So I just bought a set of coupe 19's from another forum member (staggered setup). He was only selling the wheels, so I needed to order new tires. I spent many hours on this forum and thought I did the proper research by reading every tire thread I could find, and settled on Kumho Ecsta SPT in 245/40-19 front and 255/40-19 rear. Since several members are lowered and have 275's on the rear, I figured with my stock suspension the 255's would fit plenty good. Wrong. A) The rear coupe wheels sit about 2mm outside of the fender, and B) the 255/40-19s are a tad larger (0.72 inch) overall than the stock 215/55-17. The combination of A and B = not enough room (about 1.5 inches) between the rear tires and the fender. Everytime we drive over a big dip in the road, we hear this awful grinding sound as the fender hits the tire.

Needless to say I need to get a different rear tire size. I am thinking two options: 1) Go with the stock rear size of 245/40-19 (0.32 inch smaller than current), or 2) go with 255/35-19 (1.01 inches smaller than current). I think I feel safer with the 255/35 that it won't rub, however will it look odd to have 255/35 on the rear and 245/40 on the front?? The fronts are fine and no rubbing at all, so I only need to replace the rears. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

roll the fenders... it takes about an hour. That or you can go get an alignment and increase the negative camber a little bit.
-GP-

 

Maybe your offset is wrong? Wheels whouldnt stick out.

 

255/40/19 is too large, I am running 255/35/19 at the back....and my fenders are rolled (unless if you go beyond -2 deg of camber then you shouldn't need your fender rolled)

255/35/19, you might still rub a tad under hard cornering or speed-bump, you can just stick with 255/40/19 but roll your fender

 

I thought about rolling the fenders, but I think since the tires extend just a little bit beyond the fenders, even if I were to roll them I think they would still come in contact. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't rolling fenders just bending the horizontal "ledge" on the inside of the fender vertical? It would only work if they were to roll the fenders and pull the fenders out about 1/2 inch. Good idea or no?

You do realize I have a sedan. Basically the wheels sit flush with the fenders, unlike the stock 17 inch wheels that sat about 2 inches inside of the fender (I think this is normal for all sedans with coupe wheels). With the stock wheel offset, when the suspension compressed there was enough room inside of the wheel well for the tire. But with the coupe wheels, they sit flush with the fender and any compression makes the tires hit the bottom of the fender.

 

Roll the fenders and get the rear aligned to -1.5 camber, that should put you just about right and you wont rub.
-GP-

 

Since you are on stock suspension, the effect of a "lower" offset with the coupe 19s" are more prounounced. However, you have to realize that the suspension is designed such that when it travels UP, it will actually TUCK the whole tire and rim assy inside a bit (governed by suspension geometry).

A good example is that people that lowered their rides while riding on stock rims look like they have "tucked in" rims because the suspension now settles at a lower point, which tucks the rim IN more.

In short, since you are on 255/40/19, even though it is a bit larger in overall diameter, rolling the fender should still be able to help you prevent rubbing.
(a quick test of whether you will still rub or not is to tape a masking tape on the folded/ rolled fender and run your car a tad quicker over speed bump to trigger a longer suspension travel)

Hope this helps

 

^ good idea I liked that.

 

the fenders should be rolled in any case, even with stock suspension. U might not experience and rubbing at first be if u have 2 people in the back it will start rubbing even with -2 camber in the back. So if u roll the fenders all the problems would be solved. By the as others have mentioned go with 255/35/19 not 40.

 

Also the Kumho's run wider than any other tires I have had. My 275's on 10" wheels are almost square when all others have been stretched.

 

Do the easy thing first and roll the fenders, then see what that does for you.

 

so what did you do?

edit:
he went with 245/35/19 front and 255/35/19 rears.

 

Yes, I went with the 245/35-19 front and 255/35-19 rear. They don't rub at all now, even while going over large speed bumps or hard cornering. The ride is a little less forgiving with potholes and such, but I guess thats the price to pay for 19's.

 

wow, thats on the stock suspension? That looks really good, even with the stock height. I know the lowering-purists may disagree, but this looks very good to me. This means that I won't be in a rush to lower, but if I do, I will go very conservative!

thanks for posting the pics.