Contemplating slight lowering and getting fatter rubber...

[DIGItonium]

Current Setup

• Ride Height is stock.
• Wheels are 19x9.5 +40mm (with 10mm spacer), and 19x10.5 +8mm.
• Tires are Hankook 255/35 and 285/30.

I'd like some more rubber to improve power to the ground delivery with a forced induction setup, but don't want to screw up the driving dynamics. This car is daily driven (never had any track experience).

I was thinking about getting 245/40 and 285/35 tire setup, but was recommended something along the lines of 265/35 and 295/30. I'm pretty sure the front wheels are fine, but my rear wheels appear to line up with the fender. I have at least a 3 finger gap from the fender with the current tires, so this may not be an issue.

So keeping in mind daily driven force fed setup, I'm debating between TEIN or Eibach springs for slightly lower ride height (nothing too crazy). Tires will still be Hankook, but with more rubber. With this combination, the installer will also make the appropriate adjustments to improve drivability and power to ground ability.

Help please? Thanks!

[EDIT] Decided on 245/40 & 285/35 to help offset sidewall height and ~1" drop. When the time comes, I'll get the new tires, the drop, and will update this thread with new pictures after everything has settled.


Current: 255/35 & 285/30; Stock height

[christian370z]

I would recommend looking into grabbing some Swift springs personally, they lower the car less than the Eibachs or the Teins and both ride and handle better from what I have experienced.

Remember that when the suspension compresses, the camber increases through the travel of the suspension so you might not rub even if it looks like it would at rest. Going with 265/295 tires will give the car great balance and won't really bulge on your rims either.

[DIGItonium]

Thanks, Christian. I'll definitely keep in mind the Swift springs, and the responses are quite positive.

I did some more searching and calculations. How about 265/35 and 305/30? However, 265/35 is not available for the Hankooks.

[DIGItonium]

I contacted Hankook about 265/35 tires for the Ventus V12 Evo K110, and the response is that they have no intentions to produce any.

Since Hankook fits the budget very well, I may well end up with the following choices:
245/40 and 285/35
255/35 and 305/30

Any suggestions?

[SeeyaBud86]

Be careful how much you lower it in the front. I have TE37 SL's with almost the same offsets and the Hankook V12's. I'm running 255/40/19 and 285/35/19. Luckily I have a set of KW V3's, because when I got the Volks put on my tires were literally 0.3" from the fender (maybe even closer than that). So up until yesterday I was rubbing everywhere in the front. Quick dips/bumps going at a decent speed would make the wheels smack the top of the fender line. I raised it a half inch and it seems to have fixed the problem.

You will be fine with 255 tire up front though, I have no rubbing turning the wheel all the way on both sides. I've heard that 265 up front is fine as well.

[m4a1mustang]

I wouldn't run anything less than 305 with an FI setup, but a 255/305 stagger is pretty big and will dial in a lot of understeer. Personally I would be inclined to run a 275/305 stagger for the best balance. But 275 and lowered may rub. Can anyone confirm?

[Jeffblue]

Originally Posted by DIGItonium

I contacted Hankook about 265/35 tires for the Ventus V12 Evo K110, and the response is that they have no intentions to produce any.

Since Hankook fits the budget very well, I may well end up with the following choices:
245/40 and 285/35
255/35 and 305/30

Any suggestions?

you have FI Exhaust right? keep in mind you'll probably only be able to lower 1 inch at max without having issues. i'm lowered 1" up front and .75" in the back with hankook v12's
i have thicker tires and even though i'm not lowered that much, the thicker tire eats up the wheel gap.

i have 255/40/19 and 285/35/19. However, if i were you i'd say go with the 245/40/19 and the 285/35/19, since some people think the 255/40 i went with is actually a bit too thick, but i can live with it.
here is what it looks like with the drop and those tires.



if you go with the 255/35 and the 305/30, you're gonna have more wheel gap and gonna have to drop to the point that you'll scrape your FI cans all the time in order to get rid of the gap.

245/40 and 285/35 is going to be slightly higher profile tire than 255/35 and 305/30 and will therefore eat up more wheel gap with the modest drop (at most) that you'd be able to do with the FI exhaust.... or you could do my exact set up with tires and it'll look like that

some FI guys maybe should chime in about how a 305 is compared to a 285 in terms of power delivery/traction

[ChrisSlicks]

The rear gets a lot of compression camber gain as it is a 4-link setup with no upper control arm, so at your current ride height I think it would easily tuck past the fender with practically any tire. If you lower it and adjust the camber back outwards you'll change the geometry slightly which will bring the tire a little closer to the fender. For a slight lowering you will probably be fine, but if you lower it a lot you will need to run a fair bit of camber.

[DIGItonium]

Thanks guys. With the stock height and "thin" 285/30 tires, the F.I. mufflers are already suffering some minor scrapes. Christian mentioned Swift springs, which offers a 1.2" drop for the front and 1" drop for the rear.

With that in mind, this is what I gather from your responses:
Easy: 245/40 & 285/35 (1.75mm wall difference)
Ideal: 265/35 & 305/30 (1.25mm wall difference)
Extreme: 275/35 & 305/30 (4.75mm wall difference)

Any of these setups will offer more sidewall than my current setup. For 265/35 tires, I need to look for something whose price and performance is comparable to the Hankooks.

I still have my sights set for Stage 1 TT with minimum 5-6 PSI for daily driving and 7-8 PSI simply because the boost controller offers a high setting. I park next to a GT500 at work, and I see the rear tires are 285/40. Wow! I think the owner mentioned that he can roast the tires in 4th at 40mph. Of course, that's not what I'm aiming for with a force fed daily driver haha.

[EDIT] I've decided to settle for 245/40 & 285/35 due to availability and the increased sidewall will allow for 1" drop using Swift springs. Thanks all, rep!