Wheel and tire experts out there, I need your help on this one.

I am planning to replace the stock 15-in wheels on my daily commute '96 Impreza LX with either the 5-spoke or 6-spoke 16-in wheels from the '98 to '01 RS model.

I know the following:

'96 LX: 195/60/15 tires, 15x6 wheels, don't know offset

'98-'01 RS: 205/55/16 tires, 16x7 wheels, 53 offset

Will it fit well? Feedbacks or comments are appreciated.

 

Well, I did some research. I believe it will fit OK. With the RS tire size, the speedo will be off by about 2 miles (actual speed is about 2 miles faster than the speedo).

What is the width on these RS wheels - 6.5 or 7 inch? WRXpart.com says it's 7 inch. That's 1/2 inch wider than the 02+ WRXs??? Thanks.

 

My Legacy Turbo had the same sized tires as your LX has. I replaced the originals with RS wheels/tires and it looks/handles much better. RS wheels are all 16 x 7. At least the all "gc8" RS's. You should be fine running the stock tires as well. Your speedo and odo will be off a little, but it shouldn't matter a whole lot. Just get the correct sized tires when the current ones wear out and you'll be fine. That's what I plan on doing.

-Brian

 

I went from the stock 15x6" alloys and 195/60*15 to the '01 16x7" RS rims and 205/50*16. With my GPS I can't tell any difference in speedo calibration. Everything else is better
BTW, though the 5-spokes look cooler, the 6-spokes are a half pound lighter.