ASK ALL WHEEL/TIRE FITMENT QUESTIONS HERE - The Official Wheel/Tire Fitment Thread

[AL FHA Q!]

I answered your PM. But just for arguments sake here, 195/45 or 205/45 front and 215/40 rear. Fenders rolled flat.

tanx!:up:

[JiXer]

Do a search under my name, I did the 235/50-15's on 6UL wheels.

Peeped it. They look sick on there.
I assume you have them fully installed now.
What do you think of the performance of the R888?
Do you autocross or track?
Any rubbing?

And what is 6UL?

J.

[Rob@UUC]

Now, on to your fitment question. On a ET25 15x7 rim, the 235 R888 will be around 9.4" wide. With that width, you should clear the front struts and rear shocks by literally a few mm. I know of a particular car ('89 325iS) that ran that exact same section width (225/50/15 V700's on a 15x7.5 wheel) with that exact same offset (ET25), with no spacers; the car had no issues, even in heavy auto-x situations. So I don't see a problem for fitment, especially if you're going to be playing around with iX flares and fender modification. That same car did not even have its fenders rolled.

I hope that helped!

Update: no way is the 235/50-15 R888 fitting on the front without hitting the strut. Even the smallest spacer puts it outside the iX flares. Switching to a 195/55-15 front.

Rears, however...



Muhahahaaa...

More pics to come when the new fronts arrive.

- Rob

[JiXer]

Update: no way is the 235/50-15 R888 fitting on the front without hitting the strut. Even the smallest spacer puts it outside the iX flares. Switching to a 195/55-15 front.

Rears, however...



Muhahahaaa...

More pics to come when the new fronts arrive.

- Rob

DAMN! Oh, well. Why so narrow in the front?
Isn't there still something a little wider that would fit up front than the 195's?

We stuffed these 23x8's in the front of this car and 23x9's in the rear (lots of spacers, but plenty of room to spare on the fender side:


J.

[jp_slick]

i bought some 17x8 i dont know the offset on the wheels but the wheel alone sits about 3/8 inch from the strut im gonna be running 205/40r17 what size spacers im i goin go need, and longer bolt/ studs?

[cheades]

Rob, look at my pics in the members rides and I got the 235/50-15's to fit up front. I need to hit the front fender wells with a hammer though as they rub near full lock, otherwise no issues.

[Rob@UUC]

DAMN! Oh, well. Why so narrow in the front? Isn't there still something a little wider that would fit up front than the 195's?

Remember that it's the R888... a lot wider than a "normal" 195. 8.0" static width, 7.5" tread width. It's the closest diameter in the same compound.

We stuffed these 23x8's in the front of this car and 23x9's in the rear (lots of spacers, but plenty of room to spare on the fender side:

That's fine for a racecar, but I wanted the tires to be within the fenders. Even with the iX flares, they still stuck out.

- Rob

[Rob@UUC]

Rob, look at my pics in the members rides and I got the 235/50-15's to fit up front. I need to hit the front fender wells with a hammer though as they rub near full lock, otherwise no issues.

Interesting.

I first fit them with 15mm spacers, thinking that would be required... and that's way too far out. I have 8mm spacers arriving today. But now that I think about it, I don't think that will help as they are more than 15mm outside of the iX flares.

What is the offset of the wheels you are using?

- Rob

[JiXer]

Remember that it's the R888... a lot wider than a "normal" 195. 8.0" static width, 7.5" tread width. It's the closest diameter in the same compound.




That's fine for a racecar, but I wanted the tires to be within the fenders. Even with the iX flares, they still stuck out.

- Rob

OH SHIT!
Wait a minute! Those are on an iX! You put 23.3" diameter tires on the front and 24.2" diameter tires on the rear??? PLEASE tell me you haven't been driving the car like that. Not to sound like an ass, but an iX is AWD and has a center viscous coupling. If you run those tires on there you will waste that VC unit in no time. You are going to want to re-think that set up.

J.

[nando]

OH SHIT!
Wait a minute! Those are on an iX! You put 23.3" diameter tires on the front and 24.2" diameter tires on the rear??? PLEASE tell me you haven't been driving the car like that. Not to sound like an ass, but an iX is AWD and has a center viscous coupling. If you run those tires on there you will waste that VC unit in no time. You are going to want to re-think that set up.

J.

i think he has ix flares on his RWD car

there's a chance cheades will let me try them on my car, so we'll know if they fit an ix. I have a feeling they will fit pretty well with a small spacer in the front. i was doing the math yesterday and the rear should clear perfectly.

[cheades]

Rob, they are a 15x7.5 et34 and I am using a 12mm spacer on the front. Gives me enough clearance on the strut without going any farther out than needed. The car is low but not obscenely low so that helps me not have any issues rubbing the fenders.

Just need to work now on getting rid of the rubbing on the front fender well.

[nando]

Just need to work now on getting rid of the rubbing on the front fender well.

that's the tough part. I zip tied my brake ducts to the fender guard so they wouldn't pop out, but I still rub there. Wouldn't think it should matter for HPDEs though, but maybe for autox.

[Rob@UUC]

OH SHIT!
Wait a minute! Those are on an iX! You put 23.3" diameter tires on the front and 24.2" diameter tires on the rear??? PLEASE tell me you haven't been driving the car like that. Not to sound like an ass, but an iX is AWD and has a center viscous coupling. If you run those tires on there you will waste that VC unit in no time. You are going to want to re-think that set up.

No worries... it's not an iX. As nando pointed out, it's a RWD 325is with cut-out fenders and iX flares.

I do have an iX also, but that's running 225/45-16 all around:

there's a chance cheades will let me try them on my car, so we'll know if they fit an ix. I have a feeling they will fit pretty well with a small spacer in the front. i was doing the math yesterday and the rear should clear perfectly.

Starting with that et35 offset, you might be right! Kills it for winter use, though... even the D40 M2s that I have don't really work in snow.

Rob, they are a 15x7.5 et34 and I am using a 12mm spacer on the front. Gives me enough clearance on the strut without going any farther out than needed.

Effectively et22 offset with those spacers... hmmm. That might do it. Won't work for me, though, I need at least a small spacer with the et25 wheels to clear the BBK.

I'm still not thrilled with the tire hitting the inner fender on full steering lock on a street car. If it were a track/race car, I wouldn't care, but I'm just building a little street rat that can be a loaner HPDE car for visiting friends. For that reason also, I think I will prefer the 195s for better steering self-centering.

Not so good with 15mm spacers, and even the 8mm won't pull it in all the way:



Which really has me wondering - if you're at et22 with standard fenders, my car at et25 with iX flares, why are my tires sticking out so much more than 15mm and yours are flush with the narrower fender lip?

Now that's a mystery.

- Rob

[JiXer]

No worries... it's not an iX. As nando pointed out, it's a RWD 325is with cut-out fenders and iX flares.

I do have an iX also, but that's running 225/45-16 all around:

- Rob

Man!
Good thing you have an iX or I would really have to bring out the poser card for running those flares. Some how owning an iX gives you a hall pass.
:)

J.

[nando]

Starting with that et35 offset, you might be right! Kills it for winter use, though... even the D40 M2s that I have don't really work in snow.

- Rob

that's what snow tires are for. :p

I'm not sure I would drive with those tires on the street anyway, although I'm sure it would be fun!