Top 5 Best Tires For Subaru Crosstrek [2023 Review]

By Tire Expert, Ryan Nichols

The Subaru Crosstrek is a relatively new Subaru model that deserves a good set of shoes. Or rather, your Crosstrek needs some trail runing shoes that aren’t as heavy as steel-toe boots or as flimsy as regular old running shoes. Your Crosstrek needs those Goldilocks tires.

The good old classic Subaru boxer engine, a revamped chassis and the style of the classic Subaru wagon require some complementing treads to keep the weekend rolling.

Don’t be late to the Dead and Co. show by getting a flat tire in your Crosstrek. Because I’m a professional tire installer, here are some tires I handpicked that will help keep you safely arriving at your destination in your Subaru Crosstrek—I want ya’ll to make the buying choice.

Hey, I’m a Subaru enthusiast. I’ve jammed my lead foot on those turboed subaru boxer four popper engines hard enough to get a niiiice adrenaline rush (maybe even scared). Stay in control with good tires.

And most importantly, take my professional opinion, and choose one of these five tires because trust me, they’re the best tires for Subaru Crosstrek wagons. Here we go:

Our Top Pick

Yokohama Geolandar AT G015

★★★★★ 4.0/5

4.0

Read Review

Best Budget

Starfire Solarus

★★★★★ 3.5/5

3.5

Read Review

Most Economical

General Altimax RT43

★★★★★ 4.5/5

4.5

Read Review

High-End Choice

Falken Wildpeak All-Terrain Trail

★★★★★ 4.0/5

4.0

Read Review

Best Tread Life

Uniroyal Tiger Paw Touring A/S

★★★★★ 4.0/5

4.0

Read Review

Updated as of September 22, 2023

Yokohama Geolandar AT G015

Our rating:

4.0/5

★★★★★ 4.0/5

Pros and Cons

Ratings

Wet Traction:

★★★★★ 4.0/5

Ride Handling:

★★★★★ 4.0/5

Dry Traction:

★★★★★ 4.5/5

Ride Noise:

★★★★★ 3.5/5

Snow Traction:

★★★★★ 3.5/5

Ride Comfort:

★★★★★ 4.0/5

Tread Life:

★★★★★ 4.0/5

Value For Money:

★★★★★ 4.0/5

The right tires highly contribute to your driving experience. These Yokohama Geolandars are the most versatile for your Subaru Crosstrek, and I find these tires to be ultra unique and awesome. Why? Because they have an awesome ability to perform at both highway speeds and during intense offroading situations like driving on the beach or up the canyon.

Look closely at the treads of these Geolandars. Let me point out that Yokohama has masterfully crafted a tread pattern that takes the continuous center rib design and water-evacuating sipes used on all-season and sport tires, and mixes it with that ‘bear paw’ animal footprint style of tread blocks used on all-terrain tires like BFG All Terrain and Goodyear Wranglers. The tread design is pure genius if you ask me.

I always like mounting up Yokohama tires on vehicles because it feels like I’m doing the car a favor. They’re easy to balance, and the test drive always feels so nice afterward. You notice those beefy shoulder blocks on the inside/outside parts of the treads when cornering on both dirt and road. To say you’ll have better handling on dirt roads is an understatement. You’re about to eat up every bump with these Geolandars.

These will do great in severe snow if you use snow socks/snow chains, and that’s just the reason why these are my top pick for your Subaru Crosstrek—because they’re a perfect solution for the typical Subaru driver who drives in all sorts of conditions.

Oh and another thing. These are technically designed for light trucks and SUVs, so you can load it all on without worrying one bit about tire failure due to weight. I’m not one to put tow hitches on sedans/wagons, but pull a small boat, for all I care if you’re going to have tires this nice on your Crosstrek. These also have an ‘H’ speed rating making them safe for speeds of up to 130 MPH.

Compare this tire to the Falken Wildpeak (which we also have an extensive review on).

