Can I Put 225x60x16 Tires On My 06 Vibe?

[BlueCrush]

Quote, originally posted by bwflorida »The original 205x55x16s on my Vibe are getting low on tread. Found someone who wants to sell some 225x60x16s for a good price. Will they fit OK?I wouldn't use that size. I had 215/60/16 a while ago and they were pretty much maxed out in the wheel well. You might have problems with rubbing when you turn.:waits for the tire gods to speak:

[lovemyraffe]

I had 205/60/16 without problems. Now I'm running 225/50/17 and they are pretty big. I wouldn't put 225/60/16.

[vibolista]

Might want to do a search for MountainMax. I think he stuffed a 225/60 16 on his OE steel wheels without trouble. He lives in an interesting area... well north in eastern Canada, where paved roads are really scarce. I found his thread last year when I was looking for tire sizes that would fit my '08 beyond the 205/55 16s. I tried to get a Sticky up with tire sizes that genvibers had successfully used on their particular OEM or aftermarked wheels, including widths and offsets, but I failed to ignite the interest to get it going. That would have been a good resource for you and others. I'm running the same tire size that 'raffe' is, 225/50 17, but I wished I could have found out if a 225/55 17 would fit. It's possible, so eventually I'll probably have one mounted to see if it clears everything under the wheel well.Good luck!

[vibolista]

It all depends on the offset differences between the wheel that MountainMax used and yours. If you have the 16 inch Pontiac alloy it has a 39mm offset. I found the old MountainMax post... it was back on 4/24/2008 under 'Wheels and Tires'. I asked him about the clearances and his wheel offset. It wasn't a steel wheel, it was an aftermarket American Racing 16 inch wheel, that he said were stock replacement size and offset. Unfortunately, you can easily use wheel offsets from 35mm to 45 mm on a 03-08 Vibe. Also, unfortunately, the pictures are gone... but the look was very cool with those 225/60 16 tires. You might IM him and ask if he remembers his wheel offsets. He bought a new Vibe soon after. In any case, chances are they will fit.

[vrecksler]

Thanks for the informative posts vibolista. I was just about to do a search to see if the stock steelies would fit a 215/60 winter tire since my brother's car was stolen and someone has to use those brand new snowies!

[djb383]

225/60/16 is 7% taller than stock. No more than 3% taller is recommended. If you're looking to go with a wider tire (225), go with the 225/50/16. It's diameter is virtually identical to the stock 205/55/16. This way there's no effect/change to the speedo and no extra load on the engine, that a taller tire has. Same diameter as stock but 3/4" plus wider with no clearance issues on the stock wheels.

[Whelan]

225 will make your tires look all fat and bulgy. If you are doing it for traction then I would recommend against. Thinner tires help to cut through snow better than large tires flattening it. And when your dealing with mud the opposite works where a fatter tire will disperse the weight more and you won't sink.

[vibolista]

The wider snow tire won't offer as much pure traction as a narrower one. Sorry, I didn't pick up on the snow tire designation. What kind of snow tire is it? The steelie has a 39mm offset, and so does the 16 inch Pontiac alloy. The steelie is also only wide enough to support a 205 to 215mm width tire. Not sure if the 225 would work with the steelie very well. You should try to get more info on the subject from MountainMax... since he actually had 225/60 16s on his car.

[djb383]

What's up with the snow tires........the OP is in Florida. Me thinks the 225/50/16 TripleTreds look sweet on our Vibe with the factory alloys........and others have commented favorably on the wide look.

[Whelan]

Didn't see that he was from FLA. But a tire that wide on a stock alloy would bulge out pretty badly. It would probably look silly to me. Nothing like a nice flat sidewall.

[vrecksler]

Quote, originally posted by vibolista »The wider snow tire won't offer as much pure traction as a narrower one. Sorry, I didn't pick up on the snow tire designation. What kind of snow tire is it? The steelie has a 39mm offset, and so does the 16 inch Pontiac alloy. The steelie is also only wide enough to support a 205 to 215mm width tire. Not sure if the 225 would work with the steelie very well. You should try to get more info on the subject from MountainMax... since he actually had 225/60 16s on his car. I don't want to threadjack or anything but since you asked, the snow tire is a Federal tire...I think it's a Snow Lion or something like that. And while I realise a pizza cutter type tire works best, going with these wider tires will save me from buying some. I checked the diameter of the tire and it's definitely taller than stock but from the posts on that stickied thread about tire sizes it should be OK.

