Guide to fitting wheels and tires to the 2011+ WRX

[07BoxerTR]

Honestabe, very nice! The 18x9.5 +40 is a good fit.

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[texascanuck]

Originally Posted by silverex08

Originally Posted by casey oc
Wheel Specs: Work emotion cr Kai's 17x9 +44
Tire and Specs: Hankook sport k104 245/40
Suspension: stock for now. rce/bilstein combo soon. 20mm front, 15mm rear.
Fender Modification: will be rolling rear soon but atm no, no rubbing.
Wheel Spacers: none.
about a 15mm clearance between inner rim/tire and front strut. next tire will probably be 255/40 depending on if clearance changes with rce/bilstein kit. in the second pic the front wheel seems to stick out pretty far, looking at the car now it doesnt seem as much.





What do you guys think about this set up?? Would it look dumb on my 2012 or work?

My guess is that the wheels above are 5x114 - which won't work on the WRX.

[Giibo]

Originally Posted by mpristave

If i'm going to run 245 star specs do I need a 17x8.5 or 9? I assume they would be too big for the stock wheel on '12 wrx?

Reason I ask is I am told they run wide, I will be using them for autocross.

I have 245/45 on my '11 OEM wheels. Fitment is fine. I wanted to go 255/40 but i was told that it would feel sloppy for 17x8.

[Dka67]

Pics?

[sc00by4life]

Originally Posted by Giibo

I have 245/45 on my '11 OEM wheels. Fitment is fine. I wanted to go 255/40 but i was told that it would feel sloppy for 17x8.

245/45 is way too tall. compared to a 255/40, the slop will be fairly similar, but at least gets the benefit of a shorter sidewall.

[LVChef]

Bought some used Advans 18x8.5 +48. Trying to decide on which brand of tires to get, but as for the size...245/40 should be perfect with zero issues am I correct or can I squeeze a 255/35? I guess I'm mostly concerned with inner clearance. I know the stock STI is close to this set up but not 100% sure if I'm missing something or not. I did Google search this and tried reading through most of this thread, but after searching on here I'm still not 100%. Stock suspension 2012 hatch.

[Giibo]

Originally Posted by sc00by4life

245/45 is way too tall. compared to a 255/40, the slop will be fairly similar, but at least gets the benefit of a shorter sidewall.

Actually, I do have 245/40

Originally Posted by Dka67

Pics?

This is all I have.

[jordanc15]

Hey if I buy 18x9.5 wheels 35 offset what sort of tire options am I looking at? The low offset means I probably can't put a meaty tire but what's your guys guess. 245? 255? And good brands to suggest with a fairly cheap price

[Improbus]

Originally Posted by jordanc15

Hey if I buy 18x9.5 wheels 35 offset what sort of tire options am I looking at? The low offset means I probably can't put a meaty tire but what's your guys guess. 245? 255? And good brands to suggest with a fairly cheap price

Just got the Sumitomo HTR ZIII in the 245/40R18 for my new 18x9.5" +38 Grids and I love them so far. Quiet, sticky, look nice, and they won't break the bank either. TireRack actually gave these tires a very good review. Plus they are made in Japan so the quality seems to be quite nice.

[jordanc15]

Originally Posted by Improbus

Just got the Sumitomo HTR ZIII in the 245/40R18 for my new 18x9.5" +38 Grids and I love them so far. Quiet, sticky, look nice, and they won't break the bank either. TireRack actually gave these tires a very good review. Plus they are made in Japan so the quality seems to be quite nice.

Thanks for that. There a little taller than stock though. If anything I'd prefer slightly under stock diameter or equal of course. Anybody know of any with the 25.4 diameter?

[Improbus]

Originally Posted by jordanc15

Thanks for that. There a little taller than stock though. If anything I'd prefer slightly under stock diameter or equal of course. Anybody know of any with the 25.4 diameter?

265/35R18 is 0.2% Shorter than stock. That's about as close as you're going to get but with a +35 and if you are lowered you will need a roll and maybe a slight pull. A 255/35R18 is around 1.4% shorter than stock but the same applies probably a roll and pull. Depends on ride height. The Sumitomo's HTR ZIII come in those sizes as well.

[jordanc15]

Originally Posted by Improbus

265/35R18 is 0.2% Shorter than stock. That's about as close as you're going to get but with a +35 and if you are lowered you will need a roll and maybe a slight pull. A 255/35R18 is around 1.4% shorter than stock but the same applies probably a roll and pull. Depends on ride height. The Sumitomo's HTR ZIII come in those sizes as well.

