Effect of reducing wheels to 16 inch

[Jim]

I am about to buy an Outback wagon. They all come with 17 inch alloys
and55 series tires. I suspect I would get a smoother/quieter ride over
bumps if I change the tires and wheels to 65 or 70 series and 16 or 15
inch diameter. Has anyone else done this? (In case it matters, I am not
getting the turbo engine.)

Jim

 

[John Rethorst]

I am about to buy an Outback wagon. They all come with 17 inch alloys
and55 series tires. I suspect I would get a smoother/quieter ride over
bumps if I change the tires and wheels to 65 or 70 series and 16 or 15
inch diameter. Has anyone else done this? (In case it matters, I am not
getting the turbo engine.)

I don't know why the ride would be smoother, but the car would have better
acceleration but cruise at a higher RPM. The speedometer would not be accurate.

 

[dnoyeB]

I don't know why the ride would be smoother, but the car would have better
acceleration but cruise at a higher RPM. The speedometer would not be accurate.

speedo would be off yes, but I dont think the cruising RPM would change
with an automatic transmission.

--
Thank you,



"Then said I, Wisdom [is] better than strength: nevertheless the poor
man's wisdom [is] despised, and his words are not heard." Ecclesiastes 9:16

 

[Jim]

speedo would be off yes, but I dont think the cruising RPM would
change with an automatic transmission.

From Jim the OP: I would try to get new tires that had the same OD as
the old ones...

I would still be interested to hear from anyone who has done something
similar.

Jim

 

[Wilco van Diest]

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html is a great site to check the
effect of the speedometer when changing your tires.

Wilco

 

[Jim]

I previously wrote that I will be getting tires with the same OD as the
originals, so the speedo will be OK. I am more concerned about clearing
the brake calipers and other suspension stuff that has to fit in the
area inside the wheel. - expecially when turning the front wheels.

Jim

 

[dnoyeB]

I don't know why the ride would be smoother, but the car would have better
acceleration but cruise at a higher RPM. The speedometer would not be accurate.

Now that I consider it, I believe you are correct on both counts. Its
the MPG (KM/L) that wouldn't change.

I would expect smaller tires to hold less air and produce more rigid ride!?

--
Thank you,



"Then said I, Wisdom [is] better than strength: nevertheless the poor
man's wisdom [is] despised, and his words are not heard." Ecclesiastes 9:16

 

[Larry Van Wormer]

Now that I consider it, I believe you are correct on both counts. Its
the MPG (KM/L) that wouldn't change.

I would expect smaller tires to hold less air and produce more rigid ride!?

Thing is, the tires themselves will actually be larger. (Same OD,
smaller ID, same width.) Typically, a smoother ride will result, at the
cost of less precise steering.

Can't help as to caliper clearance, maybe the dealer?

Larry Van Wormer

 

[Mark T.B. Carroll]

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html is a great site to check the
effect of the speedometer when changing your tires.

Also, frankly, the speedometer probably wasn't very accurate in the
first place if it's anything like my Impreza! When I get a new car I
usually find myself having to test it at various speeds with a GPS unit,
then remembering roughly what the correction is.

-- Mark

 

[dnoyeB]

Thing is, the tires themselves will actually be larger. (Same OD,
smaller ID, same width.) Typically, a smoother ride will result, at the
cost of less precise steering.

Can't help as to caliper clearance, maybe the dealer?

Larry Van Wormer

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if it has the same outer diameter then I cant imagine they will perform
any differently in this car.

--
Thank you,



"Then said I, Wisdom [is] better than strength: nevertheless the poor
man's wisdom [is] despised, and his words are not heard." Ecclesiastes 9:16

 

[Mickey]

I previously wrote that I will be getting tires with the same OD as the
originals, so the speedo will be OK. I am more concerned about clearing
the brake calipers and other suspension stuff that has to fit in the
area inside the wheel. - expecially when turning the front wheels.

Jim

Jim, you certainly seem more knowledgeble than some of the other
posters which is a good thing. Don't know why anyone was assuming you
were going to smaller OD tires but you know what they say about people
that ass-u-me.

Don't know about today's offerings but I seem to remember a couple yrs
ago non-outback models came with rims that were smaller that the
outback. My 00 OBW has 16" rims and I seem to remember my bil 98
model had 15" rims. Don't know what changes have been made to the
suspension and/or brakes but unless something has changed, dropping
down an inch in rim size shouldn't create a problem. Might want to do
some checking then look for a set of used factory rims.

I'm with you on the larger aspect ratio tires offering a softer ride.

Mickey

 

[Jim Stewart]

I am about to buy an Outback wagon. They all come with 17 inch alloys
and55 series tires. I suspect I would get a smoother/quieter ride over
bumps if I change the tires and wheels to 65 or 70 series and 16 or 15
inch diameter. Has anyone else done this? (In case it matters, I am not
getting the turbo engine.)