Starfire Solarus

Our rating:

3.5/5

★★★★★ 3.5/5

Pros and Cons

Ratings

Wet Traction:

★★★★★ 3.5/5

Ride Handling:

★★★★★ 3.5/5

Dry Traction:

★★★★★ 3.5/5

Ride Noise:

★★★★★ 4.0/5

Snow Traction:

★★★★★ 3.0/5

Ride Comfort:

★★★★★ 4.0/5

Tread Life:

★★★★★ 3.5/5

Value For Money:

★★★★★ 4.0/5

Starfire Solarus is just dominating the market right now because it seems like everybody is buying them. And guess what? These tires are not half bad (they’re actually really good)!

They’re a perfect option for you college students looking to cut expenses or any commuter who needs a solid set of tires without ugly numbers showing up on the credit card statement. In other words, if you buy these tires, you’ll have more money to spend on tire rack equipment and to-go coffee.

Downsides to these tires are that they won’t perform as well in more extreme weather conditions, and their mileage warranty isn’t quite up to elite standards (50 thousand miles).

For the price, they’re great, but I still wouldn’t rely on them for ultra-high performance driving. I also don’t recommend driving over jagged rocks or at faster speeds on dirt roads with these tires. That means take it easy when driving on busy highways, and drive slow anywhere offroad if you don’t want a frustrating blowout.

Again, these might not be the tires for the adventurer, but if you drive your Crosstrek down the interstate to work every day, they’re not a bad choice. Besides, you can always have an extra set of beefy offroading tires mounted to some badass wheels for those times when you want to crank it up a notch in your Crosstrek—us car buffs all know it’s a wagon worthy of wonders.

General Altimax RT43

Our rating:

4.5/5

★★★★★ 4.5/5

Pros and Cons

Ratings

Wet Traction:

★★★★★ 4.0/5

Ride Handling:

★★★★★ 4.0/5

Dry Traction:

★★★★★ 4.5/5

Ride Noise:

★★★★★ 4.0/5

Snow Traction:

★★★★★ 3.0/5

Ride Comfort:

★★★★★ 4.0/5

Tread Life:

★★★★★ 5.0/5

Value For Money:

★★★★★ 5.0/5

General Altimax RT43 is a modest choice for your Crosstrek that shine when it comes to fuel economy and ride comfort. I like the quiet ride these produce. General Altimax RT43 are some of the most-sold tires on the market because of their super economical price and insanely reasonable mileage warranty.

There are pros and cons of going with General Altimax RT43 on your Subaru Crosstrek. Upsides include improved fuel economy, great price, solid mileage warranty, and smooth ride comfort on the highways.

Downsides of opting for General Altimax RT43 include reduced performance in weather conditions, higher risk of rock puncture when offroading, and mediocre performance at higher speeds.

I mean come on, just over a hundred dollars a pop for brand new tires that come with a 6-year/75 thousand mile warranty? This just goes to show that General Altimax tires have your back. Which is no surprise also considering these are made by Continental (one of the biggest tire manufacturers on the planet).

This is the definition of when quality production meets low-cost production—which doesn’t happen a lot. These tires should probably cost at least 50 dollars more per tire because they have certain design features that just knock it out of the park.

The features on General Altimax RT43 are completely ahead of their game. For example, one design feature that I dig on the General Altimax RT43s is their treadwear indicators. Who else makes a tire that reads ‘replace tire’ on the tread when the tread wears all the way down? Or when have you seen visual alignment indicators on the left and ride sides of the tire tread to help the user easily identify slight alignment issues?

These are an awesome choice, but don’t buy these if you’re looking for good trail tires. They’re best utilized on smoother roads.

You can read more about this tire in my General Altimax RT43 review here.

Falken Wildpeak All-Terrain Trail

Our rating:

4.0/5

★★★★★ 4.0/5

Pros and Cons

Ratings

Wet Traction:

★★★★★ 4.0/5

Ride Handling:

★★★★★ 4.0/5

Dry Traction:

★★★★★ 4.5/5

Ride Noise:

★★★★★ 3.5/5

Snow Traction:

★★★★★ 3.5/5

Ride Comfort:

★★★★★ 4.5/5

Tread Life:

★★★★★ 4.0/5

Value For Money:

★★★★★ 4.0/5

Falken also makes a tire fit for your Subaru Crosstrek owners who love high speeds, trails and driving in the snow (even though they’re not winter tires). These tires hit the nail on the head with their versatility with this masterfully crafted design intended for crossovers (CUVs) and smaller SUVs.

