Wheels and Tires for the 818

[mn_vette]

To keep the build cost lower I would think that FFR would want to re-use the stock WRX wheels. Otherwise you are adding $1-2,000 just in rims and tires.

So does this mean that the body will be formed for this size wheel and tire combination?


But on the other hand since the 818 is going to be MUCH lighter than the donor. So it would be nice to increase the gear ratio(Decrease numerically). Especially since some people think that the extra loading will help spooling the turbo. Not to mention better fuel economy since the drivetrain won't have to push a car with the areodynamics of a brick.

The easiest way to increase the gear ratio would be to increase the tire diameter. Especially if people want to get some aftermarket rims above and beyond the basic build cost.

I wonder if there are some other tire diameters out there that are easily available and if so would we be able to fit it under the body of the 818. Obviously the body is not figured out yet, but I'm just trying to think ahead.

Random thought of the morning........

[crackedcornish]

does the subaru use a mechanical or electrical speedo.?
If you go changing tire size (diameter), without changing gearing, you are going to throw the speedo (and most likely the engine's computer as well) all out of whack

[mn_vette]

does the subaru use a mechanical or electrical speedo.?
If you go changing tire size, without changing gearing, you are going to throw the speedo (and most likely the engine's computer as well) all out of whack

I would think that anytime that you would do a gearing change, wether it be in the center diff or at the tires, then you would need to do the speedo change as well.

I looked up the stock WRX tires size 205/55-16 which gives us a tire height of 24.88". If we wanted to decrease cruising rpm from 2400 down to 2000 that gives us ~17% gear reduction. That would give us a 29.85" tire. That seems like a pretty big increase and impractical.

It looks like a diff gear set will be easier, especially if you are planning on adding an LSD as well.


I just looked up a 2010 Camaro SS Rear wheel and the size is 275/35-21. That's a pretty big wheel and its height would be 28.58". That would take a 2400 rpm down to a 2089 rpm for cruising, but the normal gear change RPM I need more tranny info to calculate it.

[crackedcornish]

I would think that anytime that you would do a gearing change, wether it be in the center diff or at the tires, then you would need to do the speedo change as well.



if you change the gearing and the tire size a like ratio you won't screw up the speedo or ecu...like if you changed you tire diameter and you gear ratio by say 15%, the speedo and ecu wouldn't see that you changed anything....right?

[mn_vette]

if you change the gearing and the tire size a like ratio you won't screw up the speedo or ecu...like if you changed you tire diameter and you gear ratio by say 15%, the speedo and ecu wouldn't see that you changed anything....right?

Depending on where the speed sensor is. If it is in the transmission before the diff, then yes that is the case, but that seems like alot of work for no net gain.

[Oppenheimer]

if you change the gearing and the tire size a like ratio you won't screw up the speedo or ecu...like if you changed you tire diameter and you gear ratio by say 15%, the speedo and ecu wouldn't see that you changed anything....right?

If you change one +, the other -, then yeah, they cancel each other out. Which is fine if you are just trying to change to a larger wheel or something. But the OP is trying to change the overall final drive ratio, which, whatever way you do it (tire or gearing), you would be faced with speedo changes.

[crackedcornish]

but are there any sensors in the subaru that will see a difference between wheel speed and speedo readings as a traction problem and limit power from the engine?....I'm not at all familiar with how complicated subaru's traction/ecu/abs systems are, so I'm just asking.

[PhyrraM]

On regular WRXs thare is nothing that would be effected by tire or gear changes, unless you want to try to use the factory ABS and also want to use a staggered tire setup. STIs have extra differential stuff, and may be less tolerant.

Considering the weight of the 818, the unsprung weight is already going to be a much larger than average percentage of the total. I, personally, don't see any reason to go bigger on wheels/tires than stock for this reason. I *could* make an arguement for going smaller.

Considering the expected small vehicle size, stock wheels will 'look' bigger than they do on a WRX. Optional WRX tires were 215/45-17. Actually those were stock for the '06-'07.

IIRC, STIs were 225/40-17 (but don't quote me, I'll be corrected soon).

Electric speedos on all '02+ models.

[Gollum]

The atom uses a 225 wide tread. I'll be expecting to see that as a standard width. As far as height, I think stock will be fine for the look, but I do worry about finding a tire wide enough to make the real speed freaks happy. I already have a hard enough time finding tires for my liking with my Z cars. Best I've found so far is 225-50-15, which doesn't have many options on the market but at least there's some.

