Hello and happy to say I pick up my new to me 3 year old Outback next week. Have done a fair bit of research since we decided to buy it. At the moment considering the benefits of putting all season tyres on it and advice on the best options would be great. We live in Scotland and had several 4X4 over the years but the outback will be our first car with 4 wheel drive. Thanks Dave

Welcome to the Club Dave!

Good to have you onboard Dave

Welcome to the mad house :)

Hi Dave,

I presume that you Outback has standard highway tyres.

While they are probably quite acceptable for bitumen roads and highway conditions, you may find that they are not ideal if you are considering anything more adventurous, off the bitumen.

I live in South Australia and have owned various Subaru 4WD / AWD since 1975 and have driven extensively on a range of terrains.

In the last 15 years or so I have owned a couple of Subaru Foresters which I have used for exploring pretty rough terrain.

I chose Yokohama Geolander All Terrain (A/T) tyres as a good compromise. They give good grip in the wet and have relatively low tyre noise on bitumen roads while being quite adequate for most rough tracks, sand and occasional snow.If you are contemplating driving in the snow, then you may still require fitting Snow Chains to the tyres.

You may find that the options for alternative tyres are pretty limited, but the Geolander All Terrain tyre was the best option for me.

It is also important to be aware of optimizing tyre pressures depending on the driving conditions.

While pressures of about 35psi are fine for highway conditions, once off the bitumen it is good practice to reduce pressures to about 25psi for rocky terrain. For sand driving you can safely reduce pressures to 15 or 12 psi. while also reducing speed accordingly. Similarly reducing tyre presses when driving in snow would increase traction.

Reducing tyre pressure gives a bigger tyre footprint and increases traction while also ensuring that the tyres conform to the rougher terrain and this will certainly reduce the likelihood of getting punctures from rocks.

But of course ensure you carry a reliable tyre pump for such conditions !

Richard.

Thanks for all the welcome messages and Richard some great information there and really useful for me as a newbie . We live in a rural location so AT tyres might be useful instead of the road ones we have on. Thanks Dave