In 2017, Subaru’s iconic Outback was the manufacturer’s best-selling vehicle, achieving its all-time sales volume record. Drivers love these versatile crossovers for their ability to tackle virtually any road surface with ease. From potholes to gravel to drizzle, the hardy Outback can conquer all and get you to your destination.
Like all cars, an Outback’s tires are a vital part of its anatomy. Being known for their cross-country credentials, these cars deserve a set of tires that are tough enough to match. With so many options to choose from, however, finding the perfect quartet can be something of a challenge. That’s where we come in – we’ve scoured the market for the best Subaru Outback tires your beloved car can get and compiled them into a handy list.
The Best Tires For A Subaru Outback
MICHELIN Defender LTX
Kicking off our list is Michelin with its impressively versatile Subaru Outback all-season tires. Their unique Evertread compound helps the tires to last and last, even in severe weather and on rough terrain. If you live in a wet climate, this could be the perfect tire for you – its proven tread design offers improved stopping distances on wet surfaces and better snow traction, too.
These all-terrain tires are great for your fuel economy and are optimised to give you the greatest possible efficiency. As well as saving fuel, the tires are designed to last, saving you money in the long term. Drivers agree that the tires are ready to handle every condition, and they handle impressively well in snowy conditions. Because they offer a smooth ride, they make for a drive that’s as comfortable as it is efficient.
Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max Radial Tire
Next on our list is Goodyear with its Fuel Max radial tire. This all-season tire solution is perfect for coupes and sedans, the Subaru Outback included. Featuring dual aqua channels, the tires are able to propel water away from the tread, improving their handling on wet surfaces. They also feature a fuel-efficient compound, providing low rolling resistance that results in excellent fuel economy. In fact, these tires can save drivers up to 2,600 miles worth of gas over their lifetime.
Meanwhile, a dry tread zone helps to enhance your handling and grip on dry surfaces, so they’re just as capable in easier conditions. They’re also a great value for the money, and they really deliver on their fuel economy promises. If you need a good all rounder for your Outback, they may well be the perfect option.
Pirelli Scorpion ATR All-Terrain Tire
Pirelli are another famous name when it comes to tires – and for good reason. Their ‘Scorpion’ design make excellent Subaru Outback all terrain tires. On the road, they offer users comfort and traction, while off the road they resist shocks and uneven surfaces with ease. The cleverly designed tires also feature a self-cleaning tread, engineered to fling away rocks and debris. The tough design can stand up to shocks and uneven surfaces with ease, offering a surprisingly comfortable ride when you hit the trails.
The tires are also carefully crafted to resist aquaplaning, keeping you safe in wet conditions. Even in regular conditions, the tires help to keep you and your passengers comfortable. Their low rolling noise makes for a comfortable cabin, so there’s no need to worry about them drowning out your stereo. The tires also offer excellent braking and cornering on the road, providing drivers with a controlled performance on every surface from gravel to mud.
Continental TrueContact All-Season Radial Tire
Continental have also earned a spot on our list, with their True Contact all-season tires. Featuring Continental’s patented EcoPlus technology, they help drivers to save fuel and money, without compromising on comfort and grip. Their Tg-F Polymers and Silane additives significantly improve treadwear, fuel economy, and traction – even on slippery roads.
The tires are moulded into a symmetrical design that provides drivers with continuous road contact. This allows for excellent handling and braking, keeping you safe on the road. With their three wide circumferential grooves, the tires can also resist aquaplaning. Continental’s tires are well-equipped for snow, too, thanks to their large biting edges. Inside, twin steel belts reinforce and stabilize the tires, promoting strength and durability. Meanwhile, ComfortRide technology, with its cushioning layer of rubber, also absorbs shocks and vibrations from the road. All these features add up to an easy riding tire, that’s equally at home on and off the road.
Bridgestone Turanza Serenity Plus Radial Tire
The next tire to earn a spot on our list is Bridgestone’s Serenity Plus model. This versatile tire offers excellent performance in both wet and dry conditions, providing drivers with a smooth, safe, and comfortable ride regardless of the weather. It’s designed to last with an impressive tread life that will keep you rolling for years to come.
