Wheel and tyre advice

[FnG]magnolia · 22 Sep 2009 at 10:02

My Subaru Legacy GTB is sitting on 205/50/16 tyres - I guess the previous owner must have taken off the factory fitted 17's. Anyway, would I notice a marked difference in grip and cornering if I kept the alloys but chose a 235/50/16 tyre or should I stick with the current set up? Alternatively, I could buy a set of 17's plus the tyres.

Thoughts?

[TW]Fox · 22 Sep 2009 at 10:07

It isnt that simple, you'll increase the sidewall height by quite a lot if you do that.

Django x2 · 22 Sep 2009 at 10:09

Yeah, in theory you'd need to drop to something like 235/35R16 or similar to keep the rolling radius similar

EDIT: 235/40 R16 is the closet match being 7mm difference in diameter.

bledd · 22 Sep 2009 at 10:11

Best bet, look on a Subaru forum and see what they advise, generally that's where you'll get the best advice

[FnG]magnolia · 22 Sep 2009 at 10:16

Ah, I knew I shouldn't have posted when even basic arithmetic would elude me :/ Just as an afterthought - would the 235 be noticeable over the 205, allowing for sidewall changes?

bledd. - cheers, you're right. I'm on a number of them and don't know why I posted here and not on any of those!