The AUSubaru.com.au Forums

Hi guys, I’m about to get my Subaru on the road and I’d like to ask a few opinions and suggestions on what I should do wheel and tyre wise.

It’s a 87 leone rx, raised 2”, standard engine. Will be going to ej20t in the near future, aiming for around 200kw at the engine (obviously really really easy to do). Car to be used as a streeter and a once a month sand island trip, with the occasional longer trip inland/up north etc. Will be towing a trailer on trips (trailer would have the same tyre and wheel combo to reduce costs – ie 2 spare tyres for big trips rather than more, buy tyres if required on the trip).

Because of travelling, sometimes in what may be remote areas, I have been thinking a 15” tyre would be a better choice should I need to buy a new tyre. I’ve been on plenty of island trips with my folks in our rangie and having 15” wheels was great for Tanami desert travels when we blew our 2 spare tyres. I don’t know how common 14” tyres are away from the major centres.

So these are the options I have come up with:

1 – keep 14’s, get 27x8.5” tyres
- Require 14”x6” steel wheels x 5
- Keep existing 27” tyres for now, but would require a single 14” tyre to make the 5 tyre set

2 – 15” 6 stud conversion (6x139.7mm)
- 215/225/235 /70/15 –or– 205/215/225 /75/15 tyres
- Require 15”x7” steel wheels x 5

Either way, I would sell my existing 14” alloy wheels. I realise the 27” (ish) tyre size is enough for what I want to do, well so I think, so I’m not doing the stud conversion for any other means than to have cheaper and a wider variety of tyres (and more available tyres in remote areas too so I assume). I assume there would be little difference if any in tyre performance (14” vs 15”) for what I want to do, so

So I guess the question comes down to cost. Which is cheaper now, and which would be cheaper in the long run? (cheaper in terms of wheel purchase and tyre purchase, and tyres on going)

On a side note, how is the 6 stud conversion done? Is it a case of just drilling the discs to have 6 holes in stead of 4? Drill the adapter thingie that goes between the disc and the wheel?

And on a further side note, if it’s a case of having to drill the adapter thingie between the disc and the wheel, for added safety (and future road worthness) I could get new adapters made up so they are just as strong if not stronger than the existing cast pieces. Also, I could easily change the offset to suit the wheels better too. If I were to get the adapters made up, would there be a market on here for them? (just thinking out loud really)

Thanks for reading the long post….

Have you considerate about getting Liberty 15" rims and convert to 5 stud?
Cheers
AP

14", 15" & 16" tyres are all available to about the same degree in rural and remote areas. 13" and 17" maybe less so. The 15" tyre sizes you listed are not very common and they are quite small for a 15" rim. You might find that remote tyre shops and fellow travellers have 15" tyres that won't fit under your RX anyway.

My advise would be to stick to 14" rims with your 27x8.5R14 tyres. Most servos in the bush will have light truck tyres for trailers etc. in 185R14 or 195R14 and they will get you out of trouble. They'll also work well on your trailer and cost less than the 27x8.5 or any odd sized 15".

Any 6 stud conversion I know of would be illegal. The best way to change the stud pattern is with a Crossbred Performance 5 stud kit that is engineered and legal in all states.

as i said i'd like to have the same size wheels and tyres for both car and trailer, so to minimise spare requirements on long trips (ie 1 wheel and tyre made up, 1 spare tyre only). having both the same is the main reason i'm thinking 15's as well as cost, but i didnt realise those 15's where not so common, so i guess there wouldnt be much diff between the 14's and 15's in that case. i'm not too keen on goign with the 5 stud conversion because of the cost and that i've just completely refreshed the brakes on my rx to get it roadworthy.

ok, so i checked out some heavy duty trailers yesterday and they used 225/75/15 tyres (or 225/70/15, i cant remember 100%) and naturally were 6 stud wheels, so i'd be pretty keen to explore the 6 stud 15" option for a bit. going from a 27" tyre to just over 28" isnt that much of a big deal either (but naturally i'll be changing to the 3.9 ratios rather than the 3.7's, will strongly consider the 1.5 or whatever it is low range ratio setup too).

next options from here are to explore cost. will report back with what i find

Are you OK with cutting wheel arches?
My understanding is 28" wont fit without it.
I'd also be worried about off boost performance, with 27s they struggle hill starting on loose, steep surfaces.
Daza.

more things i have to check, but the 27's are no where near the body work now, well so they appear, and going only a bit bigger doesnt sound like much.

off boost performance, that's why the change to 3.9 ratios, and why the ej20t upgrade (down the track anyway). also the low range change too will help with off road work