Best tires for the Subaru Forester
Top picks across four categories for the Subaru Forester, anchored to the current-generation OEM size 225/55R18. Every recommendation is selected from our 22,000-tire catalog by ranking on UTQG treadwear, mileage warranty, cabin-noise rating, and season class; no commission-weighted reordering.
Daily driver
Best all-season touring
Long warranty, low noise, balanced ride. The one-tire compromise that works for 80% of owners.
Goodyear
Assurance MaxLife
UTQG 820 with a 85,000-mile warranty; long-wear all-season compound built for the daily-driver mileage profile typical for Subaru Forester owners.
Michelin
CrossClimate 2
UTQG 640 with a 60,000-mile warranty; long-wear all-season compound built for the daily-driver mileage profile typical for Subaru Forester owners.
Michelin
Defender 2
UTQG 800 with a 80,000-mile warranty; long-wear all-season compound built for the daily-driver mileage profile typical for Subaru Forester owners.
Hankook
Kinergy PT
UTQG 800 with a 90,000-mile warranty; long-wear all-season compound built for the daily-driver mileage profile typical for Subaru Forester owners.
Lowest cost per mile
Best budget
Best price-per-warranty-mile in this size. Trade-off is shorter warranty vs premium options, not safety.
Goodyear
Assurance MaxLife
820 UTQG with a 85,000-mile warranty works out to roughly 0.00¢ per 100 miles before install. Best price-per-mile in this size; no premium-brand markup.
Hankook
Kinergy PT
800 UTQG with a 90,000-mile warranty works out to roughly 0.00¢ per 100 miles before install. Best price-per-mile in this size; no premium-brand markup.
Michelin
Defender 2
800 UTQG with a 80,000-mile warranty works out to roughly 0.00¢ per 100 miles before install. Best price-per-mile in this size; no premium-brand markup.
Yokohama
AVID ascend LX
Lowest sticker price in this size that still meets the OEM load index. Trade-off is shorter warranty vs premium options.
Lowest cabin noise
Best quiet
Tread patterns engineered to break up the harmonic peaks that cause highway droning. Pick this if you commute long highway distances daily.
Michelin
Defender 2
68 dB cabin-noise rating per the EU tire label; library-quiet. Tread pattern engineered to break up the harmonic peaks that cause highway droning.
Goodyear
Assurance MaxLife
70 dB cabin-noise rating per the EU tire label; library-quiet. Tread pattern engineered to break up the harmonic peaks that cause highway droning.
Hankook
Kinergy PT
70 dB cabin-noise rating per the EU tire label; library-quiet. Tread pattern engineered to break up the harmonic peaks that cause highway droning.
Michelin
CrossClimate 2
70 dB cabin-noise rating per the EU tire label; library-quiet. Tread pattern engineered to break up the harmonic peaks that cause highway droning.
Cold-weather grip
Best winter
Dedicated winter or all-weather compounds that stay pliable below 7 °C. Necessary for >5 snow days a year.
Bridgestone
Blizzak WS90
Dedicated winter tire compound; stays pliable below 7 °C where summer/all-season rubber hardens. Recommended for Subaru Forester drivers in cold or snowy regions.
Michelin
X-Ice snow
Dedicated winter tire compound; stays pliable below 7 °C where summer/all-season rubber hardens. Recommended for Subaru Forester drivers in cold or snowy regions.
Side-by-side
Pick the trade-off that matches your driving
| All-season Goodyear Assurance MaxLife | Best quiet Michelin Defender 2 | Best winter Bridgestone Blizzak WS90 |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| UTQG treadwear | 820 | 800 | - |
| Mileage warranty | 85,000 mi | 80,000 mi | - |
| Cabin noise | 70 dB | 68 dB | 71 dB |
| Season class | all-season | all-season | winter |
| Type | touring | touring | passenger |
OEM tire sizes by year
What size does the subaru forester use?
Recommendations on this page are anchored to the latest model-year's OEM size. Confirm yours against the driver-door placard before purchase.
| Year | OEM size | |
|---|---|---|
| 1997–2006 | 215/60R16 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 2007–2008 | 215/55R17 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 2009–2013 | 225/55R17 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 2014 | 225/60R17 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 2015–2021 | 225/55R18 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 2022–2024 | 225/60R17 | Year-specific fitment → |
| 2025–2026 | 235/60R17 | Year-specific fitment → |
How we ranked these tires for the subaru forester
We started with the latest model-year's OEM tire size; 225/55R18; and filtered our catalog of 22,000+ tires to those offered in that exact size. From there, four parallel rankings:
- Best all-season ranks on a weighted score: tire type matches SUV segment, season is "all-season", premium brand bonus (Michelin / Continental / Bridgestone / Pirelli / Goodyear / Nokian).
- Best budget ranks on cost-per-warranty-mile; the lower the better. Premium brands get no bonus here.
