[TIM747]

Hey guys,

This summer, I am working a full time job, 5 days a week, at minimum wage to buy some air suspension (lol) for my 08 BSP. I have found the most budget friendly+quality kit to be the ScionPro/Airlift kit with manual control for $1,625. If there are any for the same price or lower, I would love to know. Especially if the quality is equal or higher. I except to only have to do a little bit of maintenance here and there, with maybe having to replace the bags every 100,000 miles or so.

Also, there's always the issue of wheels. Currently I am running 16x7 +38 MB Seven X wheels . This summer I will only be able to buy the suspension and some other bits and pieces for the box. Next summer, I plan to buy some good wheels. I have a couple in mind. I would LOVE to run some Rotiform NUE's in 18x9.5, but I want to be able to go pretty low on air, and I do not want to have to do too much fender work and having stretched tires put on them. I am in high school, so my parents kinda control everything I do to my car, and stretched tires don't seem to be liked too much by them. I would also like to run Enkei RPF1's if the Rotiforms are too aggressive. Options I have in mind:

In order of preference:
1. Air+18x9.5 et25 Rotiform NUE (Polished)
2. Air+17x8.5 et25/35 Rotiform NUE (Polished)-If #1 is too aggressive.
3. Air+17x10 et18 (38 if too aggressive) Enkei RPF1 (Silver or SBC)
4. Air+18x10 et25 XXR 521 (Hyper Silver+Hand Polish)
5. DF210+18x10 et25 XXR 521 (Hyper Silver+Hand Polish)- Not much of a looker/aggressive, but it's practical, and I can buy the wheels, tires, and springs all one summer, and I'd be set.

Budget: $2,000 each summer. I really don't want to spend over $350 per wheel, but I'm open to suggestions. I am going for a Euro-tuner/VIP look. Also, should I buy the wheels this summer, and suspension next summer, or air first, then wheels? I could also use some good tire suggestions, preferable not stretched too much; I don't want ANY barrel showing.

Thanks in advance guys.

[Zman]

Get the fenders rolled, they wont be able to tell.

[BoxLife]

What kind of work are you doing?

Save and buy the exact wheels you want then build the car around them, otherwise everything before was a waste. Pick up a second job, or work real hard and get quick raises at your current job.

Save save save save save save

[TIM747]

Originally Posted by BoxLife

What kind of work are you doing?

Save and buy the exact wheels you want then build the car around them, otherwise everything before was a waste. Pick up a second job, or work real hard and get quick raises at your current job.

Save save save save save save

I'm working as a secretary/receptionist for a real estate and mortgage firm. I am also developing a loan program for them, and get paid overtime for it. The salary is fixed haha. I'm pretty young, so it's a blessing as it is.

I want to buy Rotiform NUE's but without a drop, the wheels looks ridiculous. I haven't seen a single car on Rotiforms without a drop. I still have XXR's in mind, expecially the 521 and 527, and Enkei RPF1's are still high in that list. I wanted Rotiforms really bad, because I might be moving to a pretty high-end community, so if I was rolling low on some mirror-polished Rotiform NUE's, I would look half-decent among all the benzes and lexuses haha. I have to stick with this car for about 7 more years, so I want to have it last till then. How bad would curb rash be with mirror polish wheels? I don't want to ruin the wheels, since there is no lip, and nearly the entire face is past the fenders if I go for 18x9.5 +25. What fender work would I have to do? I'm waiting for CIONIDE or xseveredveganx to show up, they're human fitment calculators Thanks for all the tips guys! And yes, I like to write long posts

---------- Post added 07-02-2012 at 04:24 PM ----------

Double post, eek:
After talking with my dad, he said $1,000 on wheels and nearly $2,000 on suspension is pretty crazy. So I think I will take the DF210 route. Hopefully, by the end of the month, I can buy DF210's, and then by August, I can buy silver Mustang SC Wheels (94-04) 17x10 +20 (2.5" Lip!!) with the DF210s. At $130 a piece, they're a steal! They kinda look like the Hinodex Stern that MIRANDA COSGROVE is running. I feel a trend about to follow, haha. Good, cheap wheels are hard to come by. With this setup, I will have $1,000 or so leftover to buy a new laptop. I could really use some tire+fender advice, guys. I want to have as beefy tires as possible with as little fender work as possible Help me out guys

[DeadCannon]

I have a feeling 17x10 +20 will require quite a but of work to fit. Check out fitmywheels.com to get a rough idea what you're looking at.

Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk 2

[DeadCannon]

http://www.fitmywheels.com/fitimage/205/55/16/16/7 /38/235/45/17/17/10/20

From that I'm going to say they won't fit without camber and pulling fenders. As far as I know there are still no camber shims available for second gens.

Sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk 2

[xseveredveganx]

17x10 +20 fit fine with a 215/40R17 tire. Fenders WILL have to be rolled and pulled. RPF1s would be sick. You can get them in the lesser aggressive offset, and use spacers to dial the fitment in.
Enkeis or Brotiforms are my personal choice. I'm pretty anti XXR.
I know I want Enkei NT03+M's in 18x10.5 and SBC finish.
What it all boils down to is this: what do YOU really want. 18x9.5 NUEs will fit with a 215/40R18 tire.