So what makes Falken Wildpeak All-Terrain Trail tires different than others? Take a close look at their tread pattern. You’ll notice that they mix independent tread blocks typically used on offroading tires with continuous center rib treads that create smoothness and flick out water when hydroplaning on the highway.

I’m also impressed with the 65-thousand-mile treadwear warranty that Falken provides for these specific tires; that’s pretty impressive for tires that are about to be beaten to death on high-mountain rocky roads and frozen solid during winter driving.

The plus sides of these tires include great offroad performance, increased rolling resistance, and increased ride comfort while the downsides of Falken Wildpeaks are decreased gas mileage, less agility at higher speeds, more expensive, and they don’t last quite as long as high quality touring tires.

I’d also like to specify that Falken Wildpeak AT/3W is a completely different tire with much beefier treads and significantly inferior highway performance (these are for trucks and larger SUVs).

See our full review of the Falken Wildpeak AT/3W here.

Uniroyal Tiger Paw Touring A/S

Our rating:

4.0/5

★★★★★ 4.0/5

Pros and Cons

Ratings

Wet Traction:

★★★★★ 3.5/5

Ride Handling:

★★★★★ 4.0/5

Dry Traction:

★★★★★ 4.0/5

Ride Noise:

★★★★★ 4.0/5

Snow Traction:

★★★★★ 3.0/5

Ride Comfort:

★★★★★ 4.0/5

Tread Life:

★★★★★ 4.5/5

Value For Money:

★★★★★ 3.5/5

Get ready to peel out with these Uniroyal Tiger Paw tires freshly mounted on your Crosstrek? These were also the stock tire on the old Pontiac GTO during the muscle car era, so you’d better believe that these tires are plenty ready for your Subaru boxer engine.

This is an interesting tire brand. It turns out that Michelin owns this company in the USA, and Continental owns its Europe production facilities. These Tiger Paws run in the middle price range, and they are built with the reputation to last a long time when properly inflated (check tire pressure recommendations on the inside of your driver’s side door panel).

130 MPH (H) is the max speed for these puppies, and that should be plenty enough wiggle room for your Crosstrek that has a top speed of 116 MPH. I would much rather have these slightly ‘slower’ tires because the quality of the rubber and higher sidewalls extremely improve the ride comfort.

Uniroyal Tiger Paws stay nice and soft in light snow conditions but keep some tire chains/tire socks along for the ride for intense snow conditions. And buy dedicated snow tires if you’re planning on doing some old-fashioned Rocky Mountain canyon driving in the winter.

Oh right, and did I mention that these come with a 75 thousand miles treadwear warranty? Yeah, I thought you might like that. Get ya some.

What To Look For When Buying The Best Tires For Subaru Crosstrek?

Here are a couple of quick tips to consider when buying tires for your Crosstrek:

On-road/Offroad Capability

Since most of you Subaru drivers buy them for their versatility, you’re going to want tires that match the capability of the car. That’s why I’ve recommended the right types of tires (i.e., anything from that on-road/offroad hybrid to all-season/touring tires).

If you want on-road performance for better fuel efficiency, try our grand touring choices like the General Altimax RT43 or Michelin Premier A/S (check Michelin’s their Ever tread compound), but if you still want aggressive offroad traction I’d go with Yokohama Geolandar or Falken Wildpeak. High-performance tires or any other summer tires, like Michelin Pilot Sport, I don’t recommend for the Subaru Crosstrek unless you drive only on smooth highways.

Runflat

The run-flat design might be something you want for your Subaru Crosstrek. For example, what if you get a flat tire on a soft dirt road where it’s hard to jack the car up to change out the spare? Runflats allow you to just drive back to the tire shop at a slower speed instead of dealing with the inconvenience of changing out the spare…

Aspect Ratio

Keep in mind that the middle number (225/65/R17) is the aspect ratio and ultimately describes tire height. After you plug your Crosstrek’s year and submodel into Tire Rack’s website, look closely at aspect ratio numbers to decide how beefy of a tire you want to match up with your Crosstrek.

How Much Do Tires For Subaru Crosstrek Cost?

