Chris,

Not sad, it suits your car colour!

Andy

 

Thinking of upgrading to 17 in allows. I like the TSW Imola, OZ Super T or Team Dynamics Monza. Is there much difference between these makes?

Cheers Chris.

MY99 DGM

 

Chris,

The most important thing to do is check the offset of the wheels.

I had a set of wheels with an offset of ET45, and they clipped the rear arches when the suspension was at full bump.

I think the minimum you should be looking at is ET48, up to about ET52/55 (??)

Also make sure you get the right size tyres.

Prodrive recommend 205/45/17 - Although there is a limited choice of tyres. PZero's

Closest match is 215/40/17 - Which offers a wider choice of tyres, including the Bridgestone SO2/3, Toyo Proxies TS-1 & Goodyear F1.

Hope this helps
Andy

PS - Personally I'd go for the OZ's, but the Subaru fitment ones only come in Gold.

 

Andy, call me sad but I want them in gold! At the moment I've got the golg 16in P1 wheels. There the ones which were on the cars when they were imported. I've actually just had new Bridgestone S03's fitted to them, so if I was to change them I would need to sell them recovering the cost of the tyres. £400 would do that. Do you think that sounds reasonable?

Cheers Chris

 

I've just been to Halford's in Bracknell to get a quote and they reckon that when you go to 17in rims you should also go wider to 215 width. Does this sound correct?

Cheers Chris

 

Yep - you should go for 215/40/17s for the best choice.

 

If you go for a wheel with a 45 offset like TD Monza's then go for the 205/45 x 17, if you fit 215/40 x 17 then they catch on the strip around the rear wheel arch. I should know as thats what I have got on mine and now I've fitted the 205's its fine, however TD now do the monza in a 50 offset, so I would get some of those and go for the 215 tyre
Cheers

 

Chris, I ran the team dynamics monzas for a couple of months. I replaced two wheels in that time due to the wheels having cracks in them.

They are SOFT wheels. Go for the OZ, I know that they are quite strong, I dont however know much about the TSW's.

Dan

 

If strong is whatnyou are after then there is compomotive. They make wheels exactly to your specs including offset, width, drilling etc. And in gold if you like. They won't crack from road use ...ever . Even has a garantee that says they will not break even when run on flat tires in rally...

 

"One important point to bear in mind when shopping for new wheels is that the recommended offset (the distance between centre of the rim and the mounting face) for Impreza wheels is unusually high, at between 52 and 55mm depending on the model. Using more common, smaller, offsets will increase the track (width) of the car, which may cause the tyres to foul the arches, and will have an adverse effect on handling (by increasing the leverage of uneven roads and cornering forces on the suspension and steering components). One knowledgeable wheel retailer claims that anywhere from 45-55mm is fine (even going so far as to say that 55mm is excessive!), whilst a Subaru dealer insists that 55mm is essential and anything else wrecks the handling. It's probably worth pointing out that the standard wheels are 52.5mm offset, and the Speedline Competition 2, sold by Prodrive through your Subaru dealership, is 48mm!"

Have a look here for more answers:

 

Greg

Comp2 is ET50, which is only OK because it's 16" and you can get away with it without giving too much tramlining as the tyre has a relatively high sidewall profile compared to a 17 or 18" tyre

Mike