OK i know the wheel thread has probably been beat to death but here goes. I have had rotas in the past. 17 x 7.5 grids 48 offset i beleive with 225/45/17 tires. ANyway i liked how it handled but i really want to get the BEST HANDLING option out of my wheel upgrade. LOOKS AND WEIGHT COME LAST, GRIP AND ULTIMATE TRACTION COME FIRST!
Now here where i am confused. i see all this people putting very wide wheels = x8.5 ,x9.5 ,x10 on their subys and it looks ugly as sin! the wheel sticks out way beyond the tire and in my opinion looks horrible. I dont think it would look bad if the tires were super wide too. but is there any handling benefit from stretching your tires like this onto wide wheels? I dont care if i have to roll fenders or not to fit a bigger setup, as long as its not bad for my car. Is it??? So how wide is too wide? I feel i can at least go wider than a 17x7.5 225/45/17 but i dont want to hurt my handling at alL! I feel there must be an analogy to S Tech springs here. Lower your car too low and your handling goes to crap, go too wide a wheel and the handling suffers???
PLEASE, anybody who REALLY knows their stuff please recommened the best setup for performance. I am looking at the rotas because they are a good price, no ridiculus forged wheels for me. I just want to run the widest wheel/tire combo that is good for handling, not looks.
Whats the best setup without rolling fenders?
What would be the best setup if i did roll fenders?
**EDIT** forgot, maybe adding my suspension mods would make your decision change..
MODIFICATIONS:
Suspension/Brakes
EBAY strut tower brace (front + rear)
EBAY sub frame “H-Brace” (BROKEN installing ALK!!!)
TiC Fender Braces
KARTBOY short shifter
KARTBOY front and rear shifter bushings
TiC shifter pivot bushings
TiC shift linkage bushings (not yet installed)
MOMO shift knob
EIBACH Prokit lowering springs
KYB GR-2 Struts
WHITELINE 22mm Front Sway bar w/ KARTBOY endlinks
WHITELINE 22mm adj. Rear Sway bar w/ KARTBOY endlinks
WHITELINE steering rack bushings
WHITELINE Anti-Lift Kit (comfort)
WHITELINE Roll-Center Adjusters and Bump Steer Kit
KARTBOY rear subframe lock bolts (broke one while installing, ITS STILL STUCK)
TiC Differential Outrigger Bushings (comfort)
TiC Rear Differential Mount Bushings (comfort)
TiC Transmission Crossmember Buhsings
BF GOODRIDGE Stainless Steel Brake Lines
HAWK HPS brake pads
PERRIN master cylinder brace “Stiffi”
Performance alignment 0o toe F/R, -2 o camber Front, -1o camber Rear
Im not an expert and cant remember my tire type or size off my head and Im not with my car at the moment but...I run 17x8 (+48) Rota Boost on my car at stock height/suspension. I noticed that day of mounting the wheels/tires better grip and response. So I know for a fact that 17x8 is an alrite fit. Plus at present with no lowering my tires are almost flush with the outside of the fender.
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Joshua
"2007 WRX-20G- Tim Bailey tuned 326 HP 319 ft/lbs
Stage 2 2005 WRX
Cobbtuning.com"
225 wide unless you roll your fenders and put on substantially stiffer struts (coilovers). Your wheels and tires are fine. If you want better handling, buy better tires.
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16G powered lagless fun
why is rolling my fenders frowned upon? is it bad for the car or something? i am not very familiar with the concept, other than you are actually pushing the fenders out. Are there any trade-offs to this? If serious gains can be seen from rolling the fenders i would like to do it, but if its all looks/hurts the car then im not about to do it.
heres a question. Say i get a 225 tire... is that going to make a difference if its on a 17x8 wheel vs a 17x7.5 vs stock 17x7...? Whats the ideal?
I guess ideal for 225 is an 8.5" rim. The sidewall would be very straight. Anything 7" or more should handle the 225 though (although 7.5"-9" is a safer range)
____________________________
16G powered lagless fun
Im not an expert and cant remember my tire type or size off my head and Im not with my car at the moment but...I run 17x8 (+48) Rota Boost on my car at stock height/suspension. I noticed that day of mounting the wheels/tires better grip and response. So I know for a fact that 17x8 is an alrite fit. Plus at present with no lowering my tires are almost flush with the outside of the fender.
ive been thinking about getting a 17x8 and i was wondering what size tire i should run? What are u running new? And mines an 02 if that changes anything. Oh and 07VTRex how are those ebay strutbraces treating you?
Slo, Im still waiting for my girlfried to get back to me. She is also out of town now for the next few days. I will let you know as soon as I find out.
____________________________
Joshua
"2007 WRX-20G- Tim Bailey tuned 326 HP 319 ft/lbs
Stage 2 2005 WRX
Cobbtuning.com"
ive been thinking about getting a 17x8 and i was wondering what size tire i should run? What are u running new? And mines an 02 if that changes anything. Oh and 07VTRex how are those ebay strutbraces treating you?
225/45/17
For example, it's the stock size on the 04-07 STi which used a 17x7.5" (04) and 17x8" rim (05-07).
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16G powered lagless fun
Oh and 07VTRex how are those ebay strutbraces treating you?
Well, to be completely honest i think they were well worth the $ i spent! i hear a lot of people say they do nothing, but i disagree. Although the difference made is not near what swaybars/endlinks will do, it still does something none the less. I would not pay $150-200+ dollars for each of these strut bars (SPT/CUSCO/GT SPEC prices), but i would pay less than $100 for all 3. i hope that helps.
I think i paid around $75 for all three braces, front strut, rear strut, and undercarriage h-brace. i installed them one at a time and could feel the slight difference each one made as i test drove it around the windy mountain roads of blacksburg, VA.
Of the three braces, the H-brace is by far the one that made the biggest difference in handling. i noticed the added rigidity the second i pulled out of the driveway!!! unfortunately, last week, i was installing my ALK, and when i putting the h-brace back on, i made the mistake of torquing the front two bolts before tightening the rear bolts. when i tried to tighten the rear bolts the h brace broke and i realized it was probably because i stretched it by not loosening the other bolts first, so i must get a new one.
for the street I agree with the 17x8 with 225/45R17 tires. To that I would add that forged wheels are better because they are stronger, however there arereally good cast wheels out there, just keep in mind the weight and strength of the wheel.
Speaking about weight: the same thing applies for chassis braces. High end braces and bars might be more expensive but they are lighter and stronger thand the no name brand bars.
why is rolling my fenders frowned upon? is it bad for the car or something? i am not very familiar with the concept, other than you are actually pushing the fenders out. Are there any trade-offs to this? If serious gains can be seen from rolling the fenders i would like to do it, but if its all looks/hurts the car then im not about to do it.
heres a question. Say i get a 225 tire... is that going to make a difference if its on a 17x8 wheel vs a 17x7.5 vs stock 17x7...? Whats the ideal?
Yes a wider wheel will make a difference. In skidpad testing the 05-07 STI always generated a higher g-force than the 04. What was different between them? They had the exact same size/brand/model tires. The 04 had 7.5" wide wheels the 05-07 had 8". The wider wheel gets you a better contact patch to the road.
For those with a wagon I beleive there are typically rub problems with 8" wide wheels for sedans it is no problem.
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