The Best Tires For Subaru Crosstrek? We Test New Cooper Discoverer EnduraMax

What are the best winter tires for a 2021 Subaru Crosstrek? When we were asked to test the new Cooper Discoverer EnduraMax tire, we jumped at the chance. We have a second-generation Subaru Crosstrek and live in Evergreen, Colorado, where the snow is measured in feet, not inches. The snow and dirt roads allowed us to test the Cooper tire in severe conditions.

Torque News and this journalist were given the tires as a promotion so we did not purchase the tires. Cooper says they created the Discoverer EnduraMax for gravel roads, rough city streets “with the durability of an off-road tire but for on-road driving.” We have the perfect environment to test the Cooper tires.

We live at 8300 feet elevation in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. This week we had the perfect opportunity to test out the new tires. We had 6-inches of fresh wet snow to drive the Crosstrek. We swapped out the all-season tires on the subcompact SUV from the factory that had around 10,000 miles on them. Last season we noticed the tires lost grip in the snow, which is not unusual for the standard rated tires.

The Discoverer EnduraMax is severe weather and M+S (mud and snow) rated. They aren’t as aggressive as a “snow tire,” but they have an excellent tread pattern for snow, mud, and gravel. We would consider them an all-weather tire.

We notice two things driving in the fresh snow. We had to hit the brakes to avoid a deer that jumped out in front of the car. The tires gripped the road, and we did not slide even with a hard stop.

We also have a few hairpin turns that get slick when going downhill. The tires never lost grip and went around corners with no slippage in the snow. In contrast, we have another car with all-season tires and, we did slide around a sharp corner and nearly missed a guard rail the same day.

On dry pavement, the tires mounted on the Subaru Crosstrek were smooth and offered a quiet ride at highway speeds, unlike snow tires. On dry gravel roads, the tires provided good grip. We would agree with the Cooper tire description of the new Discoverer EnduraMax tires. They are suitable for gravel, snow and would even be an option for some light-duty off-road trail driving.

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Denis Flierl has invested over 30 years in the automotive industry in a consulting role working with every major car brand. He is an accredited member of the Rocky Mountain Automotive Press. Check out Subaru Report where he covers all of the Japanese automaker's models. More stories can be found on the Torque News Subaru page. Follow Denis on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

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Photo credit: Torque News Denis Flierl