Running 18's On a Stock Height NB

[Opelmania]

Question is will it look stupid? I live in IL and drive 120 miles a day for work so I am not going to lower my car. With tax check coming soon, shoes are tops on the list and I figure I should start shopping now. Tire Rack has some good deals going on and I am looking into Focal F01's and ASA AR9's both 18x8. I was going to put Firehawk Indy 500 Summer Tires 225/40's to compliment them. Slotted rotors and painted calipers will be done at install. What are your thoughts and do I need to get anything else?

[4SEVEN3]

If I was scared to lower it because of road conditions, Id be very timid of rolling on 18's with low stiff sidewall tires due to possible wheel/tire damage from potholes. Also If concerned about the ride since you commute a long distance, the stiffer sidewalls on the 40series tires are going to tighten up the ride and I imagine that the tires are Ultra High performance (if there the same ones I looked at on Tire Rack) your going to burn through tires quickly droning to and from work. If your insistant on rolling on 18's Id pick a Grand Touring tire thats NOT asymmetrical or directional so you can rotate them easily. Just my 2 cents!

Ive been beating my brain on wheels and tires for MONTHS and have taken all this stuff into consideration since its my daily driver as well. Ive decided in sticking with a 16in wheel and a mild drop for now.

Good Luck!

[SMG]

They could look like wagon wheels depending on the style. Honestly at stock height I'd stick with a 16" or a 17" wheel.

[4SEVEN3]

Originally Posted by SMG

They could look like wagon wheels depending on the style. Honestly at stock height I'd stick with a 16" or a 17" wheel.

+1, I dont think I truly answered the original question!

[JaceyMelissa]

I run 18in. on the stock height. the ride did not change that much. I live in MI. so I do have to deal with bad roads. but I have not had any problems bending anything as of yet.

[Opelmania]

I like the look of your car JaceyMelissa but the body kit also compliments it. Thanks for your input. What size tires are you running?

I would run my stocks for the winter on winter tires. I'm not overly concerned about the ride quality but I would definitely look into a Grand Touring tire.

They may look like wagon wheels. I need to get them both photoshopped to see what they would look like. Thanks for the input guys.

[2004NBTURBOS]

I went to 18's. It did add a little fender gap. I was thinking about lowering it, but it is already hard to get it on the lift to do work. If it was lowered I dont know how I would do oil changes and stuff. The ride quality is a little bit bumpier. But the handling improvement out weighs that.

[Supercharged98]

I'm running 18's, but I'm lowered also. The main things when changing rim sizes are, the offset and the overall height. Go with the wrong offset will rub when turning hard, and the wrong overall height will cause your speedo to be off.

Anything over 18", the tires get too thin on the sidewall.

[SixChuter]

The AR9s are good looking wheels. In my book, they would not look "stupid" on your car. I like the very narrow spoke wheels. Easy to keep clean. I'm putting new wheels on Gandalf but I'm going the other way. I'm going down to 16s. Would like to run higher profile tires on the rear. I stole that idea from Cueball, one of the nicest NBs in the world! Keep us posted on what you are planning.

[Opelmania]

Thanks for the pics and input guys. I am leaning towards the AR9's as well. Even though I have the Black/Red look, I think the Focal's might just be too much.

[SixChuter]

Originally Posted by Opelmania

Thanks for the pics and input guys. I am leaning towards the AR9's as well. Even though I have the Black/Red look, I think the Focal's might just be too much.

If you want to go to the "dark" I think the Focals would look good but I'm just biased toward the silver stuff. Give it a lot of thought. Big decision. Get whatever will make you smile in the morning.

[MichelleRoze]

I currently run 18's and I am lowered about 1.5inches. First, if you want to FILL the gap, then go with a thicker sidewall, not too thick, but a little. So instead of a 40 series, maybe try a 45 series...or possibly 50 but that might cause some rubbing. The bigger the sidewall, the softer the ride. My 40 series are very tight and do provide a rougher than normal ride, As long as you avoid "runflat" tires, it won't be too bad. 40 series tires with steel runflats...ugh...R-O-U-G-H!

I think lowering would be fine. I was a little leary of it at first, but get a steel skid pan and you'll be fine. Mine is a defender tech and I love it, I think the cars should have come with them in the first place since our cars are already low.

I think your biggest concern with going to an 18 should be what the wheel is made of. I have Milli Miglias which are a very soft aluminium...sadly, they bend really easily. Hence why I'm on the hunt for some steelies to run 90% of the time then the 18's for shows and what not. I didn't know when I got them that they were a soft material or I may have considered something else. But since all the wheels have needed straightening, I've become a very cautious driver, and DO NOT let random people drive my car. Cause fixing a bent rim is not cheap!

So just some things to think about. I think 18's on stock height should be fine, but go with a wider sidewall to fill the gap. Your ride height shouldn't change much if you stick with 225/40/18.

[Supercharged98]

A little info....

P205/55R16 tire is 24.9" overall height. Try to stay close as possible in height. Going taller or smaller WILL affect your speedo and mess with the ABS sensors.

[JaceyMelissa]

they are 225/40/18 I do not think that I would go with any other size I also ran mine all year long (snow) notI pretty much put it up for the winter because the ice buildup cracked the front bumper cover

[JaceyMelissa]

These are the new wheels I am going to get for my bug (Zinik Z28 Revento )

[Opelmania]

Originally Posted by JaceyMelissa

These are the new wheels I am going to get for my bug (Zinik Z28 Revento )

Those are sick.

Supercharged98-> So what is the overall height of a 225/40/18? Love your car. You got a steal.

Michelle-> I will look into what these are both made of and possibly look into a taller sidewall.

[yelojkt]

Opelmania a good rule of thumb is that you want your fender gap to be half the width of your tire sidewall. If you wind up going with an 18" wheel you will run 225/40/18 tires which have about a 2 1/2" height. If you do not lower the car then you will have a bigger gap than the sidewall height. I ran my car like that for a year or so before I lowered my bug. If you lower with a sportcup kit it will not rub. But like was stated before you will go through tires more due to them being a softer compound. Also your fuel milage will suffer slightly changing from a 205 to a 225 due to more rolling resistance and a heavier set-up.

[Supercharged98]

Originally Posted by Opelmania

Supercharged98-> So what is the overall height of a 225/40/18? Love your car. You got a steal.

Those tires are 25.1". Close enough to stock, for me.

Thanks, my wife picked the car for me. I had a fun experience buying the car from Gary. We got pulled over ( police ). I need to change the pic on my screen. A few changes since then.

[Opelmania]

Looks like the tire sizes are close enough for me.

Yelojkt-> I tried to look for pics of your car on 18's and no drop, but it looks like you're low in all of them. Since you ran like that for a year, it couldn't be that bad. I'm leaning towards the 18's and I will probably go for a harder sidewall on the tire to limit any pothole problems and wear problems. Who knows, dropping could come later.

Thanks again everyone for your input. I'm learning a lot and am going to take everything into consideration.

[2004NBTURBOS]

Originally Posted by Opelmania

I'm leaning towards the 18's and I will probably go for a harder sidewall on the tire to limit any pothole problems and wear problems.

To my knowledge you can't get a {harder} sidewall. You can get a taller sidewall, that will give the rim more protection against potholes. It will also fill the gap that is caused by going to 18's. A 225/45 series ought to do ya.