[230iZTR]

Well...I’m planning on eventually doing most/all the “standard” STX stuff to my car because that’s where I think the sweet spot is for a streetable fast car. I’m definitely not a Nationals caliber driver though and haven’t autoXed since ‘07 on a poor high school student’s budget in an HS Ford Focus. My 230 is a stripper with only the Track Pack and ZF8A trans, so I subconsciously made it an ideal candidate for this sort of thing.

So I guess the first and most critical question is can a 17x9J rim and sticky 265mm tire fit under our tiny fenders?

I’ve seen one 255mm 17x8.5Jet40 setup with a 5mm spacer up front. I’m not certain the rear would fit without poking so badly it limits suspension travel.

I’ve also seen a 265mm square setup, but it was on an off-the-shelf Apex 18x9.5J setup with really goofy offsets and large spacers, maybe et30/F (after 12mm spacers) and et50/R (after 8mm spacers)? That would surely need a custom BC Forged or similar setup to replicate in a 9J without large spacers. It also had both camber plates and modified control arms and tension struts, which definitely would be illegal in STX if my understanding of the rules is correct. And that’s before you deal with the PITA of relocating the lower spring perch and swapping out a shorter main spring to gain inner clearance.