[DeadCannon]

Just noticed my link broke. And of course I can't fix it.

[i_ride_naked]

Cliff (bbszero) sells manual kits for cheaper than scionpro.
2zero6factory.com

[TIM747]

DeadCannon: On that site, if the wheel and tire do not go past the stock on the inside, that means the suspension and such will be fine? That site is hella useful, thanks!

xseveredveganx: I'm trying to budget wisely, and honestly, Rotiforms look good only on coils or air, so I don't think I can run them. I love their 5 spoke look, which is why I want to get the Mustang wheels. They look like LEGIT, reverse-mounted Rotiform (race) ROC's (essentially NUE's with a lip). With a good polish/powdercoat, $130 wheels would look pretty close, and look like forged 3-piece wheels . The Enkei RPF1's look baller. I want to run them, but the price for SBC is as much as two of the mustang reps. I love their look, and the 17x10 +18 would look gangster haha. I'm pretty set on the Mustang wheels, unless someone shows me another brand that has legit, wide wheels under $200 a pop. I really want to go for a classy yet muscular look, like on old racing BMW's, or perhaps old Nissans. Clazzio's and HID's are on the list haha. btw, if you get the NT03+M's, maybe you could run them in a unique color, like lemon-lime. I'm really curious to see how they will look, since there are VERY few cars which can pull off this kind of racing wheel. I honestly haven't seen them done well on cars besides RX-7's or 240's. If anyone could pull it off, it would be you. Oh and lol, Brotiforms.

i_ride_naked: That looks pretty legit, but the bags are kinda meh. I've heard that UAS isn't that good compared to other brands. I would love to be running some AirRex. I'm going to go the budget route, and ask for air when I graduate. Having a box in Texas is pretty crazy haha. So many camaro's, mustang's, trucks, and jeeps in the school parking lot haha. At least I can make the box look brawny resting on the 17x10's haha.

So, it seems I am going to go for the 17x10 +20 Mustang reps, either with 215/40R17's like xsvx suggested but I still want to go the route with the least stretch, if possible. Padanky lives like 2 hours or something south of me, and he runs 18x10 +25 on 225/45R18's and DF210's so maybe I could go for those, but of course for 17's. Anodized blue lug nuts and calipers are also on the list, along with Black Clazzio's with blue (black?) stitching and hopefully a HKS ES Wagon exhaust+either a CAI or Sway Bars and maybe some yellow fogs. And there goes all my money from spending 300 hours behind a desk during my summer. Thanks guys for all the help, I just need more tire suggestions. I really want to run Toyo's, MAYBE Falkens. Achilles, Nakama, etc. are not on the list. More wheel suggestions are also useful. I need to stop writing so much...

[xseveredveganx]

Airlift's product will get lower than Clif's. I've recently installed an Airlift setup on a good friend's xB, and the fender covers almost all the top of the front tires. Clif's setup on Phobic's, he still seemed to have gap.
If you want Brotiform, run Brotiform. Who cares if your car looks doofy for a minute until you have enough cash to get everything together? It'll look doofy any-which-way sky high with aggressive wheels.

[TIM747]

The price and the risky odds of curb rash are too high for me :/. The spoke design is great, which is why I like the Mustang SC wheels. I want to run air, but it would take me three years to finish out my xB, and if I go the DF+SC route, I can get more mods, and have it look semiballer, then I just have to buy air when I'm ready, and then I'll be done. How are yours holding up? I would expect that extremely high gloss and poke to be pretty marred by now. But you look gangsta, so I guess it's worth it haha. Here's some examples of the Mustang SC wheels:
Standard:




Polished:


---------- Post added 07-03-2012 at 11:16 AM ----------

eek I hit submit reply instead of preview post. Anyways, the JDM Kouki in this vid is also rollin SC's:

You Tube

You Tube

---------- Post added 07-03-2012 at 11:54 AM ----------

In other news, I got a raise! $9/hr ftw
I discussed with my dad, and he said that the Mustang SC wheels are fugly haha. The 521's are a maybe, he likes 527's, and he likes the RPF1 as well. He really wants to do black on black, but I think it would look ricey on a box, and I want to go for silver. My opinions on wheels are so shifty haha. Now that he likes the RPF1, I'm pretty stoked. I seem like a indecisive post whore now lol.
Would black or silver look better on BSP?
Should I go for 17x10 +18 or +38 on the RPF1's?
And more tire suggestions are still welcome.

[Zman]

Run the mustang ones dude. You might be the first.

[DeadCannon]

Originally Posted by TIM747

DeadCannon: On that site, if the wheel and tire do not go past the stock on the inside, that means the suspension and such will be fine? That site is hella useful, thanks!

