what's the recommended tire size for 17's? 215/45/17 or 225/45/17? and what are your comments on both. i bought the 215/45/17.

Originally posted by hokusai
what's the recommended tire size for 17's? 215/45/17 or 225/45/17? and what are your comments on both. i bought the 215/45/17.

If I remember right, TireRack recommended 215/45 to me. 225/45 is slightly larger diameter, which has pros and cons, and 215/45 is slightly smaller. Tire rack told me to expect 225's to rub though. I am thinking of getting 225/50 for my stock wheels anyway, just because I think they are more concerned about people *****ing about maybe once in a while getting rub. But, they were correct in telling me that just upgrading the tires will be such an improvement I won't miss the extra treadwidth.

My question would be what car do you drive? GC/GM/GF or a GD/GG car? Becaue the wagons are supposed to be running a 215 and not a 225. I have heard some minor rubbing issues with the 225 on a wagon. But on a sedan, 225s are safe.

GM6.

Hey look, our first "real" senior member! Sweet.

For the GM6 stay with the 215/45R17. I have that on my GC6 right now and I rub a little bit even with the Prodrive setup. But that is only when I go through corners that have like bumps in them. Around smooth corners, no rubbing issues at all.

Originally posted by BAN SUVS
GM6.

If the rim is 7" - 7.5" wide, definately go with 215's. Otherwise you'll get rubbing w/ 225's.

hokusai is driving a GDA. So would that mean 225s would be good? I'm curious too, as well as jealous of his new rims :cool:

Originally posted by Lobster Man
If the rim is 7" - 7.5" wide, definately go with 215's. Otherwise you'll get rubbing w/ 225's.

Damn. I don't think anybody is making a good 215/50R16 yet.

Yeah a 215/50R16 is kind of a weird size. I am not sure anybody makes that size for a high performance tire.

I think w/ a 215/50 your speedo won't be accurate.

If I remember correctly the stock tire size from the factory on the UK 17inch rims is 215/45/17.
That doesn't mean it's the best size though. But that is the size I run.

I have GC body Impreza and I'm running 225/45/17
Falken Azenis didn't have 215 so i had to use 225.
It rubs all four corner when I'm driving aggressively, but otherwise it's fine.
I had 215/45/17 before and it rubbed the rear so I rolled the fender back then.
If you are in GC body you'll rub the rear even with 215 if your car is lowered. Front should be fine with 215.

I'm running 225/45/17, I did b/c I wanted a little higher sidewall. No problems yet.

it really all depends on offset and wheel diameter. gogogo said that if you have a lowered gc, with 215 you'll still get rubbing in the rear, but i have 215s on a 17" wheel and my car (99rs) is lowered about an inch, and i have never once gotten any kinda of rub. however, the wheel is only 7" wide and the offset is +53, so it's a perfect fit.
just my 2c
greg

hmmm I see. Right depends on which rim you are using.
Mine is 17in - 7.5 - 48mm

On GD body, 225 should be perfectly ok as grandmasterchan says.
WRX STi is 225/45/17 from stock.

[the wheel is only 7" wide and the offset is +53, so it's a perfect fit.]

What wheels is that, if I might ask?

k.

225s can have a tendency to rub and so you need to roll your fenders. (not always though). it all depends on what size wheel you are using and what offset you have

Originally posted by Kobayashi
[the wheel is only 7" wide and the offset is +53, so it's a perfect fit.]

What wheels is that, if I might ask?

k.

Stock

Originally posted by Lobster Man
I think w/ a 215/50 your speedo won't be accurate.

215/50 is slightly smaller diameter than stock, 225/50 slightly larger, but neither one iwll make you off by more than 1-2 mph. 215/45R17 is damn close too.

