Opinions On My Aggressive Wheel Plan: Enkei RPF1 17x9 +45 Rear & 17x8 +45 Front

[GST with PSI]

Like the title says, I'm planning on running a set of RPF1s 17x9 +45 Rear & 17x8 +45 Front. So why the 9" wheel in the back and not the front you ask? Well aside from having a bit more space in the rear wheel well to fill, I simply like how it looks. I have spent quite a bit of time researching, and I believe this wheel combo at a +45 offset will definitely fit the Galant. I used these sources mainly to determine this: click click click click . Additionally, there are also some 1G and 2G DSM guys running the RPF1 17x9 +45 all the way around their cars as well. I'm sure the fitment on the Galant will be very similar to these, but please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. I am hoping I don't have any clearance issues. If I do, I'm planning on a few options to hopefully bail me out: 1) Run a wheel spacer in the rear between 5mm and 10mm. 2) Fit the wheel without tires and then select a tire based on the wheel fitment 3) Roll the fenders 4) Adjust camber negative as a last resort to take care of any clearance or rubbing issues. 5) Trim suspension components where needed. Seeing these wheels on the 1G and 2G DSMs give me the most hope for a good fit on the Galant though. I'm sure there are some of you here who may not think this wheel combo is a very good idea for this reason or that, and that these wheels won't fit..and that's exactly why I'm posting this, because I'd like to hear your opinions. If you could keep your comments civil that would be cool, but hell this is the internet after all, so if you want to call me an idiot I guess that's cool too. Either way I have to get the God awful wheels that are currently on the Galant off as soon as possible, and I think the wheel combo I want to use is the way to go. I know a few members here are running the RPF1s, but none are close to a +45 offset to my knowledge. For you guys who are currently running this wheel, if you could please post up what size and offset you are running and the specs that would be very helpful. And if you aren't running the RPF1, please feel free to chime in as well and just let me know what you think. Thanks.

Here is my current sorry ass wheel setup left by the previous owner. These will go in the dumpster as soon as possible:

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Here is a 1G running the RPF1 17x9 +45

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And now a 2G running the RPF1 17x9 +45

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Here are a few links of the 1G and 2G cars running the RPF1 17x9s that I found: click click


And lastly here's how the +45 9" rear and 8" front look on an S2K...I know I know, just do your best to pretend you aren't looking at a Honda and put a VR4 in it's place. You get the idea though....

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[BurrowZ]

Sorry this isn't much help, I just wanted to say:

Is that a half-rusted hood on the 2G?

NEVER LET HONDA OWNERS MAKE THE DSM TRANSITION.

(I will tell you I think those wheels are great though. No idea on fitment.)

 

[96 420a-t]

Why would you want to run a staggered fitment on a fwd?

Edit: saw this is a galant. But this will still increase understeer and make it so rotating tires is not possible front to rear.

 

[GST with PSI]

Why would you want to run a staggered fitment on a fwd?

Edit: saw this is a galant. But this will still increase understeer and make it so rotating tires is not possible front to rear.

Well like I said man, pretty much just to take up excess fender well and for looks. But yes and yes to both things you said, these will both be caused by a staggered fitment...and I'm cool with it since tracking, racing, and driving around corners fast enough to be concerned about understeer are not in this car's future. And as far as tire wear caused by the lack of rotation, well that's something I can live with I suppose.

 

[P3Kans DSM]

Sorry this isn't much help, I just wanted to say:

Is that a half-rusted hood on the 2G?

NEVER LET HONDA OWNERS MAKE THE DSM TRANSITION.

(I will tell you I think those wheels are great though. No idea on fitment.)

That's a CF hood with a night time reflection...

 

['97boostinGST]

Sorry this isn't much help, I just wanted to say:

Is that a half-rusted hood on the 2G?

NEVER LET HONDA OWNERS MAKE THE DSM TRANSITION.

(I will tell you I think those wheels are great though. No idea on fitment.)

That's a carbon fiber hood, just the reflection of the light.
I'm also lookin for info on this setup...but 9" all around.

 

[ViciousLord]

A +45 offset is not aggressive.

Agressive is at least 9" wide and +30 Offset or LOWER

 

[GST with PSI]

I take it you're doin this for appearance reasons only?
Performance wise you'd probably do better to put a wider tire on the front than the rear to combat under steer.
Are you going to stretch 225s on a 9" wheel or some other ridiculousness?
Why run a 45 offset with a 10mm spacer when you can just get a 35 offset with no spacer? If you're going to be ordering wheels why not order exactly what you need. Not a wrong size and a spacer to correct? Just makes no sense to me.