[Whelan]

2 things are guaranteed to happen when these go on the car.1) Your mph will be off by at least 5-7mph minimum.2) Your mileage will go down as a larger tire means more weight and heavier mass for the transmission to rotate and thus strain on the engine. Not that it will affect the engine, but you will lose mpg's.

[djb383]

Quote, originally posted by Whelan »Didn't see that he was from FLA. But a tire that wide on a stock alloy would bulge out pretty badly. It would probably look silly to me. Nothing like a nice flat sidewall.ROTFLMAO, the only thing "bulging" about 225/50/16s on factory alloys is eyeballs - because they look so sahweeeeet! Goodyear TripleTreds 225/50/16 click

[vrecksler]

Quote, originally posted by Whelan »2 things are guaranteed to happen when these go on the car.1) Your mph will be off by at least 5-7mph minimum.2) Your mileage will go down as a larger tire means more weight and heavier mass for the transmission to rotate and thus strain on the engine. Not that it will affect the engine, but you will lose mpg's.I don't disagree with either of these two points, however:a) I am not worried about my odometer or speedometer being off as resale is not something I consider; my first vehicle was a 1989 Nissan that I put over 300k on before I scrapped it this past summer, andb) the increased mass should only be equivalent to having a permanent lightweight passenger which definitely won't break the bank (or the car) for the 4 months the tires will be on.My guess is that the marginal fuel costs of using a larger tire are easily covered by the tire cost savings, so it makes sense to me. I do appreciate all the input though, but let's get back to the OP because I have *******ized this thread enough!

[vibolista]

I'm a fan of larger tires/wheels, as long as they are well proportioned on a car. The first gen Vibe is a Crossover type of body... so a large tire looks great on it. My hero is a guy from Canada named Mad Bill. He engineered a set of Corvette wheels to fit on his Vibe. The guy is a mechanical/ engineering genius in my eyes. The 17 inch diameter wheels were 10 inches wide... and although I don't usually care for tires that are outside the wheel wells... this one is fine with me. He influenced my choices... but I was chicken and didn't take too much of a chance. Wish I had. I really wanted 225/55 17s but settled for the 225/50 17s instead only because I could not get reliable data about fitments for that size tire in relation to wheel offsets. Here's one of the pictures I saved of his car... By the way, I think those tires are 275/40 17s. And I love the look! That exhaust is also one of his ideas. If you drive moderatly, the larger diameter tire will act as a taller gear... thus lowering you engine RPM at speed. I have to include a % to add to miles over standard tires and I use my Nuvi to determine accurate speed readings. It's not a big deal and my mileage has beeg very good so far as well. There are more pictures of this Vibe, if someone wants to see them. I would have to dig them out a bit... but it's doable.

[vrecksler]

Wow, those meats really make the Vibe look more menacing! I have 17's for my regular tires but with the stock suspension and ride height, I have a similar 'SUV' look that your Vibe does. Which is fine with me since I don't drive too aggressive as I have motorcycles for that.And thanks for sharing that pick of Mad Bill's car. I'd love to see a side angle if you have one, those rims probably look sick.

[djb383]

Now that looks sick .........gotta have more pics.........pleeeeeeeeease.

[vibolista]

I knew that I wouldn't be the only one that thought that Mad Bill's project was cool. He called his post 'Big Boots' I think. I'm sure that the posts are back there someplace! This is another picture that I found in my archive... enjoy! I may have more pics of Mad Bill's car , but no guarantees. I'll search a bit.

[djb383]

Where's the beef?.............on Mad Bill's Vibe of course.......just awesome! More pics, more pics.

[vibolista]

Ok, one more that I just found. Probably my favorite shot. Maybe we can find Mad Bill. Any of our genvibe Canadian's know his whereabouts????

