dholly

Lol, have you always been so darned optimistic? :-\ I figure I'm mature enough to 1.) understand and allow for the minimal speedo variance; and 2.) nice enough to inform anyone who may drive the car (unlikely). Like I said, that really doesn't bother me. Heh, heaven help me, I'll take the chance. And RACED them?! Well I suppose that's possible, but how likely is that really, they're friggen Blizzak winter tires! Anyhoo, silly me I took a chance and went and looked. Nice surprise... they're in great shape, better than I expected. Happened to be a responsible, older seller and you know what? She was being 100% honest, just need them out of the basement. Even had caps without a scratch for them. So... a slightly used $600 pkg all for $150, or a whopping $37.50 a corner. Call it what you will, I'm gonna call it a good day. The best part is that I swapped them on and it appears to have no clearance problems front or rear. If I had to find fault, I will agree these Blizzaks are pretty darn noisy on bare pavement.

I hear you on the tires, many folks say they are over-rated, but I was under the impression that the open cell ice compound was about the 1st 40% on the Blizzaks. If I assume 40k mileage life, then 40% = 16k mi. of ice compound before getting into the hard. I figured maybe another season in 'em before I lose that ice compound benefit. Or is that too optimistic? Actually, I was more worried about the width going from a 5.5" to a 6.5" wheel with a wider tire. I used the calculator at http://gs.tolan-hoechst.com/tirecalc.htm and found I ended up with slightly increased inboard wheel/tire clearance, but lost 0.47" of outboard wheel/tire clearance. Putting a straight edge along the oem tire, I show only 1/2" clearance from the outer tire to the inner fender well lip as it is. So, this wheel and tire combo seemed a bit tight. Of course, the sidewall rubber does flare in bit where it meets the tread so I think I'll be ok unless I'm loaded to the bumpstops in the rear. For $150 with caps, I'm taking a chance and will post the results. I generally try to keep it under 100mph, at least thru the residential neighborhoods. At 60 the speedo should show 63. If some trooper really wants to quibble over a couple of mph at 60, well... what are you going to do?

Called on a set of (4) steelies/Blizzak ws-50 tires in the local paper today and just want to make certain these will fit my '06 Impreza 2.5i sedan. Current OEM = 100mm x 5, 16" x 5.5", +55 offset, w/ P205/55R-16 Winter set = 100mm x 5, 16" x 6.6", +48(?) offset, w/ 215/60R-16 Question mark on the winter wheel offset, but I think it is +48. Can't add an attachment(?) but here is the wheel stamping: KFZ 9625/16X6.5JJ/ET48/27-01/KBA43738 It's a TireRack pkg w/ silver paint and a bit of rust starting to show, 1 season/7500mi. use, asking $250 (cost $600). Anyhoo, I'm feeling these will work just fine, speedo only off less than 3-4mph at 60mph, and the oem all seasons are an accident waiting to happen IMO. So... Fitment a go, or no go? Fair offer? Thanks for the input!

Thanks, thats a great calculator in that it spits back a whole bunch of best alternatives with a single input!

Thanks, yes, that does help some. I wouldn't have guessed they were only 5.5" wide wheels, they looked wider. I actually thought they were 6". Re: clearance, there appears to be plenty of fenderwell room from outside of the oem wheel/tire to the inside fender lip but I don't know about inside clearance to the suspension components. Ie., if I used my winter tires on a set of 5.5" +55 wheels, the tire track width would increase by a very slight +0.39", the sidewall height would increase +0.64", and overall tire height by +1.28". I suspect there is enough room for that as long as I don't mess with the offset much, However, if anyone can point to front suspension clearances or a tire/wheel/offset guide from those who have stuffed the wheelwells with aftermarket wheels and rubber, I would appreciate. I was also concerned about monkeying with the unusual negative scrub.

Howdy, will be taking delivery of a new '06 Impreza 2.5i sedan tomorrow and looking to verify some wheel info. It has the 5-bolt alloys w/ P205/55R-16 89V Potenza's RE92A rubber... which, IMHO, were less than impressive in the snow during my test drives. Thinking about swapping on a set of almost new 215/60R-16 snows I have sitting around, but I have some questions if you're inclined to help: 1.) The car has ABS and EBD, but no VDC (Vehicle Dynamic Control). I undestand that changing tire sizes in a VDC equipped car can cause havok with the system operation, and a 'max 3% rolling diameter difference or you will screw up VDC' rule-of-thumb is good practice. However, since there is no VDC on this car, what is the max diff% before ABS or EBD is effected? Or, as long as all 4 wheels/tires are the same, does it even matter much? Change in circumference would be 78.2" to 82.2", or 5.1% diff., or 60mph speedo vs. 63.1mph actual. 2.) Based on info I gathered on-site, recent Impreza models used a 5x100mm bolt pattern and +55 offset f/r. Is this still the case for the '06 model? Unfortunately, my other wheels are 5x114.3x6-1/2" so I'd need new wheels. What's the cross-applicability to other manufacturers bolt and bore wise? 3.) Last, with it's oem neg scrub radius geometry, if I change the centerline slightly by using a wider tire with a lower offset wheel and end up with zero or positive scrub, will I notice any meaningful handling deterioration... keeping in mind we're talking winter, not performance, tires here. Thanks, look forward to being a part of the sube community.