Advice on wheels for STX Subaru

[gary]

I just picked up a 2002 WRX that I plan on running in STX. I'm wondering what the best choices for wheels are out there. What size would be best? 17x7.5-ish? I ended up with a little money to throw around after offloading the ITR and the BMW, so I'm thinking I could spring for some super-cool lightweight wheels.

Are we all agreed that the Falken 615's are the stickiest ST tire out there?

Thanks!
Gary

[gary]

I just re-read the STX rules, and I guess I can run 8" wheels and 245 tires. 17x8" wheels with 245-45-17 tires? Something like that? I'm assuming the weight of 18" wheels would outweigh their benefits.

Any thoughts appreciated.

Thanks again,
Gary

[russjnco]

The weight of 18's does get to be cumbersome but I know the Prodrive wheels in Subaru sizes are fairly light weight but I think you'll find better tire selections in 17 inch sizes. As for 615's, probably a good choice if you're looking for a lower cost tire, or if you can find the Potenza re070's relatively cheap those would be good as well.

[Captain_Solo]

17s are cheaper and give you more tire choices. I ran 17x7.5" wheels with 225/45/17 falken azenis tires on my wrx in '04 with very good results. Having said that, 245s do make a difference and will be faster. I always wanted to run 17x8"s but I didn't want to buy any more wheels. 245/40/17 are just about the widest tire you can run in our class, and if you can find a wheel and tire combination that will fit, it would be worth doing. Falken and yokohama do offer 235/40/17 tires, which might be a good comprimise, since wrxs don't have much room in the rear for wide tires unless you can get 1.5 or more negative camber in the rear. Or you can just roll the rear fenders, which is STX legal. Whe your buying wheels pay attention to offset. To little(like 45mm as opposed to stock 53 mm) and you'll probably get some rubbing in the rear when you lower the car. Good luck man. Wheels and tires are the most important choice you'll make.

[lmichael]

Gary,

1. Get 8 inch wheels!

2. Figure out what brand of tire you want based on aspect ratio and width. FYI, the RT-615s don't come in a 245/40/17, but others do. Based on listening to the Subaru guys in the STX grid, you need to be mindul of clearance "issues" as you approach the limits of wheels and tires.

3. Sticky tires.... Yokohama Advan (proven, but expensive). If you want to be like the other Subaru guys, Hankook or Kuhmo. Also, FYI, the 235/40/17 Advan is basically as wide as other brand's 245's.

Lee

[mdahl]

Wagon or Sedan?

Sedan's can supposedly run up to a 9 inch width without clearance problems, giving that your suspension is firm enough to keep the tire off the outer fender. Personally, I run 17x7.5 without any issues at all, I would prefer 8", but I can't justify the funds to upgrade.

True, with STX you're limited to 8" disregard what I was saying about the 9" above. With wagons, they don't have the bulgy fenders that the sedans do, and you may run into clearance problems in the rear. I know that Roger is running 235's and had a horrible rub last year even with a rolled rear fender. I think he resolved it with a camber adjustment.
Sedan WRX's can run 245's with no problem. If you can find a tire with the correct sidewall height. I ran into issues when selecting mine, and caved at the last minute with the standard STI sizing of 225/45/17 since Falken had not released any better sizes last year.
Let's look at some rolling diamaters for Kumho MX's, since the make every size ever!:
205/55 VR16 - 25.1" - stock
225/45 YR17 - 25.1" - me
235/45 YR17 - 25.5" - RogerN
245/40 YR17 - 24.8" - nice!

Looking at Falken's Website, it doesn't appear that they're making any good sizes for the 615 in 17" sizes besides the 225/45/17. They now have a 245/45/17 but the rolling diamater is up at 25.8" which would be REALLY, REALLY noticable in low torque situations. --I thrash Roger's car around quite a bit, and I cannot stand his gearing now..
245/40/17 would be a really nice size for changing the gearing for auto-x.. the Yokohama ADVAN Neova AD07 come in that size, but are a bit pricey.. You should also mount those on an 8" rim.. Even if they'll on a 7.5, you're be loosing sidewall to fit the bead, which may be a detriment to the width you're gaining. FYI,, The Neova's were the winning tire in STS this year.

For wheels, you cannot go wrong with Rota's.. Light, cheap and strong, and plenty of styles to choose from. With a sedan, I'd pick up the 17x8's, for a wagon 17x7.5.
18's look nice, but weight starts to play a factor, not to mention price for rims and tires goes up.

[RogersWRX]

Definitely 17x8's ... when we bought our wheels, 17x8's were very rare and very expensive for the WRX, now they're only about $50 more than the 17x7.5's...

Rota is pretty much the defacto aftermarket wheel for the WRX, strong, lightweight and cheap!... Volk's are nice too, if you've got the $$
This guy stocks tons, and lists weights!!
http://www.oakos.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=355&Category_Code=1000
:)
looks like the 17x8 "Torque" is the lightest at 19.05 lbs...
http://www.tumakphotography.com/details.php?gid=90&sgid=94&pid=3734

[mdahl]

the cheapest source for rota's I have found is
http://www.jlbmotorsports.com/rims/rota-list.html
$650 for a set of 4, of 17*8 slipstreams.. their other rotas seem comparably discounted.
Oakos and subydude are also good resources.