Thinking of trading my 17" rims for 15" rims

[cdencore]

This may sound crazy to a lot of folks out there but I am thinking of exchanging the 17" stock alloy rims (with 215/50/17 tires) on my XRS for some 15" rims (with 205/65/15 tires). Reason is that I am willing to trade handling and good looks for more ride comfort.

Has anyone done this? I would really like to know if making this move will achieve a significantly improved ride.

[TRXR4KDS]

I'm using 15" rims with my winter tires and the ride is definately more cushy and softer. If you do go that route, I'd go with 195/65/15 (my winter tire size) or 205/60/15.

[thebarber]

definitely a cushier ride....but the car will look stupid, in my opinion...

...but you seem the type that wouldnt even hit lift....

[cdencore]

Originally Posted by thebarber

...but you seem the type that wouldnt even hit lift....

Guilty as charged! Yup, I am afraid I will be a bit of a disgrace to the XRS community.

I have the automatic XRS and not sure I could hit 6000 rpm even if I tried. In fact, out of curiosity, what speed on a flat highway would I have to reach in an automatic to hit lift?

[PhatRoyale]

15s are way too small for a car like the Matrix IMO, it would look kinda goofy.

you would be better off with some stock 16" wheels from a Celica GT-S.

to hit lift, just rev the nuts off of it!

[thebarber]

Originally Posted by cdencore

Guilty as charged! Yup, I am afraid I will be a bit of a disgrace to the XRS community.

I have the automatic XRS and not sure I could hit 6000 rpm even if I tried. In fact, out of curiosity, what speed on a flat highway would I have to reach in an automatic to hit lift?

sorry to hear about the blautomatic XRS....but its a super rare car....

lift kicks in at 6200 on your year, so in first gear thats about 50 or 60kph, i forget. 2nd is 80-ish kph

the thing w/ the auto (and what makes the auto xrs so horribly stupid) is that it uses the same auto transmission as the 1zzfe (base) engine so 3rd and 4th gear are much longer

so i honestly have no idea where you'd hit lift in 3rd....in my old xrs is was around 115kph....

you might want to ask on matrixowners.com about where you'd hit lift, because im really not sure...

[TRXR4KDS]

Here's my 15's for winter:

[dasspr]

trading your year around 17's for some 15's? now thats really smart! go to a local junkyard and get some 15'' steelies and call it a day before you do anything stupid!

[dasspr]

Originally Posted by TRXR4KDS

Here's my 15's for winter:

nice for the winter!

[mistamatrix]

Originally Posted by thebarber

the thing w/ the auto (and what makes the auto xrs so horribly stupid) is that it uses the same auto transmission as the 1zzfe (base) engine so 3rd and 4th gear are much longer

According to the Matrix Reference Manual, they're different.

The auto XRS uses the U240E from 02 Celica.
The slushbox from the auto 2WD is A246E from the 02 Corolla.

The 1st and 2nd gear in the auto XRS is actually shorter than the auto 1ZZ 2WD's. Not by much, but on paper, technically shorter.

EDIT: And to the OP, you could also consider 16's on 205/60/16's.

[cdencore]

Beauty is definitely in the eyes of the beholder. IMHO, the rims on TRXR4KDS' car looks great, winter or summer.

BTW, TRXR4KDS, thanks for posting pics.

[thebarber]

15" steelies w/ hubcaps

[Kanata_Matrix]

^ Damn...Barber that trix is hot even with hub caps lol.