I just put 17's on my 99 WRX and I now have a serious buffing problem when I corner hard or have anyone in the back that weighs more than Kylie Minogue. Would lowering springs solve this or will I have to change the shocks too? I've had different advice from people.

I think the wheels are the wrong off-set despite coming from another WRX and I also think the handling is too soft in my car anyway, your heart skips a beat sometimes at high speed!

 

It will be the wheels being the wrong offset that is causing the rubbing problem at the rears. Changing shocks/springs etc will not make the problem any better, and may in fact make things worse, by lowering the car such that the rears rub on the arches at all times.

Import WRXs don't have the rubber protection strip on the rear wheel arches, so if yours is a UK car, then it my just help to remove these. If not, then you might find that the previous owner of the wheels might have sold them because of the rubbing problem.

 

I think I have the problem sussed, seems the rear wheel alignemnt wasnt straight. Do u know if I can get away with putting springs in if i want to stiffen the suspension a bit?