Excercise caution if fitting lowering springs (eibach or prodrive) if you have 18s fitted!!!

I have prodrive springs fitted to my MY03 wagon.

Previously my 18" OZ Prodrives were fitted with 215 40 18s, which came off my STi RA.

No probs whatsoever, even when seriously low on the back end towing etc.

Just fitted SO2s, 225 40 18s, which is the correct profile.

They rub like a bitch on the rear.

Rather disappointed. I now have the choice of selling the set of tyres and replacing, or not towing or having rear seat passengers.

Not impressed

 

I would be tempted to speak to Prodrive. They assured me that they are fully tested with the wagon, and that there is no need for a "wagon specific" set.

Hmm. Sounds like reality is different.

Cheers, and good luck!
Nick.

 

Nick, when you say 'wagon specific set' are you referring to springs?

as a point of interest, the MY03 saloon rear springs don't fit the wagon due to narrower tops to the turrets.

simon

 

Yup, I'm talking about the Prodrive spring set. Mike assured me that there was no different set for the wagon, as they'd tested it on both the wagon and saloon...

Wierd. Perhaps I've either misunderstood Mike, or misunderstood you?

Cheers,
Nick.

 

Silly question maybe, but are you certain that 225/40 when using 18's is the correct width and profile on the wagon?

New age wagon has narrower arches than the sedan, so I'd assume that there's also less space underneath them. Just wondering whether this goes as far as the wagon being supplied with, and recommended to use, different tyre sizes...?

[Edited by greasemonkey - 1/30/2004 2:18:19 PM]

 

If you want to sell the wheels - send me a mail, but I would revert to standard springs!

 

Is there an offset issue in doing this?

ISTR that offset is 53mm for 'Classic' and 48mm for 'new age'. Hence it'll hit the wheelarch rim, maybe....

I tried to find out (but still don't know) if the Prodrive 10 spokes (17" or 18") available now have the same offset as the ones originally fitted to the P1.

Jeremy.

 

Good point Jeremy, and this fits into what I was saying. It's only the new age sedans that have the wider track and arches, so I suspect the ideal offset on a new age wagon would be as-per the classics.

 

Guys,

I had these wheels on my MY01 saloon and no probs. My dealer tells me that they're fine on the MY03 also.

Maybe it is an issue with the size of the arches on the wagon.

The 215 40 18s I had on previously also fitted my STi2 RA with only very occassional rubbing (castle combe in the dry), but I was strugglinf to get get anything other than Falken 451s in this size. I had the Falkens before, and was mightily impressed, but though I'd go back to S02s for a change.

Would be interesting to find out what width tyres the Jap STi wagons are running. i think they have the STi 17" wheels, just wondering if they run the same 225 40 17s?

I'm going to take them off shortly as I fancy a change from the gold wheels thing so am going anthracite. I would have just changed the two rear tyres to 215s, but am guessing this would **** the diffs?

 

I think this will likely prove the root of the problem. Treating the "MY03" as a single entity isn't quite possible in the same way as it was with the classic shape cars. Track and arch size on the classics was the same on both sedan and wagon. This isn't the case on the new age cars, and there must be some implications for the arch clearance, at the very least.

Yeah, it's be informative to get some solid info on this.

Mixing tyre brands and sizes wouldn't be a good thing both from the diff or the handling point of view.

There's only an 8mm difference in diameter between 225/40-18 and 215/40-18, so if you put 215's on the back with worn fronts the centre diff would probably cope, but even so I wouldn't fancy driving it like that.

 

you haven't seen my driving

 

I've got the 10 spoke wheels on my 03 wagon with P Zero Rosso 225/40/18. Apparently its the 7 spoke wheels which have a problem with the lowered Prodrive springs as these wheels are half an inch wider.

 

mine are tens m8

 

Mine hav'nt presented a problem yet - strange!