[Taicho]

Hi guys, I'll start out by saying that I am a complete novice when it comes to cars.

I was just looking for some assistance with wheels/tires. I've got a 2016 3 iTouring. So far, everything performance-wise is stock. I want to lower the car one to two inches, but get bigger wheels to preserve the stock height of the car. I've done a bit of research regarding lowering the car, and I think I'm going to go with either the Eibach PRO-KIT or the CorkSport springs. So now, to my understanding, if I want to maintain the stock height of the car, I need bigger rims. Having read and seen what other people here have said, I still understand almost nothing about wheels and tires lol. I've been using Wheel-Size.com :: Reference guide for car wheel and tire dimensions such as size, offset, PCD to see what works, and what doesn't work, but I don't understand too well what all those numbers for the sizings are. I think I'm going to go with the following wheels:

Konig Illusion

For the wheels, I think 235/45R17 will work.

Will that work? Like I said, I want to lower the car a little bit, but keep the stock height.

 

[arathol]

Hi guys, I'll start out by saying that I am a complete novice when it comes to cars.

I was just looking for some assistance with wheels/tires. I've got a 2016 3 iTouring. So far, everything performance-wise is stock. I want to lower the car one to two inches, but get bigger wheels to preserve the stock height of the car. I've done a bit of research regarding lowering the car, and I think I'm going to go with either the Eibach PRO-KIT or the CorkSport springs. So now, to my understanding, if I want to maintain the stock height of the car, I need bigger rims. Having read and seen what other people here have said, I still understand almost nothing about wheels and tires lol. I've been using Wheel-Size.com :: Reference guide for car wheel and tire dimensions such as size, offset, PCD to see what works, and what doesn't work, but I don't understand too well what all those numbers for the sizings are. I think I'm going to go with the following wheels:

Konig Illusion

For the wheels, I think 235/45R17 will work.

Will that work? Like I said, I want to lower the car a little bit, but keep the stock height.

If you want to lower the car you can't keep the stock ride height. Its either lowered or it isn't. As I understand what you wrote - "I want to lower the car one to two inches, but get bigger wheels to preserve the stock height "- you want to drop the car then put large wheels on to raise it back up? Not going to happen. What you want to do is lower the car and get larger rims with lower profile tires to keep the overall wheel diameter the same.

The rims you linked to are 17x7 with 40mm offset. 235/45R17 tires are way too wide for those rims. You'll want 205/50 on a 7 inch rim for a proper fit on your car.

 

[Rdrokit]

If I understand what you want to do is lower the car to get rid of the gap between the tire and body then raise it up to stock ride height with bigger wheels and tires. So you have stock ride height with no gap. Am I correct?

 

[Taicho]

If you want to lower the car you can't keep the stock ride height. Its either lowered or it isn't. As I understand what you wrote - "I want to lower the car one to two inches, but get bigger wheels to preserve the stock height "- you want to drop the car then put large wheels on to raise it back up? Not going to happen. What you want to do is lower the car and get larger rims with lower profile tires to keep the overall wheel diameter the same.

The rims you linked to are 17x7 with 40mm offset. 235/45R17 tires are way too wide for those rims. You'll want 205/50 on a 7 inch rim for a proper fit on your car.

I see. I'm still not sure how wheel sizes work lol.

If I understand what you want to do is lower the car to get rid of the gap between the tire and body then raise it up to stock ride height with bigger wheels and tires. So you have stock ride height with no gap. Am I correct?

Yes sir, that's it.

 

[arathol]

Yes sir, that's it.

Thats not going to work the way you think it is.

 

[minsanity]

The shortcut to achieve the look you want is to get Eibach Prokit or Tein HTech. Go w/ 19x8-8.5 et45 & 225/40 tires as many are on....

 

[Taicho]

Thats not going to work the way you think it is.

Sorry, I'm quite new when it comes to working on cars, but why not? The geometry makes sense to me. I do understand that with bigger wheels, there will be a difference between what the speedometer reads, and what the speed actually is. I also understand that there may be some issues with the wheels rubbing on the wheel well, which is actually my next question.

The shortcut to achieve the look you want is to get Eibach Prokit or Tein HTech. Go w/ 19x8-8.5 et45 & 225/40 tires as many are on....

Aside from changing the springs and wheels, is there anything else that needs to be done for this?

 

[minsanity]

Aside from changing the springs and wheels, is there anything else that needs to be done for this?

Cut the front & rear bumpstops as much as their respective drop during the spring install. This will help ensure you won't be riding rough on bumpstops. It's among the reasons dampers go prematurely.
Let the springs settle, then get an alignment.

 

[arathol]

Sorry, I'm quite new when it comes to working on cars, but why not? The geometry makes sense to me. I do understand that with bigger wheels, there will be a difference between what the speedometer reads, and what the speed actually is. I also understand that there may be some issues with the wheels rubbing on the wheel well, which is actually my next question.