Yeah, it should be safe. You should be able to have a little bit of room to mess with. You might want to take a peek in there while you are still riding stock. A lot easier to get in and take a look.

Since Cody doesn't really have a data base of fender clearance it may require some measuring on your part to figure out if it will fit. I've also asked him about implementing a camber option.

For my new wheels I started by looking at my current setup vs stock, just to be more familiar with what I'm working with now. Honestly I did very little research before buying my XXRs. I found a 16" wheel in 5x100 and low offset that I could afford. End of story. Not the best way to do it but I made it work.

stock tC 17x7.5 +42et & 215/45 vs 16x8 0et & 205/45

As you can see the wheels are only 1/2" wider but because of the massive camber difference the wheel is pushed way out.

Next I did proposed setup vs stock. I wanted to check inner clearance. I am planning to go much wider and wanted to be sure I wouldn't be in danger of rubbing the shocks or control arms.

stock tC vs 17x9.5 +31et & 235/40 (still kicking around tire sizes)


As you can see in the image the interior clearance is almost identical to stock. No worries.

After that I checked my new setup versus my current setup so I can see how the poke will be compared to 8" 0 offset. With enough camber the 8s fit with a little rubbing.

16x8 0et 205/45 vs 17x9.5 +31et 235/40


So I guess I basically typed all this just to give an idea of what the thought process you go through to figure out your fitment before you spend your hard earned money on something that you hope works. Maybe it's useful, maybe it's not. XD I did none of this because I'm not particularly bright. :-P I just wanted to be the first tC to run 16s and make it work.

[DeadCannon]

Oh, another piece of advice I have for anyone wanting to get stanced: Get low first! Get your ride low and get used to that style of driving. You can't just drive around like you're in a stock car. Start thinking about avoiding scraping on speed bumps, driveways, uneven roads. Start looking for the smoothest line over bridge expansion gaps. There's a different mindset to driving a lowered car.

[flyingemu05]

Originally Posted by DeadCannon

Oh, another piece of advice I have for anyone wanting to get stanced: Get low first! Get your ride low and get used to that style of driving. You can't just drive around like you're in a stock car. Start thinking about avoiding scraping on speed bumps, driveways, uneven roads. Start looking for the smoothest line over bridge expansion gaps. There's a different mindset to driving a lowered car.

qft. driving low isnt for everyone, i hate it but i'm getting used to it. And to the OP take your time figuring out what wheels you really want, it took me about a year to figure out what i wanted. And as for the air set up, you can buy used and save a ton of money on a gently used kit

[TIM747]

I'm not dropping supalow anytime soon, I think. I could spend all my hard earned money this summer on just air suspension, or I could get springs, wheels, seat covers, exhaust, CAI, various lighting, and more for the same amount. I would love to just have the 75% complete setup for a bit, then sell the springs and go on air later. That site is pretty helpful, but fender clearance would be good. I hope Padanky sees this thread, he's running a similar setup except he has 18x10 not 17x10. I want to run the mustang wheels so bad, and the offer is great. You can buy tires from them (poor selection however-suited for mustangs, not stance), have them mounted, balanced, and filled with nitrogen if you like, for no extra charge. Hopefully, their techs will stretch the tires onto the 17x10. They only have Sumitomo and Nitto in stock, so I'm iffy on that. I really wish I wasn't a minor haha, I want to buy the wheels on my own. I hope no one mounts these before me, if my dad makes me wait till I'm an adult to buy. I wish my dad hadn't bought those crummy MB Seven-X when replacing the tires, otherwise, I would be fitted by now. Hopefully, I can ram into a curb and crack them haha.
Here's how she sits now:

Should I just run air for a year, and tuck these? I'm so indecisive on what to do. I want to either have deep concave wheels, like the XXR 527, lipped wheels, like the mustang wheels, or step lip wheels, like the XXR 521. The race look of the RPF1 is awesome too. The main reason I like the mustang wheels so much, is because of the combo of price and fitment and benefits of ordering them, and because they're so unique. Maybe only 5 japanese cars in the world run them. The internet shows 3, from what I've seen, and I threw a couple in. The way these look is phenomenal.

[BoxLife]

Originally Posted by BoxLife

Save and buy the exact wheels you want then build the car around them, otherwise everything before was a waste.
Save save save save save save

quoted for emphasis

[flyingemu05]

cosign on what BoxLife said. seems like you're trying to get "stanced" just to do it without knowing exactly what outcome you want for your car. take your time, wheels/tires/suspension is a pretty big purchase

[TIM747]

Originally Posted by flyingemu05

cosign on what BoxLife said. seems like you're trying to get "stanced" just to do it without knowing exactly what outcome you want for your car. take your time, wheels/tires/suspension is a pretty big purchase

That's half true. The true plan I have for my car is:

Mustang Wheels
DF210->Air
Toyo Tires

The main reason I'm so indecisive, is because my dad has completely different opinions from mine. I'm actively trying to accommodate both of our preferences, and I'm trying to run it past you guys, which is turning into a confusing, most likely annoying, thread for you guys.