I have been thinking about purchasing the Pirelli P-Zero Nero M+S and they come in 215/45/17 225/45/17 235/45/17 and 245/45/17 sizes. The wheels that I have been looking at are 17x7. I am having a tough time determining which of the above sizes will fit on this rim and on the car. Additionally, I chose this tire because I am in the military and although I live in Monterey now, I may be sent to Colorado or any other place that I may encounter snow. I am basically stuck with buying a set of all-season tires.

Of course the wider the better, but I don't want any sort of rubbing. The suspension on my 2004 WRX is stock and will remain so. Additionally, I am really interested in the "hyperblack" style of wheels, but I have only really been able to find 3 that I like. The 5Zigen MK-6 the Nakayama Vador and the Nakayama RSX-5. Does anyone know if these are quality wheels? And finally will a 5x114.3mm bolt pattern fit the WRX or do I need to stick with 5x100mm?

So in summary:

1. What is the widest tire that will fit on a 17x7 wheel, 215 or 225 or 235 or 245, and not rub on a stock WRX?

2. What bolt patterns are usable on the WRX, 5x100mm or 5x114.3mm or others?

3. What are your opinions on the quality of these wheels and this particular tire?

Thanks in advance for any help you may be able to lend.

 

you didn't mention whether you have a sedan or a wagon, it makes a differance, so here is the brief version.

if you have a wagon, you're stuck with 215 unless you want to do things like trim fenders. any wider, and they'll rub.

sedans are a bit differant. on a 17x7 wheel, you can run either a 215 or a 225 without it rubbing at all. you're not going to want to mount 235 or 245 tires on a 17x7 rim. in addition to being a bit too big for the rim, they're likely to rub. most people running 235 or 245 rubber have coilovers, and are running camber to accomodate the tire.

don't go messing arround with bolt patterns, stick with stock.

oh, and use the 'search' function, there is a lot of information here about this sort of thing.

 

Sorry I forgot to mention that. I have a 2004 WR Blue WRX Sedan with stock suspension.

So after doing some research it looks as though I can go with a 225/45/17 on a 17x7.5 or 17x8 or even step up to 225/40/18 on a 18x7.5 or 18x8. And of course sticking with a 5x100mm bolt pattern. I suppose a 7" wheel would work with these, but then I wouldn't be able to upgrade to wider wheels when and if I ever decided to change to an aftermarket suspension setup.

I guess the only thing now is to decide on a wheel that I like. I really like the 5 and 6 split spoke designs with a hyperblack, gloss/flat black, or gunmetal colors. I really wish there was a website that I could feed in my wheel sizes and colors into. Tire Rack and Discount Tire have some pretty good choices, but I know there are a lot more out there. Oh well, I guess that is the pain of buying wheels.

Are there any brands that I should stay away from?

 

sounds like you've got a pretty good handle on it now. for five or six spokes, look at Gram Lights. the 57c is a nice, high quality, lightweight 5-spoke. http://www.importhookup.com has a pretty wide selection of rims, so you might check them out as well.

 

Thumbs up for the Gram Light 57c. I have an anthracite set on my RS, and I am very happy with them.