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16 or 17 inch wheels for Winter tires


FastButReliable

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I want to get Winter tires and a set of steel rims for a 2019 Premium with 17 inch wheels. I'm wondering if the 16 inch with higher profile tires would be better in the deep snow we get here in the U.P. of Michigan. The wheels and tires are a lot cheaper with the tires on closeout at Tire Rack. Any downsides? I'm hoping it doesn't affect handling too much.

 

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Hmm. Looks like Tire rack doesn't have any steel rims for the Legacy.

No, but they have plenty of good, inexpensive wheels that look better than steel wheels. I bought 17" MSW Type 85 wheels for my 2019 Forester. You could also try to find a set of used Subaru wheels on Craigslist, just make sure they're 5x114 bolt pattern.

It's better going down to a 16" wheel, more sidewall means you're less likely to damage a wheel on a pothole. Yes this may affect your handling a little bit but IMO it's better than bending a wheel.

I had Continental Vikingcontact 7 winter tires installed on my Forester last weekend. They are quiet and handle about the same as the factory tires despite the extra sidewall.

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No, but they have plenty of good, inexpensive wheels that look better than steel wheels.

 

I worry about the quality of the under $200 alloy wheels. I thought the steel rims would would be guaranteed to be strong enough to deal with some Winter abuse. My car is not likely to look great in the Winter anyway.

 

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At Tirerack you can sort by construction. There are some 17" Enkei wheels under $200. I was looking at the Enkei TM7 but they were out of stock.

They do have 17" steel wheels.

https://m.tirerack.com/wheels/results.jsp?&autoMake=Subaru&autoModel=Legacy&autoYear=2019&autoModClar=2.5i+Premium

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I decided on these. I thought they would go good with the gray metalic of my Legacy. I kind of wish they had the stock offset which is 55 mm. Hopefully 5 mm doesn't make a big difference in load bearing or fender clearance. https://www.tirerack.com/wheels/WheelCloseUpServlet?target=runWheelSearch&initialPartNumber=4947756550HB&wheelMake=Enkei+Performance&wheelModel=YS5&wheelFinish=Hyper+Black&showRear=no&autoMake=Subaru&autoModel=Legacy&autoYear=2019&autoModClar=2.5i+Premium
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I'm in upstate NY and bought 16" alloy wheels and tires from TireRack. Installed last night. No problem with installation/clearance. TireRack included hub rings for a correct fit.

I'm curious about how 16" wheels will affect speed--will the odometer read higher than actual speed with the smaller wheels??? And what about psi? Do I keep the psi at the same pressure as 17" tires?? Appreciate your thoughts

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As long as you bought the recommended minus sized tires, the speedo should read the same. For my 2005 LGT I bought 205/50 17 for winter, which were .25" taller. Speedo was the same, you're not going to notice a 1mph difference.

Use the same pressures recommend for the stock wheels. Though you should factor in a loss of 1psi per 10 degrees F and add a couple/few extra psi.

Friends don't let friends drink cheap beer.
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I'm in upstate NY and bought 16" alloy wheels and tires from TireRack. Installed last night. No problem with installation/clearance. TireRack included hub rings for a correct fit.

I'm curious about how 16" wheels will affect speed--will the odometer read higher than actual speed with the smaller wheels??? And what about psi? Do I keep the psi at the same pressure as 17" tires?? Appreciate your thoughts

Here's an easy to use calculator for fitment. Could be some change in speedo reading depending on profile of tire. https://www.willtheyfit.com/index.php?width=225&aspect=55&diameter=17&wheelwidth=7.5&offset=55&width2=225&aspect2=60&wheel_size=16&wheel_width=7-5&offset2=55

 

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