Everyone with aftermarket wheels

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11-25-2002, 12:40 AM

SpeC

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Join Date: Apr 2000

Location: Bay Area, CaLi

Posts: 130

Everyone with aftermarket wheels

Ok im not happy anymore with my 17" rims and am going to buy wider 18". Got a couple of questions.

I was wondering what the best size would be to fill up the fender well.

What width should i go... 9.5?

What tires should i get? (not rims)

Can i see your pics?

Thanks in advance!

-SpeC

11-25-2002, 10:24 AM

Injuneer

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Join Date: Nov 1998

Location: Hell was full so they sent me to NJ

Posts: 70,634

Going from a 17" wheel to an 18" wheel isn't going to "fill up the fender well" unless you go to an "oversize tire" - one with a diameter larger than stock.

The stock sizes and popular aftermarket sizes are generally selected to match in outside diameter..... 245/50-16, 275/40-17 and 315/35-17 all have roughly the same 25.65" outside diameter. If you went to 18" wheels, you would logically select a 275/35-18 (25.58") or a 285/35-18 (25.85"). Neither of those sizes would fill the wheel openings much better than the stock tires.

Other choices would be a 275/40-18 (26.66") or a 285/40-18 (26.98"). There is also a Michelin Pilot Sport in 295/35-18 (26.13") and that would require a 10"-10.5" wide rim. Then there are the Viper rear tires.... 335/30-18 (26.68") but those will require 12"-13" wide rims - not easy to fit on a 4th Gen.

Remember, filling up the wheel openings means increasing the diameter of the tire, and of that increase in diameter, only 1/2 of it "fills" the openings.... the other 1/2 raises the ride height of the car. And a larger diameter tire gives you the same effect as going to a numerically lower rear axle ratio. Then you need to correct your speedo.......

11-25-2002, 02:40 PM

SpeC

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Join Date: Apr 2000

Location: Bay Area, CaLi

Posts: 130

thanks for the info.

TTT

11-25-2002, 03:54 PM

FirehawkNS

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Join Date: Jul 2002

Location: Charlotte, NC, USA

Posts: 219

You can check mine out in the sig. I went 18 X 9's , but I had to do a drop on the car to fill in the gaps. It looked like crap with the 18's and factory gap. Sometimes I wish I would have gotten wider in the rear, But I like being able to rotate the tires, and the wider the tire, the better the chances are to hydroplan on wet roads. All in all I would love to have gone 18 X10's.