The all-season touring tire has been specifically developed for mid-level and premium coupes, offering great snow traction, low rolling resistance, and excellent fuel economy. These tires are also surprisingly quiet, thanks to a series of cleverly designed grooves that reduce the noise they produce. Additional circumferential and lateral grooves help the tire to resist aquaplaning by evacuating water from the tread. Finally, its internal structure, reinforced with a pair of high-tensile steel belts, keeps the tire strong against various projectiles from the road, helping it last and last even on challenging surfaces such as gravel.
Yokohama Geolandar A/T Radial Tire
Yokohama have also earned a spot on our list, with their Subaru Outback off road tires. Offering all-season traction, long tread-life, and excellent off-road ability, these versatile tires are equally at home on and off the road.
The tires achieve their impressive all-season traction with triple 3D sipes that change shape as the tread wears, to maintain a good biting edge for confident winter driving. Even off-road, the tire is built to last. Yokohama’s patented EdgeTech Grooves create a large void area that helps to expel harmful dirt, mud, and stones from the tires. Overall, these versatile tires are impressively durable whatever surface and weather conditions you throw at them -in fact, each tire is equipped to handle up to 60,000 miles of travel. If you’re looking for an off-road tire that can competently handle the open road, too, look no further than Yokohama.
BFGoodrich All-Terrain T/A KO2 Radial Tire
The next set of tires to make our list are these all-terrain options by BFGoorich. Inside each tire, patented CoreGuard technology helps to maintain a proper shape. They also feature tough sidewall rubber, which is resistant to cuts and failure, and an extended shoulders that protect the sidewall’s critical failure zone.
The tires can also deflect rocks and debris from the road, thanks to a carefully designed tread path. This path allows them to resist chips and abrasion, too. Ensuring even wear for lasting stability and road contact. These durable tires handle well in almost any weather condition, navigating mud, snow, and rocky surfaces with ease. A series of ‘mud-phobic’ bars in the shoulder tread releases compact mud for improved traction in muddy or soft conditions. Even in deep snow, the tire’s staggered shoulder blocks allow for improved manoeuvrability. Overall, these make ideal Subaru Outback snow tires.
Mastercraft SRT Touring Touring Radial Tire
If you’re looking for something a little more highway-friendly (and budget-friendly, too), then look no further than these touring radial tires from Mastercraft. The all-season design offers drivers long mileage, excellent grip, and a quiet ride – all year round.
Thanks to its five rib tread pattern, featuring extra lateral grooves, the tire grips well in dry, wet, icy, and even lightly snowy conditions. Its newly organised tread block positioning also allows it to cancel out road noise, making it quieter in the cabin at all speeds. The tread itself is constructed from a hard and durable compound, and its blocks, together, feature unique Stability Control Siping (SCS) technology. This adds up to a versatile road tire that’s perfect for all year round.
Toyo Extensa A/S All-Season Radial Tire
Toyo have also earned a spot on our list, with their all-season radial tires. Built for year-round traction and comfort on the road, these tires are ideal for everyday life. Each tire is made from an all-season compound, moulded into a symmetrical design that wears evenly. This adds up to great durability – reflected in the fact that Toyo offer a 60,000 mile treadwear warranty with every tire they sell.
With four wide circumferential grooves, the tread pattern offers superior traction in wet weather. These channels ensure that as much water as possible is flung away from the tire, allowing it to maintain its grip on the road. Meanwhile, the center block arrangement is designed to offer you and your passengers a comfortable ride, by maintaining stable road contact at all times.
Milestar MS932 Sport All Season Radial Tire
This all-season radial tire by Milestar is our best value pick. This performance touring tire is designed to improve your vehicle’s grip on the road all year round. Made with an all-season tread design, the tire can deliver superior traction and handling even in rain, light snow, and freezing conditions. Wide circumferential grooves in the tread helps to evacuate water in wet conditions, significantly reducing the risk of aquaplaning. Meanwhile, lateral siping in the tread helps to provide constant traction in poor weather.
Despite this ruggedness, the tires don’t sacrifice your comfort. During long road trips, Milestar understands how distracting a rough and noisy ride can be. That’s why its touring tires work to provide drivers with a smooth and quiet experience.
