im curious as to what size 17 i should buy, ive seen a few cars with 17x9.5 all the way around and a few with 17x9.5 in the rear and smaller 17x8 up front . i want to run the largest wheel and tire package i can without having the wheels stick really far out,

 

since thats a matter of opinion, its up for debate... heh.


for the front, its generally agreed by everyone that 9.5 is the limit...

for the rear, you can goto 11" with a lil "modding" to the inner fender and trimming/bending the lip edge.


but of course, some people dont want to tap the inner fender with a hammer and roll the lip.. for the most part they have to stay between 10-10.5... keep in mind the panhard rod and a BUNCH of lil parts declare where the rear end is from side to side.. and on a production car, it varies.
so what works for someone just bearly may not for someone else.
keeping that in mind... measure your car yourself, and if you want WIDE rear rubber, a adjustible panhard bar is a good idea.

 

you can put 17 x 9.5 with 5.25" backspacing all the way around with 275/40-17 tires.

 

my race wheels are 16x10.5" CCW's... with 5.5" backspacing... 1/2" spacer in front...

they don't stick out at all


i've seen people autocross with 17x11 wheels with 315/35 tires... they fit with the correct backspacing... but they will stick out about a half inch

if you're going to go that wide(10.5 or 11).. you'll need an aftermarket panhard rod.. preferably one with rod-ends(no, it won't cause road noise)