new tires! reccomendations??

[scottzg]

Well, my RE-92s are kaput, i ran over a chunk of metal goin 85 on the freeway and popped one. Gonna use this as an excuse to get all 4, so i figured i'd poll my favorite bbs and see what they thought. And nasioc said... no just kidding.

If you were in the market for some new tires for your wrx rims, and looking for an all season performance tire, what would you buy? I think 205x55r16 is gonna be the closest thing with a good range of options/price. Fire away.

[eastbaysubaru]

You should really look at 205 50 16. IIRC, it's the closest in diameter to the stock 195 60 15's that came on the turbo's. What was the original size of your tires?

-Brian

[scottzg]

i know... but there are many many more choices in the x55, and they're a lot cheaper. It's a commuter anyway, why stick on some rubber bands?

[entirelyturbo]

Because your ride won't really be affected that much and you'll appreciate a slight increase in grip from less sidewall rolling

I looked on tirerack.com and they don't have Michelin Symmetries for WRX wheels, which is what I have on my car. They're excellent tires for everything, ride, quietness, grip in many conditions, but they're quite pricey.

They do have Harmony's though, which are similar... Here is a link to the tire on tirerack.com...

[vrg3]

Another advantage in addition to the better grip is the improved acceleration due to increasing the overall gear ratio. You'll also keep better speedometer accuracy.

Mike Shields recommends 205/50-16 over 205/55-16 for Imprezas.

[scottzg]

for me faster acceleration<fuel economy. I don't drag race anymore. The subie turns pretty high numbers at 80 mph. Any difference made by 5 mm of sidewall is negligible in starting (esp. when you consider you make it up by a new gear limited speed in each gear)

I can get a higher end 205/55r16 for less money than a 205/50r16, helping to further offset the performance difference.

I think im gonna stick my steelies back on for the winter anyway. My worn struts with the high threshold of the wider tires made for some floppy sliding. I'd have to catch the car perfectly not to wobble. Plus, the narrower profile is better in the rain and snow.

One last thing. Can i buy steel rims in 16x6.5 for a subie?

[vrg3]

I don't know where you can find 16x6.5 wheels with a high enough offset. If you use narrow tires it might be okay to use a lower offset though. I know some people use VW wheels (35mm offset) with narrow snow tires on Subarus. I have a set of these (16x6.5 steelies w/ 35mm offset) that I'm planning to try to sell on a VW forum but you could have cheap if you want to ship them across the country to try.