Regarding RPF1s wheel size and tire size

Hey everyone, on the contrary to all the snow tire threads I've been researching new summer wheels/tires and am having trouble finalizing it. I've decided on the Enkei RPF1s for the wheel, but can't decide on a size.

Living in CT the roads are getting worse, so this is pushing me towards getting the 17", but I can't find many pictures of legacies with this size RPF1. The other advantage with the 17" would be reduced weight on each corner.

On the other hand there's the 18" which looks really good, but is slightly heavier. I'm currently running 18x8 +48 wheels with 225/40 tires. This matches the stock diameter. I haven't had any trouble with this set up so far, probably just paranoid. Would the RPF1 in this size wheel/tire be competitive for auto-x?

I daily drive the car and would like to start being involved in local autocrossing.

Would the 17x8 +45 RPF1 wrapped in 225/45 tires be a good set up for my intentions? I currently have Ventus V12 Evo tires and I really like them, so I was looking to stick with the same tire.

Additional info. Looking into possibly doing the HD Bilstein route with Pink Springs. I'm not looking to ever have to roll or pull fenders.

Would the 225/45 tires on a 17x8 still have the slight stretch appearance that the 18x8 225/40 has? I was thinking of going to 235. 235/45/17 increases diameter by about .23 inches, would this cause any issues clearancewise with Bilstein/Pinks set up?

I want performance and am leaning towards the 17", but I want it to look like it belongs at the same time. Looking for a clean look. The 18s aren't completely out of the question still. Just looking for personal experience or gurus to chime in.

Car as of now.

http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/6192/dscn1233u.jpg

http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/1788/dscn0407x.jpg

http://img847.imageshack.us/img847/4697/dscn1248.jpg

Sorry for the book. I'm open to any and all advice, thanks in advance.

If you want performance, go 17x8 with 245/40/17 and get tires that have stiffer sidewalls, like the Dunlop Direzza Z1 Star Spec.

The Hankook's are known to have squishy sidewalls, which is no good for auto-x.

For the money the Hankooks are pretty nice. I'm running a 235/45/17 on 17x8 +46 and the grip is great. Granted my previous setup was Bridgestone re960's in a 225/40/18 on my stock 18x7 rims so the new wider setup would have more grip regardless. But I still love my Hankooks.

If I had the money though, I would have gotten the star specs.

If you want performance, go 17x8 with 245/40/17 and get tires that have stiffer sidewalls, like the Dunlop Direzza Z1 Star Spec.

 

The Hankook's are known to have squishy sidewalls, which is no good for auto-x.

I'm not looking to be extremely competitive in auto-x. Apparently since I have the aftermarket turbo kit, I will be in a class where I could never compete at the power level I'm at right now. So I more or less want to do it for fun and to learn the limits of my car. Would 245s fit with a 1 inch drop without having to roll or pull fenders?

Any knowledge of daily driving comforts of that tire as well? Treadwear?

For the money the Hankooks are pretty nice. I'm running a 235/45/17 on 17x8 +46 and the grip is great. Granted my previous setup was Bridgestone re960's in a 225/40/18 on my stock 18x7 rims so the new wider setup would have more grip regardless. But I still love my Hankooks.

 

If I had the money though, I would have gotten the star specs.

Do you have any kind of drop with your current wheel/tire set up? Can you post up pictures of your set up as well? To show how deep it is in the wheel well, how the tire sits on the wheel, profile pic of the car?

Here you can see my drop

Here you can see my drop

Looks really good, can you get a profile picture of the car too?

Only Side shot I have of the car but its kind of dark in the wheel area you are interested in lol I need to take some time to take more pics

Only Side shot I have of the car but its kind of dark in the wheel area you are interested in lol I need to take some time to take more pics

Again, that looks really good tsunami. Thanks for posting the pics up. What are you lowered on?

And I think I'm going to go with the 17x8 RPF1s. As for the tire I'm getting the 235/45, just don't know what brand yet.

Nsane have you run the Star Specs or have any further info on them? I am going to be driving the car often with frequent highway trips. Tire rack reviews claim this tire can get really bad road noise. Can you add any more info?

I'm not looking to be extremely competitive in auto-x. Apparently since I have the aftermarket turbo kit, I will be in a class where I could never compete at the power level I'm at right now. So I more or less want to do it for fun and to learn the limits of my car. Would 245s fit with a 1 inch drop without having to roll or pull fenders?

 

Any knowledge of daily driving comforts of that tire as well? Treadwear?

The Star Specs are notorious for being noisy, so if you drive on the highway a lot, it might be bothersome. They'll probably last about 15k-20k miles depending on how hard you drive. However, they're probably the best bang for the buck in terms of extreme dry and wet performance.

+1 for star specs being the best bang for the buck for extreme performance.

But if you don't need extreme performance then the Hankooks are the next best bang for the buck for I guess lets say max performance. I've easily taken cloverleafs at 60+ mph with the Hankooks.

I'm dropped on BC racing coilovers at about a 1 finger gap all the way around.

And thanks for the kind words.

Starspecs are loud, but they are otherwise fantastic!

I recently switched back to my conti EWC on stock wheels and forgot how quiet my car is... Amazing how I can actually hear the exhaust note. :-)

stock headers are unequal length btw.

Not on 06+ 2.5i's

Did you ever find pics of the RPF1'a on a Legacy in 17? Based off of TireRack it looks almost too small, but I would really like to see an actual picture.

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/new-wheels-w-jdm-front-100950.html

I have 17 by 7.5 inch RPF1s on my Legacy. It is lowered 1 inch using Swift springs on Tokico HTS dampers. I am using Yokohama Advan AD 07 tires in 235/40/17. They fit fine with no rubbing. I did not roll the fenders.

The 8 inch wide wheels are a bit heavier but can let you use wider tires.

I have autocrossed many times using these tires and wheels. They are much better and lighter than the stock wheels and all season tires.

I have pictures of my car with these wheels on here in an old post. My car was on stock springs then so there was a huge wheel gap. It looks and performs much better on the lower swift springs

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php/new-wheels-w-jdm-front-100950.html

That was very helpful!^ Gives me a better idea of what it's going to look like. 17s will allow for a decent amount of rubber to fit on them to protect the wheels from these roads in CT >.>

I have 17 by 7.5 inch RPF1s on my Legacy. It is lowered 1 inch using Swift springs on Tokico HTS dampers. I am using Yokohama Advan AD 07 tires in 235/40/17. They fit fine with no rubbing. I did not roll the fenders.

 

The 8 inch wide wheels are a bit heavier but can let you use wider tires.

 

I have autocrossed many times using these tires and wheels. They are much better and lighter than the stock wheels and all season tires.

 

I have pictures of my car with these wheels on here in an old post. My car was on stock springs then so there was a huge wheel gap. It looks and performs much better on the lower swift springs

Is there any chance you can post up those pics here? Thanks for the added info on your auto-crossing setup! I'm looking to get into auto-crossing eventually.

Autox is great fun, but it's no fun getting whooped in SM. Even locally, SM cars are usually very fast.

For a couple hundred bucks more than you'll be spending on a brand new set of RPF-1s and extreme performance summer tires, you can get a nice Miata to start autoxing with. OEM and performance parts are dirt cheap, the car is so light the tires last forever, and they are super rewarding to drive.