So I have had a lot of different sets of wheels in 7 years of owning the car , Here are some pictures with specs of the many wheel options I have had so far. I always suggest BBS , Enkei , Wedsport , Rays , Advan or companies like Mach V.
General fitment advice on a stock panel wagon , Sedans can go a little more aggressive but fitting 245/255 tires on a 17×9 or 18×9 wheel will require rolling/ pulling of panels. Unless you are doing Autox or HPDE track days I really don’t see a reason to run more than a 225/235 tire on the street.
17/18 inch wheels
7-8.5 inches wide
+40-+53 offset range
215-235 width tire
The logic with this is simple , you avoid rolling panels , rubbing and have many many wheel options in this range while keeping your suspension geometry intact. Popular choices include Version 7 STi wheels , STi BBS and Enkei RPF1s.
So here are some pictures with fitment information
17×7.5 +53 Version 7/8 STi wheels with 225/45/17 Potenza RE11 Tires
17×8 +44 Rays CE28n with 235/45/17 Potenza RE11a tires
17×9 +42 Mach V Awesome with various 245/255 tires
18×8.5 +53 STi RA-R wheels with 245/40/18 Dunlop SP Sportmaxx
18×9 +35 Enkei RCT4 with 245/40/18 Continental Sports
A little too aggressive unless you are ok with rolling the hell out of your fenders
Hey Joey,
Thanks for sharing this.
I had a EUDM 2002 wrx GG like you but lowered on Eibach springs, with 10cm spacers now on top of the struts to help with mudbutt :).
Anyway, tried 225/40 r18 with ET35 and was fine in the front but scraped against the rear lip of the fender. But slightly, as in i feel like if i had the same setup with a cm higher offset i think id be fine?
Id like to keep my 225/40 pz4’s and im determined to find a 18″ wheel that’ll fit.
Do you think, say a 18×8 or 18×7.5 et50-45 would work?
Thank you!
I have found dropping below a +40 offset makes fitment a nightmare for the wagons , Definitely target an 18×8 +45 to +50 wheel it will fit pretty easily. Also adding some negative camber will help a lot too.
Okay, sweet I’ll shoot for the 45-50ET range 🙂 I’ve got a brand new set of Pz4 that I got for a sweet deal. I definitely don’t want to deal with any rubbing etc and want a functional car 😀
Fender rolling is out of the question as they salt the roads here like crazy and I don’t want to deal with rotting fenders again 😀
I’m not sure how I could add negative camber? Maybe you mean the specific plates? We don’t have many options here as parts are really scarce and expensive when something does pop up.
Will these offset sizes be okay without the camber adjustments? We have very limited parts availability here in The Czech Republic.
It’s really nice to know that you are certain 45-50 will fit 🙂 And they should have plenty of space to bounce up and down, throughout the spring/shock range and not bump anything.
I have a bunch of pictures of running 17×8+44 wheels with a 235 tire and it fits. I was running a lot of camber but an 18×8 +50 should fit very easily with a 225 tire.
As for parts you probably can order from RCM in the UK or maybe Subi performance in Germany
https://subi-performance.com/en/
Sweet, thanks for the link. We do have some parts here, I meant more of the used market, etc. The new parts from a couple specialty stores here are about twice to what you’d pay in the US for example, yet we make about 4 times less 😀 It’s crazy.
Anyway I don’t want to annoy you as you’ve really helped but I just want to confirm since you mentioned the +50. Would +51 to +45 be okay or is the 45 too much with a 225? I found a few rims around that offset and then some rally lookin ones around the 48 mark. P1’s would be cool I think they’re a 7.5j and around 53 or 46 maybe?
You’re in the states right?
Yeah I am in the states , Those offsets are all generally safe as oem STi wheels are 17×8 +53. P1s are awesome my dad had them on his Wrx back in the day.
Alright, cool thanks.
I know the USDM and EUDM 01-03 STi’s had a 17×7.5 ET53 and then the next batch had those BBS ones with a relatively high offset but the bugeye wagon as you know has a much smaller rear area for fitment.
Okay, sweet, 45-50 it is then 🙂 Now to hunt. Not much of a used market now in our 5×100 here but I’ll be searchin’
Looking forward to your future posts and thanks for helping guys out like me who feel stuck and the only living soul with this car for hundreds of Km around 😀
P1’s are amazing! Timeless! I had them on my Blob GG back when I lived in WA state. Here, I just spoke to someone who had a scratched/rallied up and curb bumped set and he wanted 700 bucks! Getting rare now I guess.
Cheers!
Looks like I’ll be grabbing a used set of Sparco Pro corsa 18×8 +45 in matte black. So I’m hoping it all fits nicely 🙂