Best Tires For A Subaru Outback Buying Guide
When it comes to selecting tires for your Subaru Outback, you’re pretty much spoiled for choice. Which tire you settle on will ultimately depend on where you live, and what road conditions you’re likely to face on a day to day basis.
To help you pick the perfect tires, we’ve compiled this guide. Below, we run through some key factors to consider when buying your tires, and how you can best take care of them.
Things to Consider When Buying Tires For A Subaru Outback
If you’re feeling a little overwhelmed by your choices, don’t worry – by considering these key factors, you can make an informed decision that works for your car and your lifestyle:
- Where you Live
Your tire requirements are usually closely tied to where in the world you call home. Rural drivers will likely benefit from an all-terrain or off-road tire, whereas suburb dwellers may opt for a touring tire. We’ll discuss some different types of tire in more detail later on. For now, it suffices to say that your local climate and road conditions should be a key consideration when selecting new tires.
- Grip and Handling
Clearly, how well a tire grips the road and handles should be a key consideration for anyone making this purchase. It can be difficult to tell just by looking at a tire how well it will cling to the road – especially since different tires are designed to cope well in different situations. To ensure you end up with a suitably grippy tire, be sure to buy from a brand you recognize, and check some independent reviews.
- Weather Suitability
As mentioned earlier, climate is a significant factor to bear in mind when choosing your new tires. If you live in a particularly rainy spot, for instance, you’ll need to know that your tires can function well in wet conditions. Look out for grooves designed to prevent aquaplaning, and a good wet stopping distance. Equally, if you live in an area with very cold winters, look out for an all-season tire that can cope with the snow and ice.
- Terrain Suitability
Just like your local weather and climate, this measure of suitability is closely tied up with the type of tire you choose. If gravel tracks and muddy paths are your daily reality, it’s best to opt for an off-road or all-terrain tire that can cope. On the other hand, touring tires function best on conventional tarmac roads.
- Comfort
It might seem unimportant compared to the other factors, but comfort is actually a pretty crucial consideration. If a set of tires makes your drive bumpy or loud, this can be incredibly distracting. Since distracted driving accounts for around 25% of all vehicle crash fatalities, it’s vital to do everything you can to maintain a comfortable – hence focussed – driving experience.
Type of Tires For Your Subaru Outback
As mentioned above, you’ll have a few different types of tire to choose from when selecting a new set for your Outback. Each type comes with its own advantages and drawbacks:
- Summer/ Touring Tires
As the name suggests, summer tires are ideally suited to warmer weather, offering a good grip on both wet and dry surfaces in these conditions. They tend to be made from harder wearing rubber than winter of all-season tires, making them a good option if you live in a hot climate for most of the year.
- Winter Tires
On the other hand, winter tires work best in cold conditions. They’re designed to deal with snow and ice, so many are equipped with metal studs around the tread. The main limitation of these tires is that they’re not suitable for regular pavement. Using them on a dry road can cause vibrations and actually damage the road surface.
- All-Season Tires
All-season tires may be your best bet if you live in a seasonal climate. They tend to offer a smooth and quiet ride, and can grip the road comfortably all year round. All-season tires also improve fuel economy compared to traditional winter tires, but they can’t cope with snow and ice to the same extent.
- All-Terrain Tires
This type of tire can offer all-season traction on pretty much any surface. If you regularly drive on both muddy tracks and smooth highways, an all-terrain tire could be the perfect solution. Unlike highway tires, they feature an aggressive tread pattern that continues all the way to the edge. Further in, the grooves become thinner, for highway handling. To learn more about all-terrain tires, you can check out our earlier guide.
Our Top Pick
In our opinion, the best tires for a Subaru Outback have to be MICHELIN’s ‘Defenders’. With their all-season capability, durable construction, and excellent traction, they truly are a great all-rounder for your beloved Outback.
The tire’s tread design has been extensively tested in wet conditions, and offers drivers an improved stopping distance even in the rain. Its clever tread spacing also allows for excellent traction in snowy conditions. Despite this ruggedness, the tire won’t slash your fuel economy – its MaxTouch construction helps you to save fuel over its lifetime, by reducing rolling resistance with constant road contact. For day to day driving in almost any climate, we’d highly recommend MICHELIN.
