I have been reading a lot of the forums here, but I have really gotten more confused in doing so, please bear with me!

I drive an 02WRX Sedan, Stock with the warrenty going out next oil change.

2 times a year I do a really aggressive drive with a pack of drivers. First time I discovered that this car is quite fun at doing powerslides. A lot of drivers started talking about the back end sliding a bit thru the turns (yes i hit the gas hard going out of turns). The 2nd drive was a really nice day and i got pretty nervous on the roads because we were hitting them even faster and my car was having a really hard time on the corners. Afterwards one of the drivers gave me a set of used Perelli tires and i finished them off in my 3rd drive with them. This time my car felt great and finaly I felt an equal to superior (80+ on 35mph turn signs). This spring I want better.

I am currently looking at OZ Supperleggera and will make sure I get a good tire with it. I doubt I can afford 18" rims. My questions really more lie in sizes for performance.
TireRack shows 17X7 and 18X8 but I have been reading about peopld doing things like 17X8 and 17X7.5 and although I am not even certain if OZ makes that for this car I am struck with the question of, does it improve handling and does it fit the car? I have seen lots of warnings about if you do suspension changes and stuff as well as rubbing. After rims and tires my next project I think will be exhaust and then braking/suspension. I am not one for drastic changes and never plan on doing things like body kits or anything, but more things like installing better performance suspension and vented brakes.
What would you recommend for me? keep to the 17X7 or look for a wider rim? would I have repercusions either way with upgrading to nice brakes? how about if i changed my suspension and lowered the car an inch?

as for tire sizes. Ive got the understanding of the numbers, but the tires I put on from my friend were 205/50-16, thus a smaller diameter wheel. did this help me or were the tires just better dispite? Is this something I should do again? less sidewall, less flex right? my speedometer was more accurate with the tires! if I go with 17" would i be a terrible person if i went with 40?

Ive been told it would be better to stick with stock rims, get nice tires and put the money into other things, which ive been thinking might be a really good idea. My main goal is to turn like a madman, after that get some extra HP, then brake better. one of the better handling cars seemed to do good with 16" rims and nice tires though my friend rides some nice 17" rims man. No I wont say what cars they drive but alas its not subaru.

Im really trying to figure this all out and hope to get some good info! Thanks!

BTW, first post - username=plate (did I give myself away!?!?)

 

I've got superleggera's on my 99 OBS, great looking wheels, and they seem pretty strong. As far as sizes go, since you've got a sedan, I think you can fairly safely go to 235 width tires, though 225 would definently be safe. And theres always people with even wider such as 255 (and I guess Krinkov is now gonna put on some 265s). Look at physical width for what will actually fit, though that will also depend on the offset and wheel width. I believe that if you want to go above a 225 width tire that you should look for a rim thats 7.5" wide (theres always ppl w/ less, but I believe thats the min recommended for most tires). As far as what tires, that requires more info. All season, max summer, etc. (will you see snow? rain? or are these dedicated to dry?). Also whats most important? noise? traction? crispness? I'd check tireracks reviews for info on which tire is best for what your looking for, or post more specifics. Also check the sticky at the top of the tire forum, it contains some useful info.

As far as what sized rim, I believe that depends a lot on you. Over-inflating the tires by a bit will make the sidewalls feel stiffer. Also, different tires have differnt stiffnesses for the sidewall. I guess the RE070's and Advans that come on evo's are pretty good in this respect, and along with the Azenis sports are probably the end-all for street performance tires (max street legal) sticking with the 16s should work fine, and can actually have some advantages. With wheel/tire combos, everything is basically a tradeoff. Bigger rims=less sidewall but tend to sacrafice weight and or strength, and almost always rotational mass. Alsoas you decrease the sidewall, it becomes easier to damage the rim (especially as you get lighter rims).

As far as your plan, sounds like its pretty sound, and its probably very good that you know basically what you want. I definently think that upgrading tires first is the est plan! Keep in mind though that the stickier tire you get, the less forgiving it is. A cheapo tire will allow you to easily recover from a spin, but if you used racing slicks, most pro-drivers would only succesfully recover if lucky. After the tires, a rear swaybar could prove very helpful, then some other suspension goodies.

Hope that all made sense and helped some

 

kravdra, you made good points, so I'll just elaborate a bit on your post.

For a sedan, either 225s or 235s work well, but the best size for having a wide choice of tires is 225/45R17. For most performance tires, the physical tread width loss compared to a 235 is minimal, .2-3" at most. 225/45 is also much more common (it's a common OE size) and therefore cheaper. When you choose tires for your 17s, buy the best tire you can afford. If you have to skimp on your mod budget, do it elsewhere. I can't stress that enough.

The OZ Superleggeras are great wheels. Light, strong, and not overly expensive. The downside is that they are 17x7. I personally wouldn't put 18s on a Subaru. You can run 225/45R17 tires on a 17x7 if you want, it will work fine, although the ideal width is 7.5" for 225 tread. If you want options, there are lots of 17x7.5" Rotas that are less expensive than the OZs, and most of them will clear larger brakes like Stoptechs. My personal favorite wheel right now for competition type use is the SSR Competition 17x7.5. It's a bit more expensive than the OZ SL, but they only weigh 12.5 pounds apiece! That goes a long way toward making up the difference in extra weight you'll add with stiffer, stickier tires.

