An STi wagon would still have the same issues as the WRX wagon, as all STi wagons have in the past- the rear fenders are what's holding you back. The fronts are the same as the sedan. You *can* fit a 19" wheel under there- the problem is tire sizing. I don't know if there's a 205,215, or 225 width tire that manages to stay under 25.1" tall, which is as big as you can go. You can't fit 235s without some amount of fender work regardless of rim size.

kidatari, thanks for the helpful comments.

helladumb, you need to leave the flamethrower in the politics forum. The day you signed on to this board, you didn't know **** from shinola either, so cut the new guys some slack.

 

ok... so now i'm getting somewhere. just today friends from subaru informed me on the rear fender being my trouble spot. sooo, i always liked the look of the sedan with its wider fenders, but always was a wagon junky. the idea to put the sedan fenders on came about and well as easy as it is to replace front quarter panels, the back was still the issue. has anyone in this forum done a conversion on their wagon? as far as going with a narrower tire... the 225's i looked at today were all 25.2" down to 25.0" what width do i need to step down to inorder to make this all work? the 8" will fit as small as a 225 right? but if i step down to a 215 i have to switch over to a 7.5" or a 7"? this is sooo annoying. p.s. anyone selling some 18" volk SE37K.

 

A 225/40R18 with the proper offset would work. I'd stick to a 7.5" wheel if possible, but an 8" should work okay. Make sure you get a nice big offset to keep the wheels inboard and you might not have to do any fender rolling at all.

 

I wasn't being overly harsh...just trying to save him a future of pain, suffering, embarrasment, and crying over shreaded tires .

 

ok, i know everyone said it couldn't be done... but i had the rims and tires. i had to do it. we mounted 19"x8" Angstrom Precision wheels onto 235/35/19 falken ST115 tires. i was only able to take a small shot of the one rim with my phone camera but it is what it is. we mounted front and back and found absolutely no sign of any rubbing troubles. the rear had more than 1/4" between the shock strut and tire and the fronts cleared full rotation of the wheel. my question now is... am i missing something? is there something not obvious to the naked eye that is going to deter me from going ahead with this project? one issue is lowering... it has become out of the question, unless i want to spend money to lower maayyybbeee a 1/2". Get back to me... this project goes forward tomorrow afternoon if i don't hear otherwise. you guys have been good to me lately, keep the helpful hints coming.

 

I told you they would fit!

You may want to search on rolling the fender lip, etc, to see how folks made a little more room for clearance.

Hey, so is it just the photo, or has your fender already been repainted?

 

evidently there is this strip of molding (rubber/plastic) that covers the rear fender that can/needs to be removed, which will give an extra 1/4" there. i've talked amongst quite a few of my friends about the whole rolling the fenders issue. some mention heating it and rolling it back, yet because of a chance of the paint cracking some have mentioned to just cut it. not too sure about that all yet. my car is still entirely its stock mexi-pearl black (sorry... but its friggin gold in the beating sun). so no painting of the fenders. i'm still waiting for that insured driver to hit me hard enough to get my car repainted, yet no damage to myself. i want a straight gleaming black car again. holler back ya'll.

 

What's the offset on those wheels? I'm gonna guess 44-46?

 

i thought the manufacturer said 48 or 50... gotta get back to you on this tomorrow though when i meet up with him. but back to my last post... are there any little hidden problems i am going to have? or is rubbing the whole deal?

 

Just rubbing, plus if you go to too low of an offset, you get increased wheel bearing wear. But if you're at 48 or 50 you're fine.

 

are there such set springs that will lower me only a 1/2"... for that stiffer/sportier ride? or do i need to just go straight into tie bars and strut mounts to stiffen up the roll?

 

Strut bars and mounts have nothing to do with stiffening up roll resistance. For that you need big sway bars and stiffer springs. You can also use some Ground Control sleeves to get a stiffer ride without much lowering.

 

so i was considering having my guy make me a set of 18x8s... what i came to realize tho, is with the proper fitted tire, i'd be running the exact same size diameter tire and width. what the hell? i'd have to run a 225 (stretched) to get an entire 1/3" shorter height in diameter and a 1/4" narrower width. is it worth it? will this allow me to lower the car with sport springs or am i just kidding myself all over again? help me out. this goes down today with 19's or wait two weeks for a new set.

 

Wait... you are trying to fit 19" wheels on a wagon, and yet you are complaining that there are gold flakes in your paint? Most people out there with 19"s would KILL for gold-flake paint (and some neon lighting, and some vinyl flame graphics, and a really loud BOV, and a roof scoop, and...)

Heh. I'm just having a little fun at your expense -- putting 19" wheels on a wagon is going to make it look like a Hot Wheels car, and I'm speaking from experience; I've got a parking-lot full of bad car experiments at my workplace (stupid college kids) and gold flakes in the paint is the LEAST of their sins...

For insurance to pay for a repaint of your car, you'd have to damage about 70% of the paint, which means rolling your car -- not an easy way to get a car painted on the cheap. Hey, you could do like Sport Compact Car did and just paint the entire car with Krylon Flat Black...

 

So what offset were the wheels? B/C my SSRs(Comps,et 51, IIRC, on 225/45/17 S-03s) rub when turning right. BTW you could go with 215/35 or 225/35/19s.