I'm almost certain that's misleading: since the stock 215 tires are wider than 7.5 wheels, a 7.5 wheel with the stock offset isn't actually any wider in practice. The offset should be about the same with either 7 or 7.5 wheels if you use 215 tires. It's only if you go to a wider tire that the offset begins to matter -- 225's clearly aren't a big problem, but presumably 235's can be a problem on a Ralliart (based on the various GTS discussions).

 

? Tires are meant to be slightly wider than the wheels they are fitted on, they're designed to protect the rim. A 215 tire fits fine on a 7" rim, that's what the WRX comes stock with (and I think the Ralliart as well). A 225 fits on a 7.5-8" rim. If the stock wheels are 7", a 7.5" wheel is wider, that's quite clear. If the wheel is significantly wider or the offset is very off, you can put the stock 215s on and experience rub.

 

2009 WRX's come with 225's.

 

I was referring to the 2006-2008 WRX, I know the 2009 WRX has the same width tire as the older STI. I'm not sure what the rim width is though.

 

What I meant was that a 215 tire mounted on a 7" wheel is actually over 8" wide, so mounting a 215 on a 7.5" wheel (instead of 7") does not introduce any clearance issues (at least not in a properly designed car with reasonably normal brakes/suspension and using reasonably normal wheels). 215's fit just fine on 7.5" wheels, of course -- that's what I happen to be driving on right now for snow tires (215/45R17's on 17x7.5 alloy wheels).

 

Yes but a 215 on a 7.5" wheel should be wider. Hell, you can run a 215 on an 8" rim if you want.

 

well im expecing my widebody for my lancer soon. when i do im going to get the fenders rolled and plan to run an extremely aggressive wheel setup an 19x9.5+25 offset on 275/45/19 tires. i never done any fender rolling before with any other of my cars so i hope going that wide with low offset that i dont run into any other problems. ill be posting up pics when i do.

 

You could easily run into wheel bearing problems with that low an offset.

 

well the wheels only come in +25 offset or +45 offset. do you think with the 45 offset i'll still get the "aggressive" look since it is a 9.5 inch wide wheel

 

It should look fine but clearance on the inside (with the strut and brakes) might be off. A 9.5" wheel is massive, as are 275 tires. I would suggest rethinking the size. It does look really cool but it makes for a crappy daily driver. Even with 235s my car tracks like a *****. With 275s, you'll have to be on the ball all the time unless you want to end up in a different lane. Also, wheels and tires that wide weigh a ton, you'll undoubtedly notice it in terms of acceleration.

 

thanks for the input ill rethink now.. prob start looking for an 8.5 wheel with a low offset.

 

I would honestly go with an 18 x 8.5 wheel. That's the size I would go with if I was buying 18s (which I've seriously considered). If you go with 235 tires, you should get a pretty wide stance and you have a decent amount of tires to choose from. You could step up to a 245 if you like as well. The difference between a 235 and 245 isn't that big though especially if you pick a wider 235. The Dunlop Star Specs run freakishly wide for their size, a 225 Star Spec is wider than a 235 in other tires.

 

A 215 tire mounted on a 7.5" wheel is not significantly wider. There is a slight increase, of course, but it's not as much as the half-inch (13 mm) wheel width increase. Something like 4 mm (a bit less than 0.2") or so for most tires, for each half-inch increase in wheel width.

As I said, in the end it's really the tire width that's the issue, not the wheel width. Naturally, people generally buy wider wheels for wider tires, but that doesn't make the fit an issue with the wheel (at least not all on its own).

 

would there be any significant difference between getting 225's than 235's tires?.. Also im thinking about getting CE28N 18x7.5 with +43 or +50 offset.. which offset would be better since im going to have a very low stance around 2" front and rear.. cause im thinking +50 might have issues with clearing the calipers and rubbing against the struts but would +43 be alright and not rub against the fenders since im going to lower it that low?

 

If you have 7.5" wide wheels, 235s are likely too wide which would mean they'll bulge out if mounted. For a 7.5", I would stick to a 225 or lower especially if you plan on buying certain tires that run inherently wide for their size.