pleiadesfella

just an update, I ended up ordering the rs-r f012d springs and a set of 18x8 +48 enkei gtc01 from the vendor for a total of $1631.86 CAD (which comes to $1218.94 USD currently) including shipping and paypal fees I plan to get azenis rt615k+ in 235/40/18 once they arrive, I know its a large size but they're priced well from a local vendor and would be helpful in pothole country thank you all once again, your guidance and pics were helpful in coming to a decision on what to get, and I think I've gotten what I wanted for a good value, even if the wheels are a bit scuffed lol. not worse than the bigass curb rash on my black ts9 on the front right corner tho... link to wheels I purchased for anyone interested: https://www.croooober.com/en/item/cparts/00000003/Rims/16356898/Wheel-Only-ENKEI-Racing-GTC01

these last posts were quite helpful, thanks guys I did have a set of decently priced 17x8 rpf1s on my wishlist but they sold, so I'll be holding off for the next few days to see what other wheel options come up. I wish buying wheels wasn't this big of a deal for me and that I could just order a brand new set of my liking from a local supplier, but unfortunately the cost of doing so in eastern canada is astronomical. the used wheel market here sucks too since the cost of new wheels from quality brands is crazy high, so all I have for used options are fast and rtx wheels at high prices. and like I said, it is quite literally much cheaper to order a used set from japan and have it shipped in, even if it is a little scuffed here and there, so I have to wait and see what they get in stock. thanks for the help once again folks, I'll update this thread when I finally order my wheels, and hopefully I'll have pics of the car on both the wheels and the springs in the summer

dammit! I was going to read that at work but then an urgent call must have came in, because I clearly didn't read it properly thanks for reminding me of it, although some statements in that post bring up more questions than answers to me, for example: -it's stated that 255/40/17 is a viable tire size for a 17x9 rim, but in this thread I was told that 255 was too wide for our cars and that even 245 would be pushing it. if I were to follow the faq, then I would get the pf05s I was looking at, but I was told that was a bad idea. who's in the right here? -in the faq it's also stated that 255/35/18 is a very good size for daily driving, and that 9.5" is a viable wheel width, but I know from personal experience that this isn't true. my wheels are too wide and stick out like crazy on stock suspension. even with the coils they were pushing it. not to mention the dreaded tierod contact on full lock. otherwise that's a really helpful thread and I feel like an idiot for not reading it fully before. thanks once again for telling me, though I'm glad I was able to hash out some finer details about my suspension here it also turns out that the japanese vendor I'm buying from contracts paypal exclusively for their foreign buyers, so the gtx01 set became a bit more expensive than I thought thanks to paypal's greedy exchange rate. now I'm looking at getting either: -the pf05s I initially mentioned, 17x9 +40 with 255/40 tires (according to the faq this should work well enough) -advan avs model 7 18x7.5 +50 or enkei gtc01 18x7.5 +48 with 225/40 tires (don't prefer a narrow size like this but they're good wheels and the lowest price options of all) -work emotion 11r-ft +50 with either 225/40 or 235/40 tires (according to the faq this should be nearly perfect) these pics are really good to see, thank you. I thought 225s would run a bit narrow on 8" since most combos like this I've seen had a bit of stretch on the tires, but yours look perfect. I gotta say I really do love the first setup with the 235s the most though. but these pics will definitely help me come to a conclusion now that some wheels I mentioned before are out of reach in terms of price/convenience.

oh man I feel like we're getting off topic with all the suspension talk - maybe I should've made the thread in the supension section lol. anyway, yes used shocks have a ton of unknowns but I have driven on these shocks and I can tell you there's nothing wrong with them. they're overall in much better shape than the kybs on my 07 gt (which are in extremely terrible shape) and even those are holding up fine. the jdm bilsteins are also smoother over our bumpy roads than the kybs, so go figure. overall I'm happy with them, and that's all that matters I would like to get swifts but unfortunately they don't come up often on the sites I check, and local availability is basically zero. I'm going with rs-r since I found a new in box set for $90 canadian, and according to rs-r's own website it should be a perfect fit for my car. I'll see if I need spacers when I have them on the car, but I don't think it will be an issue with these springs. interesting to hear that some of the parts could not be sold alongside that wagon. kinda takes away the appeal of it but contracts are contracts I guess. should've sold me the brakes at least

