Introduction and wheel question

[mpg9999]

I ordered my BRZ last December, and I finally got a VIN this past week. It should be here sometime in July. I have a lot of experience with old Nissans (I have an SR20VE swapped NX2000 that's been sitting in my garage for years from a previous life, need to sell it one of these days), but this will be my first Subaru. I can't wait to get it and do some track days and autocrosses. It's been way to many years since I've done anything like that.

I recognize that a lot of people are into aesthetics and that's cool, but I'm much more interested in performance, while still maintaining the fun characteristics of the car. Initially I just plan on doing some track pads/fluid with stock tires, but I'd like to pick up some dedicated track wheels/tires at some point soon. Back in the day I'd run Falken Azenis on Kosei K1's for my Nissan. Looking for tire and especially wheel recommendations. Looking to try to keep about the same scrub radius as stock.

[mycrors7]

if want to keep stock scrub radius, pick up some 17x7.5 +48 rpf1's with a tire of your choice. thats essentially the same spec as your stock wheels.

consider moving up to a 225/45 or even a 235/45 if you feel the 225 isnt enough tire for your liking

[mike2100]

Tire Rack has good reviews on “Extreme Performance Summer” tires, which is basically the 200 treadwear category. They also have pretty good prices on tire/wheel packages.

[Desertnate]

How will you be driving the car and in what weather conditions?

The 200TW tires recommended will be a blast in warm weather, but can be a handful when temps get chilly and depending on the tire, rain can be challenging too. The down side is some wear pretty quickly too.

[mpg9999]

Originally Posted by mycrors7

if want to keep stock scrub radius, pick up some 17x7.5 +48 rpf1's with a tire of your choice. thats essentially the same spec as your stock wheels.

consider moving up to a 225/45 or even a 235/45 if you feel the 225 isnt enough tire for your liking

I ordered the premium so I actually have the 18x7.5.

I would assume there is a slight performance advantage of going with a 17" wheel due to lighter overall weight? Definitely looking to run at least a 225. I don't feel I need to keep an identical offset to stock, just want to keep it reasonably close. I imagine a little less positive offset would help with increasing the track width a bit. Not sure how far you can go without running into issues with fender clearance.

Originally Posted by Desertnate

How will you be driving the car and in what weather conditions?

The 200TW tires recommended will be a blast in warm weather, but can be a handful when temps get chilly and depending on the tire, rain can be challenging too. The down side is some wear pretty quickly too.

I'll keep the stock wheels for driving around town, this set of wheels/tires will be strictly for autocross and track days (and maybe driving too and from autocross/track days).

[OkieSnuffBox]

TWS is I think the lightest wheel you can buy for the twins right now, but you'll pay.

Are you just wanting to have fun, or build the car for a specific class? A 17x8 with a sticky 225 should be plenty fun.

[mycrors7]

Originally Posted by mpg9999

I ordered the premium so I actually have the 18x7.5.

I would assume there is a slight performance advantage of going with a 17" wheel due to lighter overall weight? Definitely looking to run at least a 225. I don't feel I need to keep an identical offset to stock, just want to keep it reasonably close. I imagine a little less positive offset would help with increasing the track width a bit. Not sure how far you can go without running into issues with fender clearance.



I'll keep the stock wheels for driving around town, this set of wheels/tires will be strictly for autocross and track days (and maybe driving too and from autocross/track days).

17" just makes everything lighter and cheaper

if you want to stick to 18's you can.

rpf1's are fairly inexpensive and are proven.
TWS as mentioned above has some killer 18" options but it comes with a price that matches

if dropping down to a 17", just remember to increase your tire sidewall size up, so youd want a 225/45r17
18" would be a 225/40r18

honestly, a great rule of thumb i use for "safe" wheel options(in terms of fitment) is to check tirerack. their wheel selection/sizes are typically on point for track oriented setups