Roamer Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 In addition to the fantastic amount of information contained in Xenonk's post, here is some other helpful info: While looking for wheels I discovered the groupe-s site which has a nice selection of wheels, most of which will fit the Legacy. http://www.gruppe-s.com/Subaru/subwheels.htm If you want a quick and accurate tire/wheel size comparison, you can't beat: http://www.1010tires.com/TireSizeCalculator.asp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xenonk Posted January 14, 2005 Share Posted January 14, 2005 Here's some more then: http://www.tciauto.com/tech_info/calculators.htm http://www.csgnetwork.com/tireinfo4calc.html http://www.performancetrends.com/Inertia_Calculator.htm There's better ones out there, I am at work so I dont recall any off the top of my head that are the really good. Keefe Keefe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roamer Posted January 14, 2005 Author Share Posted January 14, 2005 Keefe, since you replied . . . What are your thoughts on sticking with 17"? Anytime you start jumping up in rim size the sidewall height must be reduced. Since many of us drive in areas with potmarked roads, rim protection is of utmost concern. I was thinking about going with a 17x8 with 245/40's. This will give you a signficiant increase in treadwith over stock with a minutely taller sidewall for rim protection and ride comfort. To this end, will rims that fit 2004 STi's work on the LGT? There seems to be a wider variety of 17x8" and 17x8.5" rims for the 2004 STi than the LGT (It may be a lag in fitment development). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xenonk Posted January 15, 2005 Share Posted January 15, 2005 You could oversize the tire if you really want to (I did for more mph per gear.. so my 2nd gear actually reaches over 63 mph instead of the 59mph from stock wheels, autocrossing reasons). You can do a 225/45/17 if you plan on sticking with stock struts and alignment as well. You wont be able to use all 245 or 255 without changing the alignment to make use of the extra width. Nothing wrong with 17" rims since it's a stock size and I have 4 sets of them (17x7, 17x7.5 and 17x8). Problem with a 17x8 and 17x8.5 is that the offset are lower than what you want, the STi could fit more of the tire under their bigger fenders. It's hard to say if a rim that can fit and STi could also fit on the LGT, it's really an offset issue more than anything. If you stick with my FAQ on offsets, you should be fine. Keefe Keefe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roamer Posted January 15, 2005 Author Share Posted January 15, 2005 Thanks Keefe. My only hesitation on the 17's are looks. The diameter of the wheel well is such that the 18"rim looks just that much nicer. I will run different tire sizes through that calculator to see where I can get a nice blend of sidewall with treadwidth. I was referencing your FAQ post and I found a number of WRX (not STi) wheels that fell within the necessary offsets for the LGT. As for suspension/brake upgrades I would be thinking about STi pinks, a Bilstein sport strut/shock (if they make a set here), upgraded sway bar(s) and endlinks and eventually upgrading to 2004 WRX STi rotors and calipers. Will I be safe with a 245? If so, has anyone posted the preferred alignment settings? Thanks again for your help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xenonk Posted January 15, 2005 Share Posted January 15, 2005 Once you lower the car, a set of 17"s looks street worthy (still have a sense of speed over style unless you go with a lightweight 18" that can outperform the 17"). These sizes: 225/45/17 235/45/17 225/40/18 245/35/18 255/35/18 All have a thicker sidewall than stock tires (so you are getting more rubber with a larger tire diameter). So whatever floats your boat is your choice. As for 2004 STi rims and offsets of the OEM specs, you can use them, nothing wrong with them, just dont use 2004 STi Aftermarket specs to be on the safe side unless they fall within the FAQ's specs I listed. As for lowering the car, yea, you can run a 245 wide tire on a correctly offsetted rim. It's the clearance from the tire to the spring perch that you have to worry about (which I personally believe that I did my homework right so 99% of my offset numbers I have posted in the FAQ won't give you a rubbing issue unless I say it would. As for alignment settings, I am still messing with it for Track and Autocross use. The thing with alignment is that it is more variable BASED on the tires size, width, and height. That FAQ would be 6 times longer than the Offset FAQ. I would end up making a preferred alignment for: daily driving (tire conservation) spirited daily driving (all year around) autocrossing/drifting (wet) autocrossing/drifting (dry) track use (wet) track use (dry) It would probably need to extend into tire pressure per set up as well. It's a long process no one wants to read, so just PM me if you need to know about stuff like that, I have a few notes from the short season I have on the GT from last year's autocrossing and track days. Keefe Keefe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roamer Posted January 18, 2005 Author Share Posted January 18, 2005 Thanks Keefe. After doing some follow-up research the problem I see is availability. The appear to be few, if any, 9" rims available for this car, making a 255 a difficult move. Also, 245/35 R18's are quite rare and very expensive, making an 18x8 of limited value. It seems that the best choice is to try and find a nice 17x8 and place a 245/40 on them. That being said, I thought I recalled that you had placed a 255/35 R18 on your car and I was wondering what rims you were able to use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xenonk Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 In actuality, 245/35/18 isnt rare unless your wallet say so Double check some 245/35/18 tires compared to 255/35/18s as some 245s are wider.. yes, you are reading this correctly, they are WIDER. You can do 8.5" wide (nothing wrong with that at all). 9" is really pushing it as you have to find a rim with an offset like so that is mass-produced (good luck on that). I know about a handful of wheel companies that make rims to spec (of which I don't plan on getting my hands into until I find another daily driver and convert the GT into a NASA USTCC competition car in the future) that each wheel is $1000. http://www.fikse.com http://www.hrewheels.com http://www.kodiakmotorsports.com http://www.forgeline.com http://www.iforgewheels.com and a few others that are reputuable as well (JDM would be SSR and VOLK). Yes, I do run a 255/35/18 Toyo T1-S with my 18x8 (51+mm offset) SSR GT-7 2-piece Forged wheels. For public driving, it's no big deal (saves me from road rash, the tire is wider than the rim so the tire gets the rash first before anything else). But if I were to get on the track, I would go with a 225 or a 245 wide tire on 8" rim to get else sidewall flex from the hard turning. 8" with 225 is perfect for a lot of motorsports. The stock suspension wouldnt be able to take advantage of the extra width of anymore of a 245, so basically, you'll watch your tires get eaten up from passive camber wear by driving too many straight roads for daily driving. Keefe Keefe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roamer Posted January 18, 2005 Author Share Posted January 18, 2005 It is definetly my wallet talking, $300+ per is nuts. Any of the wheel companies that you listed are in the ballpark of $800 per wheel, add those $300+ tires and you are well over $4k for wheels and tires. A little rich for my blood and so cost prohibitive that they would torpedo any mods that would actually take advantage of the increased rubber. I may look into CCW wheels which can be custom made and are very reasonably priced. As for the treadwidth issue, I was well aware of the possibility, that's why you need at least a 20mm difference to be worth upgrading. I just don't understand moving from a 215 to a 225. Interestingly, I also picked the SSR GT-7H's as my favorites, they look great on the LGT. However, I don't remember seeing a 17x8 available. I know the guys at tirerack are nervous nellies, but could you request a custom wheel size through them (or one from another fitment)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xenonk Posted January 19, 2005 Share Posted January 19, 2005 The "H" version are the different sizes and different construction. Dont let the actual number of the tire size fool you because there are some 225s that are built like a 245 (see Falken Azenis RT-215s). Take your time in comparing the different tires' specs. They dont call big rims and matching tires "bling" for nothing Keefe Keefe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roamer Posted January 20, 2005 Author Share Posted January 20, 2005 I will, thanks for all the help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.