[djb383]

Yeppers, that's the best pic. Can't believe we're both 58 (old farts relatively speaking) and both diggin' pics of a Vibe with really fat meats. Gotta luv those "bulging" tires.

[vibolista]

Unbelievable that I reached 58 in one piece! Those wheels and tires on Mad Bill's Vibe are things of beauty. And the fact that Bill was able to make hubs fit the different lug and spacing requirements is superb. He even made round flush weighted center caps with Pontiac arrowheads that always pointed down, even when the wheel rotated. A nice little extra detail.

[djb383]

Thanks for the pics...........gotta go rest my bulging eyes now.

[L5K]

I might have to do some math to figure out speedometer stuff after looking here......I did this for my Neon I had and put wider tires on it, and figured the correct size to get so that at about 70mph the speedometer would only read about 0.2mph fast.

[vrecksler]

Do you know if Mad Bill lowered his car as well or is that the stock ride height? I think those tires and that profile look terrific, and while I am not 58 like you guys I am partial to the old 'tubbed' look of the old hot rods so perhaps that is a reason Bill's Vibe appeals to me.

[vibolista]

I believe that he lowered his Vibe a bit by cutting the springs? He is after all, Mad Bill.Don't know if age has much to do with appreciating the look. On most cars, a wheel that fills the wheel well generally looks better than one that has tiny wheels and tires tucked way into the wheel well. They did a lot of that back in the 50s and 60s. A huge heavy duty pickup with a set of 22 inch wheels and rubber band (extreme low profile) tires to me looks really bad, no mater how it fills the wheel well. It has something to do with proportion.

[djb383]

Huge wheels with rubber band tires look cartoonish to me.....I call them BGWs.......big goofy wheels.

[vibolista]

[Kincaid]

Nice pics of the fat tires on Mad Bill's Vibe. I like that look. I had 16's on my Civic and then went back down to 15's and liked the beefier sidewall look (stock was 14").I think my 2009 2.4L has a speedo that's 2-3 mph short at 60 mph so once I get a GPS lock on how far off I plan to replace the tires with a little bit bigger overall diameter to make up some of the difference.

[vibolista]

The bigger tires will make your speedo even shorter. The GPS will let you know how much shorter... so you can adjust before the guys with the speed guns let you know and then charge you big money for the service.

[leemur]

My 09' 2.4 speedo is at least 4mph high probably more. The wife's 04' has 205/60/16 which puts it ~2mph lower than stock at 60. 60 speedo is now 61.9 actual speed.She drove at 75 and mine said 79mph. So if her's was right on with the stock 205/55/16 then mine is 6 too high. People pass me all the time when I drive 70 in mine, I'm the slowboy! So I plan to do 215/60/16 when I wear they cheapies out. That should bring me 3mph closer to accuracy.

[Kincaid]

Quote, originally posted by vibolista »The bigger tires will make your speedo even shorter.I guess I'm using the wrong terminology. I meant that when my speedo says I'm doing 60 mph I think it is closer to 57 or 58 or so.

[hatattack]

How do I get a hold of Mad Bill?

I'm interested in putting 17 x 10's or 16 x 10's on my vibe. Is that what Mad Bill had on his? I don't want to lower it, just want to fill up the wheel well like Mad Bill did. Or if anyone knows a set of rims with a similar offset as the alloys (39mm) that are 17 x 10 or 16 x 10, or even 17x9 or 16x9, let me know.

Thanks.

[leemur]

I've had 2 sets of 215/60/16 on my 2.4 "09" Vibe. I wore the 1st set out in normal time and stayed with the 215/60/16. If it weren't for the stabilitrack/abs/tc. I'd go bigger in the rear. I had some rubbing on the passenger front in a full right turn as I have the hard oem mudflaps. It rubbed in the rear. Haven't noticed it in a long time. Keep in mind that a 215/60/16 is only 2.2% bigger than a stock GT tire, though 5.2% bigger than the eom steelie tire. Sooooo, a stock base 2.4 should be faster than a GT off the line...lower gearing

My plan for the 04 is to get 215's also or go 215's up front but go to 225/60/16 in the rear. Got the car last year with new 205/55/16's on it. The poor past away orange vibe had 205/60/16's. I truly hate empty wheelwells.