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Just for anyone's information:

I recently installed some almost new wrx rims and tires, 205/55-16s. Compared to the stock 185/70-14s that were worn down to the wear bar indicators there is a 3 mph difference. While perhaps not totally accurate, I checked the mph readings while driving by those radars on the side of the road that flashes your speed while approaching it.

So, if anyone was wondering about the difference in speedometer reading, it's about a 3 mph difference, at least on my car.

There is a difference in acceleration speed--noticeably slower. The wrx wheel/tire combination is definitely lighter in weight. It gives better dry handling--even with the RE92s versus the worn Sears Michelins. And, of course, the car looks so classy now--I've been smiling the last two weeks everytime I look at my car.

www.miata.net

There is a tire size calculator on there that tells you differences.

I didn't notice my car getting noticeably slower when I swapped to WRX wheels.

I AM interested though, since my 225/45/17 Nitto NT450's are shorter than my 205/55/16 RE92's when standing next to them. I'd ideally like to run 225/40/17's and Nitto makes a tire that suits that (the 555R), but I want to read the specs of other companies and see just who sizes what tire how.

Actually, Phil. . . with proper tire pressure, your Nittos should be within .1" in diameter of the RE92s.

Pretty much a perfect replacement size. Doesn't get any closer than that.

I'll compare when I get the tires mounted. Nitto is WEIRD on sizing.

A 225/45/17 450 is a different actual size than a 225/45/17 555. It's wild.

Might just be how the sidewall shoulders are shaped, my good man. I've seen this before with other tires, too. All depends on how they sit with the car's weight on them.

Indeed.

I saw a picture of an STi with 275 Hoosiers on it. Holy crap, that's a LOT of tire!

Good Lord. . . . must not have been dropped much, if at all. With my drop, even my 235s sometimes rub up front during hard cornering . . . just a little.

275/40/17 Hoosiers PIMPED OUT.

Only on 17x8's but they were only for a few events. He also said the ride height is so high because he hasn't kicked the camber in up front.

After the event, he didn't rub at all, so he's gonna drop down 3/4" all around.

About the initial post in this thread, I got my WRX rims with orginal RE92's mounted today and aligned. The speedometer difference is slightly noticable, but a 2.8% or so change is nothing to whine about.
Both my old 185/70-14s on steelies and 205/55-16s alloys weighed in at 37.5 lbs, so maybe 93Leg-C's tires were heavy
The handling is greatly improved of course, I really love going from an H rating to V. Seems to be quieter while cornering too.
I'm also smiling every time I look at it.

BAC: Perhaps you didn't notice much difference in pick up or power on your car because you've got a powerful turbo. Mine's a NA with ignition timing that doesn't want to advance properly so it's a lot more noticable. I have to downshift to 3rd sooner going up certain hills and I'm not able to merge into city traffic like I used to.

Oh yeah, those 275s look awesome on the STi!

AWD_addict: The speedometer difference doesn't bother me but I needed to know exactly how much off the speedo was since I'm not one to drive like the traditional lil' ol' lady and have to drive through a lot of speed traps and by a lot of traffic speed cameras. With my original tires, my speedometer was off by 6 mph so if the speedometer read 41 mph, I was actually going 35. Now, I'd be traveling at 38 mph.

Have you replaced the knock sensor? That could be the issue with your timing retard.

Here's where proper punctuation makes the difference, though nobody in the outside world seems to care anymore. If I had added a comma to the above quote I would be calling you a retard rather than talking about the piston angle at spark.

Steve

I can't wait to see how it is with the 225's

Steve:
Your comment hit my funny bone!

I was still laughing about it so I forgot to mention that I bought omegax's knock sensor (it's just a few months old) and I'm going to install it as soon as I get it. I'm sure hoping that will be the cure. It's sad that when I hit the gas, rather than experiencing a "pick up and go," the car just moans (like if Chewy--from Star Wars--had a real bad cold) and sluggishly starts accelerating. I think I can easily beat my car in the 10 yard dash. Although I know at times the tranny doesn't downshift into first gear--it starts off in second.

That might be it. My brother-in-law was psyched when I swapped his with an extra I had while I was borrowing his OBS to run errands during my engine swap. Big difference in driveability.

Steve

That thar w'be nais! Reel nais!!

Speed traps and traffic cams, now I understand why you're so picky. I'd also like to know where my speedo stands in terms of accuracy. Probably not too good, since it's acted as a top speed recorder a couple times.

http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic. ... t=15#72464



Also, tire sizes are "nominal." As far as I know, they're never actually verified.

Well, I started this post not because of traffic cams and speed traps but just FYI kind of thing.

Although where I DO have to be careful is a certain town that I drive to frequently to see my friends, etc. It used to be that they had a police force of rookies who enforced the speed limit very, very strictly. If they radared you going just 1 mph over the posted speed limit, you'd get a citation. If you didn't come to a COMPLETE stop, BEHIND the stop line, you'd get cited. Lots of my friends got tickets. For a while I used to wonder why these sports cars would literally stay stopped for 15 seconds before they proceeded through the intersection. It seems like the strict enforcement has let up now but the townfolk kinda obey the speed limits pretty carefully.

My first drive with the RE92s in rain was a few days ago. On wet roads, the front end starts hydroplaning around 50 or 55 mph when hitting a small stream of water going across the road. I'm not talking about a deep puddle where the water cleans out the wheel wells. I'm talking about maybe an inch of water. No way to make any sort of emergency manuevers if one had to! I had more confidence driving in the wet with my Michelins down to the wear bars than the RE92s with almost full tread!

yea, RE92's are crap.

The 3 of us (Matt, Vikash, and myself) were on RE92's and were driving in the hurricane on the way back to Matt's place. It was... difficult. Vikash's tires look more like motorcycle slicks than car tires. I'm surprised he stayed on the road. I didn't know Scott had dipped off, so when we were coming to Matts, I only saw 3 cars, and I thought something happened to Vikash. Then we got back to Matt's place and my worries were alleviated.

Rain + RE92's= fun and trouble.

Wow, talk about a difference! I just ran at my "testing tarmac" run. With my old Zexius tires on 14" rims, I would pull a 103-104 on my speedo. With the 16" rims and Bridgestones, I pulled a 94 on the speedo. Thats what, a 10% difference? Not speed of course, but difference in the speedo reading. Better watch my speed now that the speedo is reading fairly correctly.