Well, I got new tires alright (Coopertires with a treadwear of 780) for some US$ 900… but apparently my rear alignment is so much off that this might be the ultimate reason for the excessive wear on the rear tires. This in turn is related to my luggage, which I would say is not in excess of 200kgs (looks heavier than it is), with the spare tires that are another 50kg… so it is adding up. The ultimate problem seems to be that my rear alignment is hampered by 1) some seized bolts that control the “toeing” and 2) the fact that Subaru does not allow to adjust the camber settings. So even while I might be able to do something about 1) (ie.US 700), there is no real factory solution for 2). The conclusion of it!? Never drive long distances into the unknown with lots of gear, your buddies, or a combination of both. Your tires will just wither away. It might be made for those outdoorsy people that only travel alone and with a credit card. So I think Subaru should rethink what they call their models – outback definitely seems to be a misnomer for what it actually can do or is advertised for! 🙁 So I have to make a call to either run through tires as I did before, or get a proper fix (that only solves part of the equation)…Bummer!