Lol yes...for the third time, this is mainly for appearance reasons. I definitely will not be stretching a 225 on anything as a 235 or possibly 245 series tire should fit just fine since my car is not dropped extremely low, and the fender wells offer lots of clearance. But as I said in my original post, I will mount the wheels up first and then select a tire size afterwards based on my available clearance if i need to. A +35 offset will protrude out from the fenders and actually not clear as well because it won't tuck. Up from +35, the next offset RPF1s are available in is +45, so that's what I will be going with. And yes I will definitely use a spacer in the rear if that's what it takes to get the necessary clearance I need, however i don't believe this will be necessary. Sorry this doesn't make sense to you and is a bunch of "ridiculousness", but hope this helps. Either way, thanks for the feedback.

A +45 offset is not aggressive.

Agressive is at least 9" wide and +30 Offset or LOWER

Well if that's written somewhere I must have missed it, but thanks for your OPINION. Anyways, the aggressive part of the title was more of an attention getter than anything...got you to look didn't it.

 

[kidtsi]

Do it man!!! i have yet to see a good looking galant. TSIDRIFT on the 1g was running 235/40r17 and i also run those when i bought them from him then i swap to 255's and run a 8mm spacer which tranform them to 37mm offset.

have you though of different speed on your drivetrain on a AWD? 17x8 rpf1s looks ugly though.

Dont pay attention to people here running bicycle wheels on their cars.

 

[kidtsi]

here is one of the pics when i had 235s on...

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and of course the 255s are on the picture you posted.

 

['97boostinGST]

Do it man!!! i have yet to see a good looking galant. TSIDRIFT on the 1g was running 235/40r17 and i also run those when i bought them from him then i swap to 255's and run a 8mm spacer which tranform them to 37mm offset.

have you though of different speed on your drivetrain on a AWD? 17x8 rpf1s looks ugly though.

Dont pay attention to people here running bicycle wheels on their cars.

Are you running 8mm all around or just the rear?
And is it a MUST to have extended studs or will the OEM be enough?

 

[GST with PSI]

Do it man!!! i have yet to see a good looking galant. TSIDRIFT on the 1g was running 235/40r17 and i also run those when i bought them from him then i swap to 255's and run a 8mm spacer which tranform them to 37mm offset.

have you though of different speed on your drivetrain on a AWD? 17x8 rpf1s looks ugly though.

dont pay attention to people here running bicycle wheels on their cars.

Ha! Well watcha think of this one? This is the best Google has to offer:

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But I was actually hoping you would post here. You car looks great with the RPF1s BTW. I didn't know you were using a spacer though? Is that because you wanted to, or because you had clearance issues? Either way nice job; as you can see I used your ride in a few examples above. And I'm trying to stay away from "bicycle wheels"...as you can see in the pic of my car above that's what I'm currently rocking.

 

[kidtsi]

Ha! Well watcha think of this one? This is the best Google has to offer:

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But I was actually hoping you would post here. You car looks great with the RPF1s BTW. I didn't know you were using a spacer though? Is that because you wanted to, or because you had clearance issues? Either way nice job; as you can see I used your ride in a few examples above. And I'm trying to stay away from "bicycle wheels"...as you can see in the pic of my car above that's what I'm currently rocking.

Looks nice, with 235s i didnt need a spacer with 255 i put a 8mm space to clear the rear knuckle.
I think you should run 9 front and back, IMO the 8s RPF1S spokes looks ugly as hell, you should be good with 245/40r17 on a 9 all around if you wanna be on the safe side get 235/40r17 on a 9 all around.

The reason im saying is also because if you are all wheel drive you cant be running different diameter, do you think you can get in contact with someone running wide wheels on a vr4, i dont know if the wheel spacing is the same as the 1g or similar.

 

[kidtsi]

I did a quick research for you and find out a 35 offset would be perfect for your car for fitting a 9 on there, get some 245/40r17 and you are set.

so 17x9 +35 245/40zr17, i would go with Nitto NT05 because i know the tire width of those by memory and they dont run wide as other brands, and it will be functional.

 

[GST with PSI]

Looks nice, with 235s i didnt need a spacer with 255 i put a 8mm space to clear the rear knuckle.
I think you should run 9 front and back, IMO the 8s RPF1S spokes looks ugly as hell, you should be good with 245/40r17 on a 9 all around if you wanna be on the safe side get 235/40r17 on a 9 all around.