Ya it's lowered. I'm getting the front and rear rolled on Sunday so I should have plenty of clearance

[JAMM0N]

hey guys can you chime in on the idea that okay i have a stock wrx 2013 and i'm looking for tires.

i live in WI and it snows so i have two sets that i'm looking @ right now

P205/50/R17 General Altimax Arctic (no rims) ~ 300
P205/55/R16 Blizzack WS70 (has rims) ~ 600

i'm planning to lower in the future maybe just a little bit. swaybars, suspension etc... but thats not for a while should i be concerned with the winter tires cause its a different offset?

[animigan]

Update (sorry, I don't have a URL to post pics other than Instagram)
18x9" +45 TE37SL, Conti DW 255/35/18
Stock suspension, could easily fit 265/35

[durtydurt]

Originally Posted by animigan

Update (sorry, I don't have a URL to post pics other than Instagram)
18x9" +45 TE37SL, Conti DW 255/35/18
Stock suspension, could easily fit 265/35

Do you have the rear rolled? I would think with the 255's it would be close but with 265's you'd probably need a roll.

[animigan]

Originally Posted by durtydurt

Do you have the rear rolled? I would think with the 255's it would be close but with 265's you'd probably need a roll.

No roll. Seems like a fair amount of room still. Looks like it needs a drop though, for sure...

[Jdub.csu]

Originally Posted by animigan

Update (sorry, I don't have a URL to post pics other than Instagram)
18x9" +45 TE37SL, Conti DW 255/35/18
Stock suspension, could easily fit 265/35

That offset +42-45 is perfect imho. Shouldn't need a roll in the rears even when lowered

[michaellongle]

Rota D-Force? ive been looking into exhaust and i have been wondering what it is.

Invidia Q300 Subaru WRX STi Cat Back Exhasut Sound Clip - YouTube

Invidia Q300 Subaru WRX STi Cat Back Exhasut Sound Clip - YouTube

[capnpzmp]

Originally Posted by Mach V Dan

The 2011+ Subaru WRX has great big bulged out fenders, just like the STI has had since 2008. We've been getting a lot of questions about wheel and tire fitment on these cars, and I've seen a lot here on NASIOC, so I thought I'd address it.

The bigger bodywork allows for the fitment of wider wheels and tires. Wider tires look cool, and more importantly, they can help generate a lot more lateral grip. HOWEVER, a lot of the questions I get are asking about fitments that are either too low of an offset, too wide of a tire, or some combination of the two. Oh, and there's the bolt pattern problem, too.

First off, some basics: The WRX has a bolt pattern of 5x100 and a hub bore of 56.1mm. The stock wheel is a 17x8" +53 offset with a 235/45R17 tire. That tire size means the stock tire has a diameter of 25.3".

That 5x100 bolt pattern means factory STI wheels WILL NOT fit, since the STI uses a 5x114 bolt pattern.

Now, if you want to fit larger/wider wheels and tires, you'll want to try to keep the wheel offset as close as possible to stock. I'd generally try for an offset near the stock +53. +48 is very common. Depending on how wide the wheels and tires are, though, the offset will have to go lower, or the tire may bump into the strut in the front.

From experience, a 9.5" wide wheel will work at around +40 (give or take a couple of mm). The lower offset allows decent tire clearance on the inside. Steering feel is slightly worse from the lower offset, but it's not terrible. A 265/35R18 tire happens to be within 0.1% of the stock size, and that fits pretty well. (You may have to do minor fender rolling at the back if the car is lowered. It depends on the tire...not all 265/35R18 are created equal.)

Here's an example of this fitment:


18x9.5 +38 Rota Option, 265/35R18 Michelin Pilot A/S

The car above is lowered on Epic Engineering springs. We rolled the rear fenders.




18x9.5 +40 Rota D-Force, 265/35R18 Kumho V700

That's our shop car above. Rear fenders rolled, lowered on Cusco coilovers.

If you still want more meat under the car, you can run a 275 width. We've done several cars with 275/35R18. That's a tight squeeze if the car is lowered. Rolling is definitely required in back.




18x9.5 +40 Rota D-Force, 275/35R18 Dunlop Direzza Z-1 Star Spec

The gray car has Swift lowering springs.


Our shop car with Rays G-Games 99B 19x9.5 +40, Cooper 2XS 275/30R19.

