hey guys,
i come from a suby background, and i bought a 1200 120y sedan a couple months ago and am now getting ready to start working on it. i have been doing a lot of reading of the tech wiki to try and learn as much as possible about everything, but couldnt quite find the answer i was looking for in regards to some wheels

i have found a set cheap set of 16 inch rims that are are 6.5 inches wide with an offset of 40 and wanted to find out if i could get them to fit alright. sorry in advance if this has been covered numerous times, i get it a lot on my forester site

i dont think anyone has put together a simple offset guide for 1200... but for good reason

to fit 16's you have no hope on the standard 1200 front suspension (specifically struts)
the lower spring cup is too close to the ground to fit wide large wheels in the wheel wells

typically people fit stanza struts to get the clearance for these sorts of wheels, but there is a few other options with struts as well

i have 6" wide 15's with offset of +38 but i require small spacers (3-5mm) with 195 tyres so that they dont hit the strut

with 6.5" i think you are really pushing it as with the wheel as close as safe to the strut your still going to need to strectch the guards out to cover the tyres (assuming 195-205)

there is offset calculators on the web that help LINK

putting the numbers in my 6" vs your 6.5 me with offset of 42(including spacer) vs your 40
it says you will have 4mm less clearance on inside, so you will need spacer as well, but also extend out an extra 8mm.
the kicker is.... i have 2 inch flares and am already half filling those out

in adiition to rolling and pumping your guards you will need to take a hammer to the foot well to get extra clearance at the back and bend the front of the gaurd out of the way to be able to steer the car still

sounds like fun?

everyone with big wheels is doing it so its not that big of a deal but thats what you need to do (hope the paints not too nice cause that will be cracked in the process)

[EDIT] whoops just realised i arsed that up, the spacer in effect reduces the offset... so i realistically have say 35mm meaning your wheels have 11mm less clearance on inside and extend out only 1mm (meaning you would need roughly 15mm spacer and 2in flares)

thanks for that mate, big no no then, haha, will keep looking then.
so realistically i would want rims about 5 inches wide to keep things a bit simpler?
and around a 30-35 offset, plus new suspension...
cheers

backspace is the ultimate measure... you want around 105-110mm
problem with offset is it changes every time the rim width changes (hence the link is handy)
with 5in rims you will need a completely different offset again

plenty of people fit 6in wide rims ok, but with standard suspension dont bother going over 13in rims yet

were you after steelie or alloy's,
if you were to go steel i have 14" galant rims (chaser)on my ute (see my build) i knocked back the centres to change the offset to suit my profile of tyres...that saved me from changing my suspension to suit..

hi dan ... it's obsessed ;)
i run 15x6.5 with 185/45s (the white rims)
if i think of it tomorrow i'll get you the backspace of the rim ... i'm also running coilovers to, so there's alot less issue with spring seat/perch clearance

and welcome to the lovely world of the 12 !!!
did you get a 1200 or a 120y ?
and chuck up some pics !!

Details of the 15x6.5s I'm running are
ET 20
backspace 110mm

Hiya, I have 15x6.5 on my 1200 with 195/45, +40 off set, with b310 struts. They need at least a 8mm spacer but heaps of room for turning about 30mm at back, I have also had to fit longer wheel studs. I am planning to put more negative camber witch will help get them under the gards but I will have to lip them also