what looks best? and which rims would you recommend? i don't really know anything about wheels, so any advice would help. not looking too overly expensive. but the gap in the front wheel well is ridiculous. its black if that makes a difference. thanks guys
thanks. i am going to put new rims and tires anyways, but i knew it wouldn't take care of the gap by itself.
17s will handle better, i had 18s on my 2.5 and the gap went no where plus it handled worse then my stock 16's
^yeah, the gap isnt going to decrease much at all. think about it, if you are using the same series tire, you are only going to be decreasing the gap by 1/2 an inch, the other half is going to raise the car up 1/2 inch. and thats all if you are keeping the same series, most likely you will have a shorter sidewall with the 18, so that might negate everything.
i say go with the 17s, less weight, not quite as tall as 18, 18s would make your car substantially slower, because of crappier gear ratio
there is no such thing as 17's handleing better than 18's. that's a faux belief. what determines the handling component from the wheel is the overall weight as it contributes to rotational mass and the tires, their component weight and traction qualities
One more thing to consider. What are the roads like that you drive on? The larger wheel you go with, the more likely you are to damage it due to road hazards, ie potholes, road debris, pedestrians, etc. The larger the wheel, the less rubber you have to cushion/protect it. Wheel construction is going to play a factor too, as it'll equate to both strength and weight. I personally like the look of 17's on a Subaru, especially with a moderate spring drop. I've never been a big fan of the whole "big wheel, rubber band tire" look. I've seen some 18's that I liked, but for my own vehicle I won't go any bigger than a 17 for everyday driving.
if you were talking to me, i didnt mean handling, i meant putting power to the ground, and may i add...it will mess with your speedo
it will not mess with your spedo, only a combination of rims and tires with a cumulative circumference greater than the stock wheels will mess it up as now the circumference on these new wheels are larger. but, if u get larger rims, and smaller aspect wall ratio'ed tires equivalent to stock, the circumference is the same and hence the spedo will give the same factory output.
Actually, this belife is quite true on the street. a 17" tire/wheel will typically out perform an 18". Why? because there is much more sidewall and shoulder. while many think it's a bad thing, it's actually quite good. on a street tire, the side wall will only be so stiff. all your direcional forces other than accelerate and brake will be placed upon the sidewall. by having a larger sidewall, you effectively transfer the force to a larger surface area. because you have a larger surface area, and the same stiffness of the same tire the 17" will typically outhandle the 18" in the corners. This is not totally true though when you run full slicks though, as their sidewalls are so stiff, much of the time you can let all the air out of the tire and not notice an inflation diffrence. thanks to the super stiff sidewall, you can get away with such low profile tires and not loose any grip. i really wish i had the pictures i used as examples of this, but alas, the server they were hosted on went down. it was an SRT-4 with 18" wheels at one of our local autocrosses. his tires rolled so far, the rim of the wheel was practically scraping the ground. it actually had on many ocasions. those front wheels were so chewed up. if you want performance, stick to the 17" wheel. for the bling, 18. keep in mind, an 18" tire will always cost more than a 17". if your driving hard, you'll go through them quickly. and if your not going through them quickly, your not driving hard enough.
well...I'll going with some 18's on my '99 Wagon...225/40/18 as tire size. OMG SO PRETTY! http://www.subydude.com/osc/detailsdoc.php?3090 You gotta put some meaty tires on if you're going to run 18's. Choose the right size and you'll be just fine.
Think of it +1 +2 system. The stock rim size=16" you can keep the stock outside radius(tire not rim) with +1(17) or +2(18). I personally got better traction, and cant tell a speed diff at all. Just buy lightweight wheels. I found about 5 sets I wanted that were less weight than stock
