What Are The Best Tires For A Subaru Forester?

Replacing the tires on any vehicle can be a real chore. No matter what you drive, there are scores of brands out there, each with their own multiple sizes and styles. Getting new tires isn't necessarily an inexpensive endeavor, either. So when you are heading to the dealership or the tire shop, you'll want to have a good idea about what kind of tire you need before you walk in the front door. If you're driving a Subaru Forester, we've researched the tire options from numerous automotive sources to provide you with answers to some questions you may have about outfitting tires.

A Subaru Forester photographed on a long stretch of highway, What Are The Best Tires For A Subaru Forester?

The best tires for a Subaru Forester will depend on how you are comparing tires. We've listed here the best by price tier for each available trim.

Subaru Forester Base Trim:

  • budget: Laufenn G Fit AS
  • moderately priced: Goodyear Assurance Maxlife
  • premium: Michelin Primacy A/S

Subaru Forester Limited Trim:

  • budget: Laufenn S Fit AS
  • moderately priced: Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season Plus II
  • premium: Goodyear Eagle LS-2

Subaru Forester Premium Trim:

  • budget: Laufenn G Fit AS
  • moderately priced: Goodyear Assurance Maxlife
  • premium: Michelin Primacy A/S

Subaru Forester Sport Trim:

  • budget: Laufenn S Fit AS
  • moderately priced: Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season Plus II
  • premium: Goodyear Eagle LS-2

Subaru Forester Touring Trim:

  • budget: Laufenn S Fit AS
  • moderately priced: Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season Plus II
  • premium: Goodyear Eagle LS-2

Now that we know the various recommended brands of tires for the Subaru Forester, we'll discuss each in greater detail. What brand of tire does Subaru use? Do I have to replace all four tires at once? How long should my Subaru Forester tires last? For answers to these questions and more, continue reading.

Tires that can be used on a Subaru Forester

The most highly recommended tires for your Forester will depend on the trim level and your budget. We've broken down the tires here, by brand, and go into greater detail on their unique specs.

Laufenn G Fit AS

This budget tire will get you a lot of mileage for your money and pairs well with your Subaru Forester Base and Premium trim levels. This all-season tire has great traction and has a factory warranty of 45,000 miles or five years.

To see the Laufenn G Fit AS tire on Amazon, click here.

Laufenn S Fit AS

Laufenn's S series tire is meant for Subaru Forester Limited, Sport, and Touring trim levels. Similar to the G model, this tire is geared for sedans and sport utility driving. The warranty on the Laufenn S Fit AS is also 45,000 miles or five years.

To see the Laufenn S Fit AS tire on Amazon, click here.

Goodyear Assurance Maxlife

This Goodyear brand tire is manufactured with heavier tread and lasts longer than any other Goodyear model tire. It's a great all-season tire, gives a smooth ride, and isn't as hard on the pocketbook as a premium model. Goodyear estimates 85,000 miles of life for this particular tire. The Assurance Maxlife is best for the Subaru Forester Base and Premium trim levels.

To see the Goodyear Assurance Maxlife tire on Amazon, click here.

Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season Plus II

Our research shows that a Subaru Forester Limited, Sport, or Touring trim levels fairs better with the Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Season Plus II. These are great for wet pavement and have better traction on snow and ice than other models of all-season tires. The manufacturer posts a warranty of 70,000 miles for this tire.

To see the Pirelli Cinturato P7 All Seasons Plus II on Amazon, click here.

Michelin Primacy A/S

Michelin's premium tire is suited for all seasons; it gives the driver a much smoother ride on the road. Backed by a 55,000 mile warranty over six years, the Primacy all-season tire drives even better than the Pirelli over snow and ice and has highly rated traction. This model is fit for the Subaru Forester Base and Premium trim levels.

To see the Michelin Primacy A/S on Amazon, click here.

Goodyear Eagle LS-2

When purchasing a new set of tires for your Subaru Forester Limited, Sport or Touring trim levels, consider the Goodyear Eagle LS-2. This all-season tire provides some of the best ratings by consumers, noting its excellent traction and minimal road noise. Goodyear claims these tires will last 60,000 miles.

To see the Goodyear Eagle LS-2 on Amazon, click here.

What brand of tires does Subaru use?

In recent years, Subaru uses Falken brand tires for most of their makes and trim levels.

What size tires for Subaru Forester?

