Going from 14" to 15" wheels

[Scomber]

I've got a '98 Legacy Brighton wagon with 14" rims. But 14" tires seem to be going away, and I wonder about replacing them with 15" rims with the same load capacity and outer dimensions.

 

Has anyone done this? How's the ride? Does it fit the hub right? How has it effected how much you pay for new tires? Is the new, low aspect ratio 15 any easier to come by than a stock 14" tire?

 

Scomber Sanctus.

[GeneralDisorder]

15's are very common and not much different in price. Your Brighton came with 14's but a GT of the same year would have come with 15's. Just lookup tires for a GT instead.

 

GD

[turboguzzi]

Legacy?

 

have 15"'s, nice sporty handling now but loss of ground clearance which i do miss.

[johnceggleston]

actually GTs have 16s, but the point is still the same.

 

the LSi cam with 15 inch alloys with 195/60/15 tires. they are the same diameter. outback alloy wheels are very common and readily available. you can also buy 15 steel wheels which were stock on 00 - 03 legacys. they may be cheaper, but probably not a lot.

 

the outback alloys look good on the legacy w/ 195/60/15 tires.

[Grumble7]

I did the exact swap you are asking about on my 1995 legacy wagon. No difference that I could tell but your odometer will show less miles than you actually drive due to the size difference. 1 inch doesn't sound like much but after 180k miles it added up to about an extra 25k. My math might be a bit off but there are internet based calculators you can use to find the differences.

[Fairtax4me]

I did the exact swap you are asking about on my 1995 legacy wagon. No difference that I could tell but your odometer will show less miles than you actually drive due to the size difference. 1 inch doesn't sound like much but after 180k miles it added up to about an extra 25k. My math might be a bit off but there are internet based calculators you can use to find the differences.

 

If you use the correct tire size there will be practically no difference in speedometer/odometer reading. No difference in tire height or ride height either.

The 195/60/15 turns ~ 855 revolutions per mile, exactly the same as the 185/70/14 size tire on the Brighton models.

[johnceggleston]

If you use the correct tire size there will be practically no difference in speedometer/odometer reading. No difference in tire height or ride height either.

The 195/60/15 turns ~ 855 revolutions per mile, exactly the same as the 185/70/14 size tire on the Brighton models.

 

+1

 

if you need tires, you can buy slightly larger ones if you want. but you can stay with the same over all diameter if you don't want larger.

 

my 97 GT speedo is slightly off, a little slow ~2mph. (the joys of having a gps with a trip setting. if the odometer is off 2% on a 100 mile trip then the speedo is also off that much.) going all the way up to outback tires makes it slightly fast, ~2 mph. so buying a tire that falls half way in between would / should / maybe make it closer to being correct. but i will not even consider it until i need tires. i'm not going to throw away perfectly good tires.

[efseiler]

Be advised that with those alloy wheels torquing the lug nuts properly is somewhat necessary.

 

 

Many shops have a special tool they use to torque each bolt just right.

 

 

In doing so you will get more life out of your brakes.

 

 

Just a 'friendly reminder'... :-)

 

 

--Damien

[edrach]

I've run 14", 15" and now 16" rims/tires on my '97 Impreza wagon. One just needs to remember to get a lower profile tire to match the rolling radius as much as possible. Here's a link to calculate the proper size:

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

Also, you need to match rim sizes to be sure the new tires clear properly. The rear wheels have the tires closer to the strut than the front, so be sure those fit first.

Also, proper torque on the lugnuts is necessary; spec is 75 foot pounds. Re-torque the rims after 100 to 200 miles again.

Edited October 5, 2011 by edrach

[Fairtax4me]

It's called a torque wrench. Some shops use them, others use Torque Stick lugnut sockets with an impact wrench.

I've used both, and while the torque sticks are quick and easy, they are hardly an accurate way to torque the lug nuts. Using a torque wrench is the only way to make sure you get the proper torque on the lug nuts.

[987687]

It's called a torque wrench. Some shops use them, others use Torque Stick lugnut sockets with an impact wrench.

I've used both, and while the torque sticks are quick and easy, they are hardly an accurate way to torque the lug nuts. Using a torque wrench is the only way to make sure you get the proper torque on the lug nuts.

 

Torque sticks are stupid. Sorry, but I don't like them. I worked at a shop where I was forced to use it because using a torque wrench is a waste of time... apparently.

I liked them until I used one of those dial type torque wrenches to check how accurate they were. It was supposed to be a 90 ft/lbs stick, after checking all 20 lug nuts on the car, I had a range from 80-110. What crap.