275/35-15 Hohos on a 15x9 w/o massive fender work

[nrubenstein]

Is anyone running these without destroying the fenders? I'd like to be able to drive the car around when I'm not conepacking, so widebody is really not an option...

And as a bonus, are there any reasonably inexpensive wheels that anyone would like to suggest in that size?

[gearheadE30]

275s without fender mods? The biggest I have seen without involved fender work is 245s, and even that had minor rolling/pulling....

[z31maniac]

What's reasonably inexpensive to you?

15x9 6UL comes to mind, but they are ET 36, so would need huge spacers.

[nrubenstein]

275s without fender mods? The biggest I have seen without involved fender work is 245s, and even that had minor rolling/pulling....

I'm willing to roll, just not cut.

[SkinnyVT]

the answer is no, 275 hoosiers are way too wide to fit without modification...unless you run ridiculously stiff springs and jack the ride height up so the fenders clear. Cheapest 15x9 wheel is going to be something like a Diamond Racing wheel, unless you want something that looks good then you are onto the 949 Racing 6UL wheel.

[nrubenstein]

For $85 with the correct backspacing, diamond racing looks very attractive. The weight is a greater concern than looks, but probably not great enough.

[hoyabmw]

Diamond's require cutting the brake bracket (shouldn't be a problem in SM). You've seen mine--that's just fender rolling, with a slight trim to the edge of the air dam. In an earlier car (pre-88), the fender gaps in the rear are higher so it's easier.

[z31maniac]

Could you purposely order the Diamond Racing wheels with the offset a touch high, and run 5-8mm spacer to avoid cutting?

[Philo]

Yeah, most people are just too lazy or cheap to buy spacers. I don't even think you would need hubcentric spacers as the wheels sit on the lugs (if I remember right - correct me if i'm spreading misinformation)

[nando]

I don't think there is any chance of these fitting without heavy mods. Even with a perfect offset, a 245 or wide 235 is going to rub both the inside and outside of the rear fenders, and touch the frame at full lock up front. Hoosiers also run much wider than normal tires, that 275 is probably closer to 290-300mm in overall width.. consider the stock car came with puny 195s.

plus if you are daily driving your car, you're not competitive enough to use 275s (except maybe to cover up driving errors). 225/45-15 is available, much cheaper, and still plenty sticky.

[Uber E30]

The hub centers the wheels

[nando]

The hub centers the wheels

non hubcentric works fine too, as long as you tighten them in the right pattern and do it in the air without weight on the wheel. my 1st gen 6UL wheels are not hubcentric and i've never had vibration issues. I'm also using studs, of course. It would suck to use them with bolts.

[e30_325es]

Yeah Nick, I was going to suggest checking out Kevin's car (hoyabmw). I don't remember what size he is running, but I know they are wide. And he has basically flattened the fenders.

[nrubenstein]

Yeah Nick, I was going to suggest checking out Kevin's car (hoyabmw). I don't remember what size he is running, but I know they are wide. And he has basically flattened the fenders.

I've been familiar with Kevin's car since 2001, I believe.

[nrubenstein]

I don't think there is any chance of these fitting without heavy mods. Even with a perfect offset, a 245 or wide 235 is going to rub both the inside and outside of the rear fenders, and touch the frame at full lock up front. Hoosiers also run much wider than normal tires, that 275 is probably closer to 290-300mm in overall width.. consider the stock car came with puny 195s.

plus if you are daily driving your car, you're not competitive enough to use 275s (except maybe to cover up driving errors). 225/45-15 is available, much cheaper, and still plenty sticky.

I didn't say daily driving it.

Ultimately, though, the problem is that tire choices for E30s suck. I can run a 225 or a 275. Those are my choices. Also, Kevin is running huge wheels, which make clearing the tires very different. A 275 on a 9" wheel is substantially narrower than a 275 on the 10" wheels that Kevin runs. The question is whether or not that is narrow enough to get away with. If I squeezed it onto an 8" rim, it would probably work, given that I've seen someone using similar sized hoho slicks squeezed on 15x8.