The Subaru Forester and the WRX are very similar vehicles with only a few key differences. Both the Subaru WRX and its offshoot, the WRX STI, are both fast, all-wheel drive sports sedans that were built for performance driving. Since the WRX and Forester are so closely related, it’s natural to want to upgrade your wheels from a Forester to those of a WRX. But can this be done? The answer is yes—with some caveats. In order to understand why some wheels will fit a Subaru Forester while others won’t, you first have to know how wheels work on certain types of vehicles.
Yes, WRX rims will fit a Subaru Forester.
WRX wheels are 5×100, which means they can be fitted to a Subaru Forester if you want. The WRX wheels are 17×8.5″ and 7.5″ wide, while the Subaru Forester is 17×7.5″ and 7.5″ wide, respectively. So yes, they’ll fit!
But there are some things you’ll need to know before you buy new rims.
But before you go down that path, there are some things you’ll need to know.
- WRX wheels are wider than Forester wheels. When it comes to fitment, the main thing you need to think about is the size and offset of your new rims. The width of a rim can make or break whether or not that wheel will fit your car. As an example, we’ll use a popular set of Enkei NT01 Wheels in 18×9 +38mm for our calculations here:
- The nominal width (or diameter) of any given tire will be listed on its sidewall as something like “245/40R18″ or “235/60R17″ and so on. That number tells you how wide each tire is across its tread face—not necessarily how wide they actually look on your vehicle’s tires due to their curvature or sidewall height (etc).
- If we take those same numbers from above and convert them into millimeters using Google Calculator (or any other calculator), it looks like this: 245×40 = 1056 mm; 235×60 = 1463 mm; 1250 mm vs 1463 mm is a difference of 413mm! Now imagine if we were running 15″, 16″ 17″ etc…
What you should know about Subaru WRX rims
WRX wheels are made for the WRX, and not for other Subarus. The Subaru Forester is a different model—it’s a crossover SUV. So, if you have a Subaru WRX but want to upgrade your ride with new rims, you need to ensure that they are compatible with the vehicle.
Size
WRX wheels are 17×7 and Forester wheels are also 17×7.
Forester wheels have an 8.5″ wide rim width while WRX wheels have a 5.5″ backspacing. The overall diameter of the two rims is exactly the same at 24″.
Conclusion
If you’re thinking about buying WRX rims for your Forester, there are a few things to keep in mind. First, you can use the information above to make sure your wheels will fit.
