A subaru will have suspension for a alloys on road, if you putting steel on, you'll want to change it. OBVIOUSLY if you just drive the car to COOP (shudder) then you are fine, but if you like to take it up the A5 to Hockenheim or fling it around the andermatt pass... its all percentage points...
the answer is that the alloys you have are a certain dimension and there is probably nothing the same width (most likely) in steel. And maybe also diameter/profile is making it hard for you.
If you were to get steel wheels with winter tyres to fit, then you'd be ok. If you were to replace the tyres with all-weather tyres, you might save yourself some hassle. I assume you're in the Cambridge boonies and need M+S tyres - or not?
And of course there is nothing to do with the suspension - but you might find with different sized wheels that your speedo might be out.
I change tyres and use the same alloys. I do have 19" wheels though......and it takes very little time to change the tyres over rather than just wheels.
If the wheel size and tyre size remains unchanged from alloy to steel, why would you adjust the suspension?
I've never heard of doing that when a car goes from winter to summer tyres and vice versa. You just change the wheels, thats all.
My last car hat adjustable suspension with a button on the dash board to regulate the electronically controlled shock absorbers (what a nice car that was), but the average family car does not.
I don't think this thread is about rally cars or race cars, I understand the OP was discussing the family car.
I wanted to know the technicality of it. Unless you have say Ohlins-type adjustable shock absorbers, you can adjust exactly jack-sh!t short of changing entirely the springs and the shock-absorbers.
Unless Subaru has a magical suspension I'm yet to hear about that is.
Just spoke to Subaru service centre, and they said there should be no need to adjust anything if switching from alloys to steel. To which I asked why was I paying for alloys then? To which he had no answer...
My point was that alloys are lighter than steel, this is so that the suspension can push them down on the road quicker (and they don't bounce up so much). Therefore this makes them keep contact with the road more, which makes them better for steering around corners. Important points at high speed when four wheels on the ground are better than three..
It stands to reason that if you change the weight of the four points of contact with the ground, other stuff has to be adjusted. Its the whole reason alloys exist (apart from they look pretty for the wife). That you don't have to adjust anything for fitting of heavier steel rims instead of alloy would indicate to me that Scooby isn't into performance as much as they claim..
[quote=Lob;225169]And of course there is nothing to do with the suspension - but you might find with different sized wheels that your speedo might be out./quote]
But of course one would not do that in Switzerland because the wheels would not be then "authorised" by the manufacturer and thus not "allowed" by the Strassenverkehrsamt
My mate changed wheels on his car to nicer mags, and promptly failed the MFK, because they were "non-approved" wheels. He had to get an engineer certificate...
Variable adjustable computer controlled whatsits.. they're in all the cars now..
I would have been suprised if there is not a computer chip somewhere in a Scooby that knows the weight of its wheels and tells its suspension to harden or lighten a split second earlier dependent on other data..
But since I called Scooby Tech Support and they told me to touch nothing..... I am suprised!
you do know that there is a whole car pushing down on the springs thus creating compression and the weight of a wheel, be it steel or alloy, factors very little in this?
Steel wheels and alloys are not that different in weight. Alloys are often heavier than steel wheels...
Ok - question is pretty much in the title. Im buying some new alloy wheels and they come with winter tyres - any issues with just driving on these permanently?
And your use more fuel, as they are frequently wider then summer tyres. I have a ordinary estate car, and I think it uses about 10% more fuel in the winter, with the winter tyres.
Higher fuel consumption, worse handling and more noise with winter tyres. I guess that pretty much sums it up. From safety and comfortability point of view one should never drive with winter tyres in the summer.
You may also take a different approach depending on how much you drive. Let ́s say you do about 40k kms per year and 20k of it at winter. After these 20k they really aren ́t that much of winter tyres anymore. If you are lazy you may want to finish the tyres in the summer and then buy new winter tyres again in october...
May also be better for insurance purposes - have heard some colleagues had issues having insurance pay for accidents in winter when they didn't have winter tyres on. The same may be the case for summer tyres in summer, so perhaps check on your insurance policy.
Mr Longbyt says that he thinks there is some ruling regarding a speed limit using winter tyres (not just with spikes and chains) so that might also be worth checking on. Wouldn't know myself as I always keep my summer tyres on my bike and don't ride in winter.
I'm clear I need winter rubber from 1st Nov, but is there a cut off for return to summer tyres?
I have seen tyres stacked in the u/g garage in my building, I had a quick peek and the are all on rims. Could anyone advise on whether steel or alloy (other than appearence) is beter for a Swiss winter, and a recommendation around Zug for a tyre fitter that won't want one of my kidneys for a full set. This could be a bit of a Homer question, but must you have a winter spareas well, as my car comes with a tiny spacesaver spare wheel?