[Olimk2]

I agree with PhyrraM, you will kill the the whole concept if you put big wheels on this car (unless your going very big power).

[Vman7]

Here are the Tire sizes for the WRX, 2002-2011

Subaru

2008-11 Subaru Impreza WRX 4-Door STI - 245/40-18 Section Width 9.6 25.7 Ht.

2004-07 Subaru Impreza WRX STI - 225/45-17 SW 8.9 25 Ht.

2002-03 Subaru Impreza WRX - 205/55-16 SW 8.1 24.9 Ht.
215/45-17 SW 8.5 24.6 Ht.

I like a tire around 26" Dia., but nothing smaller then say 25.5", anything smaller just looks to whimpy like on a Miata. Porsche uses for the most part on Carrera, Boxster, Carrera GT taller tires.

One of the best Wheel/Tire Comparer sites I have found is this one:
http://www.rimsntires.com/specs.jsp

[thebeerbaron]

This is a topic near and dear to my heart - I am an unabashed fan of light weight wheels and tires. The forged 14x6 BBS wheels currently on my Miata weigh around 10lbs each. With a quality street tire, the difference between these and a 12.3lb 14" wheel is easily discernable, and I do not claim to have any magical driving powers. When my car was an Stock-class autocross machine, we used to run 10.8lb 14x6s with 225 Hoosiers. Light tire, light wheel, stiff sidewall. I could not only tell you whether the dime I ran over was heads-up or tails-up, I could practically tell you the year it was forged. Of course, I mostly ran over cones, so take it for a grain of salt.

I haven't done a lot of studying this, but a quick look at tire rack actually shows a 17" wheel as the lightest fitment for the WRXes we're talking about, even though 16" is the stock size. A bit of poking around suggests that some 15" wheels might clear the brakes, which is really all the wheel diameter you need. The 15" wheels I found were beefy rally wheels, weighing about as much as the lightweight 17s on TR.

Smaller diameter generally leads to lighter wheel weights, hope that's still the case for this particular beast. I think that for the real nuts, it's going to be a matter of choosing a wheel size that offers light wheel weight and a good selection of tires. Let me tell you, finding top-flight 14" tires is not getting any easier. Thanks to the SCCA Street Tire class, 15" has a great deal of sizes (especially Civic-sizes), a wild guess suggests these might be OK for this car.

Race tires are another matter. Dan Palatov (http://www.dpcars.net/) had lots of trouble getting his race tires to heat up enough to stick to the pavement, though I believe his car weighs about half of what the 818 will. Big wide tires are nice, but only if you can get them up to temp.

Sorry to be incoherent, I'll come back and try to be more lucid after I eat some dinner...

[Twinspool]

Especially since some people think that the extra loading will help spooling the turbo.

This is one of my most hated myths about turbocharged cars. It is complete crap. The Subie's seem to have too much gear spacing between 1-2 and the aftermarket offers a taller 1st/shorter second to tighten the ratios up.

225/45 is a great tire size, common, not so wide that it will turn the car into a wallowing pig that can't track straight but should have plenty of bite. The corner balancing will determine the F/R size ratio that is most favorable. Then again, I prefer slicing apexes to squishing cones.

[Gollum]

^^^ Agreed.

So many people swear by using longer gears for more "loading to spool the turbo" but the notion is complete rubbish. Most of the real professionals I know use short gearing because there isn't any way around it, using only as much gear as you need will always net faster acceleration. You can get a turbo to full spool while sitting on the line at a drag strip. There isn't any required LOAD in order to make a turbo get up to speed. An engine can breath just as much air sitting still as it can moving under load. There isn't as much HEAT created because there isn't load, but that just means to turbo will spool a bit slower, but it WILL spool.

If you want to get real fancy, have a separate map for racing than you do for street driving, and run the low load side of the map at rich best torque, not lean best torque. The excess fuel in the exhaust will burn and help add some heat into the exhaust fumes that's hard to come by without load.

[crobin4]

^^^ Agreed.

So many people swear by using longer gears for more "loading to spool the turbo" but the notion is complete rubbish. Most of the real professionals I know use short gearing because there isn't any way around it, using only as much gear as you need will always net faster acceleration. You can get a turbo to full spool while sitting on the line at a drag strip. There isn't any required LOAD in order to make a turbo get up to speed. An engine can breath just as much air sitting still as it can moving under load. There isn't as much HEAT created because there isn't load, but that just means to turbo will spool a bit slower, but it WILL spool.