- Best quiet ranks on the EU tire-label dB rating; lower is quieter.
- Best winter filters to tires marked 3PMSF severe-snow rated or all-weather class, with a small premium-brand bonus because winter-compound R&D is capital-intensive.
SUV-specific tire models (CrossClimate, CrossContact, Defender LTX) have reinforced sidewalls designed for the chassis mass and often a wider tread for better wet traction at higher curb weight. Use the side-by-side comparison above to weigh the trade-offs against your specific driving; highway-heavy, winter-state, performance-oriented, or budget-constrained.
NHTSA-reported issues for subaru forester
Top issue category: Tires (General)
Most reported: Tires (General) (55) · Sidewall (13) · TPMS (2) · Bead (1) · Tread / Belt (1)
Reported across: 1998 – 2024 (21 years)
What owners described
Sidewall failure appears in 27% of these reports; about 1.8× as often as across all tire complaints. Percentages are shares of the 56 reports covering every model year of the Subaru Forester that include a written account; a single report can describe more than one problem, so they do not total 100%.
| Reported problem | This subject | All tire complaints | Relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sidewall failure | 27% | 15% | 1.8× |
| Blowout or sudden deflation | 14% | 20% | 0.7× |
| Bubble or bulge in the tire | 11% | 6% | 1.8× |
| Loss of control, rollover or collision | 9% | 8% | 1.1× |
| Tread or belt separation | 4% | 13% | 0.3× |
| Pressure-monitoring (TPMS) fault | 4% | 2% | 1.5× |
Mileage at failure
35 of these reports state an odometer reading. The middle report is at 20,400 miles, with 8 in 10 falling between 5,000 and 39,800 miles.
In owners' own words
Verbatim excerpts from complaints filed with NHTSA about Subaru Forester. Reports are published by NHTSA as filed and are lightly cleaned here only to remove intake codes.
THE CONTACT OWNS A 2003 SUBARU FORESTER EQUIPPED WITH FIRESTONE TIRE FR380, SIZE P215-60-R16. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE TIRES BECAME PREMATURELY WORN, OUT-OF-ROUND AND EXHIBITED TREAD AND BELT SEPARATION. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE TIRES WERE REPLACED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE OF THE TIRES WAS 53,000 AND THE VEHICLE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 160,000.
TIRE PRESSURE MONITOR INDICATED LOW PRESSURE. RIGHT REAR TIRE NEEDED AIR. TIRE CONTINUED TO SLOWLY LEAK AND THE PRESSURE MONITOR TRIPPED AGAIN DAYS LATER. MENTIONED PROBLEM TO DEALERSHIP DURING SERVICE. DEALERSHIP FOUND NO PROBLEM WITH THE TIRE AND PROPERLY INFLATED ALL WHEELS. A FEW DAYS LATER THE TIRE PRESSURE WAS LOW (TIRE PRESSURE MONITOR TRIPPED AGAIN). BRINGING VEHICLE BACK TO THE DEALER FOR POSSIBLE REPLACEMENT OF TIRE. PROBABLY A PROBLEM ISOLATED TO MY SPECIFIC CAR, BUT LOGGING THE INCIDENT IN CASE THERE ARE MORE TIRES OUT THERE WITH SIMILAR PROBLEMS.
TWO FLAT TIRES ON BRAND NEW COOPER EVOLUTION TOUR 215-60R16 (@100 MILES), BOTH ON THE FRONT. ONE FLAT NOTICED AFTER THE VEHICLE HAD BEEN DRIVEN BUT SAT FOR A FEW HOURS (NO VISIBLE DEFLATION UPON EXITING); THIS TIRE HAD NO VISIBLE PUNCTURES, THOUGH THERE APPEARED TO BE A BIT OF TEAR BETWEEN THE TREADS (SEE PHOTO). AFTER DRIVING HOME ON A SPARE, ALL REMAINING TIRES SEEMED OK. THE NEXT MORNING THE OTHER FRONT TIRE WAS VISIBLY DEFLATED AND HAD A SIZABLE BULGE.
DRIVING ON ACCESS ROAD AT ABOUT 25 MPH. LOUD NOISE FOLLOWED BY FLOPPING NOISE. PULLED OFF THE ROAD WITHIN ABOUT 200 YARDS. DRIVERS SIDE REAR TIRE WAS COMPLETELY FLAT. PUT ON SPARE TIRE. CURSORY EXAMINATION SHOWED LARGE TEAR THROUGH THE SIDEWALL ON THE INTERIOR SIDE. PHOTOS ARE AVAILABLE. TIRES HAVE 15,320 MILES ON THEM.
Complaints are voluntarily submitted to the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation and are not verified by NHTSA; they represent owner-reported problems, not proven defects. Counts can be useful as a relative quality signal across comparable tires or vehicles.
Tire recalls & safety complaints for the Subaru Forester →
FAQ
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Last verified 2026-10-07.