[yodar]

My 08 came with Goodyear Eagle RS-A tires, M & S, 205 55R 16, 89H rated.
They seem to grip well in dry or rainy weather (including moderate cornering).
The only complaint I have (and it may not be the fault of the tires as much as an absence of underneath sound-insulation) is that at highway speeds the tire/road noise is so bad that enjoying music on the CD isn't really possible.

What kind of tires did your xB come with?
What do you think of them?

If you got aftermarket tires...what kind and what do you think of their driving characteristics?

Yodar

 

[eviljack]

Re: What kind or tires do you have?

I got some Nitto Gen's. I forget the exact size at the moment. They are xxx/40 R18 they are very nice. very grippy, and suprisingly quite for such a large tire. I will try and get you the exact size later.

 

[yodar]

Mister eviljack,
Please also include the kind of tires that came with your car and what you thought of them. I have the feeling that there may be many different kinds of tires put on new xBs, but I'd like to get feedback on the matter.
Thanks.
Yodar

 

[Lone Wolf]

My 08 came with Bridgestone Turanza EL400's. Only have 5300 mi. on them but so far no complaints

Lone Wolf...

 

[Brewski]

My 08 came with the Brigestone Turanza EL400 P205/55R16 89H tires as well.
They seem to be just fine, but I don't drive all that aggressive...too early to tell on wear issue as I only have 6420 miles on them.

Brewski
08 xB

 

[x pop]

My 08 also came with the Bridgestone Turanzas. I've got 20,000 miles on them and they a doing fine. No problems and I am not a Firestone/Bridgestone fan. It did cost me $185 to replace one due to a road hazard. Check the color of your spare. The wheel is a lovely shade of sunshine yellow.

 

[TartanJack]

The original rubber was the 205/55/16 Bridgestone Turanzas mentioned by others.
I am now running Riken Raptors (a Michelin owned brand) in 225/50/16. They are a bit "stickier" than the Turanzas, but noisy. It doesn't bother me at all.
My next set will probably be the same BF Goodrich G-Force Sports i have on the Miata. I LOVE those and they are stickier than the Rikens.
I should have gotten those to begin with, but the Raptors were significantly cheaper and I took the gamble to try the Rikens. I am decently pleased with them, though.
Both of those tires are on the stock 16" steelies.

In short:
Original- Bridgestone Turanza 205/55/16
My second set- Riken Raptor 225/50/16
What I would love to try on my xB- BF Goodrich G-Force Sport (available in BOTH 205/55/16 and 225/50/16, as well as many other sizes). My next set will almost certainly be these.

 

[MidlifeCrisis]

Bridgestone's, like the others. They do seem pretty loud on anything but the smoothest roads.

 

[boostedegos]

Stockers were Bridgestone Turanzas, currently Nitto NT555 (19") which have much more road noise than the Turanzas

 

[yodar]

Hmmm,
So far mine seems to be the the only car with Goodyear Eagles instead of Bridgestone Turanza tires. I wonder if it's because I live at the end or the Oregon Trail? Or that my xB is a stick shift instead of the auto trans? Or just a random thing ("Hey, Itshi; I'm out of Turanzas. Grab me a set of something else.")
Yodar

 

[Echomalinois]

My 09 have the Goodyears on the 16" steel wheels.

 

[damasho]

My '08 xB is an automatic and came with the Goodyear Eagles.
It may be that at some point during the '08 production they switched to the Goodyears.

 

[TartanJack]

Mine was delivered to the US in late May 2008, I got it in June 2008.

 

[MidlifeCrisis]

Mine with Turanza's was delivered prior to May 2008 so it must have been around April or May.

 

[zembonez]

Mine came with the Goodyears but I switched to 225-50-17 General Exclaim UHPs. I never even considered General tyres but the reviews were awesome on Tirerack.com for these and I have been very very pleased with the performance. Ride is better than the OEM Goodyears and they stick like glue in the wet and dry. We never get ice or snow here so that wasn't a consideration.

 

[cataura]

My '09 automatic came with Goodyear Eagle RS-A's. I was never a fan of Goodyear's on my trucks, but so far these have been okay and seem to be fairly quite.

 

[ChuckWW]

Bought mine Feb 08. It came with the Goodyears. Signicantly grippier than the "passenger car" tires I have bought in the past. I was kind of bummed by reviews for this tire on Tire Rack. On the other hand, the top rated ones must really be something. Anybody have experience? Are Tire Rack reviews accurate?

 

[eviljack]

Oh yeah I checked my old tires yesterday. They are the eagles as well but I don't remember how I felt about their handeling since I didn't have them on very long. I will know better this winter when I throw them back on.

 

[xBillTheCat]

Bought mine Feb 08. It came with the Goodyears. Signicantly grippier than the "passenger car" tires I have bought in the past. I was kind of bummed by reviews for this tire on Tire Rack. On the other hand, the top rated ones must really be something. Anybody have experience? Are Tire Rack reviews accurate?

Once a tire model has dozens of reviews on Tire Rack, you can pretty well put stock in the review averages. But keep in mind that the real high end, high performance sticky tires are really only useful for thoswe who drive like they stole it everywhere they go, or have money to burn on those tires for track use.

As an autocrosser, I can vouch for several affordable tires that are also very good for at least dry performance. (Some are also good in the wet). I'd be happy with Yokohama Parada Spec II, Falken Azeni Sport, Kumho Ecsta MX, or Yokohama S-Drive. I am getting the S-Drives on my xB when it arrives next week (driving straight from dealer to wheel & tire guy to swap wheels & tires out). Largely because they are very comfy & quiet without giving up performance, PLUS they outlasted any other tire I ever drove on my MINI Cooper S.\

There's also a cheap Hankook model that some of my autocross buddies like to run, but I'll be dipped if I can think of which one it is right now.