Best Tires for Subaru Crosstrek

Two tires, one Crosstrek, and the honest truth about what actually works when the road gets ugly.

My buddy Marcus called me on a Tuesday night, genuinely stressed. He’d just bought a used Crosstrek and was staring at four tires that looked like they’d seen better days three winters ago. He wanted to know what to put on it before the season changed and the roads got sketchy. His exact words were: “I don’t want to spin out in a Trader Joe’s parking lot.”

I laughed, but honestly, I’ve been there. And I’ve also been the guy who bought the wrong tires because I assumed the Crosstrek’s all-wheel drive would just handle everything. It won’t. AWD helps you go. It does not help you stop. That’s on the tires.

So I walked him through what I know, and I figured I’d write it all down here because this question comes up constantly.

In This Review

• Falken Wildpeak AT3W all_ Terrain Radial Tire-245/70R17 114T — Buy Now on Amazon
• Continental VIKING CONTACT 7 Winter Studless Radial Tire — 225/60R17XL 103T — Buy Now on Amazon

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This article contains affiliate links — if you buy something through them I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Falken Wildpeak AT3W all_ Terrain Radial Tire-245/70R17 114T

This one I’d say go for it if you use your Crosstrek the way Subaru actually intended. Meaning: you’re not just commuting on clean pavement. You’re taking it to trailheads, dirt roads, maybe some light snow, maybe some genuinely muddy situations where you’re quietly hoping you don’t get stuck.

I ran a set of all-terrain tires for about a year and a half before I tried the Wildpeaks, and I genuinely thought I’d been doing fine. Then I borrowed a friend’s truck that had Wildpeaks on it and drove a fire road I knew well. The difference in confidence was embarrassing. I came home and immediately started researching whether I could justify the switch. I could.

The Falken Wildpeak AT3W is built with what’s called a “heat diffuser” technology in the sidewall, which basically means the tire manages heat better when you’re airing down for off-road use. In plain English: it’s designed to handle stress that most all-terrain tires aren’t. The tread pattern is aggressive enough to bite into loose dirt and mud, but not so aggressive that it turns your highway drive into a droning, noisy nightmare. That balance is genuinely hard to get right, and Falken nailed it here. According to the tire experts at Bestonetire, the AT3W also carries a severe snow rating, which means it meets real standards for winter traction, not just marketing language.

My friend Dani put these on her Crosstrek after I recommended them and texted me two weeks later saying she drove through a muddy campsite access road that had beaten her previous tires completely. She was surprised. I wasn’t.

But look, there are tradeoffs. These are heavier tires, and you’ll feel that slightly in fuel economy. Not dramatically, but it’s there. And if you genuinely never leave pavement, the aggressive tread is overkill. You’d be paying for capability you’re not using.

Pros:

• Excellent off-road grip in mud, gravel, and light snow
• Severe snow rating (actual winter credibility, not just marketing)
• Durable sidewalls that handle rough terrain
• Quieter on highway than you’d expect for an all-terrain tire

Cons:

• Slight fuel economy dip due to weight and tread
• Overkill if you’re purely a pavement driver
• The 245/70R17 sizing may require a trim check on some Crosstrek configurations

View on Amazon

Continental VIKING CONTACT 7 Winter Studless Radial Tire — 225/60R17XL 103T

Honestly, skip this one unless you’re dealing with a real winter. And by real winter I mean: ice, hard-packed snow, temperatures that drop below freezing regularly and stay there. If that’s your life, this tire is not a nice-to-have. It’s the answer.

Here’s where I have to admit I was wrong for a long time. I used to think that a good all-season tire was basically the same as a dedicated winter tire. That’s a belief a lot of people hold, and it makes sense on paper. One tire, all conditions, done. But rubber compounds don’t work that way. Winter tires use a softer compound that stays pliable in cold temperatures. All-season tires stiffen up in the cold, and when rubber stiffens, it loses grip. It’s physics, not opinion.

The Continental Viking Contact 7 is a studless winter tire, which means it doesn’t use metal studs to grip ice. Instead it uses a sophisticated tread pattern and a specialized rubber compound to stay soft and grippy when everything else is frozen. Studless is actually the preferred option in most places because studs damage road surfaces and are banned in several states. And honestly, modern studless technology has gotten so good that you’re not giving up much by skipping the studs.

I put a set of dedicated winter tires on my own car a few winters back after sliding through a stop sign on what looked like a wet road but was actually black ice. That experience rearranged my priorities fast. The Viking Contact 7 wasn’t what I ran, but when I tested a friend’s Crosstrek that had them mounted, I was genuinely impressed by how planted it felt on a slushy on-ramp that had me nervous.

The 225/60R17XL sizing fits the Crosstrek well, and the XL designation means it’s a reinforced load rating, which gives you a bit more structural integrity. For a car that might be carrying gear, passengers, and heavy winter layers in the trunk, that’s a quiet bonus.

The real limitation here is obvious: these are winter tires. You do not want to run them through spring and summer. The soft compound that makes them great in cold weather wears down quickly in warm conditions. So you’re committing to a seasonal swap, which means either storing a second set or paying a shop to swap them twice a year. That’s a real cost and a real logistical commitment.

But if you live somewhere that gets genuine winters and you care about safety, that commitment is worth it. Full stop.

Pros:

• Exceptional ice and snow grip without metal studs
• Soft compound stays effective in genuinely cold temperatures
• XL reinforced load rating adds structural durability
• Quieter and smoother than studded alternatives

Cons:

• Seasonal use only, summer driving will destroy them
• Requires a second set of tires for the rest of the year
• Not useful if your winters are mild or mostly wet

View on Amazon

The Cheat Sheet

Falken Wildpeak AT3W — Score: 9/10 — For the Crosstrek owner who actually uses their car off-road, goes camping, hits dirt roads, or wants one capable tire that handles winter reasonably well too.

Continental Viking Contact 7 — Score: 9/10 — For the Crosstrek owner who lives in a cold, icy region and wants the best possible grip when the roads are genuinely dangerous. Winter-specific, no compromises.

My Actual Advice

Here’s what I told Marcus, and what I’d tell you.

If you live somewhere with mild winters and you use your Crosstrek adventurously, get the Falken Wildpeak AT3W. It’s the tire that matches the Crosstrek’s actual personality. Capable, versatile, honest about what it is. You’ll feel confident on trails and you won’t be white-knuckling it in light snow.

If you live somewhere that gets real winter, where ice is a regular guest and temperatures stay below freezing for months, do the seasonal tire setup. Run something capable in spring and summer, and put the Continental Viking Contact 7 on when the cold hits. Yes, it’s more effort. But driving on the right tires in winter is one of those things where you don’t fully appreciate it until you need it, and by then it’s too late to make a different choice.

The Crosstrek is a genuinely capable car. But it’s only as capable as what’s touching the road. And what’s touching the road is always, always the tires.

Marcus ended up going with the Wildpeaks. He texted me a month later from a muddy trail access road with a photo of his Crosstrek looking exactly as dirty as it should. Sometimes the right advice just fits.

Tires are one of those purchases where the cheap decision costs you more in the long run. Not just in wear and replacement, but in the quiet confidence of knowing your car is going to do what you need it to do when the road gets unpredictable. That confidence is worth buying.