Tallest tires on a stock Forester?
Guest
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Tallest tires on a stock Forester?
Good day to everyone -
Got a quick question....has anyone experimented with larger tire profiles on a stock (2001) Forester? ISR says 215/70-16's will fit with no interference, but the guy at Les Schwab was highly skeptical. He got out his tire size calculator and gave me a dimension (don't remember it now) that did sound quite a bit taller than the stockers.
I took the height he gave me, divided it in two, then measured that amount off the surface of the tread, and it certainly appeared that the 215/70-16 would cram into the wheel well. The first point of contact appeared to be along the inner edge of the wheel well when the steering wheel was fully cranked. However, I don't know that I can rely on such a non-precise method.
Has anyone actually put tire to wheel and tried it out?
Thanks!
Got a quick question....has anyone experimented with larger tire profiles on a stock (2001) Forester? ISR says 215/70-16's will fit with no interference, but the guy at Les Schwab was highly skeptical. He got out his tire size calculator and gave me a dimension (don't remember it now) that did sound quite a bit taller than the stockers.
I took the height he gave me, divided it in two, then measured that amount off the surface of the tread, and it certainly appeared that the 215/70-16 would cram into the wheel well. The first point of contact appeared to be along the inner edge of the wheel well when the steering wheel was fully cranked. However, I don't know that I can rely on such a non-precise method.
Has anyone actually put tire to wheel and tried it out?
Thanks!
Guest
Posts: n/a
Hi, there -
Why would we want to put 215/70 - 16's on our Subie S? Well, I'm looking for a bit more ground clearance. The undercarriage has found the dirt too many times while trying to get to the end of a couple of dirt roads.
You're absolutely right about 215/60's being stock. Since posting the first time I called Les Schwab (a West Coast tire franchise) and got some tire heights from them. Their 215/60 - 16's come in right around 26.2" high. The 215/70-16's they had in stock were about 27.8" to 28" tall. Almost an inch gain in ground clearance, but of course losses in acceleration and braking power, and who knows how far it'd throw our speedo out of whack.
Plus of course the reason for my writing in the first place...I dunno if they'd even fit inside the wheelwells.
Why would we want to put 215/70 - 16's on our Subie S? Well, I'm looking for a bit more ground clearance. The undercarriage has found the dirt too many times while trying to get to the end of a couple of dirt roads.
You're absolutely right about 215/60's being stock. Since posting the first time I called Les Schwab (a West Coast tire franchise) and got some tire heights from them. Their 215/60 - 16's come in right around 26.2" high. The 215/70-16's they had in stock were about 27.8" to 28" tall. Almost an inch gain in ground clearance, but of course losses in acceleration and braking power, and who knows how far it'd throw our speedo out of whack.
Plus of course the reason for my writing in the first place...I dunno if they'd even fit inside the wheelwells.
Dork
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 144
From: SF Bay Area
Car Info: 2005 STi, 2005 OXT
Hello,
Uhh, why do you need to refer to them to get tire sizes?
215/60R16= 215 mm wide, 60% of 215 tall, 16 inch rim.
So the tire is 215 mm wide and 129 mm tall (the sidewall). Since there are two sidewalls (to determine the height of the tire, bottom and top of the wheel), the height of this tire is 2x129mm + 16 inches of rim. (who knows why we mix metric and standard in tire sizing...).
2x129=258mm * 1 inch/25.4 mm = 10.16 inchs. Add 16 inches and you have:
26.16 inches tall.
Now go to a 215/70 and you get 0.7*215=150.5*2=301mm /25.4 = 11.85 + 16 = 27.85 inches.
These sizes are all approximate and the only way to know the actual tire height is to go to the manufacturers' webpages and see what they say. Not each manufacturer's 215 is the same width... and 70% might be 68% or it might be 72%. The tire shop is just looking at a list of generic sizes that was made using the math above.
As for speedo difference, 27.85/26.16= 1.064, or 6.4% error. That means when your speedo shows 60, you'll be going 60x1.064=63.9 mph.
To me, that's minor...
The real question is fit, and I doubt you'll have trouble fitting an extra inch, but I don't know... there, experience counts, and ISR has that. Though, of course, they also sell lift kits, so they might give you an overly conservative answer. If they say it will fit without a lift kit, you can probably feel comfortable knowing it will fit...
Joel
Uhh, why do you need to refer to them to get tire sizes?
215/60R16= 215 mm wide, 60% of 215 tall, 16 inch rim.
So the tire is 215 mm wide and 129 mm tall (the sidewall). Since there are two sidewalls (to determine the height of the tire, bottom and top of the wheel), the height of this tire is 2x129mm + 16 inches of rim. (who knows why we mix metric and standard in tire sizing...).
2x129=258mm * 1 inch/25.4 mm = 10.16 inchs. Add 16 inches and you have:
26.16 inches tall.
Now go to a 215/70 and you get 0.7*215=150.5*2=301mm /25.4 = 11.85 + 16 = 27.85 inches.
These sizes are all approximate and the only way to know the actual tire height is to go to the manufacturers' webpages and see what they say. Not each manufacturer's 215 is the same width... and 70% might be 68% or it might be 72%. The tire shop is just looking at a list of generic sizes that was made using the math above.
As for speedo difference, 27.85/26.16= 1.064, or 6.4% error. That means when your speedo shows 60, you'll be going 60x1.064=63.9 mph.
To me, that's minor...
The real question is fit, and I doubt you'll have trouble fitting an extra inch, but I don't know... there, experience counts, and ISR has that. Though, of course, they also sell lift kits, so they might give you an overly conservative answer. If they say it will fit without a lift kit, you can probably feel comfortable knowing it will fit...
Joel
Guest
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Hi, Joel Gat -
Well, I didn't really need to ask the Schwab guy, it was just the lazy way out. I'm impressed with all that math you did in your post...will have to print and save! If you place a high level of trust in ISR's info, that makes me feel a little better about it.
Thanks!
Well, I didn't really need to ask the Schwab guy, it was just the lazy way out. I'm impressed with all that math you did in your post...will have to print and save! If you place a high level of trust in ISR's info, that makes me feel a little better about it.
Thanks!
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