If you want to get real fancy, have a separate map for racing than you do for street driving, and run the low load side of the map at rich best torque, not lean best torque. The excess fuel in the exhaust will burn and help add some heat into the exhaust fumes that's hard to come by without load.

YEAH! I was wondering when someone would bring that up! Goody! And, the last sentence in you're post describes how Anti-Lag works. Gollum is my friend, "he is smart, he is strong"

[Gollum]

Rally style anti-lag system practically FLOOD the engine under no load, causing the huge backfires. That can crack factory exhaust manifolds and melt turbos. But you CAN run a bit rich to get some of the benefit without having huge backfires. It's not hard to create small gurgling off throttle that won't ruin anything overnight. Even a STOCK honda B18 with open exhaust has a little bit of that gurgling at light load. It goes totally unnoticed with normal exhaust.

But back on the topic we're supposed to be on. I have ZERO disrespect for those with smaller wheels when it's done for the right reasons. Light wheels make all the difference, especially on a light chassis. If we can find a light 15" rim that fits then all the better. If we have to go to a 17" for a lightwheel wheel in the subaru lug pattern then so be it. Shaving every pound of a wheel is worth it. And not only does it help the suspension do it's work better, it also will give a small improvement of rotational inertia too. A few pound might not sound like much, but I've seen enough instances that guys put huge fancy wheels on their cars and saw a noticeable loss in acceleration and really saw a difference paying at the pump. All that to say - be smart about your rim purchase.

[wjfawb0]

I have a set of 17"x8" 5x114.3 rotas in my basement that were on my last 05 STI. I'm not familiar with the differences between the WRX and STI uprights/spindles. Will it be possible for me to use these wheels on this kit? More specifically is it possible to upgrade 06-07 WRX uprights/spindles with 5x114.3 or will STI uprights be compatible? 8" may be too wide as it is for a street car. All the little details on the kit will need to be spelled out before I would consider buying a donor and other parts necessary.

[PhyrraM]

I have a set of 17"x8" 5x114.3 rotas in my basement that were on my last 05 STI. I'm not familiar with the differences between the WRX and STI uprights/spindles. Will it be possible for me to use these wheels on this kit? More specifically is it possible to upgrade 06-07 WRX uprights/spindles with 5x114.3 or will STI uprights be compatible? 8" may be too wide as it is for a street car. All the little details on the kit will need to be spelled out before I would consider buying a donor and other parts necessary.

At this point we do not know what parts FFR is going to reuse. The *assumption* is that at least the front hub/knuckles will be repurposed in the rear, but everyone knows what they say about assuming.

[crobin4]

Rally style anti-lag system practically FLOOD the engine under no load, causing the huge backfires. That can crack factory exhaust manifolds and melt turbos. But you CAN run a bit rich to get some of the benefit without having huge backfires. It's not hard to create small gurgling off throttle that won't ruin anything overnight. Even a STOCK honda B18 with open exhaust has a little bit of that gurgling at light load. It goes totally unnoticed with normal exhaust.

But back on the topic we're supposed to be on. I have ZERO disrespect for those with smaller wheels when it's done for the right reasons. Light wheels make all the difference, especially on a light chassis. If we can find a light 15" rim that fits then all the better. If we have to go to a 17" for a lightwheel wheel in the subaru lug pattern then so be it. Shaving every pound of a wheel is worth it. And not only does it help the suspension do it's work better, it also will give a small improvement of rotational inertia too. A few pound might not sound like much, but I've seen enough instances that guys put huge fancy wheels on their cars and saw a noticeable loss in acceleration and really saw a difference paying at the pump. All that to say - be smart about your rim purchase.

Yeah, Rally style anti-lag is VERY destructive. I had planned on experimenting with a milder form. I've seen that approach, before with a certain StreetMod Celica AllTrac from my region. I'll not get too carried away, as I'll likely be using a VF36 and they're to expensive to me just to blow up and go buy another.

I personally am on the fence with tire size. We (818 owners) will very likely b classed in E-Mod. I'll need to look into what they are running ,and decide from there. I do worry about getting heat in the tires for Auto-X, but not for track sessions or the street. Since, EMod is a limited down force class, I don't want to be caught on too small a tire either.

