Enkei Raijin vs Sparco Pro Corsa for winter

[frodooftheshire]

Hi guys,

I think I can break my wheel/tire questions into three different categories.

1. Wheel Model:
I'm looking at either the Sparco Pro Corsa ( 18 X 8 45 offset) vs Enkei Rajin (18 X 8 42 offset) for just winter wheels. I like the look of the Raijin better, and it's lighter but it has the 42 offset vs 45 for the Pro Corsa wheel. Normally I wouldn't think too much of this difference since I wont be pushing the car much at winter time, but I read one guy mentioned he felt the car was hard to control in the snow and attributed that to the lower offset- not sure if he was correct. Part of me is also slightly considering the 19" Motegi wheels...but the tires will be a little more expensive for sure.

2. Tire Model:
I'm primarily looking at either the Michelin X ICE or Bridgestone Blizzak WS90. In the Oregon we mostly get light snow/mild ice. Any other recommendations are welcome. I had some WS80 tires on my WRX and they worked pretty well.

3. Tire Size:
Finally, should I go with 235/45/18s or 235/40/18s? I know the car will handle better with the 40 series tire vs 45, but I figured the extra cushion could be handy at winter time and the tires are slightly cheaper (about $15 each).

Thanks guys!

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[tinyman392]

Hi guys,

I think I can break my wheel/tire questions into three different categories.

1. Wheel Model:
I'm looking at either the Sparco Pro Corsa ( 18 X 8 45 offset) vs Enkei Rajin (18 X 8 42 offset) for just winter wheels. I like the look of the Raijin better, and it's lighter but it has the 42 offset vs 45 for the Pro Corsa wheel. Normally I wouldn't think too much of this difference since I wont be pushing the car much at winter time, but I read one guy mentioned he felt the car was hard to control in the snow and attributed that to the lower offset- not sure if he was correct. Part of me is also slightly considering the 19" Motegi wheels...but the tires will be a little more expensive for sure.

2. Tire Model:
I'm primarily looking at either the Michelin X ICE or Bridgestone Blizzak WS90. In the Oregon we mostly get light snow/mild ice. Any other recommendations are welcome. I had some WS80 tires on my WRX and they worked pretty well.

3. Tire Size:
Finally, should I go with 235/45/18s or 235/40/18s? I know the car will handle better with the 40 series tire vs 45, but I figured the extra cushion could be handy at winter time and the tires are slightly cheaper (about $15 each).

Thanks guys!

The tire is going to make a bigger difference in the snow than the offset of the wheel to be honest. I'd wager that it wasn't the offset that cause the issues in the snow. A worse compound and a wider tire are going to be worse in any weather (rain or snow) vs what the offset will end up doing. I'm personally running Raijins right now with Michelin PS AS3+ (not true winter tires) haven't had them in the snow much, though they did well in the crap we got in Chicago this past week.

 

[gtman]

Like the poster above said, the tire is the key with winter driving. In snow, the narrower, the better. Have you ever considered something like 225/45-18's as an option? Of course dry weather handling would suffer.

As far as the wheels, the Raijins are nice but those Pro Corsas look great on the FK8.

 

[frodooftheshire]

Like the poster above said, the tire is the key with winter driving. In snow, the narrower, the better. Have you ever considered something like 225/45-18's as an option? Of course dry weather handling would suffer.

As far as the wheels, the Raijins are nice but those Pro Corsas look great on the FK8.

Wow that does look really good. What center caps are those? I hadn’t thought about 225, but I’m totally fine with it - a thinner tire would be better and that would probably just save me extra money which is a bonus.

 

[JonnyFlash]

...As far as the wheels, the Raijins are nice but those Pro Corsas look great on the FK8.

I went with RTX Envy which looks like a replica of the Pro Corsa. Went down to a 17" (215/50R17) for winter which just barely cleared the brake caliper on my Si and the wheel weights scraped a bit on one wheel. They weren't the thin weights though.

 

[frodooftheshire]

Put down a deposit this morning - going with the Corsa wheels with 225/45/18" Blizzak WS90s. Thanks for your help guys!

 

[tinyman392]

Wow that does look really good. What center caps are those? I hadn’t thought about 225, but I’m totally fine with it - a thinner tire would be better and that would probably just save me extra money which is a bonus.

There was a YouTube video a while back about the Sparco wheels on the FK8 where the user said he was able to get a set of factory center caps to work in the wheels. Let me see if I could dig it up. I know the Enkei wheels would require some sort of adapter for the stock center caps to work (there was a user on here that 3D printed them though they tended to crack during the winter).

Put down a deposit this morning - going with the Corsa wheels with 225/45/18" Blizzak WS90s. Thanks for your help guys!

Awesome! Enjoy the wheels!

Edit 1:

Edit 2: Part number at 2:38.

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