Hi, all: A friend (GOOD friend) just gave me 4 Blizzaks with about 1000 miles on them. I'm still running my 2-year-old original tires on my 2009 Forester, and they're 16" tires. Is there any reason that I shouldn't buy a set of 17" wheels to get these 225/45R17/91R winter tires on my Soob before the snow flies? It looks like 17" is an acceptable tire size on this car. Thanks, guys. -T

that will work just fine. only limitation to diameter is rubbing but a 17" shouldn't matter. you could use the miata tire size calculator online to see how much taller and wider (or shorter and thinner) a tire is than stock.

Thanks, friend. By the way, the mirror you sold to me installed very nicely in my daughter's Soob ... painted it and it looks terrific. Thanks again. -T

those are going to be really a wide footprint of tread. Wide is NOT good in snow and ice for highway use.

Narrow is lots better.

not sure i would want to go the route your are taking.

plus thats a low profile tire, not going to ride very well. do you live in a area of lots of potholes? if so, you may even damage a rim with that low pro sidewall if you hit a chuck hole in the road.

great, glad to hear the mirror worked out.

 

dedicated snows will outperform all seasons. if extra traction is necessary then the minor difference in tire size is probably small change compared to going with studs.

 

he's got a great excuse to buy 17's, leave the man alone!

My 2009 Forester XT came standard with 17" wheels... and 225/55R17 tires, so you should be fine... though they will be a tad shorter, 1.7" less diameter, so you'll lose 3/4" of ground clearance....

Stock 09 Forester X tire size is 225/55/17.

 

They'll fit but be mindful of the height difference. Loss in ground clearance is one thing, you're talking about a roughly 7.5% difference in circumference which will make the speedometer read slow by ~5mph at 60. This will also throw off the odometer by the same amount.

 

 

Plus they're gonna look funny. 45 profile is reallllly short on a 225 width.

Edited November 22, 201015 yr by Fairtax4me

Very thoughtful replies here. All bring up good points. I don't like the idea of an inaccurate speedo, so that's a good issue. The ground clearance thing doesn't bother me (in fact, a little lower might be a good thing; I'm not often offroad, but I think the '09 Forester grew by just a tad too much in overall size). The pothole question is real in Michigan, too. The funny-looking thing makes sense ... the wheel well on this car is pretty wide, and having an even-smaller tire in there might be a little dorky. Maybe I'll put these on Craigslist and give someone a good deal ... I can split the money with the pal who laid them on me. Any other comments are welcome ... I always leave here smarter than when I jumped in! --T

If they were 245 45 17's I'd take them off your hands in a heartbeat. 225 is too thin though for what I have.