Thank you very much for that info!!

 

I nominate this for a Sticky!
Thank you.
Kris

 

Do any of the noted specs differ between the 2U and 4U or the 16" and 18" wheels?

Thanks!

 

No they do not

 

+54 offset? Crap, glad I checked this thread

 

offset is +45 not +54

 

^^^ Please confirm and correct if needed (?)
Kris

 

i really don't think the offset is 54, i'm pretty sure it's around 42-45

 

I am trying to find out if it was a misprint as the guide says 54

 

THE OFFSET IS 54.

If you are questioning your offset just check the inside of the rim it should say

7.0J x 18.0-54

 

All the sources I have checked say the offset is 51 for the 16 inch wheels.

 

Ha, that explains it.
My current wheels are 42 and i thought that they stick out a lot for only 3mm difference (OK, that and and inch of added width) as I've also read somewhere that the factory offset is around 45mm.
Kris

 

Hey all!
The exact offset range for all three of the soul wheels, 15, 16 and 18 is: Offset Range: 42 to 55mm.

 

Ok, this is the voice of experience. without dragging this out into a 1000 word essay, here is the condensed version...

225/45-18 this is the size for the factory 18"
205/55-16 this is the size for the factory 16"
195/65-15 this is the size for the factory 15"
notice the second number...45, 55, 65. this number is the profile, or the height of the tire mounted on the wheel. what it mean is percentage of height, relative to the width of the tire. so 225/45 means that the height is no more than 45 percent of 225 millimeter width. same for all the other sizes.

what does this mean in real terms??? it mean that the lower the profile, the shorter the distance between the wheel rim and the bottom of the tire as it rides.
how does that translate into ride quality? less rubber to cushion your ride.
There is one other tire component missing here in our discussion thread....
Sidewall stiffness, also called your speed rating of you tires. Cheap tires = R rating, high performance tires= Z or W rating. And what does that translate into ride quality??? Again, higher speed rating=stiffer sidewall=stiffer ride.
Now, if you're going to be ricky ricer race car driver, then you're probably going to have the Z rated tires so you can hang out with the big dogs, you'll pay in ride quality.
My recommendation is the H rated tire... 130 mph sustained speed. are any of you going to go faster than that? also, stay away from the current flavor of the month "directional" tires. why? if you're running camber adjusted, and with directional tires,you can only go from front to back rotation, not left to right. so if your front and rear camber is different, which race cars are, you'll wheels will shake, and that's perfectly balanced. why? because the fronts and rears wear differently, so when you rotate, your camber is now different and the tires will have to settle into the new camber settings.
Added to this, with higher wall stiffness from Z and W tires, comes more road noise and noise transmission into the cars cabin. But yeah, you get to look cool an show off your stuff.
What do I recommend? This is a great tire... bar none....
Falken Zeix ZE-912
I just bought a set and am throughly amazed, for one reason, they're the quietest tires I've ridden on. I have 205/50-15 in H speed(these are not on my soul) and they handle excellent despite not being a Z or W rated tire. It's the best of 3 worlds for me, ride quality, quiets road noise, and performance.
Falken is made my Sumitomo Tire of Japan. the tire is made in thailand if i'm not mistaken.

I could go into so much more, such as plus sizing for performance/ride, shock replacement for ride/performance and suspension spring types and rate types...
but I think my thousand words is up.

If you'd like more specifics, PM me.

Hope this helps some of you out.

 

Ok, this is the voice of experience. without dragging this out into a 1000 word essay, here is the condensed version...

225/45-18 this is the size for the factory 18"
205/55-16 this is the size for the factory 16"
195/65-15 this is the size for the factory 15"

I've run the numbers above using a couple of online conversion tools and the 16" can't be right....I realize this is stock on the SOUL but the overall diameter & circumference between the 18 and 16 are way off...I found that a 235/55/R16 was the closest in size.

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

 

Can you run a 225 width on a "+" model? Will it fit with that suspension?

Kris2

 

Answer to your question...

bye,
depends on the profile....

if you're talking about putting it on your stock 16" wheel, here is what fits and what does not... These sizes are just for this particular tire. Other manufacturers have more width and profile variations. As you can see, the 225 in this particular profile will not fit the soul. I also omitted the larger, 17" and 18" tires.

205/65HR15 (205x648 mm) Fitment Good $74 Each
215/65HR15 (215x661 mm) Fitment Good $78 Each
215/60HR15 (215x639 mm) Fitment Good $77 Each
205/60HR16 (205x652 mm) Fitment Good $82 Each
205/65HR16 (205x673 mm) Does Not Fit $52 Each
205/50HR16 (205x611 mm) Does Not Fit $61 Each
215/60HR16 (215x664 mm) Fitment Good $86 Each
215/65HR16 (215x686 mm) Does Not Fit $88 Each
225/60HR16 (225x676 mm) Does Not Fit $72 Each
235/60HR16 (235x688 mm) Does Not Fit $92 Each
235/55HR16 (235x665 mm) Fitment Good $111 Each

These specs, and prices are from my friends at bigwheels.net in Sunnyvale, CA.

http://www.bigwheels.net/index.php?location=tires&action=view_model&model=Solus KH16

I just chose the Kumho because it was the first to come up. You can choose whatever tire wheel combo you like that's available.

 

seeing as im also a VW guy i know a thing or about wheels and how to make them look perfect. i went through 3 sets of wheels in the past year until i found the ones i was 100% satisfies with. (r32 / 20th wheels)
anyways, audi and new VWs have the same pattern i believe and have an offset of 38, i havent actually gone out there and measured the distance to make the wheels flush but will this week, you be amazed at how much better the vehicle looks when the wheels are flush with the lip, or atleast a mm or 2 away. if anyone is interested in spacers i have a great site i purchase from. i currently have 7mm spacers upfront on my VW and 17.5mm in the rear, they will fit my soul too so im considering swaping it out just to see how it looks.

 

My question was actually what's the widest wheel you could run with stock suspension. I wouldn't run a wider tire on the stock 16" wheel.

Kris2

 

i dont know the actual widest, go to your soul with a measuring tape. have a washer tied to a string, dangle the string from the inside lip of the wheel well. then measure from the wheel to the string.
just throwing numbers out there lets say it reads 22mm from the tire to the string, which i bet is close. that means you could go 22mm wider. that could be some dish, or pick up a set of spacers and lugs and she'll look great, and no poke
if you kep the stock wheels with the backspacing of 54 and ran a 22mm spacer your new backspacing would be 32.
i ran my jetta at 20mm in the rear and 30 in the front. (stock was 38)

in my jetta

 

i just got a soul and i wanna put some HUGE rims on them, i was thinking 22 and have the suspension raised a bit.
is this possible or is the frist post the information/limitations to wat kinda rims i can get?

 

I believe the limit is 20" rims....and I don't advise doing any kind of lift on it.

 

el4,

What I would do is take your soul to your favorite tire/wheel business and have them stick their neck out and make the call for you. that way, THEY are responsible if they do not fit. I'm sure they have the same info that all other dealers have with the appropriate dimensions for tires and wheels.

 

The limit is 20 in my list. So if you want to do it ask a specialist.
Because you need to change a couple of things more.

 

Will 225/60/18 rubber fit on the stock 18 rims?

Thanks

 

YES....but you will have speedo issues...when your speedo reads 60mph youwill actually be travelling 67mph

 

WOW, that is over 10% difference in diameter size between the stock 18" tires and 225/60/18
No reputable tire shop would allow that amount of difference to be installed.

It is recommended to stay within 3% of the original size.

 

You are right Soberone