Safe to go to 1" larger Wheel/Tire combo on `94 Legacy Wagon

[romcat]

Hey all:

 

I was thinking of converting to a 15" wheel set on my Legacy "Alpine Sport" when the tires wear out. I'd like to go to a bigger wheel/tire combo to improve highway mileage. I do not want to go with say 15" wheels and lower profile tires. What I'm asking is, is there room for a 15" wheel/60 or 70 series combo in the wheel arches?

 

Thanks,

Romcat

[telemachus]

My GT has 16s - 205/55, to be exact. I can;t imagine they've changed the setup enough for that not to work. Got to tirerack and see what they say about sizing up.

[Manarius]

You can use any size wheel/tire you want as long as it has the correct offset and pattern. Now, granted, anything bigger than 17 inches usually ends up rubbing somewhere, so people end up with 16's and 50/55 series tires.

[jamal]

You can find used 15 and 16" Subaru wheels for fairly cheap in the classified here and on the other Subaru forums. Nasioc is the biggest one so you might have good luck there.

 

A lot of people use 16" WRX wheels with 205/55 tires, which are about as big as you'll want to go. They're wider and a little taller than stock. Some people with 90-94 Legacies had them rub. I didn't but they were really close to the spring perches.

 

Bigger tires won't increase mileage. Yes, you'll be at slightly lower revs but the car has to do just as much work to keep it moving. A bit more in fact due to the slightly lower ratio and added rolling resistance.