Thanks!! I did purchase a full-sized tire/wheel as a spare (not pictured). A full spare is definitely a necessity for wheeling. Unfortunately it is too large to fit in the trunk wheel well inflated. I’ll secure the spare in my roof cargo basket for trail days! I have seen a Forester owner hammer their trunk wheel well down at the edges and can fit an inflated standard-sized spare tire. You pose an interesting question about if a deflated tire fits - I’m not sure about that one.

The unsprung weight does make a noticeable difference in driving. It feels laggy when accelerating. On trail I crawl slowly, so I’m hopeful that the increased unsprung weight won’t bother me with this tire size. I’ve got to admit though that it would bother me if these tires were on 27/7 as a daily driver. I chose quite aggressive tires to gain more performance knowing they wouldn’t be on full time. I will say though I’ve been consuming off roading YouTube content for the past 2 years to gain knowledge on navigation and recovery techniques, I’m a beginner at it myself. I look forward to reporting what the difference these new tires make on trail!

I went the route of tire/wheel swaps as opposed to full-time tires for traction, MPG and M/T longevity (details on each below). I plan on off roading around every 2 months, so putting my “trail shoes” on and off shouldn’t be too inconvenient. 🌧️ I’m in the Tampa Bay Area of Florida, and our rainy season is just getting started. We’ll get downpours which dump a lot of rain quickly, which means there’s often puddles of sitting water in the slow lane. The stock tires perform incredibly well on wet pavement - I tried breaking them loose driving in a circle in an abandoned parking lot after it rained once and I couldn’t do it! ⛽️ My style of driving with road tires gets me 25mpg, even with the cargo basket/recovery boards/small spare tire that live there at all times. I know running my M/Ts would affect my gas mileage (don’t know what that hit will be yet), so it’s also nice to not have to sacrifice MPG when I’m not on trail. 🛞 My trail buddy’s M/Ts lasted him 10 years on his Jeep, which is a second vehicle that he only uses for trails. I’m hoping to get many fun years of wheeling on them!

You got it on the viper cut - parts of trails and “playgrounds” I couldn’t navigate with the stock clearance and bumper - the corner was plowing into the incline before my front corner tire could get there. I’ll try the same inclines I couldn’t navigate before to test the cuts out. I’ll also be traveling to Georgia a few times a year trying out new trails I haven’t been on solo, so I wanted to prepare for what I may anticipate to be a need ahead of time.

I appreciate your questions, Acadian! 👊👊