[Vman7]

Here is what I am thinking for wheels/tire selection, it's what I am designing my design with.

Front/Rear 225/45-17 SW 8.9" DIA 25"
opt. Rear 255/40-17 SW 10" DIA 25"

opt. Front 225/40-18 SW 8.9" DIA 25.1"
opt. Rear 255/35-18 SW 10" DIA 25"

opt. Front 235/40-18 SW 9.3" DIA 25.4"
opt. Rear 265/35-18 SW 10.4" DIA 25.3"
opt. Rear 275/35-18 SW 10.8" DIA 25.6"

For right now I am going to go with the second group in the design, that way you can go up or down in size. Making sure there is enough clearance to go either way.

David

[crobin4]

Here is what I am thinking for wheels/tire selection, it's what I am designing my design with.

Front/Rear 225/45-17 SW 8.9" DIA 25"
opt. Rear 255/40-17 SW 10" DIA 25"

opt. Front 225/40-18 SW 8.9" DIA 25.1"
opt. Rear 255/35-18 SW 10" DIA 25"

opt. Front 235/40-18 SW 9.3" DIA 25.4"
opt. Rear 265/35-18 SW 10.4" DIA 25.3"
opt. Rear 275/35-18 SW 10.8" DIA 25.6"

For right now I am going to go with the second group in the design, that way you can go up or down in size. Making sure there is enough clearance to go either way.

David

That seems on track to me.

[wjfawb0]

At this point we do not know what parts FFR is going to reuse. The *assumption* is that at least the front hub/knuckles will be repurposed in the rear, but everyone knows what they say about assuming.

Isn't assumption the mother of all.... Yeah, that's it. It would be nice to be able to reuse the wheels in the basement. I haven't had much luck selling them on NASIOC.

[mn_vette]

At this point we do not know what parts FFR is going to reuse. The *assumption* is that at least the front hub/knuckles will be repurposed in the rear, but everyone knows what they say about assuming.

Why wouldn't FFR just use the rear hubs from the WRX? Do the front and rear halfshafts different spline sizes where they meet the hub?

[crobin4]

Why wouldn't FFR just use the rear hubs from the WRX? Do the front and rear halfshafts different spline sizes where they meet the hub?

Not necessarily, but it's the inner you need worry about. I haven't gotten around to experimenting to see if a hybrid half shaft is doable.
By now, the FFR guys have already covered that base. We'll just have to be patient to see what their solution is.

I sort of believe that both frt and rear hubs will be repurposed on their respective ends of the car, and that a hybrid shaft will be developed that may or may not include provisions for ABS.

[Calamity J]

All of the modern Subarus (since the '89 Legacy) have an electronic speedo driven directly off the transmission.

[PhyrraM]

All of the modern Subarus (since the '89 Legacy) have an electronic speedo driven directly off the transmission.

In overseas markets, maybe. I know that the Japanese and Austrailian turbo models of the Gen 1 Legacy had fully electronic speedos. However, the '90-'94 First generation Legacy, in the USA models at least, used a speedo cable to the cluster. The speed sensor to the ECU is in the cluster.

[Stavros]

Here is what I am thinking for wheels/tire selection, it's what I am designing my design with.

Front/Rear 225/45-17 SW 8.9" DIA 25"
opt. Rear 255/40-17 SW 10" DIA 25"

opt. Front 225/40-18 SW 8.9" DIA 25.1"
opt. Rear 255/35-18 SW 10" DIA 25"

David

Those two sets are exactly what I had in mind for my designs as well

[Monkey Tricycle Flip]

WRX guys are notorious for swapping wheels often. As such, great deals can be had on lightly used aftermarket and stock wheels.

I think some Prodrive PFF7s would look amazing. Enkei RPF1s would be a great lightweight choice too.

[Monkey Tricycle Flip]

It's worth noting that all non-STI WRXs have a 5x100 bolt pattern. All 2005 and later STIs have a 5x114.3 bolt pattern. Only 2004 STI BBS wheels that will fit WRX parts and they are extremely hard to come by ($$$).

[LoadedGuy]

255/35-18

On MA roads, anything near that thin is asking for property damage and suffering.
I've got one car on 215/40-17 and it's downright painful compared to the 195/55-15 stock.

