Winter Tires and steelies for 3.0R Limited

Hi all,

 

Winter is coming up and I'm going to have to shop around for tires and steelies. Current stock sized tires are 215/45-18 I believe. Tirerack configurator for winter tires aren't up yet and since I'll be looking to purchase 17" steelies (downsize), I was wondering what tire size (narrower) and what kind of 17" steelie would I be looking at?

 

Thanks

I use 205/55/17 for my winter set up on my 3.0

Thanks for the input. So i guess 16" would not fit right as its too big of a size difference?

I don't think 16s will fit over the brakes. I could've sworn that steel wheels were not recommended (in the manual maybe?) because of their weight.

No big deal on the weight of the wheels - especially for winter use.

 

I think that the biggest problem is rather to find steel rims instead of alu.

Somewhere or another along the line, someone here verified from SoA that 17-steel wheels supposedly weigh too much for the factory suspension components.

 

Finding 17-inch steelies is yet another issue, like ehsnils, altogether.

 

Can 16s clear the 3.0R's brakes?

So if you use Subaru Steel wheels your car will fall apart I hope Subaru knows this and doesn't use them either.

I guess the bigger question would be... Why would you want steel wheels? Do you like the look of rust on your car? Where I live, they use de-icer on the roads.. Unless you were constantly wiping them down, they would be rusty in no time. I suggest aluminum, steel is too prone to rusting.

So if you use Subaru Steel wheels your car will fall apart I hope Subaru knows this and doesn't use them either.

 

Hell, driving a Subaru in the snow is just asking for trouble - everyone should know that Subarus are summer cars only!

 

 

 

OK, no, seriously...why SoA communicated what they did to that particular owner, I do not know - as-usual, they don't provide any true hard evidence/data, only saying that "this is what we want you to do."

 

I'm having a devil of a time finding the thread that cites SoA commentary, but this is a later one, in which change_agent cited Subaru of Canada's official line:

 

http://legacygt.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2043504&postcount=45

 

- similar to the SoA claims.

 

I seriously doubt that Subaru says anything against using steel rims as they are standard equipment on the Outback 2.5i Basic. There is probably less that 3 lbs difference between steel and alloy rims in that size.

^ I still haven't been able to search up what I remember seeing, about SoA's recommendations, but that particular claim of Subaru of Canada, cited by change_agent, is one he pointed out over and over throughout the Forums: it would surprise me that if it was wrong/incorrect, that someone would not have called him out on it, in all that time.

Yea, the problem is finding steel rims in 17" size as they don't exist up here. I checked with Costco and its listed as NSA...

 

Doesn't leave me with much choice but to either look up something used or just buy rubber and use it on my stock rims =S

 

I find it odd about the weight issue as base models are using steelies as well?

Why not find a beat up set of '05 LGT OEM rims? Throw the snow tires on them. I've seen sets in really good condition go for as low as $250-300 picked up. Find a set that's not in the best shape, and you could probably snatch them up for less than a new set of steel rims.

 

 

And you can use this website to plug in your OEM tire size, and find a winter tire that will have the same overall diameter. http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

Why not find a beat up set of '05 LGT OEM rims? Throw the snow tires on them. I've seen sets in really good condition go for as low as $250-300 picked up. Find a set that's not in the best shape, and you could probably snatch them up for less than a new set of steel rims.

 

 

And you can use this website to plug in your OEM tire size, and find a winter tire that will have the same overall diameter. http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

I tried looking for them around my area and they basically don't exist. I found one set at 550 and they're a bit of scratches/curb rashes i think as he took down the pictures in recent post

 

I used the tire size calculator and 205/55-17 seems the right fit, as mentioned in the 2nd post in this thread.