FD-ers,

New, proud owner of a bone stock r2 here (bringing it home next week), and I'm planning to refresh the suspension (fronts are tired and rear bushings are making noises). I've been doing a lot of research on this board, and pulled down the fitment calc which appears to help with stock ride height cars (?)...and most of what i'm seeing in threads is very conservative or involves fenderwork/widebody kits. So instead of privately messaging Howard, Rishie! or others, I started this thread in hopes that it will help others in my situation.

Respecting the rarity of the car, I want anything I do to be completely reversible. To that end, I won't be running a hellaflush setup, doing any bodywork, or anything drastic. however, I do want to get as aggressive as possible on the stock bodywork. My "requirements" are as follows:

-18 inch rims
-Suspension setup will mimic Howard Coleman's recommendations (8/6 spring rate, 25 inches from bottom of tire to top of wheel well)
-No rolling/pulling fenders
-Tire width same as rim (no stretching)
-No rubbing at all

Based on what I've seen, I like the CCW lm02, work vsxx, xd9, varrstoen 1.1

What I'd like to know:
-how wide?
-offset?

Car will be street driven, with possibly one hpde event a year to see how she feels at speed (if that makes a difference in your recommendations). I apologize in advance if i missed a thread that covered this (pls include the link in your reply if this is the case), and thanks for the help!

Lance

 

I suggest this.

18 X 9.5" +50 to +45MM and run a 255/35/18 tire.

 

i needed very minor rolling in the rear for 18x9.5 +44 with 285/35 tires
so 18x9.5 +44 with 265 or 18x10 +50 with 275 would be very close to maximum width without rolling based on my personal experience and knowledge.
i'm not too sure about the maximum size you can fit in front without rolling though.
are you planning to do square setup or staggered?

 

Basically, you need a fender roll up front to run at that ride height and/or run aftermarket wheels of that size. You lunch a fender lip turning up into a transition into a gas station or something and that DEFINITEY won't be reversible.

 

I would highly recommend fenders to be rolled, otherwise the wheel fitment is not going to look as agressive and ^^^ especially like ptrhahn mentioned.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I was wanting to do a staggered setup...and thought that fender rolling was to be avoided in cars whose condition you want to keep original. Is this not the case (is minor rolling ok)? Zhe, 17s seemed a bit small for the rears, but I'm open to doing a staggered 17/18 setup. The trick is getting a mesh/multi-spoke rim (with a lip) to look right in a 17.

I suppose I could be talked into a different ride height...although I would want to make sure the car had minimal wheel gap (not slammed, but minimal streetable wheel gap). Thoughts?

 

Minor rolling is all that's needed in your case. If your goal is to keep the body stock then I would just leave it alone. The only problem you'll run into with no rolling is the wheel fitment being sunken in and a higher ride heights for wheel clearances.

 

cyp,
used fenders for the front are pretty easy to come by and cheap. Roll the fender to give clearance for the look you want. Very few people look for these cars stock any more. Most will mod them. I avoid cars that have had the front fender "popped" by a larger tire package or too low a ride height and caught the fender lip. Once that has happened it is extremely difficult to fold the fender lip back under without flattening the arch opening. If rolled properly, it will maintain the round fender opening and not crack the paint. Then your larger tire will not catch the edge of the fender lip and fold it out when going up in to driveways etc.