the bilsteins are in great shape overall. I specifically chose the best set the vendor had and he even did the courtesy of giving me better rear shocks than what were shown in the pics too. they ride great, even better than the kybs on my gt and I'm completely happy with them. I was surprised at how much better they were than the kybs on high speed turns on the freeway. will attach pics of one of my front shocks and the blitz coils that came off the car. you'll see why I got the rev c bilsteins :) and no, you're not going to change my mind about getting springs as opposed to coilovers. yes, kw coils are great and its cool that you get free rebuilds in the us (I'm in canada btw...) but for how much they go for here I might as well save up another extra grand for a shortblock savings fund. cool wagon btw, I'm pretty sure I've seen it on bringatrailer before. 19s look too big in my opinion but otherwise it's a great build, though if I remember correctly it was automatic :(

holy shit thank you. you perfectly understand my philosophy of wanting a fun daily that balances form and function without breaking the bank. I don't necessarily need something that's track ready lol. and I can live with the harshness on shit roads we have here too since I've driven on both a broken spring and a blown coilover on our bumpy roads before. I might consider 225/45 if it fits better, but I doubt 235 will be an issue since I did have 9.5" and 255 without any significant issues during regular driving (i.e. not full lock in a parking lot). I know my spec b must have had some fender modifications under previous ownership (likely fender rolling) as I actually did end up with the ts9s and the 255 firestones they have on my 07 gt before, and the gt became undrivable immediately, even with its stock kybs. I'll be putting my order in for the set of gtx01s and rs-r springs soon, even if it does make me a honda fanboy :P

there's no pleasing you is there... and no, I would never get teins. see you in 5 years when I can afford kw or ohlins :)

there are quite a few legacy owners in japan who put s-techs on their bilsteins, so I think I'm making it out alright with proper rs-r springs don't get me wrong, I'd love to get coils if I could but it doesn't help that they start at $1k+ then have the canada tax added onto them here. its just more logical for me to get springs for now, though I would deffo import decent used coils (like hks) if it was possible. maybe I'll get some decent coils later down the line.

heh, never thought I'd be wanting to go down from 18 to 17 but man after seeing some spec b builds with some wider 17s I realized I loved the look. I can get 18x7.5 advan rz for nearly the same price as the gtx01s tho lol. anyway, I'm not dropping $2k+ for kw v2 or even $1k for isc or bc coils because I'd rather save the money for the oiling mods (and tires for the new wheels) I still need to install on the spec b. doesn't help that I live in a place plagued with insane potholes and have actually broke a spring on my gt before. $2k for kw v2 or $200 for some lowering springs designed for my bilsteins shipped in from japan. the choice is clear to me :)

yes but if I go down to 17x8 with 235 width tires then I will have more choice in lowering springs correct? I do NOT intend to use 255 anymore, not with my current wheels nor with any future ones I will purchase.

offset I'm looking to get is +45, which I think is pretty conservative (considering stock is +55) and looking for a drop of 35-40mm (~1.5in) up front and 20-25mm (~1in) for the rear with lowering springs. I don't think the drop will cause an issue because like I said, the car already had coils and 18x9.5 wheels without any rubbing at time of purchase, so there must have already been some fender modification done to make it all work, I'd be really surprised if there wasn't. I'll check your pics for sure.

oh no, what I meant was that the wheels were already installed and was fine most part except for the tie rod thing. there was no rubbing at all, and I've gone high speed over some bumpy roads without feeling unsafe. and with the blitz coils on there was no issue with the tie rods somehow, that only became an issue on the bilsteins. I do agree with you that wheels hitting tierods is not a good thing, which is why I'm looking at getting 8" wide wheels with 235s. just wanted to know if 9" with 255s would fit a bit better than 9.5" with 255 but now I know that its not much of a difference lol.

huh, that's strange since I already have 255/35/18s on the car right now, and the only real issue is the judder on low speed full lock turns. previous owner wasn't able to meet in person and disclose fully what the car exactly had done as he was in the military during time of purchase, so I'm really not sure if this was done. I did see the car on a jack with the wheels off before (though not up close) and didn't see anything out of the ordinary. unfortunately I also currently don't have access to the car to check/take pics of the fenders and liners since its in storage 65km away from me lol. I do have some more pics of the car but like you can see in my first post, the front wheels are sticking out like crazy from the sides, so I assume fenders have not been pulled at all, at least not from what I could tell from looking at it side by side with my gt.