I suggest you keep the factory tires for at least
15k miles and see what you think then. Subaru's
are pretty stiff from the factory and then they
get better with age.

 

[Rick Courtright]

I am about to buy an Outback wagon. They all come with 17 inch alloys
and55 series tires. I suspect I would get a smoother/quieter ride > over bumps if I change the tires and wheels to 65 or 70 series and 16 > or 15 inch diameter.

Hi, Jim

What you're suggesting is the reverse of "plus-sizing." If you check
someone like tirerack.com, they'll have a discussion of the idea, and
should have info on the actual sizes that work to keep the same
effective OD (you'd probably want to ask your Subie dealer about any
clearance issues w/ brakes and such, though.)

As a rule of thumb, you can figure going UP one cross section size for
each step DOWN in aspect ratio. In other words, a 205/65-15 would "plus
one" size to a 215/60-16 and "plus two" to a 225/55-17. This isn't
perfect, but gives an idea of what's out there.

Since OBWs have had 15, 16 and 17 inch wheels thru the years, I'd guess
you can probably find a suitable combo (if the brake/offset issues
aren't a problem--a lot of local tire shops sell tons of wheels, and
some of the guys have told me sometimes the easiest thing is to just
carefully "test mount" a wheel and take a close look.) I'm with you and
other posters: your ride should be somewhat better cushioned with
"taller" tires (higher aspect ratio), and if some of my friends are to
be believed, you might also suffer fewer tire problems if you ever get
off the smoothest pavement (as in, "Yeah, those wheels and tires LOOK
cool, but every time I run over a matchstick I damage a tire or wheel!")
Personally, I'm wondering what marketing genius at Subaru decided to try
to sell a "go everywhere" concept with 55 series tires... but then they
sell a lot of Escalades w/ 22s around here. Go figure. Subies as bling
crowd cars? I don' theen' so, Queeksdraw!

Rick

 

[Jonah]

I've heard of Plus 1 tire sizing where you increase the wheel size and decrease the tire size to keep the same effective
circumference. I suppose you could do the same in reverse (Minus 1) to keep the speedo and RPMs the same. Tirerack.com
has calculators for this; you just might have to back into the right size.

 

[Ragnar]

I am about to buy an Outback wagon. They all come with 17 inch alloys
and55 series tires. I suspect I would get a smoother/quieter ride over
bumps if I change the tires and wheels to 65 or 70 series and 16 or 15
inch diameter. Has anyone else done this? (In case it matters, I am not
getting the turbo engine.)

Jim

Would 16 inch rims fit the brake rotors/calipers?

 

[Carl 1 Lucky Texan]

Would 16 inch rims fit the brake rotors/calipers?

If you dig around at www.cars101.com you may be able to determine if
there have been any brake component changes since the last model that
came with factory 16s. If not, then find someone who would like your 17s
and arrange a trade. You might even make a coupla bucks as some folks
prefer the looks of 17s more or may be planning a brake upgrade and need
the clearance. This group would be a place to post and www,nasioc.com
and www.usmb.net have forums devoted to buying/selling/trading. Also,
quite likely someone on those forums has done what you're trying to do -
or at least you could have Luke at Tirerack investigate it. He's on the
wheel/tire board at nasioc.

Carl
1 Lucky Texan

 

[Tony Burns (permanent dismisser of Andy, AJS and ]]

Why don't you forget about buying that model and buy something that
suits your requirements.

 

[Bonehenge]

Why don't you forget about buying that model and buy something that
suits your requirements.

Maybe he likes the rest of the options and the styling of the car? IN
reality "Outback" is actually a trim level, not a car in itself.

16" wheels should fit an Outback, but the tire needs to be the same
"rollout" (overall final diameter) as the original to preserve
speedometer calibration and gear ratios.

I looked into the same idea for my 2001, as I wanted a tire that I
could air down for better sand traction. Also, people frequently
purchase full sets of mounted snow tires on steel rims for these cars.
Most of the time they go with a smaller rim and higher profiled tire
for better snow traction. The stock tires don't have optimal sidwall
height for snow / off-pavement traction, regardless of how the car is
advertised.

That said, remember that some of the handing differences may come from
ride height and possible spring and shock differences from the
standard Legacy.

Check with tirerack.com or a real tire shop (not necessarily the
Wal-Mart tire dept. <G>) for actual tire / wheel combinations.

 

[Edward Hayes]

Why don't you take the cars for a ride-one with 17 " and one with 16".
I'm reasonably sure that the shocks are matched to each tires aspect
ratio to give a decient ride.

 

[vic]

yes you can go down to 16 (not 15)
"Tony Burns (permanent dismisser of Andy, AJS and ]v[etaphoid" <"The Young
Ones"@wrbike.com> wrote in message news:(e-mail address removed)...