Since we bought this 2012 Subaru Outback used, I wanted to go just a little taller with the tires, something that would give us confidence when off the paved surface. It took me several years but this 3rd set of tires (for us) are the best tires we've had, and the ones Subaru should have put on it stock in my humble opinion.

0:00 Outback purchased used with 225-60-17 Yokohama
0:24 Replaced with 225-60-17 Continental TerrainContact A/T's
0:41 225-65-17 TOYO Open Country AT3's fitted!
0:59 Fixing a slight rub on front fenders
2:45 Outback on the trail in Anza-Borrego

Timeline:
Purchased the 2012 Subaru Outback used in 2017 - It's a 3.6R, but for the purposes of this video that doesn’t matter. The assumption is that the tires that fit on my Outback should also fit on yours (if you have a 2010-2014 model) - but please do your own research.

When purchased used it had stock size 225-60-17 Yokohama AVID Touring-S tires. These are reasonably good all-season road tires that are still made today, but have no business off road. In the back of my mind I knew I’d want to replace these at some point with something that had better off the pavement traction, but nothing crazy that was super heavy or was too noisy and destroyed the 3.6’s already marginal mileage.

A flat tire 6 months after we bought the car was the opening to try new tires, and I went with Continental TerrainContact AT’s in the same stock size (hmmm). These for all purposes were good in all conditions and significantly better on the trails we tested - keep in mind we’re not rock crawling.

But further in the back of my mind I wished I had pushed to see if we could fit a taller tire. When the old Continentals were well worn I took the opportunity and ordered a set of 225/65/17 TOYO Open County AT3’s. Same width as stock, but slightly taller sidewall, that is nearly an inch (.9") taller overall boosting ground clearance by .45" (nearly half an inch)

Sure not a huge gain in ground clearance, but this would put the Outback at just under 9” of ground clearance.

Order TOYO tires on Amazon: https://amzn.to/41vT3Ld

So how have these tires worked out?
Great overall. To make them work without and rubbing, on the fronts I removed the tiny hard plastic "Mud flaps” on the front fenders. These could be trimmed a tiny bit and reinstalled, but I’ve just removed them completely for now.

Hope this helps you if you were considering taller tires for your 2010-2014 Outback, please like/subscribe and share comments if you’ve made similar changes to your Outback and feel free to ask questions, I’ll do my best to respond.

Now I kinda want to lift it 2” and see if I can go further… stay tuned