New wheels, needing some help with fitment?

[Benj9903]

Hey guys I am looking to buy a new set of wheels for my black blob eye, stock wheels looking a bit naff and stained, I am dying to get a nice beefy stance and was wondering if anybody would be able to give me a hand on the usual things when it comes to wheels (offset is the main thing) what I can't get my head around is for example, what offset should I have If I want an 18x8 all around wheel, I'm hoping to get it to stand out and look a bit beefy so would like it to be poking out a bit, if anybody could give me any tips and advice I would really appreciate it

Thanks guys

[Scooby monkey]

Sti or wrx? I was a bit put off going to 18's as extra stress on gearbox etc. I would've thought 8 inch wide it'd need to be a 45 - 40 offset to clear the struts. Does put a lot of stress on the wheel bearings tho!

[mfnick]

I've got 18x8 all round, et45. They don't stick out at all though, they sit just behind the edge of the wheel arch. I'm not sure whether you need a bigger or smaller offset to stick out to be honest but hopefully you'll be able to figure it out from my offset using google...

As for the extra stress - weren't the Pro Drive PFF wheels 18" and they were a factory option? I'm sure it'll be fine, loads of Scooby owners run 18". Usually much wider than 8" too.

But the extra offset difference to get them poking out might put a lot more stress on though - couldn't say for sure though.

[Scooby monkey]

The lower the offset number the further out they sit. So et30 would sit further out than et40. I thought the pff only came on sti models, which had much stronger boxes lol.

[mfnick]

Ah true, didn't think of that.

[Benj9903]

Ahh right it's a wrx, just sitting inside the arch would be fine for me to be honest, and honestly I didn't even think of the stress on the gear box might have to look into the wheels more, this information has helped me allot now I Actually understand what kind of offset I would be looking at, thanks allot guys and will post some pics when finished :)

[Scooby monkey]

Have a look at momo 'rush' wheels. They come in 17x8j but the offset is pretty low so they'll sit quite far out. Less stress on gearbox but more on wheels bearings. They'd give a flush look tho and fil the arches. I almost bought a set but was lucky to find a set of bbs multi spoke!

[Benj9903]

Okay will have a look into thanks mate, is there anything I can do to reduce stress on the wheel bearings, like is there any upgrade wheel bearings I could go for?

[Scooby monkey]

Not sure about upgrade for the bearings. Basically the wrx had smaller bearings than the sti, hence the stud pattern difference, where the sti is 114 pcd the wrx is only 100. Offset is used to position the wheel bearing in the middle of the width of the wheel. Ie half way between the outer and inner rim. A lower offset like et35 pulls the outside of the rim away from the bearing which will the exert more stress on it. Hope that makes sense! Btw, I'm pretty sure the wheel bearings come as hub units and are bolt on/off. Not just a case of pressing in and out and therefore are quite expensive.

[Benj9903]

Ah right okay, yeah I do get what you mean about the offset now, ah right didn't know that about the bearings, haha looks like it's not just a simple case of buying the set of wheels I want :P ah well gonna have to put more thought into it, thanks allot guys for your help on this

[Markmark.123]

I have 18x8 et35 all round and they new a slightly smaller tire stretched on to fit flush with arches it is lowerd 30 mm and there is no scrubbing at all

[Benj9903]

Ahh they look sweet love the pic too man