ok peeps, your thoughts, input and ideas are appreciated.

here is my dilemma. i need more clearance bc i'm thinking of moving and the driveway/underground parking is just steep enough my underbody is scraping like crazy. i.e. almost getting stuck.

i need a bit more clearance but i'm trying to avoid raising my car.

right now i'm at 25 inches fender to ground.

tires: 245 35 19 front, 265 30 19 rear.

if i ran 245 35 19f, 265 35 19 rear, a sidewall difference of 3.12 in to 3.65 in for the rear, do you think i'll hit the fender? my fenders have not been rolled. i have no problem now w/ clearance. will increasing the sidewall while keeping the 265 necesarilly bring me closer to the fender?

OR

should i go 235 35 19f, 255 35 19 rear for a sidewall difference of 3.12 to 3.51 in rear? this will, of course, drop my front by .14, tho. i'm just afraid w/o spacers, the rear will look funny (the 255 vs. 265)

OR

should i just raise the car 1/4inch all around? i'm really trying to keep from having to increase the gap between the wheel and fender but "raising" and getting a bit more clearance in the process.

any other ideas??

your opinion and input is greatly appreciated!

 

Are you running spacers? And I assume you're on stock wheels?

I have 265/35/19's on the stock rear wheels with a 20mm spacer and they still don't hit the fenders. The G has tons of space in the fenders - you can fit 305 width tires without rolling them.

Personally I would go with the 265/35/19 in the rear as the 2nd option would make you buy an entirely new set of tires. The 265/30/19 tires that you have in the rear right now are actually shorter in height than your fronts - do you have any VDC issues?

 

is the current set up in your garage pics right of it right now? you may even be able to run 245/40/19 up front... im running that on my coupe and my wheels are tucked under enough not to have fender clearance issues. the fender lining does rub all the time tho but only on turns onto driveways and inclines.

 

Where exactly is it scraping?

If you went with a 265/35 rear it will widen the tire tire a lil and will be slightly closer to the fender. I'd see how much room you have and make a judgment based on that.

The 255/35 vs 265/30 would make the 255/35 less just by a little, but you'll gain about 10mm clearance height wise.

Tough situation but hard to tell without knowing how much clearance you currently have and where it's scraping. If you gain clearance in the rear, it will lower the front and you'll have more issues scraping the sway bar, cats, y pipe area.

You can use this to see differences in ride height and the effect of different sized tires will do (sidewall as well). Right click and save it.

http://www.tyrestretch.com/files/Tyr...or_English.xls

Also I'd edit your post to clarify you have a sedan Rob. I don't think you can fit a 305, and with your wheels on the sedan lol.

 

thanks for the responses, fellas. yes, i have an 04' sedan.

so, i'm thinking of running 235 40 19 fronts and 255 35 19 rears. this will technically give me .33inches more clearance in the front and .39inches in the rear. i'll also be 1.44% w/in diameter range.

i need new shoes on all 4 corners so i don't mind chaning out all the tires at once.

what sucks is the hankook ventus does not come in the 235 40 19s so i'll have to get something more expensive.

also, i'm scraping EVERYWHERE underneath. all the way from the y-pipe to the rear flange where the mid pipe connects to the pipe leading to the muffler. after i drove out, i noticed i left gouge marks in the concrete, which makes me think i migh have to raise the car even after getting the new tires.

i'm going to get the new tires first, then see if i still scrape and by how much. then maybe raise the ride 1/4 inch at a time.

 

Tire brand will make a difference. The Hankooks run true. I have Achilles on mine and they're supposed to run small but I thought I'd get more of a stretch (235/35 on a 10). If you want I can show you pics Rob. Tires are dirt cheap too. $92 each plus tax. Seems like there's hardly any tires with a 235/40/19. Pirelli's and Yoko's and you're looking at nearly $300 per tire. Eek! Maybe a 245/35? Or perhaps a 235/35 from General. Generals run large, about 10mm...but damn, still sidewall height difference.

Ummm, I think the main concern would be the front, there's much more goin on there in terms of scraping. I think if you get that up and have the rear leveled you would be good. A slight raise and slight increase in tire size will help fill the gap and won't look too much different than what you have now and will get you some clearance, both under the car and for the tires clearing the fenders.

 

man, i've been looking for 235 40 19s and there's like NOTHING out there that's cheap! dammit. yep, like you said, only yokos, pirellis and continental for like $300+ each. no thanks.

right now i have 245 35s in front.

i might have to just raise the ride about half an inch and hope that's enough to clear the driveway.

 

my tire guy is suggesting i go 245 40 19 fronts and 255 40 19s rear. is that going to look too beefy???

 

Rob here's my set up when I ran 245/40F and 255/40R. I thought the rear looked too beefy and would have had to run mad camber to get the rears to tuck.

 

thanks Tim, i appreciate it. your rear offset is at 33 but mine's at 45 so i'm assuming my rears can tuck in even w/ my ride height now and not having my fenders rolled, at 255. hmmm....

 

No worries. In these pictures I was at a +38 in the rear. I put a 5mm spacer on when I went back to a 245/40.

 

so, i've decided to go w/ 225 40 front and 255 35 rears. that will raise my fronts by .17 and the rears by .39. yeah, not much, so i might have to raise it another 1/4 inch depending on how much i scrape. i veered away from 245 40/255 40 bc might be too beefy for my tastes and i was afraid the front would hit the fender lining.

 

I think you should be good with those sizes Rob, just steer away from something that runs on the smaller side and go with something true/larger running.

 

and plus w/ the sizes i'm going for, the difference in diameter is only .24% so my speedo will be pretty spot on; plus, no issues w/ vdc, etc.

 

Are you substantially dropped? I'm curious to see how the 255s tuck if you're low. I think you'll like that set up.