After making a trip to my local dealer and plunking down my deposit on a WRX this morning, the upgrade options have my head swimming. As I'm new to the Subaru arena and after reading Sport Compact Car mag mention a relatively unique bolt pattern for the WRX wheels, my questions are these:

1 - can roughly $2500 for the 17" wheels from the dealer be correct, and if so, does this count any credit for the factory 16"'s?

2 - if I were to go aftermarket for the 17"'s, would the dealer credit me for the factory wheels if I brought the aftermarket one's to them for install when I took delivery?

3 - Can anyone recommend some quality/proven names to go with for Saftermarket 17"'s given Subaru's bolt pattern (if this is even an issue), and what I might expect to pay?

I appreciate in advance everyone's help in beginning the journey into WRX bliss!

The Factory 17s are indeed overpriced, but they are good wheels.

Aftermarket you should probably first look at OZs and Speedlines for good quality but inexpensive Impreza wheels. There are many other manufactures though too.

Check-out some of the aftermarket suppliers in the links section. Mike at SPD is great, as are Rallispec, I've had great experiences with both.

& congrats on the order... great choice!

I too suffered heart failure the price I was
quoted was $750 per wheel not including tires.

I spoke to Mike at SPD as well and will be ordering 18" OZ wheels from him. Including tires the set will be less than 1/2 of the factory BBS rims.

Subaru lost the sale.

I will be buying 18" oz p1's from SPD also much better deal than the 17' option from subaru, also you won't look like everyone else

Don't go for 18's though. They're to big. You'll get better ride and performance out of 17's.

thanks for everyone's input so far on this, I can tell already I'll be a frequent reader of this board-
does anyone have a guess whether the dealer would credit the price of the factory wheels if I brought the aftermarket wheels to install when I pick it up? Or I would I be just flat out those $$$'s?

All rumors so far say that you will have to keep the stock wheels as well, they won't buy them back. Thats ok if you need an extra set of wheel for snow tires. If you live in a warm climate though, you're SOL.

I am sure that as long as Subaru has continued to make nice light stock wheels that there will be a thriving market for the purchase of them. It was that way with the stock RS wheels. Weighing only 16 lbs they were a wanted commodity, fetching an average of $100 a wheel, give or take a little. You have to remember that alot of WRX owners will be mounting high performance summer tires so they will need something to mount snow tires on. Although with the open spoke design of the new wheels I know they will be a little annoying due to the fact that snow will get inside the wheel causing vibrations throughout the car while driving. Sure all you have to do is poke all the snow out but it can be annoying especially when ice has formed. Also many WRX owners will need something to mount R compound tires for AutoX and track events.

Can someone tell my why SOA is not offering the gold and silver 17" wheels UK and Australia are getting?

<IMG SRC="http://www.subaru.co.uk/mshow/detailed/goldwheel.jpg" border=0>
This would be a great option to have.

S.

I'm sure they will next year once they notice that nobody bought the BBS option.

Just e-mailed www.tirerack.com (http://www.tirerack.com) to ask them to cook up a WRX sedan/wagon profile for trying on wheels with on their site.
...maybe if several of us do so, they will, and how much fun will that be? http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/biggrin.gif
Oh, and let them know which wheels you are interested in buying, that should help motivate them!
Thanks

Could also try www.tires.com (http://www.tires.com) as well!

I just e-mailed tirerack too! I advise everyone to do so, and perhaps we'll see a profile for our WRXen in just a few weeks!

