Which tires for the Brat? 175/50R13 or 215/50R13?

[TheSubaruJunkie]

Was shoppin today for some new tires for the Brat. The Sumitomo HTR200 comes in a wide variety of 13" rim sizes. The two Im lookin at are the 50 series, 175 or 215. The 175 are obviously smaller in diameter than the 215's... i think for the Brat, 175 should be plenty wide. But Im not sure if it will look goofy cause they are also considerably smaller.

 

The 175's are 19.9" tall while the 215's are 21.5" tall.

 

So yeah, im leaning more toward the 175's... but they are backordered. The 215's are in stock and ready to ship... do I wait it out or just not worry about it and go for the wider/taller combo.

 

[subieman]

If it were me I would use the stock 185/70/13. Then you don't have to worry about the speedo being off or any performance, stability or gas mileage problems...

[TheSubaruJunkie]

The reason for using smaller than stock would be to save on gas. Less rotating mass at each wheel.

 

Anyhow, i emailed TireRack and the 175/50's are backordered until mid to late december

 

I think im going to go with the 215's.

[ihscout54]

Anything you save in mpg for using a smaller tire due to its "mass" will be lost on the increase of rpms on the highway. Theres a reason the stock size was chosen by the mfg.

If you wanna go smaller why not get 155/80r13's much more common and cheap. Ther are pizza cutters though.

-Sam

[TheSubaruJunkie]

Because they are pizza cutters.

 

Wider looks better. And a lower profile as well. The rims Im going to use deserve the best tires I can find.

 

I just noticed they offer 185/60R13... i may give those a shot.

[mudduck]

Go for the 215s. Wider tires just look good an a BRAT!

[edrach]

215's are definitly too wide for the rim unless you find some 7" rims in a 13" diameter. A 175/70-13 or a 185/70-13 should do you fine. You could get away with a 195/70-13 on a "normal" sized rim for your brat, but no wider. Check the miata tire size converter to see what kind of error you would introduce with a 50 series tire.

 

Somehow you might be missing a point with your choice of tires. The 50 (or 70) refers to the aspect ratio of height to width; a 50 series tire would be 50% as high as the tire is wide. You certainly wouldn't save anything on weight since the added width would make up for whatever you saved on height.

[TheSubaruJunkie]

Thanks ed. I know how to read tire size.... 185mm wide, 50% of 185mm in height from rim edge to the tread. Im sure a 185/60 would be lighter than a 185/70. And a 175/50 would definatly be lighter than both.

 

I remember fitting 205's to my RX without any problem, my old brat had 195's but they were on 15" pugs.

 

Also, ive been lookin for rims with white lettering, but cant seem to find any.

[cobcob]

I'm rolling Nankang 205/60/14's on my Brat and they're freaking awesome!! They're available in a 13" also I believe

[P K]

Hey Brian,

Those are both too short, you will be spinning high rpms, even with 5 speed. I would not go less than 185x70-13 or for wider > 205x60-13.

 

I have bought three sets of tires from ONLINETIRES.COM. Great customer service, good selection, inexpensive and low shipping costs, even though you pay state tax - still can't be beat even by TireRack. Go look:

 

http://www.onlinetires.com/default.aspx?PageData=tireResults

 

r/ PK

[carfreak85]

I got this size:

 

http://www.ultimatesubaru.org/forum/showthread.php?t=90314&page=2

[TheSubaruJunkie]

Yeah carfreak, i saw that. Those tires dont look practical for everyday use. But how well did they fit?

[Loyale 2.7 Turbo]

I Believe that 215 are Too Fat Tires for a 13" Rims` Subie. I Use 205/60 R 13" in my Wagons and I Think that size is the Biggest they can Handle Without issues; so I Suggest 205.

Good Luck!

[carfreak85]

Yeah carfreak, i saw that. Those tires dont look practical for everyday use. But how well did they fit?

 

Well duh! Hahaha, those are my autoX tires and they will see very little street use, but I have put a few dozon-or-so miles on them thus far. Based on that, I've had ZERO rubbing anywhere. And my wagon is lowered pretty significantly. I'm running on 5.5" wide Enkeis and would hesitate to put on anything wider, the tires are really bulging off the wheels as it is.

 

Because we are so limited in wheel widths, I would suggest against the 215s, unless you can test fit a JY 215 on a subie wheel. The only sure fire way to know is to test fit 'em on your rig and go hit some bumps.

[TheSubaruJunkie]

Yeah, i think im going to go with the 185/60s

[edrach]

Yeah, i think im going to go with the 185/60s

Smart decision.

[4x4_Welder]

To save gas, you need a tall narrow tire. A wide tire presents a higher rolling resistance, costing you mileage. On my truck, I actually saw a 2mpg increase going from 245/75R16 steer tires to 235/85R16 LT high load rating tires on just the front. I still have the 285/75R16 rear tires to handle the weight and give towing stability.

A 50 series sidewall is also really short, so it will be sitting at a decent angle on the narrow stock rims.

The answer of course is to do what you did and go with the 185s. Tall enough to keep your rpms lower maintaining the same actual speed, and narrow enough not to give that much rolling resistance. Run them at max inflation on that light little Brat, and you will get good mileage.

[TheSubaruJunkie]

Ok, lets change the subject alittle here.

 

I could care less about my MPG with the brat. Im sure I could put 33" swampers on it, and still get better mileage than I get with my Legacy.

 

What im most concerned with is performance. Im thinking the 185/60 will do nicely. Now i just gotta figure out what to do to reduce the gap between the tire and the fender

[DaveAP]

I'm running 185/80's on my '87 brat. They fill the well space nicely and are tall enough for romping.dp

[TheSubaruJunkie]

The brat currently has 185/80s on it. They are too tall for me. This brat wont see any dirt or mud, i got a truck for all that.

 

Im thinking of lowering it alittle.

[Subarutex]

Use carfreak as your inspiration... his fitment is pretty hot.

 

 

Could use a little spacer in the back (or a lower offset wheel) to bring it flush, but for teh car... its the hotness!

[TheSubaruJunkie]

I cannot deny the hottness.

 

I think im second guessing the rim choice I have, I may start lookin for 14's... not sure yet.

[bratman18]

Use carfreak as your inspiration... his fitment is pretty hot.

 

 

Could use a little spacer in the back (or a lower offset wheel) to bring it flush, but for teh car... its the hotness!

 

What could safely be used as a spacer for the wheels? And how much?

[4WDFrenzy]

Use carfreak as your inspiration... his fitment is pretty hot.

 

 

Could use a little spacer in the back (or a lower offset wheel) to bring it flush, but for teh car... its the hotness!

 

Yo Carfreak85, that car IS TEH H0TN3SS!!! Where in the world did you get your air dam or what is it off of?(If you don't want to share that info, it's okay) Your car looks SICK!!!!! Good Sir, that car is definately a thing of beauty. Good Job!!!

 

Patrick

[carfreak85]

Thanks for the kind words guys. Its nice to get positive feedback on a project I put so much time into (specifically polishing those damn Enkeis for the WCSS).

 

The airdam is a NOS Kamei spoiler originally built for the EA81s. I wish I had found it on another make of car though, then maybe I could find some more of 'em! As I've said in the past, I plan at some point to make molds and copies of it, but as of now I don't have the fundage. (Thinks to self: Well, I might after I install that EA82T in Ben's wagon...) At least I have a garage to start this project in now.

 

[/hijack]