why are aftermarket wheels so wide?
 

I can't seem to search this.. but why do aftermarket rims come in such wide widths for this car? 9.5 wide wheels with 245 tires?? wouldn't the tires over-stretch? i remember having 19x9.5 wheels with 275 tires and they seemed too narrow.. Am I missing something?

You just have to search for more narrow wheels. People who put such narrow tires on wide wheels are just....silly(being nice about it) A 265 belongs on a 9.5, not a 245. I dont understand why people feel the need to add more weight by buying an unnecessarily wide wheel.

For this car and what most people want out of it, a 245 or even a 255 tire out back will be all you need for sufficient grip, while people doing higher hp builds will find more use out of a wider tire.

We share the same bolt pattern as wrx's and early sti's and given that they are AWD do not need wide tires. There are several narrow wheels for narrow tires out there in this bolt pattern if thats what you are looking for. It all comes down to that, what you want.

We generally use 8" wheels on our shop car, with 225 tires :)

Always been curious about the pros and cons of using either or (narrow vs. wide, in relation to wheel width).

I have 18×8.5 +33 with 225/40 and 18×9.5 +40 with 255/35. I would not say that the tires are stretched at all and even dropped I have no rubbing issues.

http://www.jadecrew.com/wp-content/g...e/img_1456.jpg

Here's a good site for comparing tyres and wheels.

http://www.rimsntires.com/specs.jsp

If you put the 215/45-17 with the 7" P38? offset on the left hand side you can play with the right hand side and see the comparisons below.

For a 245/45-17 tyre an 8" rim is ideal but 7" and 9" are within acceptable limits.
That tyre is 4.2% larger diameter but that should correct the speedo error that is usually 5% over. It will also take 5% off your odometer which is usually accurate. Good for resale and servicing but don't forget to take 5% off the fuel consumtion if you work it out.
So you could fit up to 245/45-17 on the OEM rims which would be a better look for me than the stretched crap that is trendy.

Maybe because the stock wheels are too narrow for performance applications?

Better not tell the SCCA stock class guys...

That's why I went STX. If they'd have been 8", well... Lol

They know it.

Wide wheels is all about the look, the wider the rims the more concave it can be.

There is also the flushness, which could be achieved with offsets on a more narrow rim, but then you lose some of the concavity.

The mild stretch on the tires is to avoid rubbing issues mostly.

Stock 7" isn't too narrow considering the stock power/weight ratio. Look at the similarly powered DC2 and DC5 Type R. The DC2 had 16x7 and the DC5 had 17x7. Look at the first generation s2000; it only had 16x6.5 at the front.

This explains so much! Thank you!

I like 8" wheels best for a 225. They look a little cramped on anything smaller than that.