Recently Bought a 1998 Subaru Forester S. Always wanted this year and model and finally found the perfect one:). Have had it for 2 months and now im looking for some rims and tires. Would some XXR 531 Rims 17x9 5-100/5-114.3 offset +25 fit properly with tire and give me clearance and not hit when I turn?
I always install the size tires recommended by the vehicle manufacturer that’s reflected on the placard located on drivers door jamb.
Tester
My advice is to save your money. Unless the stock rims are damaged, you should keep them. Aftermarket rims often detract from the appearance and value of a vehicle, especially if they are a different size than stock.
In fact, every time I have purchased a used car with aftermarket rims, I always went to a junkyard, bought the stock rims, and got rid of the aftermarket rims. Same with the stereo. I want my car to be as much “stock” as possible.
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Personally if I had spent time looking for a certain vehicle that old I don’t want to take it away from the original configuration. Besides larger wheels mean lower profile tires . This is a Subaru . But if you must then at least get a good wheel and tire shop involved so you have clearance.
If the OP visits the tirerack.com website, and enters the info for his particular make, model, and model year, it will give him the acceptable alternate tire and wheel configurations for that particular situation. Any potential choices that are not listed on that website should be avoided, especially in view of the reality that the wheel bearings and other front-end components of this vehicle are now 21 years old.
(Translation=depart from factory stock tire and wheel sizes at your peril, with an aged vehicle such as this.)
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First, I think the vehicle is incorrect. Foresters didn’t get produced until 1997.
And according to Tire Rack, for a 1998 Subaru Forester S, the minimum offset is 38mm, and the maximum width is 8".
So, No, it won’t fit. Besides, you should be asking the wheel manufacturer XXR, not the folks here.
And you should find a web site devoted to your vehicle. They will have a lot more savvy on what works and what doesn’t.
Up until fairly recently the stock sound systems in most cars pretty much sucked compared to the sound quality you’d get from the aftermarket. And some cars definitely benefit from aftermarket wheels, particularly if the stock wheels left copious amounts of wheel gap.
Sometimes after market wheels and tires can be an improvement and the same for replacement audio systems that have features the stock unit did not have .