Subaru Outback tires

The Outback is the strictest car we fit on matching tires, and the one where replacing a single damaged tire is most often the wrong answer. Subaru lists eight attributes that must be the same across all four wheels, two of which are circumference and degree of wear. Its front and rear pressures differ, and its tire label is on the door pillar rather than the door jamb.

The sizes Subaru fitted

From the owner's manual specifications table, across the sixth generation from 2020:

• 225/65R17 102H on Base, Premium and the 17 inch Onyx Edition, on a 17x7J wheel
• 225/60R18 100H on Limited, Touring and the XT trims, on an 18x7J wheel
• 225/65R17 102T on the Wilderness, from 2022. Same section size as the base 17 inch fitment, different tire: an all-terrain, T-rated Yokohama Geolandar

That last one is the trap. The Wilderness tire reads the same on the sidewall until the speed symbol, and the speed symbol is on Subaru's must-match list. A 102H highway tire is not a substitute for a 102T all-terrain one here, even though the size looks identical.

The 2019 car is the previous generation and we could not open a 2019 manual, so treat its sizes as unconfirmed and read them off the car. See finding your tire size.

Where the Outback puts its label

On the driver's side door pillar. Subaru uses that wording repeatedly: in the all-wheel-drive warning, in its driving tips and in the footnote to the specifications table. The pillar is the upright post between the front and rear doors, seen by opening the driver's door and looking at the body rather than the door edge.

That puts Subaru with the GM trucks, Ram, Nissan and Tesla rather than with Toyota and Honda, so the generic advice to check the door jamb does not work here.

The pressures

Subaru prints them, and this is where it gets interesting. The 2022 manual gives one Outback entry, 33 psi front and 32 psi rear. The 2024 and 2025 manuals keep that entry and add a second at 36 front and 35 rear, and both cells carry a footnote telling the reader to see the label on the driver's side door pillar.

The column alignment suggests the higher pair belongs to the 18 inch fitment, but the table is ambiguous enough that we will not assert it. So 33 front and 32 rear is the figure Subaru prints for the Outback, it is not the only one, and on a 2024 or 2025 car, or any 18 inch car, the label is the authority. The Wilderness is different again at 35 front and 33 rear in all three manuals.

Front and rear differ on every one of those, so setting all four to a single number is wrong here. Cold means parked at least three hours or driven under a mile. See our tire pressure placard guide.

Replacing fewer than four

This is the real constraint on an Outback, and Subaru is unusually direct. Its all-wheel-drive warning lists eight items that must match across all four tires: size, speed symbol, load index, circumference, construction, manufacturer, brand or tread pattern, and degrees of wear. If they are not all the same, Subaru says serious mechanical damage could be caused to the drivetrain.

Circumference and degrees of wear are what make this different from every other car here. A new tire alongside three half-worn ones fails on both, whatever the sidewall says.

Subaru publishes no number for how much difference is acceptable. The figure everyone repeats, a circumference difference of no more than 6 mm or a quarter inch, is Tire Rack's, from its per-manufacturer table, not Subaru's. That matters: it is a well-informed retailer's working limit, not a manufacturer specification.

In practice, one damaged tire on an Outback is a four-tire conversation or a shave-to-match job. We measure the other three before you commit. See how many tires and mixing tire brands.

What changes on a mobile Outback fitting

• Wheel nut torque is 89 lbf-ft, printed as 88.5 in the 2022 manual.
• Direct TPMS, one sensor per wheel. The sensors must be transferred, and if they are not, the light blinks for about a minute and then latches on, needing a dealer-level reset or registration. We bring a Subaru-capable tool.
• Do not use liquid sealant in a Subaru TPMS wheel. The manual says the valve and transmitter may then need replacing.
• The system only monitors above 20 mph, so the light will not clear until the car has been driven after a roadside fit.
• The spare varies: a temporary spare at 60 psi on some cars, a full-size conventional spare matching the road tire on others. Subaru warns against a non-original temporary spare because of the drivetrain risk.
• Wilderness all-terrain fitments are not a standard van stock item, so tell us the trim when you book.

What we do

We supply the tires and fit them where the car is parked, set to the front and rear figures on your own door pillar label. We check the other tires before fitting fewer than four, because here that is a real question rather than an upsell. TPMS is reset where the car supports it and the old tires go with us. If you run a winter set, our tire storage service keeps the off-season four together, which keeps them matched.

Questions people ask

• What PSI for a Subaru Outback? Subaru prints 33 front and 32 rear, and also prints a higher pair in the newer manuals. Read the door pillar label, and do not set all four the same.
• Where is the label? Driver's side door pillar, the post between the doors. Not the door edge.
• Do I really need four tires? Often, yes. Subaru requires circumference and degree of wear to match across all four, and one new tire against three worn ones fails both.
• Is there a quarter-inch rule? Not from Subaru. That number is Tire Rack's. Subaru's own wording has no figure in it.
• What is shaving? Machining a new tire down to match the worn ones. It is a legitimate option here when only one tire is damaged.
• Can I put a normal tire on a Wilderness? Not safely. The speed symbol and the tread pattern are both on Subaru's must-match list.