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another tire size issue......

880 views 10 replies 5 participants last post by  sleet 
#1 · (Edited)
ok, ive asked this before few times and never got a good positive answer.. car is 1999 9-3 lowered on koni kit. i have bbs rkII's and i just fitted 215-45-17 and the tires are stretched and i dont like it, i want a cleaner look not a stretched tire. the 215's are being stretched and not a clean square/round edge its shaped more like a v

so 225 seem to be the largest i could possibly fit but can i fit them or will they rub? do i have to just deal with the stretched look of the 215's ? i dont want rubbage... thanks in advance

17x7.5 rims
35 offset
 
#3 · (Edited)
from the research ive been doing it seems like the common size on those rims is 17x8 so it might be 8 wide... previous owner said 7.5 and i never measured... ive read that to fit 225 in rear with these wheels will rub on the plastic peice and in front against 2 plastic nuts?.. this true? i need info quick so i can return the new tires if need be.. thanks
 
#4 ·
i've got 19x8s on 225/35 tires...15mm spacers in the back 10mm up front (just for the looks). check the post about the resprayed wheels..i have a link posted you can click.

they rubbed at first under heavy loads but only in the rear. i found out it was a plastic part of the wheel well that stuck inward. 15 minutes with a dremel later, no rubbing 95% of the time...unless i'm packed full and hit a bump going fast.

when no one else has an answer, take a leap. everyone i asked said mine would never work. where there's a will (and some ingenuity) there's a way.
 
#5 ·
anybody have 17x8 wheels with offset of 35 fitted with 225 and the car being lowered? i need to know soon if i can fit these or if i need to stick with the 215.. a quick look before going into work today looks as if, if i went wider the tires might actually hit the bottom the fender/quarterpanels not the lip but the actual body if i hit a big bump, with wider tires.
 
#6 ·
sleet said:
anybody have 17x8 wheels with offset of 35 fitted with 225 and the car being lowered? i need to know soon if i can fit these or if i need to stick with the 215.. a quick look before going into work today looks as if, if i went wider the tires might actually hit the bottom the fender/quarterpanels not the lip but the actual body if i hit a big bump, with wider tires.
I had a set of 17x8" TSWs that had a 35mm offset. I ran 225 width tires in my 5 door ng900. Now, If you have a 3 door you should be fine. They came with a little cut out to the rear wheel wells that allowed for a little bit bigger tire without rubbing. Now the 225s rubbed on my 5 door without much load. The 35mm offset really pushes the wheels out to fill the wheel wells. You can roll the fenders which should get rid of it all together. 225s look fine on a 8" wide rim, I know exactly what you mean about not wanting it stretched.

So in short, expect rubbing or you can roll your fenders to help accomodate the larger tire.

There were no issuses with those tires hitting anywhere else other than just tapping the front inner wheel well. There would be scraps on the black plastic that shields the engine bay.
 
#7 ·
Marks900SE said:
I had a set of 17x8" TSWs that had a 35mm offset. I ran 225 width tires in my 5 door ng900. Now, If you have a 3 door you should be fine. They came with a little cut out to the rear wheel wells that allowed for a little bit bigger tire without rubbing. Now the 225s rubbed on my 5 door without much load. The 35mm offset really pushes the wheels out to fill the wheel wells. You can roll the fenders which should get rid of it all together. 225s look fine on a 8" wide rim, I know exactly what you mean about not wanting it stretched.

So in short, expect rubbing or you can roll your fenders to help accomodate the larger tire.

There were no issuses with those tires hitting anywhere else other than just tapping the front inner wheel well. There would be scraps on the black plastic that shields the engine bay.
my car is a vert. and also were you running 45 series or 40? i will be using 45's... possible or to much hassle? just deal with the v shaped crap or go through the hassle of remounting and rolling and trimming
 
#8 ·
Well the vert should have the cutouts in the rear that I didnt have.

I was running 45 series tires. I took them off cause I bent one of the rims on a pot hole and the rim stopped holding air.
 
#9 ·
I'm looking at 18's by 8, cause I want more grip. I'd want the fattest tire to get the power to the ground. 225 series on an 8 inch wide tire would probably rub, but if all you have to do is grind down some plastic, then I'd sacrifice any ammount of plastic for some fat rubber under there.

We need a tire size chart, like a sticky just to reference issues such as this. Can anyone make a sticky, cause under the mods sticky pople are pretty vague about their tire and wheel size.
 
#10 · (Edited)
Someone referred me to this and it helped alot:

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html

I know it's a miata site, but the tire size calculator is really handy. TSW 19x8s...a little time cutting away plastic w/a dremel and 15mm spacers...NO RUBBING.

according to this calc, a 205/55-16 will be almost the "same" as a 225/30-19. try it out and you'll see what i mean. it's got a nice visual aid too.
I hope this helps.
 
#11 ·
the offset seems to be the read issue for me.. they are 35 offset.. i need to know if i can fit 225 without a lot of rubbing soon since i need to go this week to have the tires exhanged. again the info is---

1999 9-3 vert
lowered on koni kit
17x8 35 offset
 
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