[Invisiguard]

Okay bro,

Im running 18X8s with 42mm offset and 225/40s with no rubbing, ever. Im dropped to about .5" gap in the rear and 1" gap in the front, you mention not wanting to use coil-overs to avoid rubbing but since coil-overs are adjustable, they are exactly what you DO want to avoid rubbing, with conventional lowering springs your stuck with whatever height they lower your car to and you have to chose your wheels accordingly, with coil-overs you have alot more flexibility on what size/offset/tires you run and can set your ride-height perfectly around them :wink:

Also, and I know your not going to want to hear this, but 225/40s are going to work all around better on 8" wheels than 235/40s. First of all, the 235s are .5" taller than the 225s(width is not the only thing that makes you rub!) this not only sucks for gearing and rotational inertia, but the WRX is already WAY too high off the ground, even when lowered, anything that raises it more is counter productive IMHO. Also if you just want a 235 because its wider than a 225 forget it, with both of them on an 8" rim you will be getting the same contact patch out of either tire, the 235s wont even look wider! I had those 245/40/17s shoe-horned on 7.5" rotas, they fit alright and were at least the same diameter as the 225/45/17s but these 225/40s handle better and yes, LOOK WIDER than the 245s ever did, just look at the 225/40s in the pic od the OZ wheels above, yes those are 225s.

Anyhow, just had to pass along my own personal experience, I too wanted the 245s because I thought the would look nice and fatter back there than 225s, they didnt so I got rid of them. If you REALY want to get something wider under there I would try what I mentioned on the other forum and find some 18X8.5s and fit 255/35s on there, they're the right diameter and would just look sick, you would probably need coil-overs though to get the ride height set correctly to them

[Invisiguard]

heres my setup, I would post other close up pics but the filesize limit has been reached on this post :-?

BTW, these are JDM Stich 3-piece 18X8" 42mm offset, on top of that Im running 5mm H&R spacers/studs up front and stilll no probs with rubbing ,if anything its still closer in the rear.

[UberSTI]

First of all your car looks very clean Invisiguard. i don't know how you kept from rubbing your rear fender with a 42 offset unless you did not get an alignment and removed your rubber fender edge guard. But I guess you have achieved it. So add that one to the database of wheel offsets we can use. I guess the range has gone from 51 to 42 on an 8" rim. As for my car the rubbing only occurred after I had an alignment because the rear wheel's camber gets higher after you lower the car.

By the way, that is my WRX with the OZ's and those are 235/40/18's. You are not correct about the width not being wider on the 235/40's versus the 225/40's. A 235 is only .3" taller but is .4" wider. Just right in my mind. Look at the pics! To each his own though.

My WRX's wheels are inset more close to factory and Invisiguard'a are more flush (looks awesome by the way you're lowering looks much better) I was trying to achieve a more flush look but came out conservative. Not many car manufacturers like to have their wheels flush with the wheelwell for some reason. So an offset decrease (from 53 to 45 or 42 in this case) is acceptable. Just keep in mind that the width of the rim affects the offset.

As for the tires, it may be better going with 225/40 to be safe on the 7.5 or 8" rim. Or you could chance it and go the next step up... 245/35's which is only slightly smaller in diameter than stock.

Learn as much as you can then take the plunge when you feel right man! I took a chance on my setup and am not dissappointed.

[Invisiguard]

Originally Posted by UberSTI

By the way, that is my WRX with the OZ's and those are 235/40/18's. You are not correct about the width not being wider on the 235/40's versus the 225/40's. A 235 is only .3" taller but is .4" wider. Just right in my mind. Look at the pics! To each his own though.

not dissappointed.

heh, ya know I saw those exact same pics(what I thought) a whiles back and swore they said they were 225s, after I posted this I looked at those pics again and wasnt sure but I didnt feel like going back and editing my post, ha busted! oh well

when I was looking at 18s I couldnt find any 235s that were only .3 taller than any of the same tire in 225, all of them I saw were .4 and .5, I do admit that was a bit of a deal-breaker for me, I would rather run a bit smaller diameter than any amount taller but thats just me, and yes I realize 235s are technically wider than 225s(of course) but rim width directly affects tire width and I still assert that on an 8" wide rim your not getting any more contact patch from a 235 as a 225 since the design rim width for a 235/40 is 8.5" and the design rim width for a 225/40 is 8" btw, what tires are you running?

Where in the bay area are you? You ever at UCKK? Im sure we'll run into each other at some point and you can check out my setup, I really thought it would rub too which is no prob since we have a fender roller at our shop but so far it has not been a problem unless I have a full tank of gas and all my work equipment in the trunk(150+lbs) and hitting a sharp up hill turn very hard, if this sounds like a very specific situation it is, its the on-ramp from the 101 to highway 12, this was the only time and situation where it rubbed once, but considering the circumstances and the amount of weight in the back I dont consider this a "rubbing issue" I hit the back roads around here hard and frequently and if it ever rubbed I would not hesitate to roll them out. And yes I am running about 1.5- camber F/R, I guess if I set it back to spec it might cause problems, but I really like where its at for how I drive, treadwear be damned! :wink:

[Invisiguard]

Originally Posted by NORCALSTI

im not running coilovers so i should have a ton of room on the inside to the strut that i can use since im not using coilovers?

Oaky just noticed what you posted here, this clears up a bit about your concerns with coil-overs. Where did you hear that our stock springs/struts allowed for bigger wheels/tires than using coil-overs??

[NORCALSTI]

i used to work at costco tire center i still mount buddys tires there and recently done 295 25 22 yes 25 series.

but here we go
when i had my old truck 225 40 18 and 235 40 18 when mounted was less than 1/2 inch taller more like 1/4 inch and also if lets say a tire is 1 inch taller it will not lift the car 1 inch only 1/2 inch at fenderlip. ive done this numerous time.

perfect example guy went from 235 60 15 to 255 60 15 and thats 1 inch difference at tire but once mounted it will only lift up the truck 1/2 inch at fenderlips so lifting the car way up high it wont do that.

also guys using coilovers say that you have less space on the inside fenderwell.

anyway i look at it i think im going to have to wait. i want 0 rubbing issues. dont want to roll anything just my preference.

now if 18x7.5 37mm offset works and i can see its close to the edge then 18x8 with 45mm offset should pull it in a little more correct?

[UberSTI]

Ahhh, so you're at -1.5 degrees in the rear... that may be the difference... I was around -2 before I got my alignment to -1 and now have rubbing after the alignment. But only when cornering hard and with extra weight.

well, i'm no engineer, so i can't say what .4" will do to traction but it's probably negligable. I'm more concerned with the look on an 18" wheel. I'll be using those for the street and 17's for the track. I've never seen what a 225/40 looks like up close maybe I'll get a chance to see yours sometime Invisiguard. Never heard of UCKK. I'm from Mt. View/San Jose area.

Norcalsti, as for the fitment on your car I think you shouldn't worry about .4" if you're going for look. But if you lower your car and get an alignment to -1.5 - 0deg in the rear you're going to rub the rear fender edge. It only rubs the plastic/rubber guard and doesn't bend the metal lip edge. However, you can combat this with a -2deg camber in the rear... of course this will cause some non-excessive premature tire wear. The best way to get the flush look is to roll the rear fender. The front is easier to fit i think. Sorry there's no easy answer in this one. But I would not recommend a 7.5 with a 37mm offset. It doesn't add up when I do the calculations. But if you want to be the guinea pig I would like to see what happens.... take lots of pics!! :P

Let us know what you get... and again I will post those pics when I get mine on my STI.