2008 Subaru WRX STi
After Market Wheels and Tires
Before
I’ve been running the
basic, OEM 18 inch rims and the factory tires since I got my 2008 STi new back in March of 2008. The large rims look nice and
fill the wheel well… er… well. My problem is that the low-profile sidewalls
on the factory tires provide very little protection for the rims which get
scratched at the least imperfection in the road.
I’ve been looking at
options since before getting the car. The optional BBS rims were too expensive
for my tastes and I didn’t care for the color options. Gold?
Really?
Until recently most of the
after market options were also outside what I was willing to pay or were styles
or colors I didn’t like. Then I stumbled across a post by someone on the STi forums that talked about the TRMotorsport
MT1 rims. Apparently they are made by Enkei under
contract to Tire Rack and are, essentially, a rebranding of their RPF-1 Type II
rims.
Left: TR MT1; Right:
RFP-1 Type II
Pricing these and having
heard the good reports about both the MT1 and the RPF-1 rims, the hook was set!
To avoid additional problems with scratched rims and low-profile sidewalls, I
chose them in a 17 x 8.5 with a Matte Grey finish.
Wrapping them in something
was another interesting decision. Since my STi is a
daily driver and doesn’t ever see tracks or autocrosses, I wanted
something with a good grip but with an increased tread life over the factory
tires. In short, the Holy Grail of tire design: the mutually-exclusive goals of
excellent grip and extended tread life.
There are a lot of data
sources out there, so for consistency, I’ll use http://www.tirerack.com for the following
comparisons.
The factory rubber is the
Dunlop SP Sport 600, which rates as:
After a bit of research I
chose the Kumho Ecsta ASX
which rates as:
Kuhmo may not be as Hollywood as
Once I’d chosen the
wheels and tires, it was easy to make the other decisions: new TPMS sensors
installed, mounted, balanced, and shipped. Tire Rack did it all for less than
the difference in price between the factory basic rims and the optional BBS
rims. With the extra benefit of having 2 sets of rims, tires, sensors and
everything to swap out any time I want.
A few days later, UPS
dropped off the packages, ready for mounting.
So it was time to get busy.
A floor jack, my impact wrench and torque wrench, some towels to protect the
wheels while laying them down, and Robert’s your Father’s Brother!
A quick, 10 minute visit at the dealership got the new TPMS sensors activated
(at no cost).
Visually, they don’t
fill the wheel well like the OEM rims did but functionally; I can definitely
feel the improved handling. Based on what I could find, there’s a 10
pound savings PER WHEEL. (27.5 lbs for
OEM standard wheels v 17.5 lbs for the
17" MT1) That’s a significant reduction in unsprung
weight that transfers to easier standing starts and lighter steering response.
Isn’t that what the STi is all about?
After
They look pretty good, too!
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