed they've rated each tyre on a scale of A - G for both wet grip and fuel economy. The Toyos have a terrible rating for both, the Avons I have on the 300zx have an A rating for Grip, but a G for fuel economy and the Hankook Ventus V12 has a C rating for both, which is pretty good, all at roughly the same price as the Toyos, Avons and Falkens. Both the Falkens and the Goodyears have terrible noise rating and are more expensive. Considering the Scooby is my daily and most of the tyre wear will be motorway, I wasn't looking to spend hundreds per tyre and I think this works out as a good compromise. The Hankooks also have the best customer rating (5 stars) on the Blackcircles website too.

All interesting suggestions. I had Pirelli P-Zeros on my GTR and did rate them quite highly, but for roughly the same money I also had Goodyear Eagle F1s on my Supra and they were simply epic! Problem is I can only find the Asymmetric Eagle F1s in my size (215 45 R17) and not the GSD3 with the arrow pattern. I've never used Toyos but do hear good things. I've got Falken FK-452s on the front of my 300zx at the moment, did have them on the rear as well, until I went over a raised grate coming out of London and gashed the inside of my tyre completely. Now got Cooper ZZ3 I think they're called, which are basically Avons on the rear. I was hoping to still find something around the £80-£90 each mark and black circles is basically listing Hancooks, Avons, Falkens and Toyos around that price, but more around £95 each. I may go for the Coopers all round, as I've been very happy with them on the 300zx rears, but then again I don't drive that very much in the wet, for obvious reasons. Decisions.......I've been told by some people the new Falken 453s are not as good as the 452s were, never tried Toyos or Hancooks and the Eagle F1 is pretty expensive when it's the Asymmetric one and not the Arrow pattern. Will have to have a think and decide between now and Monday I guess.

Whilst I'm sure this has been discussed at length here at some point, it's a thread starter. I'm in need of new tyres this coming week, as my wagon has 'events' on it and scoobys should not be sliding sideways around roundabouts unless you intend them to! So, bearing in mind I've just forked for a new downpipe, new stereo, cam belt change, oil and plug change and I don't want to be spending a small fortune on tyres that will primarily just be chewed up in motorway driving, but do want the car to handle like it should, what are the SIDC member recommendations for tyres?

Need to do some of this myself to my new wagon. Diff oils, gearbox oil, engine oil, air filter replacement, all on the cards for the next couple of weeks. Already changed out the plugs for Iridiums the day after I bought the car lol.

I do like the Hawkeye look! That famous blue too, lol. Welcome to the club, am a newbie myself.

​Thanks! One from another angle I forgot to post earlier

Washed it earlier today and just got some pics in the dusk-light.

Hi all, just picked up our second Classic Turbo Wagon the other night. No pics yet, as it's filthy lol. It's a 2000 on a W plate, with a 3" turbo back exhaust with sports cat, full bodykit, high and mid level spoilers and I'm told an uprated turbo. Haven't been able to verify what turbo it should have, or which turbo it's got yet, nor whether the ECU is matched up etc. but the turbo looks reasonably new, with lots of heat wrapping all the way down the exhaust from it and it runs around 16psi, so I'm guessing it's not stock? Anyone know what turbo and what injectors a Wagon should have? I was told it has a TD04 Turbo and 440cc injectors, but I'm led to believe they might be what it's supposed to have?