The reason im saying is also because if you are all wheel drive you cant be running different diameter, do you think you can get in contact with someone running wide wheels on a vr4, i dont know if the wheel spacing is the same as the 1g or similar.

So are you running the spacer in the front too, or just the rear only? The whole reason I'm going with the 9" in the rear and 8" in the front is the look the staggered rim width gives anyways, so if I went with 9"s all the way around it would pretty much defeat what I'm trying to do. I know it must kill some people to read that, but it's my car so I guess "my car, my rules" will apply here to all those who hate me for what I'm attempting to do. And I think you meant width not diameter right??? The diameter will still be the same front and rear, only the wheel width will be different. This won't really affect much except what's already been mentioned in regards to understeer, handling, and the inability to rotate my tires front to rear. In regards to spacing, I know the suspension components on the GVR4 are very similar to the 1G DSM, I will just have to see how the difference in body affects how these mount up.

I did a quick research for you and find out a 35 offset would be perfect for your car for fitting a 9 on there, get some 245/40r17 and you are set.

so 17x9 +35 245/40zr17, i would go with Nitto NT05 because i know the tire width of those by memory and they dont run wide as other brands, and it will be functional.

Hmmmmm. The research I have done suggests the +35 wheel will stick out from the car too much and actually limit clearance more because of the wheel and tire's inability to tuck into the fender well??? Can you shoot me a link or something to where you found that info so I can check it out??? Thanks. BTW thanks for all your feedback and help, it is much appreciated.

 

[ViciousLord]

As long as the wheel width isn't a big difference AND you run the same exactly size tire you should be fine. You just won't be able to rotate your tires.

 

[kidtsi]

So are you running the spacer in the front too, or just the rear only? The whole reason I'm going with the 9" in the rear and 8" in the front is the look the staggered rim width gives anyways, so if I went with 9"s all the way around it would pretty much defeat what I'm trying to do. I know it must kill some people to read that, but it's my car so I guess "my car, my rules" will apply here to all those who hate me for what I'm attempting to do. And I think you meant width not diameter right??? The diameter will still be the same front and rear, only the wheel width will be different. This won't really affect much except what's already been mentioned in regards to understeer, handling, and the inability to rotate my tires front to rear. In regards to spacing, I know the suspension components on the GVR4 are very similar to the 1G DSM, I will just have to see how the difference in body affects how these mount up.

Nope i meant diameter, you can't run 24.5 on front and 25.3 on the rear it would kill your drivetrain, fitting some 235 on a 9 would not give you the same diameter on a 8 with 235 you know what i mean?

well you can go what i posted on the rear only +35 245

 

[ViciousLord]

Nope i meant diameter, you can't run 24.5 on front and 25.3 on the rear it would kill your drivetrain, fitting some 235 on a 9 would not give you the same diameter on a 8 with 235 you know what i mean?

well you can go what i posted on the rear only +35 245

Yes and no. If wheel width is only an inch difference, the total diameter of the tire is different but it can be done. Now it's not something you or I would do, but others could get away with it at their own risk.

now you can't run 10" wheel with an 8" and same size tire. Tire will stretch and lower overall diameter.

 

[kidtsi]

Yes and no. If wheel width is only an inch difference, the total diameter of the tire is different but it can be done. Now it's not something you or I would do, but others could get awat with it at their own risk.

now you can't run 10" wheel with an 8" and same size tire. Tire will stretch and lower overall diameter.

yeah, but what im trying to say is it wont be staggered because the front tire would be the same as the rear just the rim would change, which i don't see any reason for doing that.
Front tire would look a little bulky and the rear a little strech, that why im saying.

 

[ViciousLord]

yeah, but what im trying to say is it wont be staggered because the front tire would be the same as the rear just the rim would change, which i don't see any reason for doing that.
Front tire would look a little bulky and the rear a little strech, that why im saying.

Hence why I said you nor I would do something like this

Check your PM's

 

[GST with PSI]

Nope i meant diameter, you can't run 24.5 on front and 25.3 on the rear it would kill your drivetrain, fitting some 235 on a 9 would not give you the same diameter on a 8 with 235 you know what i mean?

well you can go what i posted on the rear only +35 245

Ahhh I got you. I misunderstood what you were saying. You mean overall wheel and tire diameter, not wheel diameter alone. That's a simple fix. The rule of thumb is that tire section width changes by 0.2" for every 0.5" change in rim width, being reduced if mounted on narrower then measuring wheel and increased when mounted on wider wheels. This is an easy fix, I just run 2 different aspect ratios. So lets say I run a 235/40 17 front...