We have not yet tried 285/35R18, for a couple of reasons. One is that the tire is 2.1% larger than the stock 2011+ WRX tire, slightly over our 2% rule of thumb in terms of variance from stock. The other reason is that since the diameter grows along with the width, the clearance problem will get worse. I think that tire would rub at all four corners with any amount of lowering or suspension compression.

I realize I've used some STI cars as examples above, but the WRX bodywork is identical, so for our purposes these are still useful comparisons.

If you want absolutely NO fitment problems, go with a smaller tire, like a 255/35R18. Given an offset between about +40 to +48, there should be no rubbing, even when mildly lowered. Stock STI tires, which are 245/40R18, are also an easy fit.

I mentioned rolling the rear fenders. Customers often ask me about rolling the fronts. They usually do not need to be rolled, but even if you wanted to there's almost no lip up there to roll, and what lip is there incorporates clips that secure the fender liner to the fender. Get rid of those clips and your fender liner is going to have to go. We suggest retaining your fender liners. They keep road debris and moisture out of your car's inner bodywork.

Note that the bigger tires may rub bit of the rear bumper cover. We trimmed that back on some of the cars with 275/35R18 tires.

I see some people with the widebody cars running lower offsets, sometimes much lower, like +30 or +25. I DO NOT recommend doing this. Sure, it looks kind of cool (if that's your thing), but generally you are going to have to go with a SMALLER tire size to alleviate fender contact problems. What's the point of having big wide wheels if your contact patch is the same as stock? Secondly, as the offset gets lower your wheel centerline is getting farther and farther away from the axis of your steering. The steering feel gets messed up -- to me it feels vague and it tends to want to steer left and right on acceleration or braking, due to the wheel trying to pivot around the steering axis. This effect gets worse with lowering.

So, that's my experiences with stuffing big wheels and tires onto the 2011+ WRX. I hope this provides some help when you are shopping for wheels and tires.

--Dan
Mach V
FastWRX.com

good write-up it really helped with my fitment concerns

[Karpediem]

My search isn't working on my tablet so I need to ask if 09 wrx rims will work on a 13 wrx? The 09's already have winter tires on them used for one season, can I just throw them on the car or do they need to be balanced?

[Mach V Dan]

Originally Posted by Karpediem

My search isn't working on my tablet so I need to ask if 09 wrx rims will work on a 13 wrx? The 09's already have winter tires on them used for one season, can I just throw them on the car or do they need to be balanced?

They will fit and work fine. You'll need to register the Tire Pressure Monitor System (TPMS) sensors to the car, if you don't want to have a tire pressure warning light on in the dash. Any Subaru dealer can do that, and most tire shops. (If you live near us, we can do it.) If they are already balanced, changing them to a new car will not change the fact that they are balanced.

--Dan
Mach V
FastWRX.com

[Karpediem]

Originally Posted by Mach V Dan

They will fit and work fine. You'll need to register the Tire Pressure Monitor System (TPMS) sensors to the car, if you don't want to have a tire pressure warning light on in the dash. Any Subaru dealer can do that, and most tire shops. (If you live near us, we can do it.) If they are already balanced, changing them to a new car will not change the fact that they are balanced.

--Dan
Mach V
FastWRX.com

Haha not close to you at all. Thanks for the quick response.

[texascanuck]

Just to add to Dan's post ... another option is the Mach V Awesome wheels 17x9 at +42mm offset. The 255/40-17 tires will be almost the same diameter as the 255/35-18 tires. The 17" tires will have a slightly taller sidewall than the 18" tire but it will be a shorter sidewall than the stock WRX tire. The 17" tire will usually be cheaper than the 18" size and have a slightly cushier ride due to a higher sidewall (assuming same tire models). But the downside is that the 17" tire will usually be heavier than the 18" tire (same brand/model) - and the extra weight is on the outside diameter of the wheel/tire combination - which is the worst place for acceleration. Most people don't care nor will they notifce the difference but it may be something to consider.

[Ian G.]

Originally Posted by Karpediem

My search isn't working on my tablet so I need to ask if 09 wrx rims will work on a 13 wrx? The 09's already have winter tires on them used for one season, can I just throw them on the car or do they need to be balanced?

they only need a balance if you feel a shimy or mild shaking at highway speed. for the TPMS reset/relearn, we do that for free at costco (if theres one near by)

[Asharus]

costco has the equipment to reset subaru tpms? what about mavis?