-- ConeMasher

I have also heard that the dealers will not buy back the 16" wheels. This is fine because I'll need the rims for Blizzaks in the winter. And I also agree, the 17" wheels are nice but overpriced. Wonder if any of the Volk forged rims come in the right offset for scoobies? Anybody riding Volk TE-37's or otherwise?

i just cancelled the wheel option on my order (yellow sedan /w differential cover). Being a dealer of performance parts, i was oh so shocked at the price of the additional wheels.. Even if they were $350 per wheel, that's aweful expensive (even for the bbs line). I'm checking with my manufacturers now about which wheels will work with the subaru's, since i refuse to pay that much for such an option..
dan

Yeah..you can get Volk racing TE37s for the WRX. 17 x 7.5 +48 offset, or 18 x 7.5 +48 offset. I'll looking to order a set of white 18s for mine. I think they look good with the Deep Blue paint.

Zetecdan, $350 is not expensive for BBS wheels. $350 is the average price for a decent wheel for the RS (read not heavy and has the correct offset). Good wheels are expensive, cheap wheels are not. volks are made in Impreza-friendly offsets, but they're around $500 a piece.

Julian

Well, it looks like the Subaru BBS option wheels will be about $500 apiece.

Are OZ Prodrives and OZ P1s the same wheels? Also, wouldn't it be worth getting a 17x7.5 or 17x8 rather than a 17x7?

Anybody know what the option BBS's are supposed to weigh?

Would love to see what the RH-evolution CP-10's would look like on this car they look great, are 17#'s for the 17" wheels.
Anyone seen a price on these?
Thanks

I called on the OZ prodrive's at tirerack....22lbs....damn! I am pretty sure I am thinking about volks - about 14lbs 17". Does anyone know of any 17" light weight rims that come in a "gun metal" color?

If anyone needs volk or bbs, let me know, I have a shop that should be able to get very good prices...especially on bbs...he says the dealer is practically begging him to start pushing them. If we managed to figure out a way to order a bunch Im sure we'd really get hooked up.

superflycustoms@hotmail.com

Id definitely interested in grey volks...not too keen on the white ones.

I called Tirerack about availble 17" wheels and they quoted me ASA JS1's (18lbs) for $159 and OZ SL's (14lbs) for $289. The ASA's with RE730's would be $1159 to my door.

Whattya think? I'm not familiar with ASA's, but they are decently light and the price is nice.

No doubt the TE-37's are great wheels. But have you seen their new GT-P?
<IMG SRC="http://www.volkracing.co.jp/wheel_jpg/volkracing/gtp_cc.JPG" border=0>
Now that's a mean looking wheel. Unfortunately I don't think the 41-44 mm offset on the 17x8 will fit. The 17x7 has a 5-bolt with 50mm offset though.

The 17 inch P1 wheels weigh 17.5 lbs! Its not in the same league as the Volk and BBS forgies, but that is light for a 17 inch wheel.

Also bear this in mind when you are spending BIG bucks on wheels... If you are driving them on the street every day it is only a matter of time until they get curbed, banged up, scratched, run over potholes, etc...

Denial is strong, but the truth is that something will probby happen to them...

On the street I think ultralight wheels are a bit of a waste. Now, on the track or an autocross is a completely different matter http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/wink.gif

JMHO!

[This message has been edited by kelley nelson (edited January 31, 2001).]

Actually, I've been running BBS RC's on my current car for 3 years now and they look as good as the day I got them. A couple of very minor scratches, but that's to be expected. No curbing, gouges or dents, though, and I have used them hard. You just need to be a little aware when you are parking, but other than that there is nothing to it.

Hey subaruForLife, the usually reliable people at Tire Rack were eejits when they told you that a 17" P1 weighs 22 lbs. The real number is 17.5 lbs. Unless they meant with a tire mounted, but then 22 lbs is on the low side...

Just for clarification.

Oh, and OZ wheels are excellent. Strong as heck, light (15.5 lbs for the Superleggera, which is coming in Scoob-friendly offset), and look great. Can you tell I have a set of P1s? http://www.i-club.com/ubb-files/smilies/smile.gif

Kevin

Ginseng - Did you get that pic of the GT-P's of the Volk site? That page doesn't seem to work for me. Do you have pics of the GT-N's and GT-A's? Thanks.