Nov 18th 2025
1st gen Veloster wheel & tire fitment guide
We just made a guide for the 2nd gen Veloster, it’s only right that we follow up with one for the 1st gen. Spoiler alert: the wheel & tire specs are very similar between the two, however, there are some differences, hence this guide existing.
- This guide covers all things fitment-related on the 1st generation Veloster (FS), model years 2012-2017.
Quick links
Basic fitment info
- Lug pattern: 5x114.3
- Lug thread: m12x1.5
- Center bore: 67.1
- Lug torque: 79ft/lbs
These are the basics you need to know when ordering or installing wheels. This is universal across the entire Veloster platform.
Suspension options for the FS Veloster
Even though the factory wheel gap isn’t too bad, most Velosters we came across are lowered, whether they’re on lowering springs, coilovers, or air suspension.
Lowering springs are the simplest and cheapest option. Most brands will give a 1-1.5” drop, and honestly, that's plenty for most use cases.
If you want to take it a step further, coilovers will give you fine adjustment over your ride height and also overall better handling. Most coils will let you go lower than springs, although the primary motivation is to improve ride quality and gain adjustable front camber–we’ll talk more about the latter in a second.
For the few that wanna absolutely slam their car while keeping it drivable, air suspension is the only way. Again, you’ll get the benefit of adjustable front camber adjustment.
Camber adjustment
Front camber can be done with the adjusters on the coilovers, or if you don’t have them, with cammed bolts. The only issue is that the rear can’t easily be adjusted as it’s a straight axle.
If you absolutely have to add camber, it’s possible to add a camber/alignment shim between the knuckle and hub. Some people don’t like this approach, but there aren't many alternatives. We’ll mostly be looking at wheels that fit with ‘natural camber’, so extra camber shouldn’t be needed anyway.
Examples of Gen 1 Veloster fitment
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Rev9 Hyperstreet2 coilovers |
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18’s aren’t the only size that you can use on a 1st gen Veloster. 17’s suit these cars pretty well–it’s a factory size after all. Some people think they’re just for a winter setup, but honestly, the smaller wheels with meaty tires look pretty good on this platform.
Here is one of the few FS Velosters that we found running aftermarket 17’s. It’s running a set of Vors TR4, wrapped in Toyo Extensa tires. The specs here are pretty much identical to what we’ll see with 18’s, the only difference being a taller, 45 sidewall tire instead of the normal 40 used with 18” setups.
This car is running coilovers, as are most cars featured in this guide.
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The specs you see here (18x8.5 +35) are by far the most common for both the FS and JS Velosters. They’re pretty aggressive, but work without needing to add camber or roll fenders; 1st gens don’t like to have their fenders rolled, so it’s best to try and avoid it, if possible.
This car is lowered slightly on BC Racing coilovers, but didn’t need a bunch of extra camber.
We’re going to look at a few cars with similar specs, but if you’re after something more aggressive, don’t worry, we’ll look at that later.
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Stock ride hight |
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Here, we’re looking at the same specs, the only difference being that this car is on stock suspension. Like we said: no camber adjustment is needed to fit these.
Motegi wheels are great value and not a lot of people realize it. We did a whole video talking about this and even where the ‘Battles’ came from.
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19’s can look good too, but they have to be done like this. The car pictured is running 19x8.5 +35–the same specs, just with 19’s. The key is to go for a thinner 35 sidewall tire, instead of 40 like we see with 18’s. This gives roughly the same rolling diameter.
Another critical detail: you definitely want coils or springs with 19’s. We saw a couple at stock ride height, and… They just look a bit goofy. This car is lowered on BC Racing BR coilovers.
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Raceland coilovers No rubbing |
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If you wanna go a bit more aggressive than the typical specs, you can go for a 9 or even 9.5” wide wheel. The tires are slightly stretched, which helps this car run these specs, while slammed, without rubbing. Again, neither adding camber to the rear nor rolling the fenders is ideal. The tire size is the ticket to not rubbing over every bump.
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Slight rub Rear fenders rolled |
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Different wheels, same specs, but with slightly wider tires. To make this work the rear fenders were rolled slightly. Camber was added to the front to gain fender clearance; it still has some slight rubbing issues.
This car is on the ever-popular BC Racing coilovers, as are about half the cars on this list; these are affordable and have a nice balance between comfort and sport.
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-4 F / -3 R camber w/ camber shims |
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The final car we’ll look at is a 2014 Veloster Turbo rocking 18x9.5 +35 wheels. To make this work, a lot of extra camber was needed, both front and rear. The alignment specs a -4 front & -3 rear. Camber shims were used, as the ‘natural’ camber is only about a degree or two.
According to the owner, this car rubs pretty badly. It’s probably more a result of the ride height than the wheel specs–anything this low is going to rub.
You can probably guess the suspension setup: BC Racing coils. These can run more of a modest OE+ height, or, as we can see here, slam the car on its nuts.
Wrap up
The recipe for these cars is: 18x8.5 +35 w/ 225/40R18 tires, or something similar. The fitment is a bit limited, especially with the lack of rear camber adjustment, but you can still get a bit creative with the specs. We showed you the go-to size, but also some other options like 17’s (that everyone sleeps on), 19’s, and various widths, offsets, and tire sizes.
Now it’s your job to make your Veloster one-off. When you’re ready, we have the best deals on wheels, tires, lug nuts, hubcentric rings, and everything else you’ll need to dial in your fitment. You’ll find all the wheels used in this guide, plus a lot more (like.. literally thousands of options). The best part is we can mount and balance your tires, then ship them directly to your door–no tire shop needed.