damn, and I especially wanted tires that ran wide after the narrow indy 500s. I think I'm gonna pull the trigger on the gtx01s then. found a blog page of a japanese fella and he has basically the exact type of height and fitment I want with the gtx01s, tho I don't know his wheel specs. but I do know that his tires are 235/45/17 and they fit without any stretching so I assume its the same spec I'm looking at getting. just sucks that I can't get the rt615k+ in 235/45 as cheap as I can get it in 255/40 for whatever reason, so I'm likely gonna go with the flevas. only issue would be that he has coils and I'm only on bilsteins, so I'm hoping the rs-r springs are also this kind of a drop:

apologies if I shouldn't be making a new thread for this but the megathreads seem kind of dead. please merge if not allowed, thanks. I also talk way too much for my own good so tl;dr: will 17x9 +40 with meaty 255/40/17 tires hit tierods or otherwise cause issues with jdm rev. c bilsteins and possibly lowering springs on a 2008 spec b? some background: right now my spec b is on jdm rev. c spec b bilsteins (fairly confident they're sedan ones) and the car came with 18x9.5 +45 enkei ts9s installed. I think the ts9s are hitting my tierods on full lock in parking lots (i.e. steering wheel jolts almost like drivetrain bind only at full lock low speed turns). this only started happening after getting the bilsteins on as it was fine when the car had the old blitz coilovers and camber (swapped them out for bilsteins because they were crusty as hell and one was blown). I assume this is because 9.5 width is too wide for a legacy with oem suspension and neutral camber alignment, but if anyone else has any other ideas please do let me know. this brings us to what I want to do next. I bought the car especially with the ts9s and not the stockers thinking that I could sell/trade the ts9s down the line for wheels that I liked more. unfortunately where I live the used aftermarket parts scene is mostly dead and populated with facebook people I don't want to deal with lmao, so I'm going to have a set shipped in from japan. a few sets have caught my eyes, and good sets of wheels are much cheaper over there than they are here new, even including the shipping fees from japan. unfortunately, I can't fitment test nor return wheels shipped from japan, so I need to know a few things before I pull the trigger. the three main contenders for me are (in order of personal preference and with tires I would get): -set of enkei pf05 17x9 +40 (would get falken azenis rt615k+ 255/40/17) -set of ssr gtx01 17x8 +45 (either firehawk indy 500 or advan fleva 235/45/17) -set of ssr type-f 18x7.5 +48 (azenis rt615k+ 225/40/18) I know the ssrs will fit without any issue as they're not aggressive at all, but my concern is the fact that the pf05s are cheaper and more aggressive with the fitment. not only that, I won't be losing much (if any) tread width compared to the 9.5 ts9s with these pf05s and I would love the look of filled fenders with a meaty set of r-compounds. I do plan to (hopefully) autocross sometime this summer, so they won't be just for show. but I REALLY don't want to order this set and get it all nicely installed only find out they're hitting tierods again. so, it would be good if I knew beforehand, since this is a dealbreaker for me. if 17x9 +40 will hit the tierods or otherwise cause fitment issues (i.e. rubbing or sticking out of fenders). this is the main thing I would like to know. don't get me wrong, I do like the ts9s but they're too wide (sticking out the fenders badly with bilsteins and neutral alignment), curbed and matte black which is not my preferred color of wheel on a grey car lol. also don't like the 255/35 firehawks, they look too thin and stretched. the fact that I also need new tires is also encouraging me to get a whole different set of wheels too. this next part is more fitting for the suspension section, but I'll ask here since it also concerns fitment. I want to get a set of rs-r f012d lowering springs (which are prob going to ruin my ride quality lol) at the same time as my wheel order from japan, and according to their site it will lower the front by 35-40mm and the rear by 20-25mm, which is quite an aggressive drop. I imagine the sizing down to 17" wheels will offset a bit of the potential rubbing issues, but I can't help worrying about it. I'm also going to take it to a good local subaru shop for the lowering spring install, and I imagine they'd be willing to do negative camber unlike the mom and pop shop in town, so I'm also looking at either -1.5deg front -1deg rear or -1.5deg all around camber with these springs. however, I'm very green in terms of my suspension knowledge so the type of adjustment I mentioned might not even be possible. I just hope 17x9 wheels with lowering springs + camber isn't a terrible idea, so please let me know if it is. also gonna upload some pictures that explain my problems with the ts9s better. check the fitment up front. thanks for reading :)

I was bummed to see the original thread gone when I needed it the most so I'm glad I could be helpful

just made an account to share this here since y'all are having the same problem that I did. I found a google cached version of the thread and copied the main post to a word file lol. here you go: