Tires or Rims, Tires or Rims?
Asked by Nightinstink Dec 12, 2011 at 10:52 AM about the 1993 Subaru Legacy LS Wagon AWD
Question type: Maintenance & Repair
I have a brand new set of winter tires 185/65 hr15. My Subaru's rims are currently
14 inches. My dilemma is that I don't know whether or not to buy winter rims for
my winter tires, or just buy tires for my existing Subaru rims. My mechanic told me
it would be $46 a piece for 1995 legacy rims that would fit the snow
tires...however he also told me theres a chance he would order the rims and they
wouldn't fit due to the brake calliper rubbing against the bigger rim. Does anyone
know any reasons why or why not a 1995 15inch rim wouldn't fit on a 93? has
anyone tried it?
6 Answers
Sorry to say this but your mechanic doesnt know anything about Subarus. The 15inch rim being bigger than the 14inch will not only fit well but leave even more room around the brake caliper :) another option is just to buy the correct size tires to fit your current 14inch ones coz it might be cheaper
Clew_Havness answered 12 years ago
Changing the tire size from what is standard on the car can affect your speedometer and odometer readings, transmission shift points (on automatic transmissions) and even the calibration of your ABS brakes. Unless you're quite confident that you can live with all the possible downsides of using the larger tires, you should not change tire sizes.
Nightinstink answered 12 years ago
I'm gonna try and give the guy I bought the tires off of last year, and see if he'll let me trade them in for a used set that fit. Thanks guys
That wont happen if the standard size of 195/65/R14 is swapped for 185/65/R15 because they will be the exact size in terms of width and height.
Nightinstink answered 12 years ago
I would swap my winter tires for tires that fit my 14 inch rim...I talked to the person I bought the tires off of. He is willing to let me trade in the winter set that doesn't fit for a set of 14inch that do. The only problem I have now is should I even get winter tires...WHERES THE SNOW!?!?
Clew_Havness answered 12 years ago
Ah, thanks... I got caught up in thinking about the rims and didn't know the size of the original tires.
