WRX 16" wheels on a 2003 Vibe?

Wheel and tire information and upgrade discussions
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98se5speed
Posts: 91
Joined: Tue May 15, 2007 11:46 pm

WRX 16" wheels on a 2003 Vibe?

Post by 98se5speed »

Has anyone ever tried or seen a set of 16" Subaru WRX wheels on a Vibe? I found a cheap local set, but am concerned about the high offset of the wheels (55mm WRX vs. 38mm? Vibe). I asked the seller if I can maybe test-fit 1 or 2 of them on my car before buying them, guess I'll see what he says. Just figured I'd ask here if anyone had ever heard of a Vibe owner putting them on. I did a quick photo-chop, the design seems to fit the car well.
JamesChicago, IL03 Vibe silver (totaled Jan-2011)03 Vibe black (bought Feb-2012) Garage Thread
Sublimewind
Posts: 5140
Joined: Thu May 24, 2007 4:44 am

Post by Sublimewind »

I was going to put 17" subaru alloys on my Vibe and sold them before I could, TO a Viber, which i've never seen, nore herd from here since? They should fit, but I would try one to be certain.If they clear the brakes and whatnot, they WILL need different lug nuts than what comes with the Vibe.. I can tell you that for sure.. beware, the stock Vibe lugs will likely ruin the WRX wheels..
vibolista
Posts: 1519
Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2008 6:34 am
Location: "Glacial", Maine!

Re: WRX 16" wheels on a 2003 Vibe? (98se5speed)

Post by vibolista »

If the Subie wheels fit, they will still sit a full 16 millimeters farther inside your wheel well than a normal Vibe steel wheel with a 39mm offset. Your vibe may end up looking a little like this?? It was a great look way back in 1956!!!
'08 Manual, Sun&Sound, 17" Borbet Type CA wheels, 215/50 Summer Tires... 16" OE steel, 215/55 Snow Tires
98se5speed
Posts: 91
Joined: Tue May 15, 2007 11:46 pm

Post by 98se5speed »

Good call on the lugs, I'd get some new ones anyways since the stock lugs for hub caps are those ugly-azz ones with the threads for the hubcap nuts. I might have some regular ones laying around to use for the trial, 12x1.50 for Toyota, right? Dang, I had a whole set of Toyota tuner lugs, left them on my 96 Corolla when I sold it though. Having the wheels fitting inward towards the center of the car isn't exactly a look I'm going for, but I figured I'd first see if that 16mm was really noticeable first. Whole set for $150, hard to go wrong.
JamesChicago, IL03 Vibe silver (totaled Jan-2011)03 Vibe black (bought Feb-2012) Garage Thread
vibolista
Posts: 1519
Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2008 6:34 am
Location: "Glacial", Maine!

Re: (98se5speed)

Post by vibolista »

That is a really good price. Tires come with those? Check Tirerack and Discounttiresdirect. Alloys with 35 to 40mm offsets are available for under a hundred bucks a piece. Someone else posted a picture of a Vibe with similar Subie wheels. I even think it was silver with dark cladding just like ours. Might be able to search that one out on genvibe. The picture did show that 16mm difference fairly well.Hope they work out!
'08 Manual, Sun&Sound, 17" Borbet Type CA wheels, 215/50 Summer Tires... 16" OE steel, 215/55 Snow Tires
98se5speed
Posts: 91
Joined: Tue May 15, 2007 11:46 pm

Re: (vibolista)

Post by 98se5speed »

Well, the person selling on craigslist never replied to me, so maybe they sold already. Ad is still up though. They did come with tires, but 205/50's, so a tad shorter than needed. I didn't really care about the tires, since the ones I have on the steel wheels are like new. Well, it was worth a try, just to get some alloys for so cheap. Surely lots of options out there in the ~$100 per wheel range. I actually found a cheap set of 5-spoke 16" wheels on tirerack.com that looked pretty nice, about $380 delivered for a set of 4. Not bad. $150 sounds a lot nicer though! I really shouldn't complain TOO much, the wife just got hit by some teenager and we made about $2900 off the incident. Tire rack wheels:
JamesChicago, IL03 Vibe silver (totaled Jan-2011)03 Vibe black (bought Feb-2012) Garage Thread
cptnsolo77
Posts: 1645
Joined: Sun Jul 29, 2007 4:05 am

Post by cptnsolo77 »

Those are the EXACT wheels I have been looking at on Tirerack. They are the Sport Edition F7s. They look similar to the TRD wheels I have seen on here before. When you buy them please post pics!!!
* 2003 Vibe Auto Satellite Silver w / Moons & Tunes
* Kenwood Excelon KDC-X597
* Polk DB651-Speakers
* Soundproofcow Roadblock R sound deadening in all doors
* Drop In K & N Filter
* NGK Iridium IX Plugs
* 27 MPG City/Highway with AC on
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