When you've settled on your wheels and tires, the next step I would take is just springs and a RSB. I personally recommend Prodrives, STi Pinks, Whiteline Controls, Eibach ProKit, and Espelir ASDs for stock struts, and pick any 20-24mm sway bar and endlinks that you want to run. Those few mods will make a huge impact on your ability to chase down your friends on those drives.

The next most important thing is brakes. Now, adding bigger brakes won't cut down your stopping distance, but by increasing your fade resistance, you can brake harder and deeper than your friends on the corners, and that's a much bigger advantage than horsepower. Using my brakes properly let me chase down a lot of modded stock turbo WRXs at Thunder Hill and Buttonwillow in my ~175hp RS. You can do the same thing. If you can, I would get Stoptechs. If you can't swing that much money, then I'd go with the Subaru cast iron 4 pot calipers and some aggressive pads. Once you've got the turning and stopping down, then start adding power.

Lastly, the best way to get faster is to go to driving schools and compete in autocrosses and the like, as well as instructor time on race tracks. A fast driver in a mediocre car can embarrass a mediocre driver in a fast car.

 

Very nice responses. To answer your question about the tires, I didnt want to say what tire I will be getting because I dont know if something new will be out by spring but I do plan on getting a max performance tire (Michellin Pilot Sport PS2 or the T/A KDwere the ones ive been looking at the most) , which really, I have been more planning on top notch tires than rims in general. the SSR tires do seem like a good choice, I think i was falling toward the oz sl because of the 10spoke, but the 7.5 factor ive been wondering about. I am guessing the 17X17.5 SSR Comp rims also would be good for the stoptech brakes you were mentioning.

since reading your responces I went looking at the various sizes of tires, and it does seem that a good size really is the 225/45 17. I had been wondering about a 225/40 17 but ive mostly seen 235/40 17 which is wider and then less sidewall, but i think the 225 would be a safer route i guess.

I agree about the braking. with the stock tires, my braking hard before the turn and then accelerating thru the turns would always have me right up on the persons bumber thru every turn, but would have my back side slipping a bit, but with the better tires the slipping went away and i needed to brake a little less and had more grip thru the turns. some of the really tight turns we hit had the ABS kicking in hard while trying to stay in our lane and I think my pads are going to have an early death (which I like to think of it as a good thing, because I tend to not replace till its broken normaly).

between raising 2 kids and working on my other new hobby of novice audiophile (movie guy really, just got my widescreen and been working on my B&W speakers, christmas should finish up most all of it YAY), my fun cash has lots of places ago and i run short on it all too fast!

What would happen if i stayed stock rims and got the Michellin Pilot Sport PS2 and then worked on the brakes instead? I really do not mind the stock rims if there really isnt a performance increase to really be felt when tires do it all, then I could just get brakes instead this spring... would the stoptech brakes even fit? I will see if I can find that answer.

Driving classes are something I have always wanted to do, I live in the MN, any good recommendations for it or is it more common than I imagine? My wife would like lessons too as well! or at least to get to drive an ultra car like a porsche or a lamborgini.
Thanks again!

 

The biggest issue with the stock wheels is the lack of brake upgrade options. The only calipers that clear the stock wheels are the Perrin/Wilwoods. The old version was very flexible and had awful feel under hard braking, but that wa apparently remedied with the new version. RS 16x7 stock wheels from 98-01 will clear the Subaru 4 pots, which I own and love. But preferably, you'd want to get Stoptechs. Most 17" wheels fit them, and there's lists compiled that you can check. The other weakness of the stock WRX wheels is their skinny width. You can wrap 225/50R16s around them, but you lose some sidewall stiffness, and/or the tread will ulge a little bit and reduce your overall grip. However, don't underestimate the effect of something like the Stoptech Stage 2 kit- new slotted rotors, better pads, stainless steel lines, and quality fluid. That will help a whole bunch, but I recommend getting beefy calipers too for that much more thermal capacity.

 

1k a wheel for breaks, and about 500 a wheel for rims+tires, heh. $$$ spent most the night reading up on those breaks though, pretty wicked. Ive got the winter to see for sure if the combo all works together, thanks for the help!

 

Yea, stock RS wheels would work well. Or you could look at some STi take-offs. If you want a cheapish wheel thats still nice, you should look at the rota's, great selection and prices. But if your short on money (why were you considering superlegeras?) the stock wheels should work fine. I'd wanted the comp's (awesome weight and perfect width but expensive) but got a pretty good deal on my OZ's (which were my close second) so went with them instead. Had that deal not come along, I probably would've gotten some rota's instead.

As far as your 235/40 vs 225/45 comment. the latter number is just the aspect ratio, so rather than a difference of 5, theres only about a 2% difference, so although your statement is correct, the difference is minimal, way less than say the difference between a 16 and 17 wheel. I don't kno why I'm commenting on this since I'm sure you know, but...

As far as performance benefits go, I can tell a difference between my new ones and old ones. However my old ones are 15 inchers with totally worn out all seasons while my new ones are the 17" OZs with max performance summer tires.

I totally agree with the driving school idea. As far as finding one, I don't really know. I'd find a racetrack near you and either look on their website and/or contact them. I'd look for an HPDE event ~$200-$400 but a defensive driving school might be more useful/educational, but they also tend to cost more.

Hope that wasn't totally useless rambling!