I am thinking of purchasing 17" GT Sport rims wit 40mm offset. I want to put 215/45/17 tires on them. If I were to lower my car 1.5-2 inches( not sure yet) would i have a rubbing problem?

yea you will rub all the way around its to wide of a tier
TRUST ME I KNOW

hmm how? what kind springs or coilovers are you running?
i had NO problem with my drop
more than 2inch all around .
NO rubbing

I don't really see a problem with that set up, I would'nt go much further than a +40 offset though, then you may rub your fender on your tire.

215/50 is better... it will only rub if you drop the crap out of it

50 height? no thanks.

ya, definatly not 215/50...50 is way to big....so u think i should just stick to 205/40/17??

215/50 is kinda big, it will look alright on a 16x7, my dad's stock tl typs s tires are 215/50 on 17x7 and those look nice...

people usually put 205/45 or 50 on 16's

imo 205/40 is wayyyy toooo small for our cars

I thought 205/40 are to small as well...but then what do u suggest if 215/45 are gonna rub?

215/45/17 wont rub...

Ok, so now 215/45/R17 with 40mm of offset and about 1.75 lowering kit will not rub?

Mine is lowered 2" in the rear and when I have the 215/45-17's on there, you can't even get a yardstick between the tire & fender and my offset is +44

So even with the GT Sport rims only sticking out an additional 4mm it sounds risky to use a 215/45-17. If you go with a 205/45-17 it will give you an additional 2/10" of clearance in the section width (up where the fattest part of the tire will be - next to the fender). They should fit with no problem.

You can get the Yokohama AVS ES100 in 205/45-17, also the Parada Spec2 & Kumho 712



Note: all those calculations above are based on a 7" wide wheel. If your rims are 7.5" wide, then you will lose that 2/10" of clearance I talked about above so it will be back to a really tight fit!

Alright, thank you for your help....the rims are 7" wide so your calculations will work..thanks for all your help

Ok, so if i lower my car enough to not tuck tire.....will they still rub with 215/45/17?

I can't tell you for sure, but I would not risk 215's if I were you. Even if you weren't tuckin, it might occasionally rub when the car is under load or if you hit some good sized bumps/holes.

Maybe the reason some people (like 01nightrider) are having trouble with 215/45-17's rubbing and some people aren't is because the offset of the rim is pretty important when using the wider/taller tire. With a 40mm or below on a 7" rim it would probably be safer to run the 205/45-17.

In the end the decision is up to you. As the disclaimer always says, "Your mileage may vary"

Ya, i was disscussing this with my older brother and we decided the same thing you just said...its a risk..and a risk i can not afford to lose...thanks for all your help 205/45/17's it is

Go for 215/40/17 's I got the same size rims and a 1 and half inch drop no problem with rubbing at all

Damn that looks good....how do 40's not rub but 45's will?

The sidewall is smaller on the 40's. That second number is the height of the sidewall in a percentage of width of the tire, or the first number. So with 215/45's, the width is 215mm and the sidewall height is 96.75mm. With 215/40's, the sidewall height is 86mm. So you have almost 3/8 of an inch more clearance with the 40's.

Thanks buddy...i know what the numbers on the tires mean. And i know with the 40's you get 3/8 of an inch more of clearance....but thats up and down clearance...so you fix that problem by just lowering your car 3/8 of an inch less.....So technically i can put 45's on, lower 3/8 of an inch less that would with 40's and be fine.....correct?