Tires

You're supposed to replace all 4. Subtle circumference differences apparently do bad things to the AWD system otherwise.

With Subarus, as with any AWD vehicle, you need to ensure that there is no more than 1/4" difference in circumference between any two of your tires. It sounds as if the other tires are worn, which means you sohuld either replace the damaged tire with an equally worn tire, or replace all four tires. If you don't, there will probably be no noticeable damage in the short run, but if you continue to drive the car on mismatched tires, eventually it wears out differentials and even the transmission, or so my Subaru specialist mechanic explained to me.

If you drive a Subaru like a Subaru (i.e. off-road), you'll want to invest money in a good set of tires anyway. That, and regular maintenance and safety checks, are what prevent you from being stranded a long way away from the road.

Some tire shops can "shave" a new tire down to match the circumference of the existing good tires.

I had this done (not on a Soob) years ago when there was one outsize tire out of 4 new Pirellis. That tire was almost a quarter inch larger. This was a temporary fix while they shipped out a replacement. (I had special-ordered the tires, none in stock). The handling was "fun" at

120+ mph with the larger single, didn't matter if it was on the front or the back.

FWIW, I lived in Montana "pre-55" then and had service calls over 250 miles one-way, boss was paying expenses.

Others have already told you how it should be.

I read somewhere that in extreme cases, people put 2 good tires in one side of the vehicle (left or right) and 2 tires (same tread left) on the other side. This prevents damage to the center differential put puts some additonal work on the front and rear diffs. Handling and pull could be affected.

Good luck

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