Spend under a hundred dollars a tire for the cheapest new tire option when buying tires for the Subaru Crosstrek.

Any high-end option for your Crosstrek shouldn’t cost more than slightly above one hundred and fifty dollars. Don’t spend over two hundred USD for Subaru Crosstrek tire; totally not worth it. There are some solid options out there for way less than that.

Four New Tires

When buying online, the low-end price for four new Crosstrek tires runs about $350 per tire, plus whatever your mom-and-pop tire shop charges for complete tire mount and balance.

Our high-end choice, on the other hand, will run you around $700 for the set, plus what your local tire shop charges to install them.

Two New Tires

Two cheaper tires should cost you around $175 for a set of two, while the high-end Crosstrek tires cost around $320 for the pair.

Single Tire

The only single tire you should be buying for your Subaru Crosstrek should be the spare tire. Just FYI, AWD vehicles need to have identical tire wear on both sides of the axle, so replacing them in pairs is necessary for keeping the drivetrain in good shape. Remember, these Subarus are in four-wheel-drive all the time.

Am I seeing double? Yeah, it’s kind of a bummer buying a replacement tire from the dealership or most tires shops. They’re going to tell you that you need to buy two.

What Tire Size Is Best For A Subaru Crosstrek?

The Subaru Crosstrek has 17 and 18-inch wheel sizes. P225/60HR17 and P225/55HR18 are the typical stock tire sizes, but there are a few different submodels of the Crosstrek that will yield different sizes over the years, including:

Crosstrek Base
Crosstrek Sport
Crosstrek Premium
Crosstrek Limited

How Long Should Your Subaru Crosstrek Tires Last?

I say all-season tires will last anywhere from 30-80+ thousand miles depending on how well you maintain and treat them. Please remember, if you go rallying down those dirt roads at high speeds over potentially sharp rocks, your all-season tires sure aren’t going to last you that long. On the other hand, if you mostly drive on the highway, are cautious driving offroad, and properly inflate/rotate your all-season tires, they’re gonna last a long time.

You think that only hipster college chicks drive Subaru Crosstreks, but you’re wrong. Construction estimators/contractors, retired adventurers, daily commuters, car dwellers, and many different other types of people also drive the Subaru Crosstrek.

When To Replace Tires On Your Subaru Crosstrek?

It completely depends on how you drive them, which tires you use, and if they’re inflated to spec at all times.

Considering you’ve maintained and properly inflated them over the life of your tires, if your tires have worn down evenly, you’ll need to replace them every 50-80 thousand miles, depending on the warranty and your driving style.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does The Brand Matter For A Subaru Crosstrek When Replacing Tires?

For sure. I think the Japanese brands make the best tires for Subarus. For example, Travis Pastrana has been known to drive his Suby with Yokohamas mounted up, and Ken Block I believe uses mostly Toyo tires. Sumitomo (Falken Wildpeak) also makes bomb tires for the Crosstrek. Other tire brands/models you might want to check out are: Cooper CS5, Bridgestone Ecopia EP422 Plus, Michelin Defender, and more.

Does the Year of Your Subaru Crosstrek Matter When Buying New Tires?

Not really. Subaru Crosstrek is a relatively new and pretty consistent model. Always match the three number tire size (i.e., P225/60HR17 and P225/55HR18), and be aware of whether or not you have aftermarket tires on your Crosstrek as the tire size could change. FYI, Tire Rack’s website will give you a list of matching tire sizes once you plug in your Crosstrek’s model year and submodel. I also highly recommend filling your Subaru tires with nitrogen instead of regular old air from the air compressor. Nitrogen helps prevent flat spots and tire deflation.

What Are The Biggest Tires I Can Put On A Subaru Crosstrek?

Hilarious, right? Throw 22-inch rims on a Crosstrek. Anything is possible. But for the Crosstrek with stock suspension, just match the previous tire size or don’t go any higher than Tire Rack’s list of compatible tires. If you want to lift your Crosstrek and take it to the North Pole, you’re going to need to talk to your mechanic about what size wheels and tires you want, eh. Ya hoser. Just buy one of these five tire models, and you’ll be golden, regardless of a 3-inch lift. Over and out.