Originally posted by BAN SUVS
Stock

close, it's the 17" UK wrx wheel... great wheel. no complaints. looks a lot better than the stockers, and not too heavy either.
greg

Originally posted by wrx ish
225s can have a tendency to rub and so you need to roll your fenders. (not always though). it all depends on what size wheel you are using and what offset you have

It would also depend on how the tire is made. I mean not every 225 is exactly the same as another 225. Like a Bridgestone 225 will have a different shape with that of a Pirelli 225. Like some tires might be more bulgey(sp?) around the sidewalls while other will be more straight up and down or squarish like the original Pirelli PZeros.

I've got 225/45-17 Toyo T1-S.

Originally posted by Takashi
close, it's the 17" UK wrx wheel... great wheel. no complaints. looks a lot better than the stockers, and not too heavy either.
greg
Hey is the stock UK WRX wheel the JDM STi wheel? Not sure and just wondering.

Originally posted by Takashi
close, it's the 17" UK wrx wheel... great wheel. no complaints. looks a lot better than the stockers, and not too heavy either.
greg

Stock Subaru 16 inchers are also 7" wide with 53mm offset.

Originally posted by Choku Dori
Hey is the stock UK WRX wheel the JDM STi wheel? Not sure and just wondering.

From my understanding it is not the factory wheel in Japan. I believe that in Japan they got a 16inch wheel as being standard.

Originally posted by Choku Dori
Hey is the stock UK WRX wheel the JDM STi wheel? Not sure and just wondering.

If I'm not mistaken, the stock 17inch STi rims are 7.5 inches wide. The UK ones are 7 inches wide.
Also, the STi comes with 225 tires while the UK comes with 215'sif I remember correctly.

Originally posted by Takashi
it really all depends on offset and wheel diameter. gogogo said that if you have a lowered gc, with 215 you'll still get rubbing in the rear, but i have 215s on a 17" wheel and my car (99rs) is lowered about an inch, and i have never once gotten any kinda of rub. however, the wheel is only 7" wide and the offset is +53, so it's a perfect fit.
just my 2c
greg

I havent heard of a stock 17x7 +53, at least for the US market and I cant even think of a 17 wheel that came stock on a 99RS anywhere in the world.

????
k.

just saw your follow up posts. Yep that is a good wheel.

k.

Originally posted by ImprezaRSDriver
From my understanding it is not the factory wheel in Japan. I believe that in Japan they got a 16inch wheel as being standard.

Yep up until this year the GDA got the USDM 16x7" 98-99 RS wheel in kinda a gunmetal color. However the redesigned WRX gets the 17x7" UK WRX wheels(formerly on the JDM B4s.) Hope that clears things up - LOL.

k.

^
What he said.

I ran 215/45/17 tires on my 17x7.5 rims on a 99 2.5RS and i still experienced rubbing in both the front and back wheelwells under heavy load turns and dips in the road. Even with camber dialed out some.

The 225/45/17 tires should work fine in the GDA chassis sedans

Ed

Originally posted by go go go
WRX STi is 225/45/17 from stock.

WRX STi Sedan is 225/45/17.
WRX STi Wagon is 215/45/17.

On a different note, Subaru themselves recommend the 215/45/17 on 17x7 rims, both on the car (driver side doorjamb) and in the user's manual. It also lists that size in the shop manual.

actually it all depends on what brand of tires you are using. some 215/225 tires are wider than others.

for example,

when I was using Bridgestone 215/45/17 RE730s on my volk te37k (17x7.5 +48mm), I have never experienced any rubbing issues. But my friend Kevin w/ the same wheels rubbed big time on his Rossos (same size tires 215/45/17).

Originally posted by Kobayashi
I havent heard of a stock 17x7 +53, at least for the US market and I cant even think of a 17 wheel that came stock on a 99RS anywhere in the world.

????
k.

The shop manual has listed the optional 17x7 (BBS rims ?) as having an offset of 55mm (2.17"). This is the same as the offset of the stock 16x6.5 rims.

For the old boxy body style, I say stay with 215 just to be on the safe side - sure some people have run 225, but unless you have some serious negative camber done to the rear, they are going to rub, and some will have the fronts rub as well. I don't seem to recall a lowered GC/GM that has 225 and doesn't rub without either rolling fenders or put some serious negative camber.