235mm / 25.4 = 9.25 inches (conversion)
9.25" (width) x .40 (aspect ratio) = 3.7"
3.7 x 2 = 7.4 (total tire height combined)
7.4 + 17 (wheel diameter) = 24.4 inches total tire height in inches.

And say I run a 245/40 17 rear...

245mm / 25.4 = 9.65
9.65" (width) x .40 (aspect ratio ) = 3.9"
3.9 x 2 = 7.8 (total tire height combined)
7.8 + 17 (wheel diameter) = 24.8 inches total tire height in inches.

So if all my math checks out the end result is a total difference of about .4 inches...not enough to cause any drive train issues that I'm aware of? You can also skip all the math and use this to come up with about the same result Tire Height Calculator - Wallace Racing Someone much smarter than I please chime in and correct me here if I'm wrong on all this???

yeah, but what im trying to say is it wont be staggered because the front tire would be the same as the rear just the rim would change, which i don't see any reason for doing that.
Front tire would look a little bulky and the rear a little strech, that why im saying.

I see what you are saying, but the actual difference in tire height say between a 235 and 245 series tire is so little that you would hardly even be able to tell a difference by looking. I definitely don't think it would be as large of a difference as your are thinking even with a little stretch. But hey, I guess we will find out when I throw this stuff on the Galant, because nothing that's been said thus far is deterring me from proceeding with my original plans. Thanks again for all your input.

 

[95talongirl]

The reason im saying is also because if you are all wheel drive you cant be running different diameter, do you think you can get in contact with someone running wide wheels on a vr4, i dont know if the wheel spacing is the same as the 1g or similar.

This... you will tear up the drivetrain if you run different size tires on AWD. However, if you're FWD, then carry on. I really wouldn't risk it.

It looks ok... I've never been a fan of doing things things for looks... would much rather have the performance, function and ride quality. However, those wheels are very nice. Always loved that style.

 

[GST with PSI]

Why ask for opinions if you're ready have set in mind exactly what you're going to do? It's almost like you created this thread to bait people to comment and point out that you don't care what they said anyways.

That's not the case at all? Again, as I said above, nothing that's been said thus far is deterring me from proceeding with my original plans. Meaning the valid reasons others have already mentioned, (understeer, handling, and the inability to rotate my tires front to rear) are not outweighing my reasons to use this wheel setup. As for the other invalid reasons mentioned, (this being ridiculous, goofy, and not making any sense) they are definitely not reasons I would ever change my mind. My main concern here was fitment issues, and I am seeking opinions and information mainly regarding this, nothing more. There is no bait here, and you are entitled to your opinion whatever that may be regardless of the actual topic I suppose. And even though I don't agree with your opinion, I appreciate you giving it. It definitely seems to me that you are a very performance handling oriented guy, and I'm sure it's hard to swallow that someone could ignore that aspect entirely for "good looks". But hey, I guess I'm that guy...

 

[GST with PSI]

This... you will tear up the drivetrain if you run different size tires on AWD. However, if you're FWD, then carry on. I really wouldn't risk it.

I have planned for this. Check out post #22 and let me know what you think...

 

[turbowop]

Ha! Well watcha think of this one? This is the best Google has to offer:

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But I was actually hoping you would post here. You car looks great with the RPF1s BTW. I didn't know you were using a spacer though? Is that because you wanted to, or because you had clearance issues? Either way nice job; as you can see I used your ride in a few examples above. And I'm trying to stay away from "bicycle wheels"...as you can see in the pic of my car above that's what I'm currently rocking.

That's my car.

The wheels are 17x8 +35. Tires are 245/40 Kumho Ecstal MX. I have a set of BBS LM's coming for it this week that are 17x8 +40, but I'll be using a 5mm H&R spacer to bring it back out to where it sits now. I was limited in choice since BBS doesn't make the wheel I want in a +35 anymore. I'm also mounting 235/40 Dunlop Direzza Z1's, but they're actually a hair wider than the Kumhos.

17x8 +35's tuck fine with about -2.5 degrees camber in the front, which is actually awesome for handling. I'm not sure why you'd wanna go wider, unless trying to fit something bigger than 255 width rubber. I can understand wanting more lip on the rim, but at some point you gotta realize you're going too far for form, and leaving function behind.