What Tire sizes will fit on an Impz

[Dr. Jerryriger]

This seems to come up a lot (and mostly in the suspension forum), but it would be nice to get all the data in one place, and maybe make it a sticky.
Unfortunately I don't have the data.
So if you have any info as to what size will fit, please post; year and trim, and lift(if any) and how it has worked.

One thing I was wondering is if you could get away with a larger diameter on a non lifted impz if you go with a smaller tread width, say a 185.

[betarambo]

Prepare to flame me but I just tried putting 215/70/16 BFG All Terains on my 03 WRX sedan. These tires are 27.9" diameter which is 3 inches bigger than my stock tires.
I bought one used tire to try it out before I ordered all 4. In the driveway they bolt on with no modifications. It turns full lock to lock and even bouncing up and down on the car doesn't make anything hit. In the rear it clears the bottom of the strut spring by 1/4" and in the front it has a little more room. In the rear the tire actually fits up in the well inside the fender when you jump on the trunk.
I ultimatly plan to put a 1" lift on it (the little spacers on the strut hat) and figure I will be using a hammer and sawz-all on the fenders a bit as I find rub points. It looks to me like the places that are most likely to rub in real world driving are pretty easy to remove or cut. It looks mostly like the plastic inner fenderwell shells.
I will order the real tires shortly once I get my 1955 baja bug sold to fund this goofy project. Once I get them I will let you know how it works in the real world.
I took some pics of the setup right now so I will see if I can figure out how to post those.
Any tips are appreciated as is any good quality, thoughtful flaming.
One area I could use advice on is how best to gear it down to compensate for the big rubber and also to make it a bit more useful in the techncial stuff. I hear that maybe gears out of a Forester might do the trick. Any thoughts?

[upstate2.5i]

Can't wait to see the pics of your car Beta. I would love to run a tire that size bu I'm not sure my lil 2.5i would be that happy with me.

[betarambo]

So I sold my Baja bug. The lift from Subtle is on the way. I will go order the tires this week and see what happens.
I did a little more driving in the yard on the test tire. It looks like I will need to clear a little bit out of the inner fender liner but should be pretty minor.

[A1337STI]

I can fit 215/55/17's on my 05 STI , they slightly rub on the fender liners, but only during hard cornering. which is only a 26.3" Diameter ... wonder how some 185s would have tucked up in there...
hmmm...

The stock size was 25 inches on a 225 .. I've had some tall 235's on there as well but not as well. my car is about .75 inches over stock. STIs sit lower than a WRX so i probably can't fit quite as much as a wrx could.

anywho .. maybe i should try some extreme fitment on my 93 impreza? hmm

[betarambo]

23972395

[betarambo]

So I got a set of 4 new BFG All Terrains today in 215/70/16. Even though my test fit with a used tire worked, I underestimated how much bigger a new tire is.
The front looked ok but would obviously do some rubbing on the fender liners in turns. On the rear they hit in two places. On the front of the wheel well, but only at full droop on the lift, would have been easy enough to deal with if I had my grinder. However, they also hit the lower spring mount on the strut.
We did manage to get them on the car, but it was clear that the tire was touching and would have rubbed a lot of my new tire off.
So, we put the regular tires back on and I brought her home.
Tommorow I will run down to the junkyard. I have located a set of used Forester struts and springs and the trailing arm brackets for $300. I'll try to get those mounted and then see if that makes it clear.
Note that I got the 1" spacers from Subtle, but they won't help as the tire is hitting the strut. From what I read the Forester struts will not only give some lift but they do it by having the lower spring mount up higher on the strut which should give me the clearance I need.
I will probably go ahead and use the Forester trailing arm mounts to get the tire more back in the wheel well to avoid the other rub point.
I'll let you know how it goes. I will probably be a few weeks as I am running low on free weekends for a bit.
So, for this post the answer is that 215/70/16 (28") will not fit an 03 WRX, However, since the test tire works it probably means that anything 27.5" or smaller will work with some minor rubbing.

[The Korean]

what bout info for the older GF style Impreza's?

[Dozer45]

Hi, I have a set of forester springs and struts, and a set of OBX adjustable trailing arms and am looking to get them on in a few weeks, now I have an opportunity to pick up a set of 28" winterforces for a good deal. did the 28 inch tires work for you? with the higher perch? did you need to trim anything after the forester susp. install?

[betarambo]

I ended up getting the 28's to fit. I have a thread that explains it in gory detail somewhere on here. I ended up with Forester springs and struts, and 1" spacers on front only plus a little trimming of plastic and a little hammer work. Works good. Gearing is silly tall. Check my thread.