The wide variety of tires for the 2020 Subaru Forester are sometimes specific to which trim you're trying to fit the tires. For this post, we've included the size tires for all 2020 and 2019 trim options here:

2020 Base 225/60R17
2020 Limited 225/55R18
2020 Premium 225/60R17
2020 Sport 225/55R18
2020 Touring 225/55R18
2019 Base 225/60R17
2019 Limited 225/55R18
2019 Premium 225/60R17
2019 Sport 225/55R18
2019 Touring 225/55R18

Do I have to replace all four tires on my Forester?

The Subaru Forester is an all-wheel-drive vehicle. This makes it extremely important that when you replace tires that you replace all four at once. Should you drive an all-wheel-drive vehicle with mismatched tires, you are greatly increasing the chances of expensive mechanical issues. Your Forester's computer sends signals to each tire, so the proper amount of torque is exerted from each. Should the tires not be evenly worn, your Forester will be sending an incorrect message to each tire. Over time, this can destroy the drive train.

How long do tires last on Subaru Forester?

As with any moving parts of a vehicle, none will last forever. The life of any moving part can be greatly impacted by both the conditions that it is exposed to, as well as the way the user treated it.

Tires are no different. If your vehicle is in a climate that undergoes a lot of sudden temperature changes, it can decrease your tires' life. The amount of stop and go driving you do will also affect how long your Subaru Forester tires will make it. The greater the ratio of highway miles to city miles, the more miles you'll get out of your tires.

The brand and type of tire will also determine how many miles you should get out of your Forester's tires. The average amongst the various tire manufacturers seems to be around 60k miles, with several branding themselves as being able to last up to 85k. Of course, it doesn't matter how long the manufacturer says the tires will last if you don't follow some basic tire maintenance guidelines. We've listed the agreed-upon ways you can make your tires last longer here.

There are five things every vehicle owner should do to increase their tires' mileage, as well as providing for better fuel economy:

Keep your tires inflated

Not having your tires properly inflated will greatly damage them. A vehicle is meant to ride on a certain cushion of air, and decreasing this cushion will place too much pressure on the tires. This pressure increases the likelihood of blowouts. It also causes uneven wear and will significantly reduce your fuel economy. To make sure that your tires are always inflated to the factory recommended PSI, consider getting into the habit of checking the tire pressure of each tire every time you fuel your Subaru Forester.

A mechanic checking the air pressure of a Subaru Forester

Have your vehicle aligned

If your Forester is even slightly out of alignment, it will begin to pull to one side or another. A vehicle that isn't properly aligned will experience uneven tread wear, eventually leading to the pulled side of the tires being bald. Have your Forester's alignment checked annually. And if you notice it pulling to one side while driving on the highway, have the alignment checked as soon as possible.

Regularly rotate

A vehicle's tires has different amounts of force and pressures placed upon them, which will differ based upon what position the tires are in. To avoid uneven wear, it's a good idea to have your tires rotated regularly. Depending on the tire, you can expect to have them rotated once every five thousand miles.

Balance

Tires that are out of balance will sound like an annoying humming sound when it hits higher speeds. This humming is the sound of your treads being unevenly exposed to the pavement. Have you Forester's tires balanced every other time you have them rotated.

A mechanic replacing the wheel so of a Subaru Forester

Consider rolling resistance tires

Certain brands of tires offer rolling resistance. Brands that boast of this feature have tires that reduce energy loss from the tires' motion. This accounts for less wear, longer tire life, and a fuel economy improvement of five to fifteen percent.

Should I put snow tires on my Subaru?

Your Subaru will come equipped with all-weather tires, which are suitable for driving in climates of every variety. However, if you live in an area that is prone to getting a lot of snow, you might consider having snow tires installed on your Forester. This type of tire grips the snowy or icy ground better, making steering easier. Proper snow tires are also less likely to spin upon acceleration.

A man driving his Subaru Forester on a snowy terrain

In conclusion

In this post, we covered the various sizes of tires used on Subaru Foresters. Hopefully, you can now see the correlation between tire wear and decreased fuel economy and understand the different things you can do to increase the mileage you can put on your tires. This post also discussed how critical it is to replace your tires all at once, so that you save long term damage to your Forester's drive train.

If you found this post to be helpful, and you'd like to learn more about different Subaru models, you might find the following to be informative:

Where Are Subaru Cars Made?

Here’s Why Driving with Bald Tires Can Kill You

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