[crobin4]

On MA roads, anything near that thin is asking for property damage and suffering.
I've got one car on 215/40-17 and it's downright painful compared to the 195/55-15 stock.

Yep, have the same problem hear in WV. And, VT if I ever manage to move. I have a set of 17x8 5Zigen wheels with a set of slicks on them that I'll be reusing for the street on this car. For the street on these wheels I'm planning on 225/45/17 frt and 255/40/17 rear. A thing to remember is: on such a light car you will be using a significantly lower tire pressure than you would on 2800-3500 lb car. That should help some, but not a lot. More comfy carcass designs, will increase ride quality.

[thebeerbaron]

Yep, have the same problem hear in WV. And, VT if I ever manage to move. I have a set of 17x8 5Zigen wheels with a set of slicks on them that I'll be reusing for the street on this car. For the street on these wheels I'm planning on 225/45/17 frt and 255/40/17 rear. A thing to remember is: on such a light car you will be using a significantly lower tire pressure than you would on 2800-3500 lb car. That should help some, but not a lot. More comfy carcass designs, will increase ride quality.

Another thing to think about with large-diameter wheels is that you're pushing all the weight to the outside of the circle, which increases the gyroscope effect of the spinning wheel, perhaps making it less responsive than a smaller diameter wheel with more sidewall. Perhaps.

[PhyrraM]

Another thing to think about with large-diameter wheels is that you're pushing all the weight to the outside of the circle, which increases the gyroscope effect of the spinning wheel, perhaps making it less responsive than a smaller diameter wheel with more sidewall. Perhaps.

+1, agreed.

Also consider any 'negative' effects of too large a wheel will be amplified by the much lighter curb weight of the vehicle itself.

Don't get me wrong, large wheels definitely have a positive in the looks department. Everyone will find thier personal balance somewhere on the scale. As already stated, pure racers will likely be looking for 15"ers. While the showcar crowd will be in the 18"-19" range.

[Gollum]

Larger diameter wheels will also decrease the stress on the tire at high speeds, as it will have less rotations per mile. Look at most of the high MPH supercars, and they run pretty tall wheels with lower profile tires. There's a lot to be said about the stability at speed that a supecar has. Going 200mph in a car designed for it is easier than going 100mph in a civic. It was amazing watching James May take the Bugatti Veyron to new speed records and see just how ridiculously easy that car made it look. Not just in how it got there, but how well it tracked and dealt with ripples in the road at that speed.

[PhyrraM]

Larger diameter wheels will also decrease the stress on the tire at high speeds, as it will have less rotations per mile. Look at most of the high MPH supercars, and they run pretty tall wheels with lower profile tires. There's a lot to be said about the stability at speed that a supecar has. Going 200mph in a car designed for it is easier than going 100mph in a civic. It was amazing watching James May take the Bugatti Veyron to new speed records and see just how ridiculously easy that car made it look. Not just in how it got there, but how well it tracked and dealt with ripples in the road at that speed.

That is true. And it also one of the reason supercars generally sacrifice utmost handling (not to be confused with ulimate grip) for straightline stability. I'm hoping the 818 slides the other way.

[Gollum]

That is true. And it also one of the reason supercars generally sacrifice utmost handling (not to be confused with ulimate grip) for straightline stability. I'm hoping the 818 slides the other way.

Oh I agree completely. Just playing devils advocate for larger wheels. :-D

[bu11dogg2]

The big question will be 5x100 or 5x114.3? Please say 5x100.

The availability of wheels in 5x100 is greater and they are MUCH cheaper.

[crobin4]

The big question will be 5x100 or 5x114.3? Please say 5x100.

The availability of wheels in 5x100 is greater and they are MUCH cheaper.

5x100, The "preferred donor" being '06-'07 WRX. That's what they are starting within the shop.

[bu11dogg2]

Good! hopefully stock axles line up too.

[el_jefe]

Bumping this thread, since I'm curious as to what tires will fit once the body is decided on.

IMHO, 255 will be a good starting point for folks with the turbo motor.

[crobin4]

You guys are on your own on this on now, I've entered the 1 percentile of 818 owners.:cool: Mine will not be street legal.:( But, it will have 14 inch wide slicks in the rear.:p

[el_jefe]

14" wheels won't clear the brakes, IIRC. I'm thinking 17's with 285's. It should get halfway decent traction @ 300ish hp.

