Snow Tire Sizes..
 

Hey folks-

My dad has a "connection" at a local tire store, so he and I went in this evening to pick up my brother's vehicle and get a quote for snow tires for mine.. Here's what they said:

In the interest of saving money and putting a slightly narrower patch on the road, they advised I go with a 205/55 R16 tire. They told me that they could get Accurate (Akuret? it was some funky spelling) Grip tires on all four corners for $300 installed. This sounds like a frigging FANTASTIC deal compared to Tire Warehouse quoting me a MINIMUM of $460..

Doe sanyone have any input on the smaller size?

-Adam

Re: Snow Tire Sizes..
 

From what I keep hearing narrower tires are better in the winter. I remember pictures of rally cars (on snow) and their tires looked like 2 bicycle tires side by side.

narrower tires are definitely better in the snow, they "cut" through it. wide tires are like sleds on snow - they glide over it no matter which way you turn your steering wheel. on the way to purchase my SVX in my 928 (with 255/45 ZR-17's on the rears). i ran into a snowstorm that wasn't supposed to happen. i did several 360's on the highway, and this was even while going less than 30mph. i almost put it in a 6 foot deep ditch. i was pretty shaken up, but glad to be getting the AWD SVX!!!

Speedometer?
 

I was thining about doing this with my SVX. My only concern is keeping the speedometer as close to accurate as possible. Just curious, but which sizes are going to give us this? IM not sure how to figure out the correct width-to-height ratios. anybody want to enlighten me?

Chris.

if you keep the rolling diameter the same, you won't affect the speedo. you want a ratio of rim width to tire width to be .88 to 1.0 for predictable wheel/tire performance and sidewall behavior. more or less than that may be a safety issue.

Re: Speedometer?
 

Take a 225/50-16 tire, for example. Multiply the tire width (225) by the aspect ratio (.50). The result (in this case, 112.5) is the height of the tire from tread to bead. Any substitute tires should have approximately this same height.

The tires pitched to Adam: 205 x .55 = 112.75, a very close match.

The next size down if you wanted to go even narrower would be 195/55-16 or 195/60-16, which are either a little taller or a little shorter. This will affect your speedometer somewhat, and may be too narrow for the wheel (I forget the width of the stock SVX wheel, but 195mm is approximately 7.8 inches).

Thanks
 

Good info Dick.. Thanks..

Chris

Re: Re: Speedometer?
 

Yes the 205/55-16 is a near perfect match in terms of height. 195/60-16 might be difficult to find. 195/55-16 can be found as well.

I think that 205/55-16 is the only other stock height tire size commonly available for the SVX. (not including the 215/50-16)

Re: Thanks
 

Hey, Chris - I didn't notice that was your posting (sometimes my eyes just don't swivel to the left).

How are you doing? It's about that time of year - are you actually freezing your ___?

And does the main gate still say "Only The Best Come North"?

Re: Re: Thanks
 

The family is doing well. It hasnt gotten to cold yet. It was 18 this morning. Heck, I didnt even put a coat on to get the paper this AM. I figure a couple more weeks and we will be down below zero.

Main gate still says it... I dont agree with it.. I think it should read "only the best STAY north". It is a differnt breed that wants to stay up here, thats for sure... oh yea... and I am one of them.. I have put in to come back here after 15 month tour at Anakara Turkey.

Chris

Re: Re: Speedometer?
 

As I recall, the wheel width is an uncommon 7.5 inches. Normal aftermarket standards are at 7 inches and 8 inches which makes finding aftermarket wheels for the SVX so difficult.

I have a set of steel Subaru SVX wheels with Nokian Hakkapelliita NRWs on them. I'm pretty sure that they're 205/50-16s. I'll check when I get home.

You'll wear the 205 pretty fast if you put them on stock alu mags. the wheel is wider than the tread print and it will cause uneaven wear on the tires and have you turning on the sidewalls. Imagine turning a corner on sidewalls and having to brake! Bang!!! The subaru steel wheels are 16x7 and fits better the 205s. p/n is 28111pa100.

play it safe and think of the other drivers, they're the ones to watch. Make sure you have good and suitable tires for your car.

good winter

Marty

Is there any differences then between the SVX steel rims and the newer RAV4 steel rims? (Both are 16x7)

Made of gold, are they? I just checked, and those suckers cost over $100 each. I can get alloys for that.

Ahh, the joys of SVX'ing. :rolleyes: