17's up front, 18's in the rear... pros?/cons?
#1
17's up front, 18's in the rear... pros?/cons?
Ok, i don't own a 7, but ive been here learning for a while now... and i frequent this board just as often as the other ones on this site and i have heard a lot of people complain about 18s (especially wider ones) rubbing up front on their FD...
About a year ago i started to notice that some of the other sports car guys would go with 2 different rim sizes... like 17s up front and 18s in the rear... or 18s front and 19s rear... i never really understood why, i mean obviously for looks, because the rear wheel well (sp?) is usually bigger, therefor a bigger rim fills it up better, but my question is, could it work? how come i dont see more people on this site talking about it? what are the pros/cons of such a set-up?
just a thought i had...
About a year ago i started to notice that some of the other sports car guys would go with 2 different rim sizes... like 17s up front and 18s in the rear... or 18s front and 19s rear... i never really understood why, i mean obviously for looks, because the rear wheel well (sp?) is usually bigger, therefor a bigger rim fills it up better, but my question is, could it work? how come i dont see more people on this site talking about it? what are the pros/cons of such a set-up?
just a thought i had...
#2
Rebreaking things
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: 1 foot in Boston 1 in NJ
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I have thought about this too for purely cosmetic reasons. There is more fender gap in the rear than the front. If you had a set of coilovers you could drop the back a little to even out the change in ride height and you wouldn't have the goofy gap. I heard it upsets the balance of the car front to back, but I don't know if this is true when you adjust the suspension for this setup.
#3
Lives on the Forum
Personally, I think it's a good idea especially if you have large stagger, like 255/40-17 up front on 9.5 x 17 and 295/30-18 on an 11 x 18. The shorter sidewall of the rear 18-inch tires will dial in some stiffness, and thus some ovesteer, to help balance out the understeer larger rear tires add with a staggered setup.
#4
Rotary Freak
iTrader: (22)
I've always had my FC's setup this way. Aesthetically for sure it looks better on the FC. I'm not sure about the FD, other than what Sleep has mentioned.
I've found it to be wonderful on the FC. It works quite well. Want some pics??? I'll have to put them on our photo page. I use three piece wheels. The 17" and 18" use the same diameter centers thus providing some additional symmetry.
IF you use different sized centers I'd suggest getting a reverse drop wheel, so there's no step in the lip. As for a one piece wheel it makes it much easier to find a phatter width for the rear. One way to get around the sizing limitations of knockoffs. You'll often find 17x7 and 18x8. This is a great way to save money and still have phat fitments.
215/45 and 235/40 or something like that.
Rishie
I've found it to be wonderful on the FC. It works quite well. Want some pics??? I'll have to put them on our photo page. I use three piece wheels. The 17" and 18" use the same diameter centers thus providing some additional symmetry.
IF you use different sized centers I'd suggest getting a reverse drop wheel, so there's no step in the lip. As for a one piece wheel it makes it much easier to find a phatter width for the rear. One way to get around the sizing limitations of knockoffs. You'll often find 17x7 and 18x8. This is a great way to save money and still have phat fitments.
215/45 and 235/40 or something like that.
Rishie