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I don't know why this struck me as so funny, but it did. the tires on my 92Legacy Wagon are badly worn (I'd guess I have about a couple of thousand miles left in them at the most), so I went looking for replacement tires and found them to be way out of my price range (250 for 4 minimum. 500 for the ones I want). Then I remembered that the wheel size is the same on my Subaru as on my 93 Dodge Caravan (minivan). I had laughed earlier when I found out that the towing limit was only 500lbs less on the Legacy as on the Minivan, so I decided to check the tire sizes. . .

 

The Subaru uses P195/70R14 and the Caravan uses P195/75R14. Hmmmm, not a lot of difference, and the wheels use the same bolt pattern as well (5x100mm). Not wanting to hit weather with badly worn tires, I decided to see if the wheels would swap over (the tires on the Caravan are brand new, with only about 2K miles on them, so the circumfrence problems should be minimal). The Caravan wheels fit on the Subaru, but the reverse is not true (the hole in the center of the wheel is about 1mm larger on the Caravan wheels than on the Subaru wheels, added to the fact that the Caravan wheels sit farther out than the Subies). I had a good laugh when the first Caravan wheel fit right into place on the Subaru, and annother when I dropped the front end down on the Subaru and there was still plenty of clearance in the wheel wells. . .

I think this should hold me through the winter, and I can save up for the good tires (that will be put on the correct wheels) for next fall. . .

 

Now I have heard both ways on this issue, is there a problem with using the taller tires on the Subaru, providing the circunfrence is within spec?

 

I know that the speedo will be off, and there may be an issue with clearance (but that looks to be ok). Are there any other issues that may need to be considered with this setup?

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That's only a 3% difference in circumference according to the tire calculator here:

 

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

 

3% is not a big deal. When we put WRX rims / tires on our TS there was a similar change (2.7% IIRC). Our speedometer is actually *more* accurate now if you can believe the digital roadside radar guns you see sometimes. You should verify that all four tires are within 1/4" circumference of each other.

 

I think a bigger concern would be the offset, if it's more than a handful of mm different. Otherwise it's probably ok, based on what I've heard here and other sources. You'll get more sidewall flex from the 75 series all other things being equal, but that's all I can think of.

 

Steve

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Yeah, that Caravan will have a tough go of it without wheels and tires! :-)

As the Caravan is deadlined for the time being, there is no problem there. Yeah, I get a bet more sidewall flex on the taller tires, but I don't drive it that hard. . .mostly. . .:burnout:

 

the offset is pretty significant, with the Caravan wheels sitting further away from the brake components (so the car has an inch or two wider stance than before), and I drove it today and clearance is just fine, even stop to stop. . .

 

The tires were all but new on the Caravan when that car got deadlined (registration problems, and it took too much gas for what we got out of it), so circunfrence wouldn't be a problem, as they were rotated regularly, and did not have many miles to begin with. . .

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Lets see, costs savings over switching the tires to the proper rims - about $40?

 

Cost to repair bearings or other components worn out by the increased loads, or to repair damage caused by an accident due to handling or braking problems resulting from the change in wheel offset - more than $40.

 

This is a very, very bad idea. Change the tires to the Subaru rims. The increased rolling diameter is not significant.

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Last entry in the tire sizes/wheel sizes saga: I swapped the wheels back so I have my original wheels/tires back. I had driven around for about a week on the vans tires/wheels (about an inch on either side difference in offset) and those tires handled like crap, so I have decided to save up and get the better tires when I can. Bald tires that handle well are far better for me than tires that handle like crud with lots of tread on them. I'll keep the tires rotated, and stretch the tread life as far as I can to make it until I can get the good tires. I've been told that I have about 5,000 or 10,000 miles left in these, so I do have some tread on them. . . I just can't go rockclimbing for a while is all. . .

 

Richierich, I'm still interested in those alloy rims if you still have them and they are 14". . .

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