[crobin4]

14" wheels won't clear the brakes, IIRC. I'm thinking 17's with 285's. It should get halfway decent traction @ 300ish hp.

Sorry, 14 inches wide, the rims will be 16" in diameter.:o

[crobin4]

14" wheels won't clear the brakes, IIRC. I'm thinking 17's with 285's. It should get halfway decent traction @ 300ish hp.
Oh, I don't think 285's at that power level on a street/track day care is off base at all.
Others, like the decreased rotating mass of the smaller diameter and narrower tires.

If your curious, this is why I chose my size:

http://www.7parts.com/jeffkiesel.html

http://www.racingbeat.com/mazda/performance/features/rotary-racer-jeff-kiesel.html

That is my competition.:)

[AJW Performance]

The big question will be 5x100 or 5x114.3? Please say 5x100.

The availability of wheels in 5x100 is greater and they are MUCH cheaper.

Agreed! 5x100 will make things a lot easier, but either options will work just fine of course.

[Flamshackle]

The stud pattern that fits the wheels will be decided by your donor car... nearly all are 5 by 100

[Steve91T]

I could not only tell you whether the dime I ran over was heads-up or tails-up, I could practically tell you the year it was forged. Of course, I mostly ran over cones, so take it for a grain of salt.

I'm sorry, but that cracked me up! :D

[mattster03]

A few things to consider regarding the speedometer here, guys. The first question is, will FFR use aftermarket gauges like in all their other cars (GTM included) or will they integrate the factory cluster? It may seem like a cost savings at face value to re-use the factory cluster, but there are so many complications to integrating a factory cluster (asthetics-wise & electrical-wise) that in the end I'll bet FFR chooses to go with a flat sheetmetal panel with aftermarket gauges. If this is the case, most aftermarket speedometers are programmable, and you will be able to adjust it for whatever tire height and final drive/diff ratio . Now if FFR decides to use the factory cluster, there are devices out there such as the digital dakota SGI (~$70) that allows you to change frequencies at a set ratio; AKA adjust the VSS signal to compensate for tire height changes and ratio changes... this has been used in the V8RX7 world as well as many other applications for quite some time now.

This all being said, 25" diameter tires are going to be the best option for the 818 (whoever said 25" would be too short and look bad, I'm going to disagree with... the only time 26" tires should even be considered would be for a drag race slick). Like the GTM, FFR will probably leave it up to the builder to re-use the factory wheels & tires (to help meet the target price of completion of 15K) or buy a nice set of aftermarket wheels that they provide or the builder picks. I will definitely be one of the latter option, I'll probably go with some light 17" RPF1's with 225/45/17's all around or if car can swallow them: 255/40/17's.

[MuddyRoverRob]

The OZ SUPERLEGGERA is very popular with the super 7 crowd, lightweight and strong.
The Brits like the CR500 tire, it's just barely street legal.

Edit...
It seems they discontinued the 15" Superleggera wheel.
here is an alternate...
http://www.ozracing.com/car_wheels_var/OZ%20Racing/25183/RACING/ULTRALEGGERA/25502.aspx

[el_jefe]

or if the car can swallow them: 255/40/17's.

Which is why I revived the thread. I figure it wont hurt to let FFR know that folks want some serious meat on the wheels while it's still in the design phase ;)

[mattster03]

Which is why I revived the thread. I figure it wont hurt to let FFR know that folks want some serious meat on the wheels while it's still in the design phase ;)

Glad you did. From what I have seen with other FFR models there is usually vacant space around the tire in the fenderwell (aka no finder liners); so it should be easy to stuff a 255mm in there. But of course it's all speculation at this point anyway.

[Cyle]

Bump for this post.

How about these wheels. http://www.elementwheels.com/vehiclesearch.asp?nobox=&scat=&dropshipper=&posted=1&sized=17&color=&stagg=&clear=&year=2005&make=34&model=552&stext=&stype=&sprice=&pg=3

I am thinking about a big block style tire like this. http://www.yokohamatire.com/tires/detail/advan_a048

[Draco-REX]

With my power goals and planned useage, I'm thinking a minimum of 255s in the rear. (I'm also a big fan of huge rolling stock)

I think the Enkei NT03+M would look great, but the 5x100 bolt pattern is very limiting. I may source a set of 05+ STI knuckles for more rim choice.