17x8.5" all the way around? Or 17"x10" rears?

[r4esh]

Ello' All– first of all I've been searching quite a bit now and getting a lot of mixed information. Thus..

The Car: is an s52 swapped e30 m3 on H&R Sport springs with e90 drop hats in the front. Fenders not rolled.

The Wheels: BBS RS style replicas http://esmwheels.com/index.php?route...&product_id=82

–

Currently it is not hard to break the rear loose with the power of the s52 in there. I'd like to improve handling and keep the @$$ planted and my thought was a wider rear tire would help.

ESM offers this wheel in a 17x8.5" et20 and 17x10" et15

1. Is 10" rear vs the 8.5" really going to make that much of a difference if I can squeeze a wider tire on there?
2. What tire size would you recommend to avoid rubbing yet maximize traction?
3. I'm not against to a little tire stretch if it makes sense, but the goal is a larger surface area. Thoughts?
4. From my understanding height of the tire will effect overall speed? Whats the best option here? Comfort is the tradeoff?

[Coyote_ar]

do you have a camber correction kit installed?? i would start there for traction, since you got a lowered rear.

i wouldnt go 10" on the rear, unless you are fitting 245 or 255 rubber. stretch aint good for traction.

remember that under high traction, the rear will compress, so make sure it wont rub during acceleration.

confort ... i dont think that comes as an option on a high performance e30 ...

[MC Hammered]

I have an s52 swapped e30 and with 17x8.5 with 215/40/17 and I was breaking the rear end loose sometimes running a 3.25 diff.

Swapped the rear with some 17x10, fenders are rolled and running without spacers:
front is 17x8.5 et15 with 215/40/17
rear is 17x10 et20 with 235/40/17

I also replaced the 3.25 with a 2.93 since I do a lot of highway driving and this lets me cruise at 70mph at 3000rpm. I believe switching the diff would have more of an impact than running the fatter rear tire, but I haven't reinstalled the 17x8.5 in the rear to prove this theory yet as the 17x10 looks too good. :)

[r4esh]

Thanks^. I have a bit more to add to the equation that I should have mentioned earlier.

I'm currently riding on 17" Kosei K1s (e36 fitment, I think et40?), I'm not sure the et or width of the wheel, but tires are 245/40/17 on all 4 corners. There are h&r spacers not sure exactly the size (edit: H&R part# 3075725 which looks like 15mm = .59" spacers). The only rub I get currently is: ff I crank the wheel as FAR as possible I get a 'minor' rub on the body in the front, and the rear will rub against the passenger side fender wire cover sometimes (very minor as well).

I'm pretty confident that I wont have issues with 245s on 8.5". Just wondering if I risk trying to fit a 255 on 10" in the rear AND if it is going to be worth it in the long run.

"MC Hammered" you're running 235 on the rear 10", thus the tire stretch in that pic? No rubbing? What suspension / springs? Also running the 3.23lsd from the m coupe.

On my M3 I should have a little bit more room to work with because of the fenders right?

Any one else running 245s on 8.5" front with 255s on 10" rear?

[r4esh]

Okay, I'm getting close to ordering.. I think I'm going with the 8.5" front and 10" rear. 235/40/17 front and 255/50/17 rear. If anyone has any input / concerns / suggestions speak now or forever hold your peace!

(p.s. I will be following up on this thread with pictures and results when this finally all comes together - for future rides with similar questions to mine)

[straight6pwr]

If anyone has any input / concerns / suggestions speak now or forever hold your peace!

i found a picture of your exact 17x8.5/17x10 setup.



235s fit just perfectly normal on an 8" wide wheel. anything wider doesn't make sense functionally. (weighs more, clearance issues, etc)
its hard to fit any wider than that on an e30, although its been done. an extra sticky 235 is better than an average 255.

[r4esh]

Well that was good advice but came in a tad late as I had already ordered the 10" for the rears.

Tires and wheels are mounted!

235/40/17 front 8.5" front
255/40/17 rear 10" rear

Im rubbing pretty bad in the rear and didn't have much time to see what options I have.

As mentioned above this is on h&r sport springs with e90 drop hats in the front.


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[DER E30]

Pics?

[r4esh]

CONCLUSION: after fender roll in the rear I have no more rubbing issues. at all. period.
That is on the 235/40/17 (8.5") front, and the 255x40x17 (10.5") rear.

[r4esh]

You'll have to excuse the hood paint.. but:

[r4esh]

P.s. I'm thinking about running slight either 5mm or 12mm spacers up front to bump the front out a tad to look more 'flush' like the rear does.

[eThirtyAaron]

What offsets did you end up going with? And your pics aren't showing up, for me anyways.

[r4esh]

What offsets did you end up going with? And your pics aren't showing up, for me anyways.

Fixed the images:

et20 up front and e15 in the rear.

I will likely be adding a 5mm spacer up front to 'bump them out' a bit so the front will appear as flush as the rear does.

[TURBOX]

any updates on this, pictures, looking into this also