Aside from changing the springs and wheels, is there anything else that needs to be done for this?

To do what you are suggesting, you will need to use 18 inch rims with 60 series tires.:surprise: Not only will you have issues with fitting those, but the unsprung weight will be pushing 60 pounds per wheel. This means it will ride and handle like a horse cart. :frown2:

I suspect you want to lower the car and fill up the wheels wells, not try to maintain stock ride height and use huge wheels to fill in.

There is not much you need to do besides springs to lower the car, but there are things you should do. Lowering the car changes your alignment. (using big tires to raise it back up does not change this) You not only need to get an alignment, but some changes to the suspension are needed to get the alignment right.
The rear alignment adjustments are limited. Toe and camber are a compromise reached using one eccentric bolt. You can adjust camber at the expense of toe and vice versa, but once you lower the car you can't have camber and keep good toe settings. So, you use adjustable camber and toe arms. This allows you to adjust camber and toe separately. If you don't, you could end up burning through a good set of tires in 5K miles or less due to excessive toe.
The front is even more limited in adjustment. It not quite as important as the rear but if you want to correct or change front camber you'll need to use camber plates on top of the front struts.
Cutting the bump stops does restore some compression travel and makes for a better ride, but it can destroy your shocks. Depending on how low you go, you may end up cutting the stops back to the point where they are no longer effective and the shock bottoms out before engaging the stop. Then, your shocks die very rapidly. Its generally best to test fit by compressing the suspension. Its also a good idea when going lower to use a shock that is designed for use with a lowered suspension.
Remember, if you are going to spend some cash on you car, do it once and do it right. :smile2:

 

[Taicho]

Cut the front & rear bumpstops as much as their respective drop during the spring install. This will help ensure you won't be riding rough on bumpstops. It's among the reasons dampers go prematurely.
Let the springs settle, then get an alignment.

To do what you are suggesting, you will need to use 18 inch rims with 60 series tires.:surprise: Not only will you have issues with fitting those, but the unsprung weight will be pushing 60 pounds per wheel. This means it will ride and handle like a horse cart. :frown2:

I suspect you want to lower the car and fill up the wheels wells, not try to maintain stock ride height and use huge wheels to fill in.

There is not much you need to do besides springs to lower the car, but there are things you should do. Lowering the car changes your alignment. (using big tires to raise it back up does not change this) You not only need to get an alignment, but some changes to the suspension are needed to get the alignment right.
The rear alignment adjustments are limited. Toe and camber are a compromise reached using one eccentric bolt. You can adjust camber at the expense of toe and vice versa, but once you lower the car you can't have camber and keep good toe settings. So, you use adjustable camber and toe arms. This allows you to adjust camber and toe separately. If you don't, you could end up burning through a good set of tires in 5K miles or less due to excessive toe.
The front is even more limited in adjustment. It not quite as important as the rear but if you want to correct or change front camber you'll need to use camber plates on top of the front struts.
Cutting the bump stops does restore some compression travel and makes for a better ride, but it can destroy your shocks. Depending on how low you go, you may end up cutting the stops back to the point where they are no longer effective and the shock bottoms out before engaging the stop. Then, your shocks die very rapidly. Its generally best to test fit by compressing the suspension. Its also a good idea when going lower to use a shock that is designed for use with a lowered suspension.
Remember, if you are going to spend some cash on you car, do it once and do it right. :smile2:

I actually, do want to maintain the stock height. Or at least close to stock height. But at the same time, I want to get rid of the gap. There's a lot of information here right now hahah. I've been trying to read up a bit, but it seems like a lot of work has to go in to what I want to do. And yes, I do agree with you. If I'm going to spend the amount of money I think this is going to cost, I'm most definitely going to get it done right. I have a friend who did the same thing that I proposed to his car, but he never mentioned any of this hahah. If I do decide to do something like this, a good shop should tell me what's involved in the process, right? I've also seen that a lot of people "rolled their fenders." I read a little about this, and am just wondering if that would be necessary.

And thanks guys. I really do appreciate the tips and knowledge you guys are throwing my way I don't have really any experience with modding cars, so this is all foreign to me.

 

[Rdrokit]

I think this is the look you want. minsanity has the right idea. This is an old shot of his car. I think it is close to stock ride height. Great looking ride.

 

[Taicho]

I think this is the look you want. minsanity has the right idea. This is an old shot of his car. I think it is close to stock ride height. Great looking ride.

Yeah! That's pretty much the look I was going for! Is that just what he recommended in one of his previous posts here?

 

[Rdrokit]

Yeah! That's pretty much the look I was going for! Is that just what he recommended in one of his previous posts here?

Send him a private message and ask him what the set up is as I think that is an old photo and am not sure if that is what he is running now. Good luck.

 

[BadSeed]

He is running Eibach springs with 19" wheels in that pic

Sent from my ZTE A2017U using Tapatalk

 

[minsanity]

Thanks for the kind words, guys! Replied to your PM, @Taicho sir.